How Does Wide Sargasso Sea Change Throughout The Novel

Wide Sargasso Sea, being a novel written to provide possible fulfillment to gaps left in the novel Jane Eyre, also may have provided the reader with a different angle to view some of the characters in, especially Mr. Rochester. Wide Sargasso Sea, written by Jean Rhys, was published 100 years after the novel Jane Eyre and although never named, Rochester’s past is narrated and provides some explanation. In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester is portrayed as a man who struggles with his past and is very secretive. He finally finds Jane, the women of his dreams, and becomes a man filled with emotion and sensitivity. However, in Wide Sargasso Sea, the story is narrated in different point of views and ends up making it seem as though the Englishman, Mr. Rochester, is somewhat heartless or

After reading the novel Wide Sargasso Sea, my perception of Mr. Rochester changed from a completely innocent man with no bad intentions to a somewhat careless and greedy man who only cared for himself and what happened to him and my perception of Jane Eyre as willing to accept him as a “victim” also changed. Although Rochester’s past was not explained at all in Jane Eyre, it is inferred that what happened to him was against his will and resulted in him trying to find any happiness to help him move on from his unpleasant past. He did find happiness when he meet Jane Eyre however he failed to inform Jane about his past or that “Bertha” even existed until someone told his secret at the wedding. This secretive manner of his suggests that he was embarrassed of his past and wished to forget it or to erase it