The conflation of literary forms despite criticisms provides fruitful dimension to a novel and speaks to the fluidity of post-modern novelists and their contextual circumstance. Recognised by Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse is the emergence of the novel as ‘another kind of writing, as a…
Wide Sargasso Sea Essay Examples and Topics
by Jean Rhys
Isolation and the Coulibri Estate in Wide Sargasso Sea
4101
“Antoinette is trapped between two cultures, clearly without status, a condition which is clearly linked to her descent into madness” In light of this view, consider Rhys’ presentation and use of setting in Wide Sargasso Sea. Isolation is a key theme in wide Sargasso, and…
Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, an Indian Scholar, feminist critic and theorist, mentions in the Three Women’s Text and a Critique of British Imperialism that it is necessary to understand Imperialism to read 19th century British Literature, as England’s social mission was to spread imperialism. In this…
Antoinette spends most of her time in isolation. People despise her and her family. Her mother does not take care of her, caring instead of Pierre. The mother treats Antoinette as a shame and burden which she tries to get rid of. The only friend…
Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea: Struggles that Affect Identity
4114
Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea is a postcolonial novel set in Jamaica following the Emancipation Act of 1838, when slavery was outlawed in the British Empire. The story follows the life of an ex-slaveholder’s daughter, Antoinette. Many important themes are brought up in Wide Sargasso…
Independence and Freedom of Female Characters in Memoirs of Emma Courtney, Wide Sargasso Sea and I Love Dick
753
Throughout the years, it has been possible to appreciate how a great variety of styles and genres has developed within literature due to the influence of the literary waves. In this case, the issues of independence and freedom, which will be analysed in the selected…
“Antoinette can be read as a victim of a dominant discourse (a European, white male one at that), which discourages any syncretic possibilities.” Rhys adopts a dominant narrative voice in part two of the novel to stress the presiding nature of Rochester and thus the…
A Comparative Literary Critique of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea
876
Hailed as a feminist novel, Jane Eyre represents the Victorian female struggle for independence and autonomy. A bildungsroman, Bronte skilfully brings to light the oppression and inequality facing women in the 19th century, inspiring feminists and writers alike including the Creole writer Jean Rhys; author…
Jean Rhys’ novel Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette Cosway, during her childhood is discriminated for being “Creole” by the children she comes in contact with. Such discrimination leads to name calling such as “white cockroach” and “white nigger”. Antoinette later faces oppression by her husband, Mr….
Jean Rhys
English
Postmodern novel
Jamaica, Dominica and Thornfield Hall, 1830s–40s
October 1966
Daniel Cosway, Edward Rochester, Antoinette Cosway, Christophine, Annette Cosway
The novel explores relationships between men and women and discusses the themes of race, Caribbean history, and assimilation.