Intro to Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Intro to Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys Companion novel to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre English 12 and AP Literature: Thursday, September 19

�Aim: To introduce and learn about the context of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. �Do now: Pay attention! No need to take notes—I will post this Power. Point on my web site.

Author: Jean Rhys �Born in 1890 in Dominica, a Caribbean island, to a Welsh (from Wales, in the U. K. ) father and a “white Creole” (born in the West Indies, of European descent) mother. �Left Dominica in 1907 to pursue an education in England; was a bitter critic of English values. �Wrote Wide Sargasso Sea over the course of 21 years; published in 1966.

Setting of Wide Sargasso Sea � 1840 s in West Indies (Jamaica) �The Sargasso Sea is in the North Atlantic Sea. It has weak currents and little wind. Many legends mention how ships lost their way in the weeds of the Sargasso Sea and were never heard from again. �Bertha is a white Creole. Her family owned black slaves, now free, who make up most of the population. This is a time of post-colonialism.

Time shift from Jane Eyre �Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel to Jane Eyre, is told from the perspective of Bertha (i. e. Antoinette Cosway), and explains the chain of events that lead Bertha to become the “mad woman in the attic. ” �Jane Eyre takes place 1798 -1808, but Rhys shifts the time period forward. Why? The British Emancipation Act of 1833 freed slaves in the Caribbean. Former slave -owners (including Antoinette’s family) were supposed to be compensated for lost slaves, but weren’t. Free blacks weren’t compensated either. All of this led to racial tensions on the islands. WSS takes place post-emancipation, in the 1840 s.

3 parts of Wide Sargasso Sea �Part 1: Takes place in Coulibri, Jamaica, told from Antoinette/Bertha’s perspective, describes her childhood. �Part 2: Takes place in Granbois, Dominica, alternates between Bertha’s and Rochester’s (unnamed) perspectives, describes Bertha’s descent into madness and the marriage’s downfall. Both spouses mistrust each other; Bertha’s nurse Christophine mistrusts Rochester. �Part 3: Takes place in England at Rochester’s mansion (“Great House”), told from Bertha’s perspective in a stream of consciousness, traces the disintegrating marriage and Bertha’s relationship with Grace Poole.

Q’s to consider while reading �In what ways does Rhys give voice to “the madwoman in the attic”? How does she account for Antoinette Cosway’s transformation to the Bertha Rochester whom we see in Jane Eyre? What factors contribute to the change? �WSS is considered a postcolonial novel, meaning it looks at issues of power, politics, and culture related to the western Colonizers controlling the colonized. How do these issues play out in WSS? �WSS gives voice to Bertha, but what about the black ex-slaves of the West Indies? What is their role in the novel? �What do you make of the title: Wide Sargasso Sea?

Wide Sargasso Sea: Opening �Let’s start reading the text. What exactly is going on here? What kind of language is used? �Character list worksheet: Cheat sheet and reading assignments.

HOMEWORK: �Exam tomorrow on Jane Eyre. Please also bring in WSS—if you finish the exam early, you can get started on your weekend homework. �For Monday: �Bring in Wide Sargasso Sea. �AP: Read Part 1, pp. 9 -37 �English 12: Read pp. 9 -16, 22 -28, 33 -37. The skipped sections cover Annette marrying Mr. Mason and then Aunt Cora sending Antoinette off to a convent school.