Voice In Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys write Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) as a response to Jane Eyre because she feels that the female character which is view as a mad woman in the attic, in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1947) is deserve to have an identity, a history and most important to give the female subject the voice. Jean Rhys reconstructs the identity of Bertha to Antoinnette Cosway in the novel by her a voice, which is being denied in Jane Eyre. Therefore, Wide Sargasso Sea is known as a response to Jane Eyre to explain how Bertha Antoinette Mason get to be in the attic of Thornfield house, and how she become mad. In this novel, Jean Rhys made it into three parts and making it fair enough for both characters to have their own voice. The way Jean Rhys write this novel

Rhys made the novel into three parts in order to gives the readers a closer look to both character and let the reader to hear every characters’ voices. In the first part which is from Antoinette’s point of view. Jean Rhys brings the readers closer to the Antoinette characters which she share her thoughts and emotions and her journey from Jamaica to imprisonment in Rochester 's house. Antoinette is given the opportunity to have voice in this part about her own experience so that the readers have the basic ideas about her life. Jean Rhys makes it more interesting by inserting the feature of bildungsroman which is the change or transition of the character which is the change through time; from child to adolescent. In part one of Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette remembers about her childhood and adolescence up till the moment when her marriage to Rochester is arranged by Mr Mason. As to make a balance in the novel, in the second part Rochester is given a voice which is the story is narrated from his point

The way Jean Rhys reconstructs the characters of Antoinette in the Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys brought us to think for every reason on what the people had become. For example, we had one perception towards the mad woman we know in the Jane Eyre, which she is the one who sets the fire and causing Rochester became crippled from the tragedy. People are blaming her for the incident instead of feels sorry for her. In Wide Sargasso Sea, readers start to understand what makes her become a mad woman in the attic. Rhys made the idea of the fire or burning the house as the idea of freedom, where she finally gains freedom from the slavery of love; under man’s control. As one can see, Rhys stresses this idea from Antoinette’s mother and Antoinette herself becomes slaves to man and love. The idea of bildungsroman can be seen on how Rhys made a change or develop the woman characters, but she made it madness as sense of development. Through madness, woman finally find their identity; seeking for freedom from being oppressed by the man. Man always dominated woman and changes their identity, and what gives man right to do this? Because they think they have the power and follow the idea that, man is the one who conquer the world. I believe that man and woman should have equal rights. In Jane Eyre’s text Antoinette is portrays as a negative figure and using the words lunatic and mad to describe her, it becomes unfair. The story becomes biased because we only see one point of view. Wide Sargasso