“A portrait of a woman struggling for identity.” Discuss Rhys’s presentation of
Antoinette in the light of this comment.
Thesis: Torn between her dichotomous cultures, battling the predetermined
expectations that come with being a woman, and slowly descending into madness
because of this continuous lack of identity.
Intro:
- In the novel, Rhys tries to humanise the marginalised protagonist Antoinette by
giving her a voice to speak out about her own suffering and to express her own
feelings.
- Rhys explores the fragmentation of Antoinette’s identity, her inner fears, her
quest for her belonging and existence and the ways that race, gender, and class
affect her identity.
- The literary history of the West Indies is one steeped in the amalgamation and
pluralism of different racial and ethnic colourations.
Historical context:
- It is one dominated by slavery and the quest for both personal and cultural
identities. The slaves have been freed especially in the wake of the
Emancipation Act in 1834. The colonials have all but departed, but their
vestiges still remain in the Caribbean leaving a cache of hatred and resentment
- The 1960‘s in particular saw many important gains in political independence
among the British colonies in the Caribbean, including Jamaica and Trinidad &
Tobago, which achieved independence from Britain in 1962, followed by
Barbados in 1966, the year Wide Sargasso Sea was published.
Antoinette in the light of this comment.
Thesis: Torn between her dichotomous cultures, battling the predetermined
expectations that come with being a woman, and slowly descending into madness
because of this continuous lack of identity.
Intro:
- In the novel, Rhys tries to humanise the marginalised protagonist Antoinette by
giving her a voice to speak out about her own suffering and to express her own
feelings.
- Rhys explores the fragmentation of Antoinette’s identity, her inner fears, her
quest for her belonging and existence and the ways that race, gender, and class
affect her identity.
- The literary history of the West Indies is one steeped in the amalgamation and
pluralism of different racial and ethnic colourations.
Historical context:
- It is one dominated by slavery and the quest for both personal and cultural
identities. The slaves have been freed especially in the wake of the
Emancipation Act in 1834. The colonials have all but departed, but their
vestiges still remain in the Caribbean leaving a cache of hatred and resentment
- The 1960‘s in particular saw many important gains in political independence
among the British colonies in the Caribbean, including Jamaica and Trinidad &
Tobago, which achieved independence from Britain in 1962, followed by
Barbados in 1966, the year Wide Sargasso Sea was published.
