Wide Sargasso Sea Context.

Jean Rhys was a white Caribbean woman, so naturally, she felt empathy for the character Charlotte Bronte depicted in 'Jane Eyre'; Bertha was simply the lunatic hidden away from society, she had no voice and was simply the antagonist to the protagonist within the story. Jean Rhys was disappointed in this portrayal of the Creole woman and felt that, like herself, she needed a voice, and at least deserved a 'backstory'; 'Wide Sargasso Sea' was Rhys's response to Jane Eyre, a prequel, an attempt to build on the history of Bertha/Antoinette whilst allowing us to feel empathy for the marginalised woman, rejected by her mother, wanting to be loved. While Jane Eyre only shows the woman as a lunatic; Rhys's novel takes the reader deeper into the psychology of the character, giving her a voice and a different perspective to allow us to feel empathy for the isolated character.  Rhys wrote Wide Sargasso in the 1960's; feminism was a big movement at the time and women were beginning to find a voice within the patriarchal society. Issues with race were beginning to be questioned, and the idea of freedom was everywhere thanks to post war euphoria. All of these elements can be traced within Wide Sargasso and probably provided a huge influence: Wide Sargasso could be read as a feminist text, giving a marginalised, Creole, woman a sense of 'freedom' and a voice; also questioning race issues 'White Cockroach'.

Another reason that Jean Rhys could of written Wide Sargasso is because of her own connections with the character. Like Bertha, Rhys had her own troubles immigrating to England, she hated the Country (visible in her descriptions of England within W.S) but didn't count herself as Creole either, she was a self proclaimed outsider ("i don't belong anywhere"). She would of been surrounded by numerous ex slave families when living in Jamaica, so would of seen some of the Race issues shown within the novel first hand. Rhys also had a drinking problem, she married numerous times and became a mistress to many men on many occasions, constantly moving around the world; like Bertha, we could argue Rhys's behaviour shows a need of love, company.

How does Rhys's use of pronouns compare with Bronte's?

Both writers use pronouns to separate the protagonist from their company, they become marginalised by the language used. There is never a 'we' only ever 'they' and 'I', both writers neglect to include their characters from collective speech, always keeping them apart; they are always the outsider looking in.

Answers regarding 'Jane Eyre and the Governess in Nineteenth-Century Britain'

The Governess role was a common jobAnswers regarding 'Jane Eyre and the Governess in Nineteenth-Century Britain'

The Governess role was a common profession for the middle-class Victorian woman, simply because it required a high level of education and held a reasonable amount of respect towards the position, this enabled unmarried women to earn a living without degrading themselves to lower-class work. However, the role of the governess was a problem for the Victorian upper-class, suddenly upper-class families were employing ‘educated’ women in their homes along with the servants and lower classed employee’s, however, they could not allow them to stay with the lower class workers because they were of a higher class, similarly they could not have the Governess stay with them because they were of a higher class, the position made it hard to stick to the rigid class system put in place. Poovey refers to the governess position as ‘the fate that awaited any middle class women who failed to marry’ because the Governess role was the only option for a single woman, of an educated nature, to earn any reasonable amount of money, as the norm for a Victorian woman was to live of the money inherited from her husband. The role is also noted to ‘most closely approximate’ the role of ‘that of the wife or mother’

Bronte used the role of the Governess for two reasons, Firstly: the novel is part biographical of Charlotte herself, Charlotte, being a governess, would be able to write from a Governess’ perspective accurately. Secondly: The Governess role was a role that showed an independent woman, taking her future into her own hands, as Jane is a character seeking liberation from the Reed’s oppression the Governess role is ideal for the character, enabling her to write her own future rather than awaiting a husband, especially since she notes herself as ‘plain’ (doubting anyone would want to marry her). This decision was innovative, within Victorian Literature, to give the protagonist the role of the Governess as it idolizes an independent woman fighting against a male dominated patriarchal society. Women were expected to marry and live off of the wealth of a husband, Bronte focuses the reader on a character breaking this norm, this is how Jane Eyre could be read as an early feminist text, Jane is equal to Rochester, men and women are equal.

As soon as Jane becomes a Governess Bronte marginalizes all of Jane’s encounters with Adele within the story, this is because Bronte wishes the reader to focus on the protests the role presents rather than the job itself. Instead of a functioning teacher, we are supposed to focus on how Jane is going against ‘the norm’ in society by taking the position, challenging gender roles, Bronte incorporates the role to make psychological arguments rather than to show the function of the role.

The role of the Governess challenges the original readerships perception of the ‘sexual hierarchy’, suddenly women were becoming less submissive and taking working roles that could often equal or even surpass many roles of working men. Women now became competition for working class men in scarce jobs, because of the ‘depressed 1840’s’. Women were previously expected to stay at home and take up traditional women’s roles of wife and mother, working class men now argued against this new threat for work.

It is significant that Jane abandons the role of the Governess as it furthers Bronte’s illustration of a woman pushing the boundaries of the Victorian Ideology, towards women. The original readership would recognize that Jane abandoning her position puts her in a state of vulnerability, exposing herself to the male dominated society, However,  it would appear to contradict the intention of becoming a governess, to become independent, as she becomes dependent on the moral services of John Reed.

By concluding the novel with Jane marrying Rochester, Bronte seems to contradict the intentions of having Jane as the independent female character, as she has conformed to the norms of the Victorian society by marrying a wealthy man. However, it is also important to note the Bronte attempts to reconcile Jane’s independence. Jane is now Rochester’s equal, she is his carer, she also remains Adele’s teacher. 

1.Brontë uses pathetic fallacy within this extract to express an unsettling mood ‘driven to shelter by the wind’ ‘augment its rush and deepen its roar’; this disconcerting feeling mimics Jane’s feelings towards her relationship with Rochester, as she subconsciously feels it falling apart; whether she is beginning to recognise Rochester’s concealment of Bertha or recognises that she, as a lower class women, could not (in the eyes of a Victorian reader) marry Rochester because he is a higher class, the original readership would deem this as being unnatural. The harsh wind and rain is an example of the pathetic fallacy used to symbolise the disruption in society caused by Jane and Rochester’s proposed marriage.

 2.Within the extract, Brontë again refers to the motif of ‘Fire and Ice’, the cold wind and rain juxtapose Jane’s fiery personality; while the rain is a cold force wishing to attack Jane,  Jane again shows her independence and fiery nature, fighting against the elements. The idea that she is ‘fighting the elements’ from a feminist perspective could show Jane’s want of liberation, fighting against what was thought as ‘natural’ and ‘right’: marrying Rochester who was of a higher class, while still retaining her independence. However, Bronte also uses Jane as the ‘ice’ against the ‘fire’ that is the burning tree; the tree is split and burning, yet Jane remains calm and speaks to it ‘as if it were a living thing’, the idea that in this situation Jane is the ‘ice’ reflects on Helen Burns’ stoic teachings from earlier in the book. Incidentally, Jane talking to the tree ‘as if it were alive’ could also foreshadow Bertha later in the book, the conversation with the tree a sign of lunacy.

3.Bronte language is reflective of the Gothic genre, using phrases like 'gaped and ghastly' 'monster splinters' wreck and ruin', all evoking images of horror and destruction particularly 'wreck and ruin' which illustrates the idea that Jane is falling apart, something is being destroyed, all of this is very dark language reflective of the Gothic as a whole. Bronte also uses the phrase 'cloven halves' this could be a reference to the Devil's 'cloven Hooves' again provoking dark imagery of the Devil and Hell, religion is also a generic feature within Gothic texts.  

4. The Chestnut tree's destruction is a symbol of the destruction of Jane and Rochester's relationship, 'torn apart' because of the Fire that is Bertha. However, the fact that the 'firm base' and roots remained strong foreshadows the survival of the relationship, the 'firm base' is the idea that Jane's relationship is fixed on a 'firm basis' of intimacy towards each other, that cannot be broken. 

5. Along with the survival of the relationship foreshadowed through the reference of the 'firm base' and rigid roots, Bronte also foreshadows Bertha in this extract. She personifies a female moon, the moon being 'lunar' spurs the idea of 'lunacy', an insane mind, Bertha. The moon 'buried herself again instantly' behind the clouds, as if it were Rochester ushering Bertha back into her room, concealing her, out of sight out of mind. The tree burning is itself foreshadowing the burning of Thornifield 'it stood black and driven'.

6. Psychoanalytically, through Jane's direct conversation to the tree, we can see that Jane holds a s overwhelming sense of optimism, she is able to see life in something that is completely dead: 'scathed as you look, there must be a little sense of life in you yet' we could argue that Jane is actually referring to her relationship with Rochester, even though she cannot be with him she still finds the little life left within him to revive their love, adapting to be his carer, retaining independence 'you did right to hold fast to each other'. However, while being optimistic of it's survival, she is also critical in stating that 'you will never see birds again' or have 'green leaves'; again we could argue that Jane recognises that her relationship with Rochester will never be the same again, Rochester will never be fully healthy and they may never get over what Bertha did to their relationship (this would all be foreshadowed as is hasn't happened yet)   Jane is able to realise that, while there is hope, things will never be the same again. 

8. Bronte uses the imagery of the tree splitting in an attempt to express the unnatural act of Jane and Rochester's marriage in consideration of the rigid class system of the time, a view that the original readership would of shared. The class system in the Victorian era was expected to be set from birth, and the idea for a member of an upperclass family to marry someone of a lower class was deemed 'unnatural' Bronte expresses this literarily in the visual form of the tree being split in two, the tree, a natural thing. Jane progressing to a higher class would be 'breaking' the social norm, thus the tree breaks in half to represent to break in the social hierarchy. However, the idea that the roots remain intact portray how, although Jane does 'dent' the social class expectation, her damage will in no way be permanent; the class system will forever be rigid simply because of the natural greed the human race contains. Here, we could argue, that Bronte is taking the didactic approach to teach the, rather pessimistic lesson, that whatever we do, the social norm may never change.