Wide Sargasso Sea Identity

Jean Rhys' novel "Wide Sargasso Sea” portrays how hair determines a crucial role in one’s status and identity through physical appearance. Hair helps provide an interpretation of a person’s complex relationships and perplexed identities. Rhys uses vivid imagery of hair as a strong representation of the gender, racial, and national identities of Antoinette and several others. A strong sense of imagery demonstrated throughout Antoinette’s imperious relationship with Rochester and her deteriorating relationship with her mother show not only her lacking sense of identity but her lack of control over relationships.
Antoinette’s lost persona is constantly getting challenged due to the tension and correlation between her and Annette. There was a

As their relationship progressed it became nothing but a cold object that initiated every memory of isolation from her mother “But not any longer. Not any more” (19). The sense of comfort Antoinette obtained from this calm and collected image of her mother was no longer attainable to her. The representation of hair in the parallelism between her and Annette leaves Antoinette lost and remaining in the shadows of her mother. Antoinette’s own hair resembles that of her mothers thus symbolizing her mother’s heritage. Antoinette comes to the realization that her destiny is to live a replicated life of her mother for first time after the fire at Coulibri. After that incident Antoinette’s burned hair needed to be cut. While aunt Cora is cutting Antoinette’s hair she mentions how it will “grow again. Longer and thicker,” and Antoinette’s responded by saying “but darker” (38). Antoinette’s blunt remark refers to her description of Annette’s hair being “a soft black cloak” (19) which is a close association with her mother’s identity. Antoinette is aware of the fact that if her own hair becomes a soft black cloak that there she won’t be

“(‘Marooned,’ said her straight narrow back, her carefully coiled hair. ‘Marooned’)” (22). ‘Marooned’ is cleverly chosen term by Rhys because not only does it indicate isolation but it’s also a term that was used to define runaway slaves in Jamaica. Annette’s hair being described as “carefully coiled” demonstrates her concern for her appearance even though according to social standards she is unwelcomed in her society. As the story progresses Annette becomes traumatized by the fire that killed her son. Her mental breakdown is portrayed through the deconstruction imagery of her hair. At the beginning of this scene Antoinette noticed that her mom was “dressed, but she had not put up her hair and one of her plaits was loose” (32). After the incident took place “there was another smell, of burned hair…It was her loose hair that had burned and was smelling like that” (33). Once again the imagery of Annette’s hair was used in representing her mental state. In this scene her loose hair, which had been burned, exhibits the deconstruction and “loosening” in her mother’s composure. Furthermore when Antoinette went to visit her mother she “couldn’t see her face. But [she] recognized her hair, one plait much shorter than the other.” (40).