Wide Sargasso Sea Research Paper

From birth, every individual is seemingly altered by outside influences. People, conditions, and environment all play a role in the overall character of a person. Whether these influences are good or bad, it can impact a person drastically. Some events are more powerful and affect a person more heavily than others. In both reality and in Wide Sargasso Sea, societal beliefs play a role in the outcome of a person as a whole. Adverse verbal label is essentially the cause of the oppression of the Cosway family. Negative societal beliefs distress the sanity of the main character, Antoinette. Both external and internal conflicts trigger a change in character as the novel proceeds and eventually comes to an end. Jean Rhys’ novel, Wide Sargasso Sea,

Due to the hatred, they begin to isolate themselves from society. It is very rare that Antoinette leaves her home. It provides an escape from the detestation that she regularly must face. Her house is a safe place from society; “After all the house is big and safe, a shelter from the world outside which, say what you like, can be a cruel world to a woman” (Rhys 170). Antoinette is able to use her house as a comfort place for herself. There she has built a wall around herself where she can avoid society all together. Like her mother before her, Antoinette tries to gain acceptance among whites as well in order to form her identity. She begins to evade any contact with people outside her family; “I got used to a solitary life, but my mother still planned and hoped – perhaps she had to hope every time she passed a looking glass” (Rhys 112). As society pushed Antoinette and her family further away, it begins to take a toll on them. They begin a more solitary life, dependent on their own thoughts and ideas. Through social ostracism, Antoinette and her mother feel of character becomes

Outside influences essentially are involved in Antoinette’s internal conflicts. As the novel progresses, Antoinette loses a sense of identity and who she is. She starts to question herself and eventually, her sanity begins to fade. The idea that everyone in society hates them, has detrimental effects on both Antoinette and her family. It takes Antoinette too long to realize this; “All better than people. Better. Better than people. Watching the red and yellow flowers in the sun thinking of nothing, it was as if a door opened and I was somewhere else, something else. Not myself any longer” (Rhys 25). Antoinette begins to realize toward the end of the novel that she is not the same person she always was. It is inevitable for a person to be affected by such intense outside