Wide Sargasso Sea
1. Setting and characterization are inextricably linked throughout the text of this novel. Discuss and analyze how setting is a dominant factor in this text. Additionally, discuss the paradoxical perception that is Rochester(white, British lens) has of the West Indies and the concept of the "exotic" or "the Other."
2. Madness is a powerful motif throughout this text. Dissect the madness of Annette(Antoinette's mother) and of Antoinette(Bertha). Is madness inherent, or is it acquired through events and circumstances?
1. The characters of Wide Sargasso Sea are very much products of their environment. I think a major part of the environment the characters exist in is that there are two classes on the island, white ex-slave owners and black former slaves. The main characters, specifically Antoinette have trouble fitting into either of these categories. In Antoinette's case this makes her an outcast, there are only a few people who are able to accept her because she is shunned by the black islanders for being white, and shunned by the British for her family's history of madness. This is why she constantly struggles with ridicule in this class-divided setting. Rochester, her husband, comes from England and therefore does not understand the West Indies very well. Coming from a colonial world power, his perception of the islands is based on what he thinks is a superior point of view.
ReplyDelete1. The setting unsettles and changes both of the main characters. Antoinette and her family are looked down on because of their history, and it causes them to be isolated and driven to madness. Rochester is tempted and out of his comfort zone by the new setting, and it causes him to do things that he would not normally do. The setting sets the stage and is a major cause of the various tragedies in this story. Rochester's view of the West Indies being "exotic" helps to set up the events in the book, as he can not tell who to trust or listen to. This is the same for Antoinette, as she is blinded by Rochester and the other English and she does not know who to trust.
ReplyDelete2. The madness in this book seems to be both inherent and acquired. Both Antoinette and her mother go through the same traumatic events, and both are eventually sent away and locked up. If they were in a better situation, perhaps their madness would be easier to deal with or would not happen at all, but their tragedies push them over the brink.
1. Setting makes or breaks a scenario, in the Wide Sargasso Sea setting is what creates the marked difference between the exotic, sultry, and intemperate West Indies and the cool, refreshed, and sensible England. These two places whose differences are so obviated give rise to two different characters. One being a young woman who is so close to breaking after the extemporaneous childhood that she experiences (her family's fall from grace, the short marriage, her mother's insanity). The other being a jealous, foolish young man who burns to prove himself to his father and will do so by accomplishing his every bidding. These two forces collide with such force as to inevitably leave marks on both of them. Indeed the characterization of the West Indies through both of their eyes leaves you as indifferent, it is a paradise that one despises and that the other feels is a prison, though a familiar and comfortable one. While the characterization of England leaves you, with Rochester, feeling home and content; and with Antoinette, feeling aloof and alone in solitude never ending. It is little surprise that Rochester should see the West Indies as exotic or entirely different from his home country and leaves little to the imagination in terms of Antoinette's madness.
ReplyDelete2. Rhys decides to do away with Bronte's explanations for madness and throws out the genetic roots; instead giving both the mother and daughter madness as a response to the immense stress they both suffered. She maintains that madness is inherent in the both of them since Annette is always on edge and it only takes a single tragedy to push her over the top; much the same strategy is used for Antoinette. Both suffered great amounts of stress, Annette from her marriage to an alcoholic husband who oft lived in England and stayed to little, as well as her position as a poor widow in a country that hated the rich later on; although her marriage to Mason brought back some stability in her life the destruction of Coulibri was the final straw. Antoinette on the other hand saw her inherent madness woken early in life by her mother's constant debacle with inner turmoil and it only accentuated as she spend more and more time alone during her childhood until her only friend robbed her and the estate she had called home all her life burned. This laid the groundwork for the same life her mother had left; a life of self-judgement and lack of confidence in light of strange and sometimes hateful surroundings. It is unsurprising that she eventually erupted when England and the separation from her home country became too much for her. To resume; madness is inherent, but not immediate, it lurks beneath the surface rearing its ugly head everyone and again (Antoinette's sudden change of thought for marriage, and Annette's sudden wish to leave Coulibri), but it only takes one event to send a person's mind hurtling out of control.
1. Throughout the novel, setting is a dominant factor because it determines all of the characters' thoughts and feelings. Annette feels trapped and vulnerable while she is in Jamaica because she is a white, former slave owner, who is living in a predominantly black island. She wants to leave and begs Mr. Mason to do so because she senses the tension growing and fears for the worst, which ultimately ensues when her house burns down and Pierre is killed. As for Rochester, setting is very crucial to his happiness because while he is in Jamaica and away from England, he feels lonely and does not enjoy life much at all. He wants to go back to what he is familiar with in England. In England his status makes him respected, but in Jamaica his status makes him hated. In addition, Rochester's perception of the West Indies is that it is a lonely and mysterious place. He always finds himself wandering about aimlessly, searching for happiness or a valuable way to spend his time. He cannot find solace in just about anything while in the West Indies. He longs to go back to England. He does not fit in with the "exotic" because of his skin color and the fact that he is British. He is constantly excluded and he feels isolated. He did not ask for what was given to him and he feels trapped as a result.
ReplyDelete2. Annette's madness is very easy to dissect because there are very significant events in the novel that lead the reader to believe that her madness was acquired through her circumstances. Annette was constantly feeling trapped in Jamaica and she begged Mr. Mason to leave so that she could have a change, as she called it. Everyone in her family could feel the tension growing and she was the only advocate for trying to escape it. Therefore, since she was consistently ignored and her needs were never addressed, her mental state started to deteriorate. As the novel progressed, the house burned down and Pierre died and she ultimately lost all sanity. Annette was devastated by the loss of her son and furious with Mr. Mason for not letting her escape to safety while she had the opportunity. I feel as though these events and her overall circumstances throughout her life led to her madness in the end. Antoinette's madness is similar because it was caused in part by her circumstances but different in that she seemed to have suffered in silence for most of the novel. She never really pleaded for a change until she had to ask Christophine to make Rochester love her again. Before this, Antoinette faced a life of suffering because she was oppressed by the other people on the island for her whole life. However, even before Rochester was in the picture, other people noticed that her mental state was deteriorating and that she may have started to head down the same road as her mother. Despite all of the signs, Rochester was set to marry her and he had no idea of what he was in for. This marriage was dumped upon him and he had no real connection with Antoinette. He could never love her because he never really knew her and never took the chance to get to know her. His lack of effort in the relationship pushed Antoinette to the limits of her sanity and in the end she could not deal with the neglect anymore. She was experiencing what her mother had felt and she did not know how to handle it because she did not know what was going on. It seems that part of her madness is inherent, but it is hard to believe that her circumstances played no role in her overall mental condition.
2. Much of the character development in Wide Sargasso Sea is based on the motif of madness. One of our main characters, Antoinette, had spent much of her life surrounded and affected by madness. An early example of this would be the man who used to be her neighbor, but later walked off into the ocean and never came back. But more important to her character was her mother, Annette’s madness. Annette was known for spending much of her time pacing about the glacis and being stared or laughed at by the locals. It is possible that she went mad as a result of her husband’s incessant alcoholism and eventual death, but I tend to think this is not the case. This is for the same reason I think that Antoinette’s madness was inherent. Some will assert that the issue was her environment and upbringing, and that may well have been the author’s intent, but from a modern perspective we know that madness is generally inherited genetically.
ReplyDelete1. The setting dramatically affects characters mindsets. For example Annette goes mad after they leave their home Coulubre. This could partially be because of her son Pierre's death and partially because of the comfortability she had in that home and was deeply saddened when it burned. Antoinette is very comfortable in Jamaica as well and is happy in her surroundings. She becomes mad when she is forced to go to
ReplyDeleteEngland. This is mainly because she is now forced to live in a room with Grace Poole and is not allowed to leave but is is also partially because she has been ripped away everything she has ever known. Rochester sees the island natives as being uncivilized because they are not from England. He thinks that the obeah is very strange and primitive and looks down upon it and everyone on the island and their superstitions. He doesn't appreciate the way Christophine speaks to him either for example when she say that her coffee is "bull's blood and not that horse piss that English lady's drink." Rochester also does not understand why they let their dresses drag through the dirt and even after Antionette explains it he thinks that it is a stupid custom. Overall Rochester sees Jamaica as a poor attempt of copying England and can't wait to return which might be why he never truly connects with Antoinette.
2. Annette most likely wasn't completely sane from the start however how many of us really are. Annette was driven to utter madness by several events that even one of which could rive someone crazy. From the start she is already much younger than her first husband Mr. Cosway and has to deal with people judging her because of this. Then the slaves are freed and her husband drinks himself to death leaving her no way to provide for her family. To make matter's worse she finds out that her son Pierre as some mental disability and will never be a normal child. This is when she starts talking to herself. What drives her completely over the edge is her child dying and the loss of the one constant in her life: her home. I don't think anyone could go through this an not go crazy. Antoinette has a similar path to madness. She doesn't really have a parental figure, is forced to move homes several times, is forced into marriage, her husband cheats on her and is forced to move to England and locked in a room as a prisoner. There is no way to go through these events and keep your sanity as it seems there is no one who loves her and that she is a prisoner. Thus at least in these two poor women's cases madness is acquired and not inherent.
1. The setting plays a significant role throughout the duration of this novel. For example, Antoinette loved the house she lived in with her mother. It was large and had a beautiful garden that she admired. However, as time progresses the house begins to deteriorate, similar to the way Annette's mental health deteriorates. Once Annette marries Mr. Mason, things begin to look up again because he is able to take care of them and, ultimately, restores them as well as the house. Despite this, the house ends up being burnt down after the Emancipation Act. The destruction of the house correlates with the destruction of Annette's mental health. Her son, Pierre dies because of the fire and Antoinette's childhood home becomes just a memory. As the novel progresses, Antoinette finds herself living with her Aunt Cora, and eventually marrying Rochester. What is interesting about the marriage is that Rochester feels that the island life is like a "dream" , whereas Antoinette dreams of England. They both want what the other has, yet when they get it they are not satisfied. Meaning, when Rochester is honeymooning with Antoinette he enjoys the island but wishes to return to his home in England. Similarly, when Antoinette is living on Rochester's estate in England, she does not believe that she is actually in England. Her perception of England is mistaken, and as a result, she refuses to accept her residence in England. While in England, she is locked away and treated like a caged animal. That being said, she begins to act like one. Antoinette is depicted as a deranged woman, whose only escape from her harsh reality is through suicide.
ReplyDelete2. The madness that is evident throughout the novel seems to be mainly circumstantial. There is no doubt that the traumatic experiences Annette went through affected her mental health. She was unhappy in Jamaica and sensed trouble. However, her new husband, Mr. Mason, refused to leave. When her house is set ablaze, she ends up losing all of her belongings, her son, and her sanity. From this moment on Annette is never the same woman that she was prior to the fire. She refuses to see Antoinette, and even threatens to kill her husband. In this sense, I think that the experiences she went through were the main contributors to her mental decay. Similarly, Antoinette’s madness seems to have been the result of some life-altering experiences. Antoinette not only lost her father, her childhood home and her brother, but she indirectly lost her mother too. After Annette became mad, she was no longer the mother that she had been to Antoinette. Antoinette experienced a lot of loss at a young age, and this type of trauma can burden anyone throughout their entire life. Despite everything she lost, she gained a husband filled with no love for her and a room where she would be locked away and out of sight. Antoinette was never nurtured and tried to depend on others to sustain her happiness. However, her mother, her husband, and even Christophine all let her down. She was dehumanized and could never recover from the illness that captured her mental well being. Thus, Antoinette’s madness was slower to develop, but I think both her and her mother’s insanity was due to their circumstances.
1. Setting is a dominant factor in Wide Sargasso Sea because Antoinette had many events happen that progressed her character in the story. This took place not long after the Emancipation Act, and there were still many problems within the settings. Antoinette liked certain parts of Jamaica, and it was removed from her life mentally and physically as she became more mentally ill throughout the novel. Part 2 moves to Granbois, which is where the Cosway estate is located. This is just outside of the town Massacre. Granbois is known as a stronghold for the indigenous Caribbean people at this time. Being here further deteriorates Antoinette's health. The story ends in Rochester's estate, but we do not hear about much of the setting because "Bertha" is locked in the attic. The impact that Rochester has on the West Indies is important because he is the main cause of Antoinette's madness throughout the text. Rochester is an overall negative character to her health in the story when he cheats on Antoinette. He causes the exotic people to feel inferior when he constantly looks down on their traditions and heritage. Although he is supposed to look like a genuine person because of his white and British lens, he is actually a main cause of Antoinette's downfall. When Antoinette and Rochester both go to each other's respected “home,” they both grow cold and become uncomfortable with one another. They both feel like they are trapped when they are in the other person’s world, but Rochester eventually wins and locks Antoinette in his attic.
ReplyDelete2. Madness is a very significant in the story because both Antoinette and her mother became mentally ill or “mad” at a point in their lives. Madness was something that surrounded Antoinette her entire life, because she had to witness her mother’s downfall before hers even took place. Having two mad parents, (according to Daniel) it seems predictable that Antoinette would also become mad after being raised by two mentally unstable people. Antoinette was also never able to let go of past events from her childhood, which is why she is able to relive the events of her life. One could say that Antoinette’s madness began after the fire that killed her bird, her brothers, and her home. This was the first huge conflict in her life that she had to overcome. Antoinette was also treated badly when she was forced to marry a man she did not even know if she loved, and was forced to live a life she did not want. Both her and her mother were treated poorly by their husbands, which has forced both women to become mentally unstable. Antoinette was pushed over the edge by constant heartbreak and disappointment, which is why she eventually became “mad” and was unable to communicate with others because of the lack of respect that she was given over the years.
ReplyDelete1. Setting in this novel conveys the emotions of the characters. Antoinette is from colorful Jamaica, and Rochester is from dreary and grey England. These two characters in turn are very much the opposite. Antoinette, at the start of the novel, is caring and wants only to be loved. She has friends and is friendly with the workers in her house. Because Antoinette is different from the other people that live on the island- she is a rich, white Jamaican- she is often hated by people for things that aren’t her doing or in her control. Her racial difference from the setting, is one of the things that cause her to go mad. Rochester, from plain England, has a different view on things. He wants money and business and only lusts, not loves. His being from England makes it hard for him to adapt to Jamaica, and to his wife. He starts out his marriage being ill from his new environment, and never grows to love it or his wife. Mr. Rochester never learns to adapt because he thinks that Jamaica is a dream. He thinks that everything is too vivid. He also doesn’t understand how Antoinette never tries to act superior towards the staff. He believes that because they are “exotic” or “the other” he must be above them. The the setting and this concept also display how hard and unloving the character Mr. Rochester is.
2. Annette and Antoinette's madness are very similar, however there are some distinct differences. Neither of the two had always been mad, they acquired it after years of neglect and mistreatment. Antoinette remembers when she was young her mother would show signs of insanity; she would push Antoinette away, leave her on her own, and pace day and night. Annette was often the subject of gossip which made her feel isolated and hated by her neighbors. Her husband was also a drunkard who neglected her and obviously did not lover her. Annette also lost her son to the hatred the Jamaicans had for her family. Antoinette on the other hand had no signs of insanity as a child. She was caring towards her friends and the people that worked for her family. Much like her mother however, she wasn’t always showed the same love. Antoinette experiences a great amount of solitude, and her husband, Rochester, didn’t fulfill her need to be loved. From the start he married her as a business deal and never tried to show her any compassion. He never tried to understand her and soon locked her up. Antoinette went mad because she had no one who cared about her.
1. The main characters seemed to be greatly affected and shaped by their environment. There are two main groups of people who live in the Antoinette’s home village; white ex slave owners and former black slaves. This forms hostility and a lack of comfort for Antoinette’s family. Being a black woman, Annette feels like an outcast because of the prejudice she experiences for being married into a white ex slave owner family. Antoinette also feels outcasted by the similar feeling that she doesn’t feel like she fits in because of her black mother and white father. This causes both of them to live a removed and hostile lifestyle. Rochester seems very conflicted by his environment because he isn’t used to the cultural differences that he experiences on the islands outside of England and that causes his personality to be very distraught and removed from Antoinette.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the madness shared by Annette and Antoinette was greatly acquired through events and circumstances. Annette was a victim of racism and prejudice in Jamaica because she was a black woman from Martinique, contrasting the white ex slave owner families that lived in the village including the family she married into. Being the epicenter of gossip, she felt removed and lonely from the women in the village as well as from her family. Also, after the fire, which in itself is a tragic event for Annette, she’s left by Mr. Mason to live with a couple that mock her. You can see in Antoinette’s childhood memories that Annette seemed like a woman suffering from depression. Because of what Antoinette saw and experienced as a child it probably shaped the way Antoinette was as she grew up. You see her constantly confused by her mother’s actions and not understanding why she did what she did. When she gets to see her mom before she goes to the convent instead of her mother hugging her and being happy to see her, she pushes her away and cries. This event along with seeing her mother depressed in her younger memories most likely spiraled her into the same type of depression and “madness”. Antoinette was removed from her family after the fire and went to the convent. Soon after she was forced into a marriage that you see her doubt right before the actual wedding. Her husband, Rochester doesn’t really seem to understand her and he even calls her by a different name; Bertha. I think the idea that he wanted to change her could have caused her acrid feeling towards him. For both Annette and Antoinette, their circumstances and the events that happened throughout their life in the book is what molded them into “mad” women.
1. Setting plays a key role in Wide Sargasso Sea, the characters very much products of their environments.The three different parts of the book are all set in different locations and that can be connected to the different tones in each part. The first part of the book, set in Jamaica, first at Coulibri and then in Spanish Town, gives background on the racism and separation that Antoinette feels and her mother goes mad as a result of. In Part Two, the reader experiences Granbois from Mr. Rochester’s perspective, giving it a strange, exotic appearance. His interaction with this remote island can be compared to his relationship with Antoinette. At first, unfamiliar but grows to see and love the beauty, thinking it a “dream”, but when he is given perspective(Antoinette’s familial insanity) he grows to hate her and the island around him. Coming from a major colonial power, England,Rochester has conflicting feelings towards the natives of the West Indies, not hating them because they’re black, but hating them all the same and looking down on them. In the third and final part of the book, Antoinette is now in England. She does not believe she is in England when she is in her attic room, believing them to have gotten lost on the voyage over. This is representative of her madness. The reader understands she is insane but she does not; shown when she does not remember attacking Mason or recognise that she herself is the “ghost” in the house.
ReplyDelete2. Annette is left alone, friendless, and poor by her drunk slave-owning husband’s death. Feeling trapped in Jamaica, she faces ridicule and racial injustice by the Creole natives. As a result, Annette recedes into herself, seemingly becoming depressed, always working in the garden despite the heat and standing alone on the glacis. She catches herself on the verge of madness when she realises how “uncivilised” Antoinette has become. She marries Mr. Mason who does not understand the racial discrimination she faces, refusing her pleadings to leave. When Coulibri burns down and Pierre dies, she can not take it and explodes, attempting to kill Mr. Mason before she is sent to the country to be looked after by others, becoming even more insane. Antoinette’s tragic childhood could not be understood by anyone, leaving her to deal with the complicated feelings herself. When Rochester starts ignoring her after getting Daniel Cosway’s letter, Antoinette starts to feel abandoned and worthless. She goes insane, Rochester taking her back to England and locking her up in the attic room. I believe that whilst madness can appear inherent because both mother and daughter fall prey to it, both are surrounded by tragic circumstances which both create and manifest the madness within both Annette and Antoinette.
1. Setting has a definite effect on the way in which characters of the story are characterized. As a result of setting, two different mindsets exist towards the characters in the book, which especially affect Antoinette and her family. The first of these is the West Indies at the time of the Emancipation act, which divided the island between the former slave owners and the emancipated slaves. Antoinette and her family, along with any European, become outsiders, as they are suddenly the minority in Jamaica, and as a result, are ridiculed during the events of the book. Proof is Antoinette and whites being labeled as "white cockroaches." The other characteristic is the notion that Creoles aren't really Europeans in the eyes of europeans. This is demonstrated as Rochester views Antoinette as more of an islander than of European stock, which leads to the next portion of the question, as Rochester views the West Indies as exotic and foreign even though europeans of the same nationality dwell within the islands. Rochester's views are tied to superstition such as voodoo and local beliefs which surround the islands.
ReplyDelete2. Madness, in the story, is the result of the events that Annette and Antoinette go through, as opposed to inheritance. For Annette, the death of Mr. Cosway, the degradation of the Coulibri estate and income, and the death of Pierre were critical in leading her to madness. For Antoinette, it was the departure from Coulibri, possibly the death of Pierre, her marriage to Rochester, and being sent to England to be forever enclosed within a room. Obviously, having no social interactions and being enclosed within a room at all times, would lead to madness. This is also not to mention that both Annette and Antoinette had been in a place where they felt unwelcome and like foreigners. The events undergone by both characters have profound psychological and traumatic effects, and if severe enough, would have led to some insanity in any person. Proof that the madness is not inherited, is seen in the fact that Anette led a "sane" life before the death of Mr. Cosway and the fact that Antoinette was perfectly sane up until her marriage to Rochester. In addition, Antoinette tried to have a happy marriage, but ultimately the incompatibility between her and rochester destroyed her emotionally.
1. The setting links to the characterization throughout the whole text of the novel. When there is a change in setting, there also seems to be a change in the characterization of all the people in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Antoinette is a happy and content girl in the Coulibri Estate. She knew how to get around, where to go in the woods,and how to get to the bathing pool. Antoinette was comfortable because this Estate was what she knew to be her home. Then there was a switch in setting after Coulibri had been burnt down. Antoinette's brother had died, her mother had been sent away due to her madness, and she had been placed into the hands of her Aunt Cora. When Antoinette was being watched by her Aunt Cora, she attended a convent school. Although this school was not her home, this new setting still pleased Antoinette and made her feel welcomed. Then the novel switches into Rochester's point of view and the setting is now in the village of Massacre where they are spending their honeymoon. At first Antoinette is happy in this setting because she is still used to the West Indies. This setting is familiar to Antoinette yet unfamiliar to Rochester. However as time goes on and the relationship between Rochester and Antoinette begins to fall apart, the setting begins to be more unfamiliar to Antoinette. Towards the end of the novel, Antoinette's marriage causes her to go so mad that she isn't even saddened by the departure from her home country. It is when Antoinette and Rochester go to England that she fully loses who she once was and is not able to familiarize herself to the country. For Rochester, the settings play a reverse role on his characterization. While Rochester is in Jamaica, he feels isolated and distant from his true home. He even tries one day to venture into the woods and ultimately got lost. Rochester, however, becomes more comfortable when he returns to England and continues his life by locking up Antoinette and continuing to act as if he were a normal man. The experiences that each character has in a specific setting influences their characterization when they are there. If one has a bad experience in a certain setting, then they will act differently than if they were in a setting with positive experiences. When Mr. Rochester is in the West Indies, his outlook on the culture and people or “the Other” is different than Antoinette’s. Mr. Rochester is confused with the isolated neighbors, the landscape of the country, the Caribbean magic some inhabitants practice, the way ladies let their dresses sweep the floor, and so on. Since Mr. Rochester is an Englishman, he views the West Indies as a very foreign place to him. He is not accustomed and sometimes not accepting of his wife’s homeland.
ReplyDelete2. Madness is discussed throughout the novel and is usually linked to Annette or Antoinette. Annette’s madness was a result of many factors. Her first husband had died by alcohol, she was left with no money at the Coulibri Estate, her house was burnt down and killed her son Pierre, and her husband sent her away after she began to lose herself. After Annette started acting mad, she was spent to live the rest of her life with a black couple who didn’t treat her very well. All of these events caused Annette to lose herself and act as someone she wasn’t. Like Annette, Antoinette’s madness was a result of many factors. These factors include experiencing her brother die and mom turn mad, being forced into a marriage, having a husband who didn’t love her, having a husband who cheated on her with a servant, and listening to Christophine by continuously drinking rum. The madness of Annette and Antoinette did not happen because it was inherent. Both of their madnesses came from the unfortunate events in their lives that they had to experience. Annette and Antoinette are both similar in that their madness was in part due to the fact that their husbands were neglectful of them and they were sent to a location that wasn’t pleasing or familiar for them after they became mad.
1. Setting plays a very large role in this novel. Because of the time period, there is conflict right from the start. The Emancipation Act caused many freed slaves to become violent towards previous slave owners. As seen when Anette's home is burnt down by previous slaves because of her being a slave owner in Jamaica. Anette knows that the freed slaves could potentially become violent, but Mr. Mason, being a foreigner and not knowing the people very well, does not believe her. Anette then becomes insane due to the fact that she saw her home burning down and held her dead child in her arms. This is solely because of the social conflict in Jamaica. Setting also plays a huge role in the relationship between Antoinette and Mr. Rochester. Throughout their entire marriage, Mr. Rochester never felt as though he were safe or comfortable where he was. He did not like the people or the customs of being in the West Indies. That then played a huge role in whether or not he accepted who Antoinette was. He never accepted her and the only times that he did was when he was imagining her as a young English woman. He even began to call her Bertha, totally disregarding her culture and what her real name meant to her. Also, Antoinette always had a misconstrued vision of what Mr. Rochester’s home was like. As well as Mr. Rochester, who never took the time to understand Antoinette’s home and get to know the people. I wonder if they had taken the time to understand and accept where the other had come from, if then their marriage would have been more successful? In addition, while having a discussion with Antoinette, Christophine even questions whether or not England is a real place. Christophine always had such a strong impact on Antoinette, so her questioning these things would obviously have an impact on Antoinette, which would make her relationship with Rochester even more difficult. Also, while Antoinette is in Rochester's estate, even though she is insane, she always feels as though it is a dream. She refuses to believe that she is in England and thinks that they have stayed in Jamaica. This then contributes to her worsening insanity.
ReplyDelete2. Anette had always lived a difficult life. She experienced so many shifts in her life that it was almost inevitable that she was eventually going to break down. She had gone from poverty to wealth multiple times and knowing her true identity would have always been difficult. I think that Anette was not born mad, but was driven to madness. That being said, I think that Antoinette being exposed to her mother’s breakdown at such a young age, she may have developed the characteristics that her mother had which impacted the rest of her life. I do not think that Antoinette’s madness is similar to her mother's, which makes me believe that it is not hereditary. If Antoinette had not seen what her mother and had not been predisposed to that specific type of behavior, I think that she would have been fine. I believe that when she broke down because of Mr. Rochester’s infidelity, she had a choice to make. She could either hold a grudge and stay filled with hate, or she could try to make things work with her husband. Her difficult childhood and her mother’s impact on her made her choice to stay hateful inevitable, which meant that her insanity was bound to happen. Therefore, I believe that Anette’s madness as well as Antoinette’s were both due to circumstance and not genetics. I do believe, however, that Antoinette was more predisposed to the madness because of her mother. I do wonder, however, if Mr. Rochester had not committed adultery, would Antoinette still have slipped into madness?
1.The setting of this novel is extremely important to the overall storyline. From the beginning of the novel, the setting helps the reader to decipher what sort of environment Antoinette and her family were living in. There is major conflict from the moment the novel starts. This is because the Emancipation Act had just been passed in Jamaica. This meant that a lot of freed slaves were looking to retaliate against their previous owners. Unfortunately, Antoinette’s parents had owned slaves,which left her family in a challenging position. The newly freed slaves acted quickly and lit Antoinette’s house on fire. These actions are extremely cruel and harsh. In some ways, by setting the novel in Jamaica, the author is able to use its beautiful scenery to contrast how terribly some people were treated in the island. When most people think of Jamaica they think of the beautiful views and island life. During this time period, there was a lot more occurring on the island. Instead of depicting typical island life, the author is able to draw attention to the oppression of some individuals. Similarly by choosing Jamaica as the setting, the author is able to express how little individuals really know about the island. Mr. Rochester helps to depict this idea. From the moment he sets foot on the island, he feels as though he is an outsider looking in. He tried his best to admire the beauty the island had to offer ,but he never fully immersed himself into their culture. He thought that their practices were odd, such as, a woman lifting their skirt to show respect. He tried to make her into a proper English lady, this can be seen through his attempt to call her Bertha. He did not seem to understand that culture has meaning to her.
ReplyDelete2.In Wide Saragasso Sea by Jean Rhys, the theme of madness is continually discussed. Rhys utilizes two characters to bring attention to madness. Both Antoinette and her mother experience traumatic events that cause them to become mad. Annette lived through a time that was very challenging. She witnessed the decline of her home and the people around it. This was a lot for her to handle and she tried her best efforts to look past the bad times. She eventually marries Mr. Mason. She thought that marrying him would help solve all of her problems. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Annette and her family ran into trouble with some newly freed slaves because her and her husband used to own slaves. They decided to light Annette’s house on fire. The family fled and found a place to stay. Annette lost every trace of sanity when she found out that her son, Pierre, was killed in the fire. This is the event that causes her madness. She was consumed with the thought of her son’s death. She believes that it was Mr. Mason’s fault and tries to kill him. Mr. Mason decides to send her away to ensure his safety. Antoinette decides to visit her mother,but is not fully aware of her condition. At first, her mother was thrilled to see her, but Antoinette made the mistake of saying that Pierre had died. Annette lost control and thrusted Antoinette on the floor. In some ways Annette is portrayed as this cruel and crazy individual ,but after further analysis, one will find that she is haunted by the loss of her son. Antionette also experiences loss ,which drives her to the point of madness. She was under the impression that when she married Mr.Rochester he would love her. This was not the case, he actually ignored her for a majority of their marriage. She tried her best efforts to make him love her ,but no matter what she did he did not reciprocate the feelings. In some ways, I feel that lack of affection caused Antionette to go insane, but I also feel she was more willing to accept her madness because her mother was crazy too. Therefore, I feel that Annette went because she experienced too much and change and that she had a major effect on her daughter’s sanity.
1. The setting in the novel plays an integral role in revealing the characterizations and feelings of the main characters. Annette and Antoinette both live in Jamaica where they are surrounded by bright green colors and beautiful landscapes. However, this serves as a differentiation of characters and their setting because while Annette and Antoinette are living in scenic views of Jamaica, they are deeply troubled by the violent ex-slaves who wish to punish them by burning their house. This demonstrates how things, like Jamaica, may look beautiful and peaceful on the outside, but are truly eroded and broken down on the inside, like the destructive ex-slaves. Also, in the lively West Indies, Antoinette has more room to move about and flee to others when she needs help. Contrastingly, when she unwillingly moves to England with Rochester where the setting is overcast and gray and she is kept up in an attic with essentially no room to move. This setting shows how Rochester has a tendency to control and confine specific areas of his life to put them aside and hope they go away. Through his lens, the reader is able to see his perspective of feeling like the “exotic” or “the other” as he is one of the very few white people on the island. He feels uncomfortable like he does not fit in well or like an outsider, almost like he is in a very contrasting black and white world; if he is not like ex-slaves, he is not accepted. Hence, this stark contrast and uncomfort is one of the factors which push him to move back to England where he finds himself back in a comfortable gray, middle ground where he feels at ease.
ReplyDelete2. In Wide Sargasso Sea, madness is one of the key characteristics of Annette, Antoinette’s mother, and Antoinette, otherwise known as Bertha. The author first introduces the concept of madness with Annette who endured a fire set ablaze to her house by ex-slaves, which was also the same fire where her son died, and was suppressed from leaving Jamaica by her husband, Mr. Mason. A culmination of her genetic mental instability and the unfortunate circumstances drove Annette to become subdued and insane. These events and their unfoldings are seen through the eyes of Antoinette as a young child. Hence, Antoinette is affected psychologically and is evident through her married adult life with Mr. Rochester. While it may seem as though Antoinette’s madness was caused by her mother’s genes for mental instability, she too had many of her own circumstances which negatively affected her. Antoinette was forced to marry Mr. Rochester who was irresolute as he cheated on her and called her a different name. She was so troubled that she went to Christine for some remedy to make him love her again, but got so caught up and paranoid about the outcome. Later, she was forced and sedated to moving to England where she was locked up like an animal and kept from any source of civilization to the point where she believes she is still in Jamaica. Hence, Antoinette becomes like her mother and is driven to insanity based on her circumstances and leads to her own destruction.
1. The setting of the story begins in Coulibri, Jamaica. The West Indies being a place full of beauty and color gave a pleasant backdrop to Antoinette’s upbringing. For Annette, on the other hand, she watched her hometown evolve massively as slavery was ended. Thus, making it a place where she received so much hatred and judgement. Antoinette on her own found a love for her home and the woods she traveled. She was then teared apart from the only place she knew due to the fire that destructed her home, also killed her brother. Fastforwarding Antoinette and Rochester, her newly wedded husband, then travel to Granbois, Dominica to their honeymoon home. Antoinette being well acquainted with the West Indies feels very comfortable there, while to Rochester this is all new to him. All the brightness and the island feel is a culture shock to him. By the end of their stay here Antoinette isn’t even sad about leaving her homeland. There she was emotionally tortured by Rochester, cheated on, and accused of being mad. Rochester then takes Antoinette to Thornfield Hall, England. This is where she is truly mad and feels like an alien there. She isn’t even allowing herself to believe where she is, it isn’t a home to her it is more of a prison. Through Rochester’s white, british lens he can never truly grasp the life of living in West Indies. He can’t fully adapt to the exotic lifestyle because England is what he knows best.
ReplyDelete2. The madness of Annette develops over time as she has a mentally challenged son she stresses over, is in an unhappy marriage, and is judged by everyone around her. She was ridiculed for everything she did and said and had rumors spread by the townspeople about her. A fire was set killing the main focus of her life being her son, Pierre. This was the last straw for her driving her completely mad as she had nothing else to live for or keep her grounded. I think growing up in this madness contributed to Antoinette becoming mentally insane because from the beginning she grew up around her mother's strange habits and lack of love. Thus, I think the madness was acquired through events and circumstances. First off, Antoinette grew up hearing the hatred everyone had towards their family and her only friend ended up stealing her clothes and in part one we see this friend throws a jagged stone at Antoinette's face while her house is lit on fire. She could never fit into a particular group in her community leading to her always feeling better off alone. Antoinette then, wakes up from an illness to be told she is being married and this marriage lacks love and passion. Leading her to beginning to display similar habits to her mother like laughing and talking to herself and the blank stare in her eye. We see this progresses as Rochester doesn't love her, Christophine gives her alcohol and teaches her of the Obeah potion, and finally Rochester cheats on her with Amelie. This is the final draw for Antoinette and this is when we see her animalistic traits beginning to come out. In the end, we see her madness has caused her to be unable to tell between dream and reality. She also begins to lie for no reason at all. Therefore I think that the experiences and trauma Antoinette and her mother went through are what causes them to be mad.
1. The setting of the novel can often dictate the mood and tone of the novel, and Wide Sargasso Sea is no exception. We first see Antoinette grow up in the lush and exotic nature of the West Indies, but this is contrasted by the pain she feels of being an outsider as a white person in a predominantly black setting. This tension is brought to a head when angry former slaves burn down their house, which is a traumatizing experience early on for Antoinette. The perspective switches Part II to Mr Rochester, who is experiencing the island setting for the first time, and sees it as foreign and uncivilized and ties it to the local lore of voodoo and magic. He cannot relate to another culture and therefore sets it aside in the category of "the other". Towards the end, when Mr Rochester takes Antoinette away to England, this feeling switches as Mr Rochester feels at home again in his native country, and Antoinette (now Bertha) is locked away, cold and isolated, not truly able to believe she is no longer in Jamaica.
ReplyDelete2. Madness, at least in this story, can be attributed to many different factors. Annete had definitely lived a hard life. She had to adjust from a transition of going from wealth to poverty, dealt with the death of both her alcoholic husband and her son, her house had burnt down, and finally her husband sending her away after she was deemed "mad". Antoinette faced this issues alongside her mother, and every struggle that Anette was put through, Antoinette had to face herself alongside witnessing someone else's breakdown. To be at such a young age and deal with the same struggles that an adult deals with would probably be twice as difficult to deal with, and Antoinette proves that that is the case. This madness was not passed down from mother to daughter through genetics, but through shared experience. Later on in life, Antoinette experiences a pain that she faces alone, which is the infidelity of her husband, Mr Rochester. This is the straw the breaks the camel's back, and Antoinette descends into true madness, just like her mother, and Mr Rochester, unsure of what to do with her, takes her back to England and locks her away, a strange parallel to the relationship between her mother and her second husband.
1) Setting is a dominant factor in this novel because it parallels the feelings of the characters. When Rochester first gets to the island with his new wife, it is raining and gloomy. Rochester is unsure about the place when he arrives and the weather matches his uneasy feeling. Once he becomes more comfortable with the place, the weather calms down and the sun comes out and all seems perfect. But when Rochester runs out of the house and gets lost after he sees the little girl run away, the new scene reflects his feelings of being afraid and something not being right. He knew that something had happened in that part of the island just like he knew something was happening to his marriage. When Antoinette is on the island, she is happy at first but as time goes on, she realizes that she is very unhappy and no longer had the same feelings about the island. In England, a confusing place for Antoinette, she too is confused and goes crazy being in a foreign land where she knows no one and cannot go out to see the world. She once said that England does not seem like a real place and being in England altered her reality to the point where she lost her mind and could no longer distinguish real life from what went in in her head.
ReplyDelete2) Annette’s madness came from a long traumatic time in her life. When Annette’s husband was still alive, he was constantly drunk and not there to comfort her or provide a stable household for Antoinette to grow up in. After he died Annette did the best she could with little to no money. She was very depressed and had a difficult time with the amount of loss and the lack of money. Meeting Mr. Mason sparked her happiness again for a short time but it did not last after their wedding when he did not listen to what Annette had to say. Annette warned Mr. Mason about talking freely and sharing his opinions about the natives. Annette knew the people in their town and what their reactions would be toward Mr. Mason and his nonexistent filter. The money that Mr. Mason brought back into Annette’s life made her feel secure financially, but never physically. Annette’s madness grew especially after her son died from the fire. She never forgave Mr. Mason for not listening to her and she gradually lost her mind and became mad.
Antoinette's madness came from the lack of love and affection given to her by Rochester. Rochester tried to change who she was by constantly putting her down and calling her by a different name. By calling Antoinette “Bertha,” Rochester took away a piece of her identity that she could never replace. Her name was one of the only things she still had from her childhood. By taking that away from her, Rochester chipped away at Antoinette’s mentality until there was nothing left and she snapped. Being locked up and forbidden to leave did nothing to help her either. Antoinette’s reality was altered from being confined for so long. Not knowing exactly where she was messed with Antoinette’s head because she had never seen England and only heard stories about it. Living in a foreign place with foreign people confused her even more which added to her madness. She had little human contact and it was difficult for her to maintain her sense of mind while she was shut away. In Annette and Antoinette’s case madness is acquired through circumstances and events. Annette led a difficult life that ranged from poverty-stricken to well-off. The dramatic and traumatizing changes throughout her life challenged her too much and it ended up breaking her mentality and causing her to go mad. For Antoinette, her unstable life and rocky marriage and relationship with Rochester forced her to go crazy because of the lack of love and human contact once they locked her away.
2. Clearly the two characters Annette and Bertha both suffer from "madness" that quickly worsens as the novel continues. Although the origin of their madness could be argued from both sides, it seems that their madness mostly stems from events and difficult circumstances. If Annette and Antoinette circumstances were substantially better than what is was, possibly their madness would have never emerged. The two characters went through different traumatic events but in the end were both mentally unstable. For Annette, after suffering from the tragic loss of her husband, her son Pierre is assumed to be disabled which puts her at a loss. Afterwards, she began to show signs of "madness" as she began to talk to herself and is in her own world. Eventually, she loses her home, husband, and is alienated. Bertha went through similar events. She was teased when she was younger, lost her home, and forced into a loveless marriage. Bertha on the other hand shows signs of madness when she realizes how Rochester does not love her. These two characters were both heavily affected by isolation and not loved by their close ones. When Annette was shut out by the town community and Bertha loses her one friend Tia, they both had no one to really confide in or anyone to call their close friend. The combination of isolation, violence, and loveless marriages seem to cause them both mental breakdowns. In the midst of the loneliness, they become mentally unstable because the traumatic events triggers them into go into a world of their own. Especially Bertha, as she was locked in a room for years, she spirals deeper into madness. Therefore, these two characters simply became mad as their circumstances became more dire. The loneliness and hatred that they dealt with had severely impacted them into a state of insanity.
ReplyDelete2. The settings in the novel definitely had an effect on certain characters throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, when the estate was in shape, the Conway family was happy and content until the dead of the father. Afterwards there is only destruction and violence that surrounds their lives. Their house decays as the family struggles to blend in with the community. The family is unhappy and alone. The setting tends to correlate with the character’s feelings and the environment that they are in. Later on in the novel, when Rochester and Annette are married, they stay in Annette’s favorite place in Jamaica. In the beginning of their novel, Rochester and Annette are content with each other. However when Rochester meets Daniel Conway and sleeps with Amelie, the house becomes a dark and empty place. Annette begins to hate the house as their marriage continues to fail. Therefore the various settings throughout the novel has a connection with the plot of the story.
1.) Setting in Wide Sargasso Sea contributes majorly to the persona of the characters. In Coulibri, Antoinette’s mother felt imprisoned. The land itself was beautiful and exotic, but Annette’s life there felt desolate and destroyed. Facing racism and hate from society along with living in an unhappy marriage, Annette was stripped of any feeling of purpose or belonging she ever had. When the house burned down and Annette’s parrot fell, aflame with clipped wings, that represented Annette having her “wings” clipped by Mr. Mason and the control that this englishman had exerted on her. Coulibri represented a feeling of entrapment and helplessness. In part two, Antoinette is well in her comfort zone in Granbois. She leads Rochester here and is at home in beautiful and warm setting. However, as Rochester and Antoinette’s relationship spirals downward, this too embodies the racist and and divided aspect of Coulbri. By the time Rochester forces Antoinette to move to England, this place has been ruined for her.
ReplyDeleteIn part 3, the cold, grey, and dreary English setting represents what Rochester has become. He has no sympathy for Antoinette, just anger and hatred towards her. He embodies the cold and dark image of his beloved England. Additionally, Rochester’s views the West Indies and the “exotic” as inferior to England. Life in England and the way things work there are all he knows, therefore he believes Life in the West Indies is a less worth life. His “British lens” blurs reality, creating the false perception that the Englishman is a superior being.
2.) Throughout the novel, the theme of madness in Annette and Antoinette becomes increasingly apparent in their respective cases. I believe that in both Annette and Antoinette there existed a hereditary disfunction that drove them to ultimately become completely mad. However, I do think that the trauma that surrounded them throughout their lives served as a trigger for their inevitable downward spiral. For instance, Annette seemed almost entirely normal and sane at the beginning of the novel, but after Pierre’s tragic death and her entrapment of a marriage to Mr. Mason, her madness was triggered. This ultimately resulted in her death I do not think that such an abrupt change to a person can happen without the effect of outside circumstances. In Antoinette’s case, the reader was able to understand how normally her brain functioned from childhood and though most of adulthood. However, as she experienced tumultuous trauma time and time again, her inner madness became triggered. Beginning with her marriage to Rochester, the downward spiral of her brain started to become clear. By the time she was locked in a dark, windowless attic, the trauma was enough to drive her completely mad. Therefore, though I believe both Annette and Antoinette were previously prone to this disfunction, I do not think the extremity of their cases would have been possible without the impact of the trauma they faced.