Wide Sargasso Sea is a three part book and is the prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre. It follows the life of Antoinette Mason, a beautiful, Creole woman, raised in the exotic Caribbean, who is betrothed to a man she hardly knows and has her future mapped out for her by others, namely her stepbrother. It journeys from her unusual and exotic upbringing in Martinique; an island in the Caribbean, to her meeting; courtship and marriage to Edward Rochester. The book’s descriptive quality gives the reader a true sense of the Caribbean and provides an amusing yet pitiful outlook, and the repercussions of, the difference between the cultures of England and that of the Caribbean. This is shown mainly in the relations between Mr Rochester and Antoinette, and also in Rochester’s attempt to adapt to this foreign lifestyle, after having been brought up to act in a more formal manner. It is an ingenuitive book, creating a strange and somewhat sad childhood for Antoinette. It is a passionate book, detailing the relationship between Rochester and Antoinette. It is an emotive book, describing her life in England under the power of her husband Edward Rochester.
The book both touches and delves deep into certain controversial issues, failed marriages, marriages formed for financial reasons, religion and black magic. Also, the issue of insanity is a key factor in this book. It covers the idea that perhaps someone is driven to become insane but also poses the question; it insanity an underlying idea? Is it hereditary? Can nothing be done to prevent it? The unknown woman named Bertha who was known as nothing more than Rochester’s demented wife and one of his most significant regrets is given a new voice in this imaginative and emotive piece of literature by Jean Rhys.
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4 comments:
So it raises lots of questions, surely the sign of a good book? When you write 'ingenuitive' do you mean 'ingenious'?
Is the culture clash the central theme of the novel? If it is then we can see R as a type representing Britain. So then is A just a representative character also? So do we not have to worry about them as characters in JE because they are being used differently in WSS?
i like the way you have written your review of the book, :D i found it interesting and i agree with your point that insanity forms a key theme and part of the novel. If Bertha hadn't gone mad then the story would have been much less interesting and they would've perhaps just lived happily ever after.
I like end of you review the most. Your use of rhetorical questions reminds me of a blurb in that part and I think you use them to good affect :)
i like this review, i like the way it is written and find it an interesting opinion on the book. just wondering do you feel any different about it now or still hold your first view about it being unnecessary and wrong to change people's views on jane eyre's charaters?
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