Jean Rhys Use of Conflicting Narratives of Antoinette...

Jean Rhys Use of Conflicting Narratives of Antoinette and Rochester in Wide Sargasso Sea There are many techniques Jean Rhys uses to bring across the point that the narrators are unreliable and the truth twisted, it is an interesting and effective idea as it makes the reader feel confused on who to trust and really involves them in the book, they become party to the secrets. Rhys’ book is so complex as it is obviously linked to the Classic book- ‘Jane Eyre’; this is classic English literature and therefore is always in our minds during WSS. Those that have read ‘Jane Eyre’ normally like to trust Jane as she is a heroine who we have sympathy for; we are introduced to her from when she is young so we know and understand†¦show more content†¦She created this type of setting with more sensuous ,with vivid colours and smells; there are no glass windows it is more open than in Jane Eyre where it is more shut away. Also there is more contrast between the novels as Jane’s increasing confidence and success to Antoinette’s despair and madness. It is interesting for Jean Rhys to address the balance of Jane Eyre and the mad wife’s point of views. She probably wanted to do this as she suffered in Europe and believed the western culture did not understand her culture (she was raised in the Caribbean). Rhys wanted to introduce and let the white- Europeans understand the situations abroad. It is also very confusing and distorting for the reader as during reading the narrators change very suddenly, there are three different books in WSS each with a different narrator. Book one is the main section, it is from the viewpoint of Antoinette and is very important as it is from her childhood, set in mid 1830s. It begins the novel and therefore our most influential truth. It makes us have sympathy for Antoinette as we get to know her, she had a dreadful childhood and we feel a fondness for her as we understand the way she acts. I enjoyed this account immensely; it was from the viewpoint of a child, so why would she need to distort theShow MoreRelatedEssay about Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre an3613 Words   |  15 Pagescanonical texts re-written by female authors? Answer with close reference to Charlotte Bronte#8217;s Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys#8217;s Wide Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is a relatively still sea, lying within the south-west zone of the North Atlantic Ocean, at the centre of a swirl of warm ocean currents. Metaphorically, for Jean Rhys, it represented an area of calm, within the wide division between England and the West Indies. Within such an area, a sense of stability, permanence and identity