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Summary: The truth behind the madwoman
Review: This book is a must read for fans of Bronte's JANE EYRE. Jean Rhys depicts the life of Berthe, the madwoman in Bronte's novel. The author shows it from the perspective of both Berthe (a.k.a. Antoinette) and Rochester. By the end of the novel it is understandable why Berthe became the madwoman in the attic. Rhys takes the reader through the tortured life of Berthe as a young girl into womanhood and her eventual marriage to Rochester. Clearly, there was not much hope for Berthe within her environment. Furthermore, Rochester gives up on his new wife too easily, forcing her to retreat further and further into herself. He falls quite short of being the loving husband. This book causes the reader to see both Berthe and Rochester in entirely different lights. When reading JANE EYRE, Berthe seems the nasty culprit. However, after reading WIDE SARGASSO SEA, the opinion you originally had may change drastically. All in all a wonderful read. It answers all the questions you may have asked yourself when reading JANE EYRE.
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Summary: Lyrical and exotic, thought provoking prose.
Review: Antoinette Cosway is a beautiful, exoctic creole. She catches the eye of an Englishman, and their passion for each other is powerful. They need each other for financial reasons as well. She must have a husband to claim her wealth, while he, as the second son, cannot claim his family fortune at all. The erotic feelings that the couple expresses for each other is only fleeting. Antoinette becomes "too much" for the 19th century English gentleman, who has been raised in a society that with holds passion.Eventually, quickly, he becomes disgusted with his young wife's need for exhuberant, physical attention. Anntoinette becomes desperate to experience the passion that her young husband had initially, openly and happily lavished on her. Once an errupting volcano, their relationship becomes implosive. The young man, who becomes intolerant of Anoinette, desperately avoids her. She becomes hysterical because as his wife, she has no control of anything in her life: love, ,sexual attention, money, or home. The English husband learns of an opportunity to return to England, and since Antoinette is his wife, he plans to take her with him. But she would never fit in the oppressive English landscape, so he has her declared insane, and takes her home to Thornfield, realizing he will never marry again as long as she lives. She is locked in a remote wing of his gothic mansion on the moors of England, and is lost to the world until she re-emerges as Bertha Mason in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Beautifully written, Wide Sargasso Sea, was Jean Rhys's answer to a question many Jane Eyre readers have had. Who was the mad woman? Some of the questions I had also were answered. Who else would Mr. Rochester want but a young, pure thing who would adore him and revere him. Jane asked only for his spoken word never any passion. Jane was accustomed to dishonest and confusing relationships while she lived at the orphanage and her aunt's home as a child. When she arrived at Thornfield, Mr. Rochester was exactly what she would fall for: a man who possibly could rescue her, but who also would be dishonest and confusing. Jane Eyre is great literature as is Wide Sargasso Sea, but neither story has characters who are capable of good relationships. The film version is equally well done.
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Summary: Dense foliage of perception
Review: The book is undoubtedly not for everyman. It may leave you confused and dazed by the disjointed narrative structure, incomplete dialogues and overpowering images and emotions that seemingly arise out of nowhere and for no reason. For many readers, a pre-requisite to enjoyment may be an acquaintance with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. My own view is that this is not entirely necessary but helpful to contextualise the novel. Rhys was fascinated with the mysterious madwoman, the first wife of Rochester, perhaps identifying with her to a degree. However, the fascination in exploring this figure lies not simply in the character's exotic background, misunderstood and exploited as she might be, but the pivotal role she plays in creating a moment of moral ambiguity and crisis within Jane Eyre, the character and the novel. Wide Sargasso Sea itself is a mire of ambiguities and uncertainties, lurching from one crisis to another. It is interesting to note that the title refers to an area in the Caribbean famous for being treacherous. But what makes it rewarding for the reader is the unadulterated subjectivity of the narration, which is finely structured and layered to both highlight the complexities of issues involved such as (post)colonialism, gender politics and subject identification, as well as to immerse the reader in the disparate/desperate and irreconcilable angles of perception that works itself into a seamlessly hallucinatory reality. If all of the above sounds like a dream, this is the book for you. Otherwise, it is one to stay well clear of. It may also help to dip into her other books which run along similar themes but are not so 'lush'.
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Summary: Wide Sargasso Sea- It Makes No Sense
Review: If you have not yet read Jean Eyre, then I highly suggest you do not read Wide Sargasso Sea. This novel takes the reader into a confusing road where the characters have no meaning and the situations as well as the scenes change quickly and with little explanation. The novel is divided into three different sections, the first and third narrated by the main character Antionette, and the middle being told by her namless husband. The words are flowery, poetic, and full of imagery and emotion, yet that is the only true quality found in the entire novel. Jean Rhys attempts to give a prequel to the the book by Charlotte Bronte, and in my opinion failed. Then again I should repeat the fact that I never actually read Jane Eyre. Wide Sargasso Sea gives no meaning, no answers, and no purpose. It seems to be words throuwn into the air, a sort of extended poem. Situations jump around, characters are oddly portrayed and explained, and the reader is taken through many loopholes and twists. Even the main character has a name change towards the end of the book with no reason or purpose being defined. In my eyes the novel is a ramble of the authors true emotions for she is known for her suicidal and troublesome life. All the emotions and explanations seem like a constant ramble of hate, confusion, and betrayl with no explantion whatsoever. It is as if the author wished to let her inner demons free soly for her purpose and never took into consideration that not only was she attepting to write a book, but she was taking the storyline from a novel that was not even of her own doing. Yet if you are a fan of Jane Eyre, or are entertained by confusion then I suggest this novel for you. If not, then go on down your list and find a book that is original and well written.
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Summary: Intriguing Idea, Complex Imagery and Symbolism. Lush,sensual
Review: I have always loved Jane Eyre; in truth, it is one of my favorite novels and I've always been fascinated with Bertha...who was she, why was she insane, and what was Rochester's relationship with her? I was happy to find this book as it helped to provide me with some of those answers. I loved the lush imagery, the history of the land and the similarities between the land and Antoinette herself. The woman, the land, were overripe, exploited, misunderstood, wild. Rochester, like the Europeans, wanted to have the land/woman in his/the land's own terms, but the beauty and wildness of Antoinette and Jamaica were broken by the control. I wish that Rochester's character was better portrayed...sometimes I felt that his motives were not clear, his thoughts were never explained to my satisfaction. All in all, though, I enjoyed the novel and appreciate another perspective on a beloved old tale.
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Summary: A Thought Provoking Prequel to Jane Eyre
Review: Jean Rhys has put together a wonderful story of British Colonialism in Jamaica and Dominica set during the period from 1839-1845. In fact, this native of Dominica used this focus on Antoinette Cosway to explain how Bertha in Jane Eyre had become mad and kept locked in the attic. This follows many other novels focusing on the effects of British Imperialism. It depicts a time just after the emancipation of the slaves in Jamaica. A mother (Annette), Son (Pierre), and daughter (Antoinette), living on a plantation estate that is allowed to grow wild and unkept. There were no people to work the land since slavery was abolished. The black natives hated the remaining white colonists and often referred to them as "white cockroaches." The mother had remarried and one night their home is burned down by angry masses of ex-slaves. Pierre is killed in the fire. As they were escaping, Annette tries to run back for her parrot. They would have all possibly been killed by the mob if not for the parrot flying out of the window while on fire. The superstitious natives fled at the sight. Her mother grows insane and is locked up. Antoinette is raised in a convent and later married to a Mr. Rochester. He married her for her money and through some twists and turns they end up in England. He locks her upstairs to forget about her and hires Jane Eyre as nanny to his child. Later he tries to marry her and that is when Bertha's presence is disclosed. She is now quite insane and burns the house down, killing herself in the process. There is a symmetry here in that at the beginning of Wide Sargasso Sea, the Cosway's home is burned down by angry people trying to reclain their identity as humans. Later, Antoinette who later became Bertha when Rochester changed her name to a more English sounding one, burns down his home in trying to recapture her identity as a human being. Why did the mother and daughter become insane? This was not genetic but rather the result of two women being pushed or oppressed in some manner throughout their lives. Annette lived at a time of slavery and was thus remembered as an ex-slave owner. The natives despised her for this and harassed her as when they poisoned one of her horses. Also, the loss of her estate and son helped push her over. Antoinette was also despised for being the daughter of a slave owner. She grew up white with a native culture though and felt divided within her identity. When taken from her island home and deprived of her identity by being locked away all alone for years without even a mirror to see herself, this formed her into an "insane" person. Much symbolism is used within this story to depict division of self. Mirrors and watery reflections are used to show how one gains a self-concept. That is, we derive our sense of self from comparing ourselves with others and our perceptions of how we look to ourself. There is passion of course in the beginning of the marriage between Rochester and Antoinette. He later sleeps with Amelie (servant) and believes himself poisoned by his wife for unknown reasons. Being from England, Rochester is not comfortable in the island atmosphere and takes his wife back to England with him. She is distraught over losing her green, beautiful, lush, tropical eden.
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Summary: Analysis of Wide Sargasso Sea
Review: Well, I just finished reading Wide Sargasso Sea, as an assignment for my I.B. English class. I must say that upon my reading of the story, I came out quite confused as to what I had just read. My greatest difficulties in reading the book was trying to keep up with the everchanging plot, as well as trying to determine what character was speaking at each line. Although the book was confusing to me, this was mainly because I knew nothing about it. However, after doing some outside research and realizing that this book was based on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, it began to make sense. My first tip to prospective readers is to make sure you know the context of this book before you try and read, otherwise it may become quite unwieldy. The book definitely ended up being a very good read. I immensely enjoyed the use of the vivid imagery that allowed me to smell and taste the Carribean atmosphere. Throughout the story, we see many themes that emerge as the plot unfolds. One of these is that of slavery, and the black/white relationship. We see this in the most dominent front, that being the main characters, the Cosways, are slave owners. The book shows the aversion between blacks and whites created through slavery. However, the book gives a view of both sides to demonstrate that slavery and the hatred involved with this is a double-edged sword. We see the discrimination of the blacks by their white owners. Then we are also shown the contempt that the blacks had for their owners. I found this to be a quite satirical portrayal of slavery, especially when we see the black slaves villifying the Cosways with the expression "white cockaroach". Another theme that is quite prominent in the story is that of the inferiority of women to men. We see how Antoinette is married off to an Englishman as soon as she "comes of age". It is a marriage that lacks happiness, friendship, and love. It is based soley on sex and duty. We see how Antoinette's life is destroyed by Mr. Rochester, who has married for the money, and does not care for Antoinette or her problems. As their lives unfold, Antoinette becomes worse and worse, until Mr. Rochester sleeps with a maid, sending Antoinette of the deep end. After this incident the move to England, and although Antoinette is physically alive, she is truly dead. I found this book to be quite intriguing. It was not overly difficult to read, as long as you are aware of its background and context. Rhys' use excellent literary devices to create a realistic, vivid portrayal of the life of the Creole woman Antoinetted Cosway. I would reccomend this book to anyone you has the time to both read and analyze it.
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Summary: Provocative, Exotic and All the Above
Review: Firstly, if you haven't read Jane Eyre I would go as far as to say don't bother. The Wide Sargosso Sea is the story of the character Rochesters' mental wife Bertha who is rather the mysterious non-being in Jane Eyre. In this novel Bertha is made real. But the book is written mainly through her eyes. A woman who has a difficult life and goes through life mentally at a distance from everyone she comes into contact with, it results in the whole tone of the novel being quite distant and in a way cold. In contrast the setting and description is very rich, hot and exotic to the extreme. You must remember though, Bertha is going mad and at times looking through Bertha's eyes, you'll get the same feeling. A book you will either love or hate, not an easy read, aimed more towards a literary minded person. I loved it!
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Summary: Another Chore
Review: Generally when I pick up a novel I expect to get something out of it. Having to read this for my English class I found it to be a chore. Rhys expanded on a character who was ment to be a mystery. Although it did have it's moments (the uprising of the slaves) it lacked in the delopement of Rochester of Antionette (Bertha). I cannot say it was not teh worst piece of litureture I have read for nothing compare with Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but I did feel left a little empty as to why some of things happened the way they did. I would recoomend this novel to anyone who as enough time to comprehend the true nature of it.
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Summary: No Matter What They Say, It's a Good Novel
Review: My assignment was ot find a book from a rather long list and read it for AP English. Seeing as how this was the only one I could find I went ahead with it. If I wasn't insane before I read it, I am now. This book sucked me in and made me feel as if I was Bertha (Antoinette Cosway, trying to figure a way out of a horrible marrige. Even though at times it was confusing and a little dull, I still like it. This is because it showed the true nature of Rochester. I dislike him even more now than I did before. However, if you like him in Jane Eyre then you may not want to read this. Overall I really like the novel and the use of imagery and character developement.
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