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.