Should you read Jane Eyre before Wide Sargasso Sea?
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Should you read Jane Eyre before Wide Sargasso Sea?
Yes, a reader of Wide Sargasso Sea who is unaware of its connection to Jane Eyre is pretty much guaranteed to have missed the entire point of the novel. Jane Eyre is so iconic that Rhys could simply assume knowledge of its plot while writing her own book.
Why does Rochester call Bertha?
Rochester refers to Antoinette as “Bertha” as a way of ensuring that she surrenders into his idea of a woman, as opposed to who she truly is. ‘ Rochester begins to refer to Antoinette as “Bertha” to try to bury her personality and beliefs under a separate name.
What period is Wide Sargasso Sea?
Wide Sargasso Sea, though, is set in the late 1830s and the 1840s. Rhys’s choice of historical setting enables her to draw on and try to work her way through planter class and Lockhart family mythology about the economic and social impact of the abolition of slavery.
How is Rochester different in Wide Sargasso Sea?
Rochester reimagined Brontë’s Rochester is depicted as dark and brooding but in Wide Sargasso Sea, he morphs from a romantic lead into a callous villain, cowardly and bullying at the same time, a man who weds for money and uses women for sex, and whose behaviour likely sends his wife mad.
Why does Antoinette marry Rochester?
As the second son, he inherits nothing from his father’s estate, and has to marry Antoinette if only for his own financial survival.
Why does Rochester not like Antoinette?
Rochester and Antoinette, Mr. Rochester can be seen as an oppressor, as a husband who wants to dominate his wife. He treats Antoinette as a colonial object and muddles her identity.
How can Wide Sargasso Sea be considered a feminist text?
Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea displays many of the same feminist themes as Jane Eyre: its emphasis on female characters, the refusal to conform, and new ideas about the woman’s position in society. But Wide Sargasso Sea also distinguishes itself as a uniquely feminist text through its objections to Jane Eyre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcxkuGp0DxA