Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys, was published in 1966, nearly a hundred years after the publication of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It deals with the story of Bertha Mason, who in the novel is known as Antoinette and locates her journey from the Coulibri Estate in Jamaica to Thornfield Hall in England. While Mason’s side of the story is largely overlooked in Bronte’s novel, Rhys gives context to her possible identity and her ascension into madness.
Divided into three parts, the novel discusses different stages in Antoinette’s life. As a woman, living in an English colony in Jamaica, Antoinette faces alienation from both sides of society. She is also increasing at the mercy of men. While Antoinette in the novel is far from being a madwoman, the men around her use racial prejudices, common notion of female hysteria and the passing of estate through marriage, against her, eventually deciding the path that she is forced to take.
A deeper look
In the novel, Rhys does not explicitly mention Rochester or Thornfield Hall. Yet, in the last section of her novel, she presents a side of Jane Eyre from Bertha Mason’s perspective and the truth behind the activities that were used to label her as mad. She brings forward two main discourses- one of racial prejudice in Jane Eyre and the second of the “madwoman in the attic”.
Racial prejudice
The first refers to Rochester’s treatment of Antoinette. His behaviour towards her is influenced by his behaviour towards the Oriental other. For him, Antoinette is the racial other. His outlook on Jamaica is strikingly negative and his disdain towards her race influences his oppressive techniques including that of locking her on the top floor of his house. Antoinette becomes the “savage” whose body has to be regulated and cured by the White saviour. The racial discourse here is similar to that of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, where the savage tribe is regulated and looked down upon. Much like the treatment of the tribes by the imperialists, Rochester believes Antoinette to be his property and confines her in order to rectify all that is wrong with her.
The “madwoman in the attic”
The second refers to the discourse of female hysteria. In ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, Charlotte Perkins Gilman looks closely at this idea of confinement and hysteria. Women are regulated, confined and their lives are governed driving them towards insanity. This insanity is seen as a result of regulation and isolation. In Jane Eyre, Rochester confines Bertha Mason, isolating her from everyone other than Grace Poole. This forces her towards becoming the “savage” that Rochester had initially painted her as.
In the end, Mason, the Oriental, is replaced by Jane, who better fits the Victorian social order. While Mason is alive, their lives undergo a constant state of turmoil. Her presence causes a rupture in the societal order, one that is restored after her death and the entry of a woman who has been taught to suppress her passions and follow duty.
Other readings
Another interesting reading of Bertha Mason’s character is that she is actually Jane Eyre. She is the living embodiment of the part of Jane’s character that society is actively trying to subdue and repress. The wide passions that we see take over Jane, for example in her rebellious childhood and in her return to Rochester, are indications of a person who is ruled by their individual identity. Seeking escape from duty and servility, Bertha Mason represents the side of Jane Eyre that she spends her whole life-fighting. She is a representation of passion and pleasure that lurks like a monster through Thornfield Hall while Jane acts as a Governess channelling her duty and servility.
This is why while Bertha lives, Jane cannot marry Rochester. She cannot fit into the institution of marriage while a part of her is commanded by wild passions. That side has to die.
Conclusion
Jean Rhys’ novel is a postcolonial response to Jane Eyre. She brings out different facets of a character who was overlooked in the initial text. Whether or not Bronte intended for these different readings, she created characters who revealed and explored the many sides of women.
Lastly, I love this cover of the book. In front, is a beautiful woman with wildflowers around her. In the background, however, is a burning house. It captures Antoinette’s journey to insanity, subtly asking the reader what drove her towards insanity? Was a genetic mental illness or was it Rochester?
