Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Modern Classics)
£3.49
Prequel to Jane Eyre - Wide Sargasso Sea is basically a prequel to Charlotte Bronte s Jane Eyre which tells the madwoman in the attic s story. It goes back to the childhood of Bertha (here called Antoinette - the name Bertha is given to her patronisingly and domineeringly by Rochester). We see how she grew up as a Creole in the West Indies, her family s evolving situation and her eventual marriage to Rochester. At this point in the story we switch for the most part to Rochester s point of view and for lovers of his character in Jane Eyre this may be time to look away...or open up to this rather negative interpretation, at least. It s an interesting portrayal and even though you can t totally sympahtise with his behaviour in Wide Sargasso Sea , I think Rhys does a good job of making him a 100% human character.The device of switching to Rochester s voice is a strange one in my opinion. For me, I expected this short novel to be the story from Bertha s point of view but instead her voice is swiftly taken away from her as she descends into emotional distress and madness . So although this book does give us insight into the pain and suffering Bertha may have suffered in the process of ending up in the attic, it in effect colludes with the idea of a male patriarchal narrative obstructing the female one when the feminine moves too close to hysteria or serious emotionality. Wide Sargasso Sea is not an easy read because of the sheer depth and intensity of it. The setting in the West Indies is so lavishly and breathlessly described that one cannot help but - not just see it in their mind - but feel everything about it as well. That was the highlight of the novel for me. It is an intense and not an uplifting read, which is to be expected. However I feel overall that Rhys could have just done...more. When it borders too close to really getting down to a resolution or an attack or an open literary explosion, she shies away. The madness is not quite real enough. I didn t feel enough sympathy or really any particular personal feeling for Bertha because there wasn t enough time spent on developing the emotional state of her character in the second half. All of the interesting ideas were brought up short and never really developed.It is still worth reading, if only for the concept behind it, but in my opinion it could have been achieved with much more style and substance.
It grows on you - give it a chance and you will be rewarded - Read it once, quickly, as you may an ordinary novel and you might struggle to finish it, at best maybe give it three stars. Read it again, slowly, study it with an appropriate text and the book really comes into it s own. Oh, this is very good. Clever, subtle, crafted. Beautifully done, with a light touch. It s a wonderfully evocative social commentary on how the stiffness of British imperialistic attitudes flounder and seem absurd in a tropical climate and setting. Likewise, it s a commentary on life and living and loving and being, on being black and being white, of male and female and power structures and sex. There s just so much going on.
Worth a try for curious readers - Jane Eyre is probably one of my favourite novels of all time, and when a family member lent me this prequel, I was quick to devour it. My expectations were not high, however. I was excited about the Jane Eyre BBC adaptation, and when it turned out to be outstanding and very loyal to its source material, I was keen to watch the prequel that they advertised afterwards. I was not as impressed. I found it dull and could not really connect with Bertha.As it turns out, after reading this novella, the BBC adaptation was as loyal as the Jane Eyre adaptation. It was sexy, colourful, brooding, exotic and menacing, and whilst I did not appreciate this at the time, I do after reading this. Unfortunately, this loyalty means the shortcomings of the TV adaptation are also true of this novella. It is quite difficult to feel for the heroine, like we are clearly supposed to, and the author opts to make Rochester (who, interestingly, is never named) out to be a villain, and her madness is entirely his fault. It is a plausible exploration that aligns itself with Victorian gender politics, when women were sent to lunatic asylums for as little as depression, and then sent mad inside of them. Actually, it is highly relevant, and it gives the reader a completely different view of Bertha s story. This is a double edged sword though. As interesting as it is, and perhaps right, in many respects, it is pretty difficult to grasp the characterisation of Rochester in this manner for all the people that adored his character in Jane Eyre .Besides the character of Bertha, and the fact that this novella is a prequel, it can firmly stand on its own. Not, perhaps, as a story or something to be enjoyed, but for the thematics and how the language complements them. The narration is riddled with imagery, foreshadowing and sheer elegance. It deals with gender politics, Victorian martial laws, colonialism, race, and of course, psychology. Having said that, I would recommend reading Jane Eyre before embarking on this, as much of it would be lost if you have not read Jane Eyre first. It also may soil your view on Rochester for Jane Eyre and give away plot details which would ruin the novel for you considerably.If you have read Jane Eyre , I would not say that this is vital, but if you are curious about Bertha s character this novella fleshes her out a bit, though there is still something about her that is lacking. I felt more sympathy for her in `Jane Eyre without all of this background to be honest.
Highly recommended. - This is a morose, but beautifully written novel. Definitely lives up to expectations. I read it through twice for full appreciation, and recommend this idea to others. I rate this 6 stars!
Dark and Delicious - This is a macabre book with a true sense of gothicism to it. I first read it as a teenager after being blown away by Jane Eyre, and hated it. Its difference from Bronte s writing and its harsh treatment of Rochester didn t sit well with me at all. Having had to read it again as part of a course recently I have to say I wasn t relishing the experience, but how wrong I was. Reading it again, with no expectation of kinship with Bronte made such a difference. This is a brilliant book, densely layered, symbolic and evocative of the tropical landscape, madness and imprisonment. It has some of the wonderful internal dialogue moments of Woolf s Mrs Dalloway, swooping through the narrative and Rhys eye for detail and dialogue is superb. Its brooding menace is chilling and the use of imagery is stupendous. A fantastic book.