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Post by tmehta on Nov 17, 2015 11:31:51 GMT
The first thing I noticed about Wide Sargasso Sea was that it was written more than a century after Charlotte Bronte penned her novel Jane Eyre. Yet Jean Rhys’s 1966 novel aims to detail the life of Antoinette (hereafter known as Bertha) before the events of Jane Eyre occur. This piqued my interest, and I began to wonder how 119 years of changes in society could have affected the opinions presented in Wide Sargasso Sea.
Some of my questions were answered in Sherry Lewkowicz’s article comparing the two novels (I can’t compare the two myself because I haven’t read Wide Sargasso Sea). Sure, both women are similar in some ways; they had little affection growing up, they had isolated childhoods, and their stories can both be considered feminist works. But there are many more differences between Jane and Bertha, and I’d be willing to say that quite a few of these differences are so distinct because the two novels were written in different time periods.
I think a very clear example of this is the two characters’ treatment of sex. Bronte never explicitly brings up this topic, typical of that time period, while apparently Rhys makes it clear that Bertha “is not fearful of sex and has already experimented with Daniel before her marriage” (Lewkowicz). It’d be safe to say that sex was at least less taboo in 1966 than in 1847, which might explain why Bronte never talked about it and why Jane and Bertha differ so much on the topic.
Overall we could say that Jane as a female is restricted literally, as in the Victorian Era women were literally barred from some activities that were considered strictly male, and she must overcome these barriers. But Bertha faces the challenges of being a women in the modern world even though she only exists in the same time period as Jane. In the 1960s, “ideology and norms about femininity” were oppressive, and “Rhys’s work expresses the challenge of dealing with this new, and perhaps, more dangerous, repression” (Lewkowicz).
But what if Wide Sargasso Sea was written in 1847, alongside Jane Eyre? I definitely think Bertha would have been a much different character. Bronte and Rhys both use their novels as outlets for their opinions on the treatment of women in their respective time period, so I think if Bertha’s story was written in Bronte’s time, Bertha would be facing many of the same problems as Jane does, and this would result in a whole new story.
What do you think?
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Post by Teresa Dinh on Nov 18, 2015 22:28:42 GMT
I agree that Bertha's story would be very different if Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre had less of age gap, but I don't think that Bertha and Jane would be dealing with the same problems. I think that Bertha's climb towards equality might be even more difficult if her story took place during the 19th century like Jane's did. For one reason, Bertha was not born in England like Jane was; Bertha was a Jamaican-born woman of Creole background. Therefore, in addition to struggling to gain rights as a woman in a patriarchal society, Bertha would have to overcome the barrier of being a foreigner. There was already xenophobia and unfairness towards aliens in Great Britain during the 19th century, and the fact that Bertha is female makes it even harder for her to have society see her as an equal.
Also, Jane and Bertha had different personalities, and I don't think that putting them in the same time period would change much about that. Jane was headstrong and passionate, even when situations seemed hopeless, and this is what got her through many conflicts. On the other hand, Bertha lost hope after her unhappy marriage with Rochester. The difference between her and Jane is that Bertha gave up. "Rhys's novel depicts the near impossibility of success for a woman in a patriarchal world," (Lewkowicz), but Bertha giving up and failing would be very different from if she was trying and failing. We don't see Bertha showing as much fire and passion as Jane did, and I think that is what sets them apart.
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Post by elizaneights on Nov 20, 2015 4:14:24 GMT
I also think that Wide Sargasso Sea would be a lot different if it were written at the same time as Jane Eyre. Jane had much more passion and stubbornness than Bertha, which may have been a result of the extreme oppression of women and lack of women's rights. During the time period Wide Sargasso Sea was written, women were much less oppressed, so Bertha may not have felt as if she had to fight back as hard as Jane did. If Wide Sargasso Sea was written a century earlier, Bertha may have become more passionate because of the increased oppression.
Teresa has an interesting point regarding Bertha being a foreigner. This definitely caused her to be oppressed even further and was treated by Rochester as more like property, unlike Jane, who Rochester loved and gave freedom to. This, combined with being a woman at the time Jane Eyre was written, would have either caused her to give up sooner or become more passionate and not give up. According to the article, Bertha didn't have clear ideas about how she wanted to be treated, which was a cause of her giving up on the struggle to be treated equally. If the novel was written earlier, the way she was being treated and the way she wanted to be treated may have been more obvious, since there was a bigger difference than in the 1960s, and I think Bertha would have been able to use her passion to fight back and not give up.
Do you think that Bertha would have been more or less passionate if Wide Sargasso Sea was written in the same time period as Jane Eyre?
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Post by tmehta on Nov 20, 2015 21:39:59 GMT
Awesome points Teresa and Eliza! I totally forgot about the whole foreigner thing, and I think you're absolutely right - Bertha was facing even more oppression as a nonwhite in the 19th century. To answer Eliza’s question, I feel like Bertha might be... even less passionate if Wide Sargasso Sea were written in the same time period as Jane Eyre, if that’s possible? I mean, let’s look at what kinds of problems Bertha is facing: she’s taken to a foreign country against her will, and she’s a female married to a quite controlling man. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was taking place in America and affecting society worldwide. In this time setting, Bertha might not have felt as hopeless and oppressed because at least people were fighting to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans, or blacks in general. But in the 1840s, society was nowhere near that kind of mindset. And by the 1960s, women in England had full voting rights (thanks to the Representation of the People Act 1928). At least if I was in Bertha’s position, I’d be much more hopeless and passionless in the 1840s than in the 1960s.
Do you guys think the time period a novel was written in affects how the characters behave, and if so, to what extent?
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Post by elizaneights on Nov 21, 2015 2:18:01 GMT
That's a good point Tara! In Jane Eyre, you can definitely see that as Bertha was oppressed more and more, she went mad, and while she fought back violently, it did nothing to end the oppression she was facing. It makes sense that if she was oppressed even more, like she would have been if Wide Sargasso Sea was written in the 1800s, she would have gone crazy earlier. I think the time period in which a novel was written definitely affects how the characters behave, especially if it is different from the time period the novel is set in. For example, Jane Eyre more accurately portrays 19th century life because it was written by someone who was living in it, but Wide Sargasso Sea was written by someone who had never experienced life in that time, so Rhys didn't have as good an idea what life was like. She would have a harder time thinking of how the characters should feel and behave in different situations.
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Post by Teresa Dinh on Nov 21, 2015 16:54:48 GMT
Eliza bought up a good point when she said that Rhys couldn't have a perfect grasp of how people lived in the 1800s because she lived in the 1900s. Different time periods have different rules and expectations, and while there were still big racial issues going on in the 1900s, the treatment of colored people during the 1900s was even worse. This also leads up to the 20th century movements against racial segregation and discrimination that Tara was talking about. In the 19th century, fighting for POC's rights was much more rare, and white privilege was prevalent. As a white woman born in England, Jane already had more human rights from birth than Bertha (a Jamaican-born Creole) could ever hope to have in her lifetime. Also, Bertha would not have had people to help her fight for her rights in the 19th century. In Wide Sargasso Sea, which was written a century later, the civil rights movement was fervent. While Bertha still may not have as many privileges as Jane, I believe that Bertha is better off living in the 20th century than she is in the 19th century because she would have more people to support her in the 20th century. Also, I think it's worthwhile to mention that The African-American Civil Rights Movement took place from 1955 to 1968. Wide Sargasso Sea was published in 1966. Maybe this is pushing it, but I think that Rhys may have been inspired by the Civil Rights Movement to write a book that is centralized around a woman of color.
How do you think Jane Eyre would be different if Jane was of the same background as Bertha?
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