The second part of this blog entry is dedicated to examining the structure in Part III of Wide Sargasso Sea. This part of the novel was by far the shortest. Also, it was characterized by many breaks in the text, which could symbolize the sure deterioration of Bertha's psyche. She can't remember her actions, and her thoughts are jumbled/rambling, which is mirrored through the broken up structure of the text. Lastly, an important part of the last part is presented through a dream, which is particularly of significance. In this way, Rhys almost makes Bertha less accountable for her destructive actions because they come to her subconsciously. I'm intrigued to hear what other people thought about part III......
Monday, September 20, 2010
Power Lenses in Wide Sargasso Sea
I thought today's class discussion on the power constructs in Wide Sargasso Sea was very interesting. As was mentioned in class, Rhys was definitely commenting on feminist and post-colonialism criticism by having Christophine dominate Rochester in that weirdly-structured passage (p. 139 in my book). But when I looked at this passage later at home, another aspect I noticed was Christophine's complete dominance of Antionette/Bertha as well. Although Bertha is not actually present for the dialogue, on page 140 Christophine criticizes Rochester for changing Antionette's name and thus treating her like a "doll," forcing her "to cry and speak." Then, later on this very page, Christophine admits that she gives Bertha some kind of potion that puts her in a perpetual sleep. It's ironic how lines earlier Christophine accused Rochester of manipulating Bertha, but she is guilty of the very same manipulation, which is revealed later in the conversation. Rhys not only has Christophine dominate Rochester, which could symbolize female independence and superiority, but she gives Christophine the power to literally induce Bertha into a coma. Considering the time period in which the book is set, Christophine has a tremendous amount of power for a colored woman.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In Part III of the novel, we see Bertha's thoughts as we did in the first section. There is once again not a lot of dialogue. This makes it easier for us to compare Bertha's progression as a character. At the beginning of the novel, Bertha was searching for an identity and constantly living through other people. As an adult, Bertha has no identity, no one knows she exists except the people at Thornfield and those who knows she exists consider her a monster. Bertha herself does not even know who she is because she cannot see herself because there is no mirror in her room at Thornfield. This shows that Bertha has not really developed or matured as a character. If anything, she has taken a step back and resorted to her more primitive roots.
ReplyDeleteWell, i'm going to start by talking about part 3. First of all, I think that we can't really judge Bertha for having not really remembered things, especially on the boat since she was drugged on the boat, and would you really believe that you were in England (the land that the person you loved came from and liked) was such a dreadful, cold, and lonesome place?
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, her insanity does start to show here in that she starts to lose control and her dreams are becoming realities in her mind (as shown with that final dream which was apparently some message to her). The language also did become very simplistic and straightforward, which represents how monotonous and simple her life has become. It has become without any thought and it has failed to really become anything special. I agree with the idea that Bertha has failed to develop or as a character, though that was sort of forced by her own conditions. Rather than her growing up, she is changing and mending herself to fit into certain conditions in a way.
I agree with the comments of both Becca and Brianna about the important aspects of Part III being the broken structure of the text and her confusion/inability to see herself. These two qualities of Part III tell us a lot about the mental state of Bertha - her lack of identity has become all consuming and completely shattered her already fragile mental state - she is at a point of no return (of her sanity). I think another significant part of this section is her inability to believe that she is in England. She calls it a "cardboard" world and thinks that they must have gotten lost on the way there. This daze and confusion she feels emotes the dreamlike/surreal quality Rochester felt when he was at the Windward islands. This illustrates the importance of the environment/setting for each character in terms of a post-colonial lens: being displaced from a homeland is disorienting and unmanageable. Ultimately, Rochester wins as the "colonizer" and brings Bertha to a place where she has no shot at surviving - just as Christophine predicted. Bertha had to take her own life in a feeble attempt at taking control of her own fate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Haley, Becca, and Brianna said about how important part 3 is. I also think that it is interesting because of the parallels between what happens between Bertha in WSS and what happens to Bertha in Jane Eyre, it seems as though they can almost be the same book. However in WSS as readers we see that Bertha did not commit her crime because she wanted to hard her husband- Rochester- or because she wanted to harm her "home" in England, she was simply mad, where as in Jane Erye the readers are lead to believe that Bertha had the intention of killing Rochester out of spite and hate. This entire seen also feels unreal- just as Bertha feels as though she is not really in England, everything about her new home is different and confusing which would explain why she tries to escape, it seems again that the recurring theme of power in this novel resurfaces again, Bertha is stripped of all her power when she is shipped to England, she gains some back when it is her that sets the house on fire.
ReplyDeleteI am going to disagree with Haley on this one. I think that there is a big difference between how Rochester absorbs his new surroundings and how Bertha receives hers. As we see in Rochester's (self-proclaimed) apathetic, self-sacrificing, and complacent thoughts, his reactions are accepting whereas Bertha's are pure denial. This plays in very well to the colonial theme in the book because it shows the reader that Rochester (who brought his surroundings upon himself) was able and willing to roll with the punches. This is contrasted by Bertha's abrasive introduction to her forced surroundings. Bertha is like a native american who signed her name to gain a better life by working within the systems outlined by the american government, but who ends up getting her land taken and herself imprisoned or confined to a tiny reservation where she has to drink her troubles away and make the dangerous gamble that Grace is actually knocked out. Rochester, on the other hand, is like the man who, in a quest for a new haircut place, comes home with a bad haircut and tries to conceal it under his hat.
ReplyDeleteOne more quick thing: I would like to respectfully disagree with everyone else on this post. I don't think that Bertha actually believes that she isn't in England, or that she got lost on the way there. I think that Bertha knows exactly where she is but doesn't want to believe it. Rhys shows us a Bertha who is unwilling to accept her circumstances because she wants to prove that it really is difficult to have your surroundings all forcibly changed. To borrow from the Native American metaphor again, she is sitting on her tiny square of reservation, hoping that there was a filing error in the government, and that in a few days or months or years it will all be worked out and she can restore her idealized image of a place in her life/social status that she longed to be at (in Bertha's case, she would be restoring her image of England).
In Part Three, Antoinette’s character has taken on the identity as “Bertha” seen in Jane Eyre; her language and thoughts illuminate her dark, liberating, and seemingly mad nature. In the first passage of the section, in which Grace Poole is the speaker, I noticed the typical English language used, complete with refined syntax and proper grammar. When the voice switches to Antoinette, I can discern her less-than-standard understanding of English. However, compared to Part One and Two, I really thought that there was an obvious improvement in her English dialect. There are less run-on sentences or trite statements showing her mixed identity within the two languages. Instead, she hardly relates back to Jamaican words and most of her sentences are less fragmented and attain more accurate subject-predicate agreement. Antoinette’s advancement in English demonstrates the oppression of women and natives in her social landscape. By becoming better at Rochester’s tongue, Antoinette is acclimating to the white male culture where she now feels physically trapped. The language in Part Three also shows Antoinette’s ascent into madness as her words become more dream-like and imaginary, such as when she suggests that she lives in a cardboard house or vividly portrays her Jamaican past in a dream of fire. Her language is more violent, like when she describes crashing plates and glass or setting fire to the draperies. Through diction, I can also tell that Antoinette feels that fire is a source of freeing her spirit from her painful life, since she is stuck without an identity (or even a looking-glass) on the remote third floor of Rochester’s home.
ReplyDeleteThe Native American analogy above is interesting because Bertha, born into a family of slaveowners, is now "imprisoned or confined" as Matt words it. She's shipped off to some far off land (England) as slaves were shipped to the Caribbean. While she isn't really working or doing manual labor, her memories seem to be chained, restrained from emerging, and so Bertha is in a state of confusion. I'm not sure that Bertha is proving anything, only that occasionally some deeper thoughts are freed, such as when she recognizes her stepbrother Richard.
ReplyDeleteThe burning down of Thornfield at the end could be comparable to the burning down of her own house when she was little. Still keeping with the slavery/servitude/restricted idea, she is striking back at Rochester for what he did, like the islanders set fire to her former slaveowning family's home.
Part 3 interestingly opens with Grace Poole's letter. We are not aware of the point of view of this part until after the letter. This could be done to generate suspense, as well as set up preliminary background because once we do get to Bertha, she probably wouldn't be able to tell us much about her surroundings on her own (given her mental state). We could probably deduce that we are at Thornfield, but for one who's never read Jane Eyre, this wouldn't be obvious, and even so, we get to see a little more into Poole's mind.
1. Matt I LOLed at your haircut analogy
ReplyDelete2. Judy impressive that you were so aware of the grammatical changes --> nice close reading of the book
The writing style of the third section of the book is obviously very different. As many have already pointed out, this part is narrated by the Bertha character and the entire third part is a reflection of that. For example, the breaks in the text, the dream, and the syntax are all of a reflection of the character of Bertha.
Yet, what struck me most while reading this novel is how it ends on such a different note than Jane Eyre. Both novels begin with a character who is searching for her identity and sense of self. Rhys incorporates mirrors and reflection into the first part of the book as a pretty consistent motif. One of the most striking sections of the entire novel is when Tia throws the rock at Antoinette and she is so appalled because she believes that when she looked at Tia she was looking into a mirror, seeing a reflection of herself. She felt as if she embodied Tia, and vice versa. This is indicative of the fact that the entire first section of the novel, Antoinette is trying to find her identity by mimicking others, much like Jane Eyre. Yet, at the end of this novel, Antoinette notes that she does not even know who she is (what she looks like) because in her attic in England she does not have a mirror. Thus, she has not gained an identity and feels lost and commits suicide. On the other hand, Jane Eyre grows morally and mentally and ends her life happily with Rochester. Thus, I pose a further question: WIthout our own identity are we truly no one or can we spend our entire lives mimicking those around us? ... when there is no one left to mimic (as in Antoinette's case) what else is there to do?