DOUBLE COMPLEXITY IN

JEAN RHYSS WIDE SARGASSO SEA

Silvia Panizza
Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea has been the object of several postcolonial and feminist critical
readings. Taking those interpretations into account, this paper attempts to shift the focus to the
psychological relevance of the socio-historical questions of slavery and female oppression for the
to protagonists, !ntoinette and Rochester. The apparent dichotomies male"female, black"hite,
sanity"madness, rationality"unconscious etc. are e#asperated by the hero$s %terrified
consciousness& and result into the ghosts of omanhood, madness, blackness and magic through
hich he represent his ife. !ntoinette$s psychological evolution, on the other hand, is seen as a
groing self-division into those artificial polarities, until in the end she finally accepts her inner
inescapable and positive comple#ity. 'uch comple#ity is here seen as the principal upshot of the
novel, in hich an emotionalised and oneiric narrative blurs the boundaries and reveals the
manifold nature of personalities and situations.
Culminating Jean Rhyss career, fusing together the themes of all her other
novels and bringing them to their highest form, (ide 'argasso 'ea (1966 is the
!erfect conclusion of a life of "riting s!ent in the attem!t to e#teriorise and
e#orcise inner demons and struggles$
%ecause of its hybridity, its medley of cultural references and moods, the
e#treme !assions and fears it unfolds, (ide 'argasso 'ea is Jean Rhyss most
!roblematic novel, revealing the authors o"n !sychological com!le#ity and the
inner conflict that tore her mind a!art and that is variously reflected in all her
heroines$ With them, Jean Rhys shared the Caribbean origins and the difficult
integration into %ritish society that resulted in a mental s!lit that she in "riting,
her characters in living, "ill try to resolve$
&n this novel, in !articular, the !arallels bet"een herself and her heroine are
so e#tensive, including a s!ecial sensitivity, a troubled childhood and a !ainful
struggle for identity and for a !lace in society, any society, that they brought bac'
to the author memories of a remote but still disturbing !ast$
(his accounts for the difficulties Rhys faced in its com!osition, maniacally
re"riting and revising it over almost ten years$ Sometimes "riting became so
!ainful that she "ould sto! altogether for days, but then, "hen she "as at her
frailest, she felt !ossessed by a demonic force "hich sustained her) her efforts in
the end "ere thoroughly re"arded, since in (ide 'argasso 'ea the heroine (and
!erha!s the author too reaches that self affirming solution that had eluded the
!rotagonists of Rhyss !revious novels$
&t must not be forgotten, though, that there is also an im!ortant male
!rotagonist in (ide 'argasso 'ea "ho contends "ith the heroine for the role of
narrator$ (he story is divided into three !arts, told res!ectively by *ntoinette,
Rochester and *ntoinette again$ (he choice of dividing the !oint of vie" bet"een
the t"o main characters, giving each the o!!ortunity to e#!ress her+his thoughts,
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)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
gives the novel the additional value of !resenting facts in a double !ers!ective,
sho"ing Rhyss ability to understand and e#!ress different vie"!oints$ =oreover,
through the s!ace given to the a!!arently negative character, it becomes a!!arent
that Rochester himself is endo"ed "ith a com!le# and interesting !ersonality,
made u! of those very same forces (though in very different !ro!ortions that
divide the self of *ntoinette$
*n e#ce!tionally resonant novel, (ide 'argasso 'ea tac'les various
fundamental themes such as race and identity, gender and !olitics, at the same
time as it gives voice to e#tremely varied "ays of feeling and unresolved
conflicting emotions$ 1recisely because of its abundance of themes, since its
!ublication it has been the ob>ect of differing critical readings, some stressing its
feminist vindication, others contem!lating its re!resentation of colonialism and
racial !olitics$
When it came out, in 1966, it "as first "elcomed by Caribbean critics "ho
argued that ?uestions of race, slavery and colonialism in the novel "ere of greater
interest than its !sychological and se#ual content$ Conversely, feminist readers
1
in
the follo"ing decade focussed on the !ortrayal of the role of the "oman and its
connections "ith slavery, s!eculating that Jean Rhys intended to sho" that the
t"o grou!s "ere e?ually o!!ressed$ 1ostcolonial critics
6
attem!ted to dra" a line
bet"een the novels %ritish and *frican cultural inheritance, situating, for
instance, the influence of Jane *yre, "hich !rovided ins!iration for (ide
'argasso 'ea, in the first area, and the scenes of magic and of slaves daily life in
the second$
(he conflicts bet"een blac's and "hites, men and "omen, colonialists and
colonised, can, in this novel, also be traced bac' to the tension bet"een t"o
fundamental, !rimary o!!osing forces9 reason and emotion, rationality and the
unconscious have al"ays been involved in an endless struggle, each trying to "in
over the other but neither ever succeeding$ (hese forces are re!resented in the
novel as emerging through a number of themes and images, including those
mentioned above, so that ?uestions of gender and female o!!ression, for e#am!le,
are not >ust dealt "ith per se, but also as re!resenting more abstract issues$ 4n the
one side of the @battle;lineA, then, there is reason, /uro!e and civili:ation, adult
age, "hite s'in, !atriarchy and masculinity) on the other, !assion, the Caribbean
and the @e#oticA colonies, childhood, blac' s'in, matriarchy and femininity$
(hese are the forces that clash "ithin the mind of *ntoinette, so that the
significance of the outer tensions re!resented in the novel is heightened in the
light of their im!act on the !syche of the !rotagonist$ (hus the !olitical and social
struggles in (ide 'argasso 'ea can be vie"ed both as influences on *ntoinette
and, also, as e#ternalisations of the contrasts in her mind, great im!ediments in
her restless search for identity$
We have suggested that *ntoinette carries "ithin herself t"o o!!osing
"orlds, but it "ould be more accurate to say that her mind is sus!ended beteen
those t"o "orlds, so, ultimately, it belongs to neither$ (hough striving to find a
6
'ilvia +ani,,a
!lace in one culture or the other, she is re!udiated by both, and must acce!t that
her abode is in a no;mans;land, a country inhabited by herself alone, since the
com!le# mi#ture of characteristics that ma'e u! her !ersonality cannot be
ascribed to any nation$ (his is the great tragedy of (ide 'argasso 'ea, the
troubles of an identity @at seaA bet"een t"o continents and unable to reach either
shore$ (he Sargasso Sea bet"een the Caribbean and /uro!e is so "ide for
*ntoinette that she is unable to cross it, so she remains tra!!ed in the middle of it,
>ust li'e the shi!s that "ere becalmed in its shallo" "aters$
Since most of the critical attention, as mentioned above, has been devoted to
@e#ternalA !roblems, such as race, gender and colonial !olitics, this essay "ill
concentrate on the !sychological relevance of those conflicts, e#amining the
reasons for the internal division that torments the heroine$ (he inter!retation of its
solution, re!resented in the ending of the novel, de!ends on the assessment of this
?uestion$
Some consideration "ill also be given to the !roblematics of the character
of Rochester, indicating the factors of com!le#ity in him and, subse?uently, the
reasons for his reactions$
1. Fig!ing "i! #$%&!'%#
(ide 'argasso 'ea is a novel of shifting boundaries and changing
!ers!ectives, communicating "ith intensity to the reader$ (he characters,
ho"ever, find it harder to acce!t that com!le#ity as natural, most of all "hen they
find it "ithin themselves and the !eo!le they live "ith$
(he role of Rochester, though often dismissed as !urely negative, is in this
res!ect fascinating, since the com!osite nature of this character highlights the
inesca!able com!le#ity that the novel !ortrays$ Be is, li'e the heroine, unsettled
by conflicting emotions, not one;sided or romanticised as in Jane *yre, but
troubled and multifaceted$ Bere, in fact, he is @not a bad manA, as Christo!hine
notices, and his soul is not >ust unfeeling and un'ind$ Be can be gentle and
sym!athetic, li'e on the day of de!arting from the West &ndies, "hen he tries to
comfort *ntoinette because, after all, he loves her C a little$ (he fact that
Rochester may have cared for his "ife may be sur!rising to a reader of Jane *yre,
but it fits !erfectly "ithin a novel that reveals the infinite nuances of !eo!les
minds$
(he most significant emergence of un"anted !assions inside Rochester
ta'es the sha!e of the forbidden, as "ell as irresistible, se#ual desire he feels for
his "ife (des!ite blaming it on her @mad coa#ingA, in the !assionate nights
together and in the torrid la:y afternoons, a desire so e#treme that even a dress
stretched on the floor ma'es him feel @savage "ith desireA (('', !$ <6$ Bis
discovery of the !leasure of the senses also a!!ears "hen, des!ite his initial
loathing of orchids and frangi!ani (flo"ers are symbolically loaded images in the
novel, he gro"s to relish the smell of the @flo"ers that o!en at dar'A, inhaling
their scent in guilty solitude$ (he !o"erful "omanhood of his "ife and her native
D
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
land, "hich is her domain, rouse in him a mi#ture of attraction and re!ulsion)
unfortunately, the outcome "ill not be acce!tance but blind fear$
&f Rochester finds it so hard to esca!e the nightmarish female "orld that the
Caribbean is to him, it is also because he has little to o!!ose in terms of masculine
values$ Similarly to *ntoinette, "hose surname is scattered across the island
through boys and girls of different colours, adding to the uncertainty of her
!aternal origins, Rochester cannot claim a strong and un?uestionable male
lineage$ *s 8$C$ S!iva'
D
has suggested, he lac's @the name of the fatherA9 "e call
him Rochester because that is the name "e learn from Jane *yre, but in (ide
'argasso 'ea the !atronymic is never mentioned$ Eor him, too, the !atriarchal la"
"hich he often invo'es is a cause of suffering, ta'ing the sha!e of an inheritance
la" "hich conveyed all the family !ro!erty to his elder brother$ (he une#!ressed
rage against his father ma'es him an 4edi!al figure "ho, deserted by !aternal
assurance, directs his rage at other !eo!le "hile he un"ittingly harms himself as
"ell) his fe" attem!ts at turning against his father are destined to fail from the
start, and he "ill only be able to !ut his anger into "ords that "ill never be read,
as in the accusatory letter not "ritten
F
and in the one not sent$
Erightened by the irrationality that emerges "ithin himself and by the
"ea'ness of his claims on reason and /uro!ean values, Rochester "ill, in his
confrontation "ith *ntoinette, em!hasise the @WesternA traits in him and, at the
same time, !erceive her as his !erfect o!!onent, a s!ecimen of the @other sideA,
not 'no"ing that she also belongs to both$ &n her he "ill embody all that he fears,
the "orld he feels threatened by, the feelings and !assions that his rational mind
"ill not ac'no"ledge$ &n his reaction he re;enacts the an#iety his colonial class
suffered from "hen decoloni:ation began$
Genneth Ramchand has e#amined this !henomenon from a !olitical;
historical !oint of vie" in an essay entitled @(errified consciousnessA (1969$
<
Bis
main claim, dra"n from the anticolonial thin'er Erant: Eanon,
6
is that the radical
change in the "hole colonial society, "hich occurred "ith decoloni:ation,
resulted in a fundamental insecurity and sense of danger haunting the minds of
both the coloni:ers, "ho sa" the em!ire they had created colla!se, and the "hite
Creoles, "hom the natives identified "ith the Western invader$
(hough in 1HDD, the year (ide 'argasso 'ea begins, decoloni:ation "as
still in embryo, !lanters could see the first signs of the u!setting of the social
order in the blac' revolts and in the /manci!ation *ct, as "ell as in the !lanters
beginning to lose !o"er and !restige C a do"nfall visible in the character of =r
2uttrell, the Cos"ayss neighbour, "ho dro"ned himself after the slaves of his
!lantation "ere freed$ (he envisaged revolution, as a fated tragedy, not yet
realised but hanging over them, frightened the colonisers sufficiently for their
minds to lose stability$
2i'e"ise, after much effort at a!!ro!riating and taming the "ildness of the
West &ndies, the /nglishman in (ide 'argasso 'ea is defeated by his o"n mind
giving vent to "hat it dreads most C the unconscious and sensuality C through a
F
'ilvia +ani,,a
series of s!ectres, all connected "ith his "ife, e#ternalised images of "hat he
"ould most strongly re>ect$ (hese @ghostsA are nothing but the embodiment of the
most distressing fears of the Western man9 blac'ness, bringing bac' the menace
of a race des!ised but never really subdued) madness, reminding a sane man of
the !recariousness of human rationality) "omanhood, from time immemorial
threatening !atriarchal !o"er and associated "ith feelings and emotions, "hich
"ere considered disre!utable as "ell as dangerous for a @civilisedA /uro!ean$
2astly, "hen the delusion has become com!lete, the real ghost arises, imagined as
a :ombie or soucriant and connected "ith the magical "orld of sorcery and obeah
that the Caribbean seems to be in foreign, ill;informed eyes$ &f Rochester sees all
this in his "ife, it is because these four categories often overla!, all being
associated "ith one !articular, @dar'A and @irrationalA set of !o"ers$
(he basic frightful force a!!ears to be most manifest in femininity, "hich
dra"s "ider associations "ith the other themes$ /ven Caribbean lush nature, in
Rochesters eyes, is female, "ith its fertile land and overabundant, violently
coloured flo"ers$ @/verything is too much, I$$$J too much blue, too much !ur!le,
too much green$ (he flo"ers too red, the mountains too high, the hills too nearA
(('', !$ D9, he muses, riding to"ards his honeymoon house in the Wind"ard
&slands, distressed by the sensuous fecundity of the !lace$
*ntoinettes se#uality a!!ears to him at the same time as threatening and
enticing, gro"ing more and more disturbing as he comes to connect it not only
"ith "omanhood, but also "ith blac'ness and madness$ *fter trying hard to re>ect
that se#uality "hich his !uritan ethics condemn as "rong and contaminating,
Rochester associates his "ifes sensual behaviour "ith her alleged blac' blood$ &t
"as a "ides!read legend among /uro!eans at the time that blac' "omen "ere
animated by an unbridled libido, a belief inflated by the stories that circulated
e#aggerating the illicit relationshi!s bet"een !lanters and their blac' servants$
.erived from this !re>udice "as the stereoty!e of the blac' "oman as @"horeA
"hich, together "ith the clichK of the blac' @mammyA, sums u! the
re!resentations of blac'ness that "ere then common among Westerners$
(herefore, Rochesters doubts about his "ifes ethnicity a!!ro!riately emerge
through his alarmed vision of her se#ual behaviour, also seen as the means of
!ro!agating the ghost of the blac' race$
*ntoinettes free se#uality leads her husband to sus!ect her not only of
being a mulatto, but also of being mad$ (his a!!arently !re!osterous correlation
"as ty!ical of the least advanced but unfortunately most !o!ular fringes of
Lictorian medicine, "hich held that all "omen suffered from hysteria to some
e#tent and that this disease "as caused by the movements of the uterus and
e#as!erated by any e#cess of emotion$ &n this "ay femininity, emotions and
se#uality "ere lin'ed to each other and condemned as causes or sym!toms of a
disorder$ Rochesters mindset is dee!ly embedded in his time and culture, acting
out 19
th
century misogynistic theories$
2astly, associated to the other three themes is magic, here obeah, !ractised
by *ntoinettes nurse Christo!hine and ta'ing on menacing, sinister tones in
<
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
Rochesters mind because it esca!es rational e#!lanation more than anything else$
Regina %arreca, in @Writing as LoodooA, introduces the connection bet"een
blac'ness, madness, magic and female "riting9 in her essay %arreca describes
voodoo as @the residual !o"er of the van?uishedA,
5
!ointing out ho" the
sorceress, the hysteric and the "oman artist all defy authority, being animated by
the same @desire for disorder or rather for counter orderA$
H
(hat may be an
accurate e#!lanation for the defensive mental and actual behaviour of the
/nglishman, and of his attem!ts to silence and shut out those !otential sources of
subversion$
&f Rochester, the re!resentative of a Lictorian re!ressive culture, is so eager
to identify these @unconscious forcesA as different, e#ternal, other from himself, it
is because by condemning them he a!!arently situates himself safely on the other
side$ Such a sim!lifying o!eration is of course destined to fail, and the hero "ill
be the very character in (ide 'argasso 'ea "hose defeat is most bitter and
com!lete$
(. An i)$*##i+l% in!%g'a!i*n
*fter briefly e#amining some of the main themes of (ide 'argasso 'ea as
emerging from the vie"!oint of a frightened male /urocentric imagination,
attention "ill no" be devoted to the real focal !oint of the novel, *ntoinettes
!ersonality and !sychology$ (he strong femininity, irrationality and sensuality
that Rochester detects in her are indeed there, although her husband, in his
!aranoid an#iety, e#as!erates that side of her "ell beyond its e#tent, to the !oint
of seeing her as a mad "itch$ What Rochester does not realise, ho"ever, is that
those ?ualities are merged "ith others that o!!ose them, in a mKlange of /uro!ean
and Caribbean, rational and irrational traits$
*ntoinette does not belong e#clusively to one "orld or the other, on the
contrary, both cultures have left a !eculiar mar' on her9 her blood is half
/uro!ean and half Caribbean and she has an over;imaginative, childish mind as
"ell as an attraction for /uro!ean comfort and control$ *s she can feel these
o!!osing forces "ithin herself, she strives to find a !lace in one universe or the
other, trying to divest herself from all that is not !urely White or !urely %lac'$
Society taught her that different cultural elements and diverging feelings cannot
coe#ist, leading her to believe that her inner com!le#ity is in fact a mental illness,
some sort of schi:o!hrenia$
What nobody in the story seems to understand is that those t"o !olarities
are necessary to each other, one 'ee!ing the other alive by its very o!!osition$
Whiteness and blac'ness, dreams and reality are all sides of one com!osite but
"hole universe, so it is not necessary, but even dangerous, to ma'e a clear;cut
choice bet"een them$ Such conce!tion, ho"ever, "as far too tolerant and
relativistic for nineteenth century culture, "hile "hen Jean Rhys "rote (ide
'argasso 'ea it "as becoming an increasingly res!ected notion$
(he inner struggle is one of the most fascinating and, & believe, crucial
!roblems of the novel$ *ll ?uestions of race, gender and emotion mentioned
6
'ilvia +ani,,a
above have an into#icating influence on *ntoinettes !syche and emerge as the
o!!osites that cause the dramatic s!lit "ithin herself, com!licating the recognition
of her identity$ -ntil she finally acce!ts their coe#istence$
(he !sychological disorientation and emotional confusion that ma'e
*ntoinettes understanding of herself so difficult are then due to both internal and
e#ternal factors9 tormenting her from "ithin is a com!le# !ersonality, !assionate
yet restrained, s!ontaneous yet meditative) surrounding her is a mi#ture of
com!licated situations, from the !olitical tumults that mar' the beginning of
decoloni:ation to the instability of a colla!sing family$ (here is, then, nothing and
nobody to hel! *ntoinette in her ?uest for identity, but there is much against her$
Ber origins, to begin from the beginning, are missing$ 0ot only is her
surname uncertain as a result of her fathers alleged !romiscuity, but she is also
given another !atronymic "hen her mother remarries, so that she finally has,
significantly, one Creole and one /nglish name$ Baving lost her father at an early
age, it is her relationshi! "ith her mother, the fundamental female "ho should act
as model and su!!ort for her, that becomes crucial in her develo!ment$ Eirstly, as
a model or as the !erson "hose behaviour and life *ntoinettes o!!osers accuse
her of being destined to re!licate, she is a thoroughly negative one9 selfish, vain,
cold, "ea' to the !oint of letting others im!rison and abuse her$ 0or is she
successful as a comforting and nurturing mother, as her affection is totally
devoted to *ntoinettes brother 1ierre and all the daughter receives from her is
cold indifference or even, on a fe" occasions, do"nright re>ection$ (his is at the
heart of *ntoinettes insecurity and of her subse?uent difficulty of forming
satisfactory relationshi!s) the recollection of that !rimary act of re>ection "ill
haunt *ntoinette throughout her life and, li'e a nightmare, "ill be enacted over
and over by most of the !eo!le she "ill care for9 her blac' friend (ia, the mulatto
children, Rochester$ (he e#clusion from both "hite and blac' society defines her
outcast status, a condition that she "ill be unable to esca!e and "ill grieve her
beyond endurance$
&t is from her mother, besides, that *ntoinette inherits !art of her frailty and
insecurity, the ty!ical "ea'nesses of the @"hite girlA that affect *nnette$ (hey
"ill be manifest in *ntoinettes desire for comfort and !rotection, false, artificial
needs that blind her and direct her to ill;advised choices "ith miserable
conse?uences$
9
0onetheless, *ntoinettes character is stronger than her mothers
and this difference becomes a!!arent in the crucial moments "hen their destiny is
to be decided9 *nnette gives herself u! to a madness "hich is im!osed on her
rather than real, and she "ill let !eo!le do as they li'e "ith her until the moment
of her death$ *ntoinette, on the contrary, does not give u!9 raging and screaming,
she "ill fight to the end to re;assert her identity, ready to ta'e the e#treme ste! of
self;sacrifice to reclaim her freedom and her self$
(he difficult relationshi! bet"een mother and daughter, influencing
*ntoinettes feelings and actions even in her adult life, has been investigated by
Lictoria %urro"s$
17
She argues that the re!eated acts of re>ection on the !art of
*nnette
11
create a trauma in her daughter, "hose reaction is to develo! strategies
5
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
of dissociation (hence the double identity and "ithdra"al (ta'ing refuge in a
mental "orld to esca!e the evils of reality$ (he theory of *ntoinettes self;
defensive "ithdra"al from reality seems to !artly >ustify the dream;li'e ?uality of
most of *ntoinettes narrative, "here it is dreams and emotions, not facts, that
matter$
(he Caribbean setting, "ith its uncertain and controversial history, is
!articularly relevant for this analysis$ *long "ith a missing mother, "hose
!resence "ould have allo"ed *ntoinette to feel !art of a family and therefore of a
shared tradition, there is also a missing history, contributing to the sense of being
u!rooted that afflicts the !rotagonist$ *nnette harshly turns do"n her daughters
?uestions about the !ast and as a conse?uence *ntoinette herself "ill no longer
"onder about it, dismissing every issue concerning it by saying9 @all that is long
agoA$ (his attitude to"ards history is shared by the blac' servants9 %a!tiste, for
instance, refuses even to s!ea' of the road that "as once near 8ranbois and that
had been built by the colonisers$ -nderstandably enough, they all attem!t to
mentally blot out the dar' years of slavery that they (including *ntoinette "ould
rather had never e#isted$
*s a child, *ntoinette senses that her inability to trac' do"n her origins,
either through history or through a family, also com!licates her search for
identity, es!ecially at a time in life "hen her sense of selfhood is still dim$ %ut
things only "orsen later on, "hen other, e#ternal forces concur in driving the
e#tremes of her already conflictual !ersonality even further asunder$
*n additional cause of confusion is, of course, her unclear !osition in the
West &ndian society, "hich leads to the double scorn she is constantly sub>ected
to, both from the "hite !o!ulation and from the blac', even from the mulatto, so
there is absolutely no !lace for her$ =oreover, the young !eo!le she gro"s u!
"ith and to "hom she com!ares herself are of both *frican and /uro!ean origin,
so *ntoinette finds herself caught bet"een blac' and "hite !aragons9 first, blac'
(ia, "hom she admires for her strength) later, the .e 1lana sisters, so faultless
and so /uro!ean, models of old;"orld refinement and grace$
&t does not hel! her that in the West &ndies racial distinctions had for a long
time been blurred as a result of miscegenation$ (he novel gives am!le evidence of
this as most of the characters have both blac' and "hite features and some are real
@half;bloodA) all this ma'es it harder for *ntoinette herself to choose her o"n
status$ Eor her, in fact, ethnicity seems to be rather a matter of choice than of
inheritance, a meta!horic relation, as 2ee /r"in
16
has defined it, tied to a "ay of
living and behaving rather than to genetics$
* fundamental scene, illustrating *ntoinettes com!le# relationshi! "ith the
blac' !o!ulation, is that of the e#;slaves revolt, also !aralleling the e!isode in
"hich *ntoinette sets fire to (hornfield$ (here, as most feminist readings have
claimed, the heroines rebellion to"ards Western !atriarchal o!!ression
seemingly re!licates the slaves retaliation against Coulibri estate, the symbol of
/uro!ean mastery$
1D
&t is during the night of the revolt, "hen the blac' !eo!le
H
'ilvia +ani,,a
confront the Cos"ay family in a reversal of !o"er relations and (ia thro"s a
stone at *ntoinette, that the heart of the conflicting blac'+"hite relation emerges
most forcefully9
(hen, not so far off, & sa" (ia and her mother and & ran to
her, for she "as all that "as left of my life as it had been$ We
had eaten the same food, sle!t side by side, bathed in the same
river$ *s & ran, & thought, & "ill live "ith (ia and & "ill be li'e
her$ 0ot to leave Coulibri$ 0ot to go$ 0ot$ When & "as close &
sa" the >agged stone in her hand but & didnt see her thro" it$ &
did not feel it either, only something "et, running do"n my
face$ & loo'ed at her and & sa" her face crum!le u! as she began
to cry$ We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers$
&t "as as if & sa" myself$ 2i'e in a loo'ing;glass (('', !$ 6D$
(his is not only a scene of re>ection and violence, but also, at the same time,
one of identification$ &t reveals the manifold reasons lying behind an action and
the different influences that act on !eo!le in crucial moments$
Belen (iffin
1F
reads the e!isode as the manifestation of the sense of
communion bet"een the blac' and the "hite girl, the image of the loo'ing glass
acting as a means of union, sho"ing ho" both children are victims of the "orld
they live in, and their mutual attac' (after being cheated of t"o !ennies by (ia,
*ntoinette enacts almost mechanically the "hite !re>udice, calling her @cheating
niggerA (('', !$ H is but a !roduct of their society and of "hat they have been
taught$ Eurther signs of the !ro#imity bet"een *ntoinette and the %lac's can be
detected in her habit of holding her left "rist "ith the right hand, in her red and
s"ollen "rists after the fight "ith Richard to"ards the end of the novel (both
images reminding one of slaves cuffs, in her being shi!!ed, in fetters, to her
!rison over the ocean, li'e slaves from *frica many years before$ 4r in the fact
that she is literally bought for !rofit and a!!ro!riated, both !hysically and
culturally, and given a ne", more /nglish name$
1<
&t must not be forgotten, though, that *ntoinettes feelings to"ards blac'
!eo!le are never univocal, something that underscores the thesis that her
!ersonality is in constant fluctuation bet"een t"o "orlds$ 4n the other side, there
is her sense that being "hite means res!ectability and "ealth, "hile her education
"arned her that gro"ing u! @li'e a niggerA, as she seemed to be doing, "as
contem!tible in a "hite girl and "ould ma'e her unfit for society$ *lbeit only
!artly acce!ted and hardly internalised, such conce!tions do o!erate in her,
mostly at an unconscious level, emerging for instance "hen, after seeing her
mother abused by a blac' cou!le, she turns against Christo!hine calling her
@blac' devilA, a reaction that a!!ears to be automatic, based on "hat she has >ust
seen and on a !hrase she must have heard many a time, rather than the result of a
!ersonal reflection on racial matters$
(his !roblem may be solved only through a combination of the t"o o!!osite
vie"s of identification and re>ection$ *ntoinette, as a "hite Creole "ho gre" u!
among blac' !eo!le but "as born in a family "here /uro!ean values dominated,
9
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
strongly feels the contrast bet"een the t"o cultures "hile sho"ing that racial
difference is >ust a cultural construct, as the childrens indecisive behaviour
demonstrates$ Re>ection on (ias !art is then only on the surface$ .ee! do"n, as
*ntoinette feels, they are but t"o children "ho "ould see no difference in each
other and no harm in !laying together$
Einally, as the !erson "ho "ill definitely mar' *ntoinette as an outcast in
/uro!ean society, comes =r Rochester, "ho is sus!icious of her from the first
and misunderstands her com!letely, "idening the chasm inside her$ 4n the one
hand, he accusingly im!lies that she is a sensuous blac' savage, "ild because of
her en>oyment of the o!en air and her familiarity "ith the islands la'es and
mountains, lustful because of her giving herself to him unrestrainedly$ 4n the
other, he im!oses on her a /uro!ean identity and a /uro!ean name, striving to
!ersuade her that she is the submissive /nglish "ife he "ould "ant her to be$
16
Be
goes so far in this as to com!are his "ife to a :ombie, a !roduct of obeah magical
rituals, "hich "as characterised by a mar'ed absence of thought and "ill$
15
*
descri!tion of a :ombie "ould match "ith alarming !recision Rochesters
!ortrayal of *ntoinette9 cold hands, red eyes, a connection "ith death emerging in
her night tal's, al"ays revolving around that sub>ect,
1H
and culminating in his
covering the body of his "ife @as if & covered a dead girlA (('', !$ HH$ %y
de!riving her of her "ill, as sorcerers do to :ombies, Rochester controls and
sub>ugates his "ife, >ust as slave;o"ners did "ith their slaves$
19
.ividing her into raving blac' "oman and tame "hite girl, Rochester
commits a fatal mista'e, being unable to understand that she may comfortably be
both9 the frail rose on their honeymoon brea'fast tray, "ith its !etals falling as he
!ic's it u!, and the red flamboyant flo"er$
(hus, finally, *ntoinette comes to !erceive "ith acuteness t"o >arring
identities "ithin herself, so the inner conflict that has accom!anied her all through
her life reaches its clima#$ *$%$ Sim!son, in Territories of the +syche, e#as!erates
this idea of division in !sychiatric terms, tal'ing of schi:oid !aranoia$
/m!hasising, li'e %urro"s, the role of the mother, Sim!son argues that
*ntoinettes mind o!erates in a sim!lifying "ay, trying to reduce everything to
t"o basic o!!osites9 !rimarily, an all;denying mother and an all;giving maternal
substitute, Christo!hine, "hom she tends to idealise$ She then re!licates this
!attern in every follo"ing e#!erience, se!arating love and hate "ith clear;cut
boundaries$ &f *ntoinette oversim!lifies, ho"ever, it is not she but her husband
"ho gives voice to a stereoty!ed vie" of things based on !reviously formed
assum!tions$
(he o!!osites in the novel, besides, should not be ta'en at face value9 it
must not be forgotten that the ability to create a fictive "orld "here nothing can
be defined in univocal terms, "here not even reality can be mar'ed out is one of
Rhyss !rinci!al merits$ *ll forces and !assions intermingle
67
in this novel and the
main characters are moved by manifold and very different motivations$ &nstead of
>udging, of arbitrarily tracing sim!listic lines of division, *ntoinette only tells
facts as she remembers and as she feels them, in a dreamli'e and emotional
17
'ilvia +ani,,a
narrative that sho"s ho" in the unconscious or semi;conscious all contours are
indistinct and the logic is a different, !ersonal one$ .reams and emotions are,
indeed, the very substance of (ide 'argasso 'ea, and it "ill be through these
means that the revelation of the heroines true identity "ill come to light$
,. T% #%l- in !% )i..l% #%a
&t is in 1art (hree, the most !roblematic and stylistically dis>ointed section
of the novel, that the meaning of the "hole seems to be decided$ 4n account of its
im!ortance and elusiveness, critics have argued most vehemently over this !art,
bringing forth dis!arate inter!retations$ (he dreamli'e ?uality of the narration and
the literal dream;section that closes the cha!ter have made it !articularly hard for
critical readers to !ut forth a unanimous e#!lanation$
(he search for identity that has tormented *ntoinette all her life no" finds
its solution$ Bere, after realising that her !ersonality is torn in t"o, *ntoinette is
driven to the e#tremity of her distress, but from the bottom of her sorro" s!rings
the "ill!o"er to solve her inner conflict$ (he !ath to !eace !roves !ainful and
lonely, and the solution is reached >ust as she shuts out all e#ternal influence in
order to come to terms "ith her self alone and thus to discover "hat is, in her, not
genuine but im!osed$ *ll this cannot ha!!en until the very end, after *ntoinette
has struggled "ith her t"o selves and has succeeded, in a moment of e#treme
lucidity C !arado#ically, in a dream C to e#teriorise the false !art of her identity$
(he first ste!s for the recovery of *ntoinettes selfhood are ta'en at
(hornfield, "here her !ersonality comes gradually bac' to life, both des!ite and
because of Rochesters attem!ts at destroying and substituting it "ith another, and
after a !eriod of near;death "hen her s!irit seemed fro:en, buried under the cold
hate directed at her$ (he first @life;givingA incident is connected "ith her red
dress, "hich brings bac' a flood of memories, its !erfume reminding her of West
&ndian flo"ers, of sun and rain, its colour being that of fire and of @"hat she must
doA, "hich is ho"ever left undefined$ (he dress is so much connected "ith her
!ast and more innocent self that *ntoinette believes it to be a means of
recognition, as in the meeting "ith her brother, after "hich she com!lains9 @&f &d
been "earing that Ired dressJ, hed have 'no"n meA (('', !$ 119$ (he fact that
her brother, having come to see her, fails to recognise his sister in the "oman he
meets in the cold attic, indicates the state of dis!ossession *ntoinette has reached$
0othing is left to hel! her remember "ho she is, there is not even a mirror in her
room, lest she might see her o"n image and realise that she is not mad %ertha but
sane and healthy *ntoinette, not a raving /nglish "ife but a >oyful Creole girl$
%ut the red dress, once un!ac'ed and "orn for a "hile, a"a'ens memories$
(hen, adding the final lin' to the chain of recollections, comes the third dream,
61
"hich & consider not as a !arenthesis se!arated from the course of events, as it
could be regarded if seen as >ust an unreal !roduct of the unconscious, but as a
continuation of the @emotionalised logicA that *ntoinette has ado!ted from the
first$ &n the dream she enters a red and "hite room, "hich symbolises the eternal
conflict bet"een !assion and reason$ (he more red ob>ects come into her sight,
the more clearly she remembers her !ast$ (hen she flees from the room, "here she
11
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
has begun to feel uncomfortable, and runs into the hall "here, finally, the
momentous act of self;a!!ro!riation ta'es !lace9 by seeing, "ith dismay, the
image of @the ghost of a "omanA in the mirror, she is brought face to face "ith
that self that never really belonged to her, "ith the ghostly mas' her husband had
forced on her, "hich is no" e#teriorised and ob>ectified in the glass, so no longer
a !art of her$
66
8$C$ S!iva' has e#amined the theme of identity in connection "ith the
recurrent images of mirrors in the novel,
6D
coming to the conclusion that it is
!recisely in the moments "hen *ntoinette sees herself in a mirror that she comes
closer to understanding her true identity$ S!iva' "arns, ho"ever, that it is not
al"ays clear "hether mirror;images are to be considered as faithful reflections of
ones self, or as a distortion of the truth, refracted by the desires and states of
mind of the sub>ect, as in the scene "here *ntoinette believes she sees her blac'
friend (ia @as in a loo'ing glassA$ Erom the mirror of her adolescence, "here
*ntoinette !erceives @IherselfJ yet not ?uite IherselfJA, to the crucial discovery of
a "omans ghost in the hall glass at (hornfield, the im!ortance of observing
herself as if from the outside increases and enables *ntoinette to contem!late
more ob>ectively the ?uestion of her selfhood$ S!iva' calls this !rocess @othering
the selfA, e#!laining ho" *ntoinette can re;establish her identity by @otheringA the
false and deceiving !art of her that ecli!sed her authentic self$
S!iva' suggests that scenes of mirroring in (ide 'argasso 'ea may be
considered as a !articular re"riting of the myth of 0arcissus9 @&n 4vids
-etamorphoses, 0arcissuss madness is disclosed "hen he recognises his 4ther
as his self I$$$J$ Rhys ma'es *ntoinette see her self as her 4therA
6F
$ 0arcissuss
!ool reflected the @selved 4therA) conversely, "hen *ntoinette sees, surrounded
by a gilt frame, @the ghost$ (he "oman "ith streaming hairA, "hat the mirror
actually sho"s her is the ob>ectified @4thered selfA from "hich *ntoinette can
no" se!arate herself, the self that "as im!osed on her by Rochester but that never
belonged to her$ (he schi:o!hrenic identity is ob>ectified in the mirror through the
image of a mad, ghostly figure, embodying the e#tremes of aggressive insanity
and evanescent fragility "hich others sa" in her but did not define her$
0o" *ntoinette can ta'e the final ste! to reclaim her identity and liberate
herself from im!risonment of all 'inds$ (his action can be seen as re!resented in
her setting fire to (hornfield and in her >um!ing do"n from its battlements$
%ut before analysing the different inter!retations of this last section, it must
be remembered that the ending of (ide 'argasso 'ea is o!en and does not
!rovide any definite solution$ (he reader is then free to imagine a different future
for the heroine, either trying to find out "hat the author had imagined but did not
"rite out, or acce!ting that Jean Rhys herself did not choose any !articular
conclusion but decided to leave the story o!en;ended$
(he novel ends "ith *ntoinette "al'ing in the corridor "ith a candle in her
hand, re!licating the beginning of the dream she has >ust had C but not acting it
out$ (hough it seems !robable that the dream "ill no" have its reali:ation, Rhys
gives the reader no certainty$ &t is in another novel, in Jane *yre, that the
16
'ilvia +ani,,a
destructive act is realised, as Carole *ngier
6<
remar's, thus absolving *ntoinette
from the res!onsibility of mutilating her husband and setting fire to his house$
Similarly, Sim!son
66
ac?uits the heroine, claiming that "hat ha!!ens in the dream
is not necessarily fated to ha!!en in reality, as dreams only re!resent our "ishes
but do not direct our subse?uent actions$
-ndeniable as it is that Jean Rhys decided not to give a definite ending to
her story or to endorse Charlotte %rontMs fictional solution, it is still !ossible, by
!aying attention to the meaning and develo!ment of the "hole !lot, to ma'e a
!rediction as to the most li'ely outcome$ (hough *ntoinette does nothing, she
dreams much, and in the novel !sychic states are al"ays of e?ual, if not greater
im!ortance than reality$ &t does not matter much, therefore, "hether she actually
sets fire to (hornfield and dies or not, because if all this ta'es !lace in her
unconscious it is as if it truly ha!!ened$ Eor this reason & "ill, in the inter!retation
of the finale, consider the ending of (ide 'argasso 'ea as a fictional reality as
im!ortant as the rest of the story, given also the crucial role that dreams and
!remonitions have in !re!aring the novels actions, ma'ing the dream;ending
consistent "ith the "hole narrative tissue, if not absolutely necessary$
&t is in this light that many critics have e#amined the final scene, but the
inter!retations that have been !ut for"ard are far from homogeneous$ *ntoinettes
vision of symbols and images from her Caribbean !ast has divided readers on the
?uestion of a !otential identification "ith that culture$ /$G$ %rath"aite
65
denies,
on the grounds of an irreclaimable racial division, the !ossibility of discerning any
real unification in *ntoinettes fantasy of seeing in the red s'y a bec'oning West
&ndian "orld, "here the image of (ia is !redominant$ &n his vie" the racial breach
"as, for cultural and historical reasons, unbridgeable, so *ntoinettes dream
vision of her blac' friend and her universe can be nothing but "ishful thin'ing$
(ia is, in S!iva's "ords, @the 4ther that could not be selvedA,
6H
not"ithstanding
*ntoinettes "ishes and invocations, a re!resentative of the *fro;Caribbean
!o!ulation that re>ected her >ust as /uro!eans did$
Still, in the finale *ntoinette does call out to (ia and >um!s to"ards her
friends image,
69
o!ening the !ossibility of reading this e!isode as the sign of a
final and much longed;for union "ith the blac' !eo!le$ %aer defines this scene as
@esca!e and returnA,
D7
alluding to *ntoinettes evasion (both literal and
meta!horical from im!risonment and her return to her !ast and her origins$ Belen
(iffin, in @=irror and =as'A,
D1
sides "ith this inter!retation, but she also !uts
forth another interesting suggestion9 not only does *ntoinette fly from her
shac'les by thro"ing herself do"n from the roof, but her >um! also carries a sign
of rebirth, reinforced by the mention, a fe" !ages earlier, of the flamboyant
flo"er$ (he ca!tive tells 8race 1oole that @&f you are buried under a flamboyant
tree I$$$J your soul is lifted u! "hen it flo"ers$ /veryone "ants thatA (('', !$
179$ 0o" the s'y has the colour of that flo"er and the fire has the cathartic effect
of bringing rebirth through a return to the origins$
(his conce!tion recalls another fascinating West &ndian legend, that of the
tree of life$ *mid the general combustion of ob>ects belonging to *ntoinettes
1D
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
!resent and !ast, the tree of life a!!ears, burning ma>estically as the symbol of the
end of all that has been and of the o!ening of ne" o!!ortunities$ (his tro!e is
su!!orted by the *ra"a' myth of a legendary tree that gave shelter and
sustenance to that tribe during the "ar "ith the Carib invaders$ When the Caribs
set fire to the tree inside "hich the *ra"a' had hidden for !rotection, its branches
conveyed its inhabitants to heaven and transformed them into stars$
D6
=ost of the criticism that su!!orts the idea of *ntoinettes final return to
(ia+the blac' slaves+the !ast begins by stressing the !arallel bet"een *ntoinettes
burning of (hornfield and the blac' insurgents setting fire to Coulibri$ (he
analogy is evident, but one "onders to "hat e#tent it is meant to signify an
e?uation bet"een *ntoinette and the e#;slaves or sim!ly a similar outburst of rage
and !assion against restraint, meant to !urify a @dirtyA !ast and to establish a
different future$
(here is, ho"ever, one detail that illuminates both e!isodes "ith a similar
symbolic meaning, though "ith different conse?uences9 during the night of the
revolt, the =ason family is saved because *nnettes !arrot a!!ears on the
verandah "ith its "ings on fire, an ominous !resage for the rebels) no"
*ntoinettes hair catches fire, @and it streamed out li'e "ingsA$ -nli'e the cli!!ed
"ings of the !arrot, her hair is not constrained and it is free to become a !air of
"ings leading her to salvation, as in the *frican;*merican legend of @flying to
freedomA9 before being shi!!ed to *merica, some of the *frican slaves 'ne" the
secret of flight, but "hen they arrived at the !lantations they shed their "ings,
"hich "ere restored only "hen slavery became so unbearable that they had to fly
a"ay to be free and safe$
DD
Bolding the heroine bet"een self;annihilation and trium!hant re>oining "ith
her !ast, or denying her all !ossibility of action, critics have al"ays tried to
confine *ntoinette to one "orld or the other$ &f /ngland dominates, she is fro:en
or destroyed) if the West &ndies "elcome her, she is safe$ %ut there is yet another
!ossible significance of the crucial lea!$
Standing on the roof of (hornfield, shortly before dying, *ntoinette sees all
her life in front of her, all the ob>ects from her !ast and !resent intermingling9
flo"ers, the tree of life, *unt Coras !atch"or', the red car!et at (hornfield,
Coulibris !ool$$$ Einally, as the lifelong desire never relin?uished, she sees (ia,
the friend "ho "as never her mirror after all, and >um!s to"ards her and the fiery
Caribbean life$
%ut, in bet"een, there is the sea$ %et"een /ngland and the West &ndies,
bet"een the t"o "orlds to "hich she never belonged, there is the Sargasso Sea$
(here does *ntoinette belong, and there she >um!s$ &f her e#!erience at
(hornfield served to reclaim her identity and sho" her at last "ho she "as, then
the final >um! to"ards selfhood ta'es her to her real homeland, inhabited by her
alone but "here she can finally be truly herself$ *fter all her im!ossible attem!ts
to be acce!ted by t"o different communities she realises that her strength lies in
her uni?ueness, in the com!le#ity of her !ersonality, and the solution is to sto!
1F
'ilvia +ani,,a
trying to !enetrate t"o "orlds "here she does not belong and to be somebody
else$ (he real victory is to acce!t her self, different from all others but true,
stronger because it has gone through various "ays of feeling and thin'ing$ %ut the
only "ay to find it and claim it is to lose it for a moment, to die and be born again
as a !erson "ho has finally found the courage to assert her self, not "ith shame
but "ith !ride$
1<
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
N*!%#
1
See =ary 2ou /mery, Jean Rhys at .(orld$s *nd$/ 0ovels of 1olonial and 'e#ual *#ile,
*ustin, -niversity of (e#as 1ress, 1997, and /li:abeth R$ %aer, @(he Sisterhood of Jane /yre and
*ntoinette Cos"ayA, in /li:abeth *bel et al$ (eds$, The 2oyage in/ 3ictions of 3emale
)evelopment, Banover and 2ondon, -niversity 1ress of 0e" /ngland, 19HD, !!$ 1D1;FH$
6
4ne of the most notable critics tac'ling ?uestions of race and colonialism, though not
forgetting the other !roblems of the novel, is 8ayatry Cha'ravorty S!iva' in @(hree Womens
(e#ts and a Criti?ue of &m!erialismA, 1ritical 4nquiry 16 (19H<, !!$ 6FD;61$ Eor other
!ostcolonial reading of ('' see 2aura /$ Ciol'o"s'i, @0avigating the (ide 'argasso 'ea9
Colonial Bistory, /nglish Eiction, and %ritish /m!ireA, Tentieth 1entury 5iterature FD (1995,
!!$ DD9;<9, and Judie 0e"man, The 6allistic 6ard/ +ostcolonial 3ictions, 2ondon, /d"ard
*rnold, 199<$
D
S!iva', @(hree Womens (e#tsA, op. cit$
F
@.ear Eather I$$$J & have a modest com!etence no"$ & "ill never be a disgrace to you or to
my dear brother the son you love$ & have sold my soul or you have sold it, and after all is it such a
bad bargainNA ('', !$ D9$
<
Genneth Ramchand, @(errified ConsciousnessA, Journal of 1ommonealth 5iterature 5
(1969, !!$ H;19$
6
See Erant: Eanon, 5es )amn7s de la Terre, 1aris, 2a .Kcouverte, 1961$
5
Regina %arreca, @Writing as Loodoo9 Sorcery, Bysteria, and *rtA, in Sarah Webster
8od"in and /li:abeth %ronfen (eds$, )eath and Representation, %altimore and 2ondon, (he
Johns Bo!'ins -niversity 1ress, 199D, !!$ 15F;91$ 2i'e Rochesters fictive boo' The 8littering
1oronet of 4sles, Regina %arreca in @Writing as LoodooA confuses voodoo and obeah, treating
them as the same religion$ (hough some"hat similar to obeah, voodoo is a more com!le# system
of beliefs and "as originated in the %enin region by the Eon and Ooruba tribes, "hereas obeah
develo!ed in the 8hana region among the *shanti Eanti$ See *lan Richardson, @Romantic
Loodoo9 4beah and %ritish Culture, 1595;1H75A, 'tudies in Romanticism D6 (199D, !$ <$
H
Catherine ClKment, @(he 8uilty 4neA, in BKlPne Ci#ous and Catherine ClKment (eds$,
The 0ely 6orn (oman, trans$ %etsy Wing, =anchester, -niversity 1ress, 19H6, !$ D7, ?uoted in
%arreca, @Writing as LoodooA, cit$, !$ 15H$
9
&n the attem!t to !ersuade her to marry him "hen she a!!ears to "ant to refuse him,
Rochester cleverly !romises *ntoinette security) the argument "ill !rove a "inning one9 @%ut
dont you remember last night & told you that "hen you are my "ife there "ould not be any more
reason to be afraidNA ('', !$ F<$
17
Lictoria %urro"s, (hiteness and Trauma, %asingsto'e, 1algrave =acmillan, 677F, !!$
1<;D6$
11
When *ntoinette tries to smooth out her fro"n, her mother !ushes her a"ay coldly$
2ater, during *ntoinettes first visit to her after the fire, she "ill hug her daughter for a moment
only to !ush her a"ay "ith force after realising that 1ierre is not "ith her$
16
2ee /r"in, @Q2i'e in a 2oo'ing 8lass9 Bistory and 0arrative in (ide 'argasso 'eaA,
0ovel 66 (19H9, !$ 1F9$
1D
&t may be tem!ting to ta'e all these associations as an indication to com!are the
condition of the blac' slaves "ith that of the "hite "oman$ Such reading is !ossible only if it can
be demonstrated that the character of *ntoinette is re!resentative of the o!!ressed 19
th
century
"hite "oman, an o!eration that has been attem!ted by B$ (iffin (see Belen (iffin, @=irror and
=as'9 Colonial =otifs in the 0ovels of Jean RhysA, (orld 5iterature (ritten in *nglish 15
(195H, !!$ 1FD;1<F but re>ected by most critics after her$ (hough com!arable for the o!!ression
both grou!s suffered and the de!ersonali:ation they had to endure, the fate of "hite "omen "as
by far less !ainful than that of blac' slaves$ %esides, in a novel centred on individual !ersonality,
such generali:ation of the role of characters can be dangerous and misleading$ Jean Rhys, as she
o!enly admitted, "rote by instinct and all her stories are totally sub>ective, !olitical issues being
incidental rather than critically discussed by the author$ *ntoinette should therefore be ta'en as an
individual, !erha!s as the fictional counter!art of Rhys, rather than as the avatar of the sufferings
of all "hite "omen$ Ber attraction to blac'ness a!!ears then as the result of a !articular "ay of
feeling and of s!ecific !ersonal circumstances$
1F
4bid$
16
'ilvia +ani,,a
1<
*t one !oint of the story Rochester starts calling *ntoinette, to her ama:ement, @%erthaA,
"ith the hidden !ur!ose to !ossess and domesticate her$ %ertha is of course the name of the West
&ndian "ife in Jane *yre, but it can also be found, along "ith other sur!rising coincidences, in
=ary Shelleys The -ortal 4mmortal (1HDD and in 8eorge /liots The 5ifted 2eil (1H<9$ (he
gothic atmos!here of these "or's matches the tone of some !arts of ('', and in both figures a
sensual, attractive "oman named %ertha, "ho drives her lovers mad "ith !aranoid >ealousy and
fascinates them "ith her mysteriousness$ (he !arallels do not sto! here9 in The 5ifted 2eil the
hero, 2atimer, meets his %ertha in a magical 1rague, described as a city of the living dead) he is
both attracted to and re!ulsed by her enchanting femininity, "hile she !erceives their union as
soul;deadening, loveless, and "ithout !assion) finally, in a stri'ing similarity to the sterile
re!resentation of Western culture in ('', as S$ 8ilbert and S$ 8ubar have noticed discussing the
connections of this "or' "ith Jane *yre, in /liots novel @the scientific e#!eriments conducted by
=eunier and 2atimer !rovide !roof that the masculinist arts of civili:ation can only reanimate the
dead and deaden the livingA (!$ F<5$ (hus, %erthas !lotting of 2atimers death can be seen as an
attem!t on her !art to regain the vitality he had denied her$ See Sandra =$ 8ilbert and Susan
8ubar, The -adoman in the !ttic/ the (oman (riter and the 0ineteenth-1entury 5iterary
4magination, 0e" Baven and 2ondon, Oale -niversity 1ress, 6777, !!$ FF6;F65$
16
&t may be suggested that *ntoinette develo!s a double identity also to !lease her husband
and 'ee! his love$ Seeing that he considers her as t"o different !ersons, she becomes t"o different
!ersons$
15
Wade .avis, The *thnobiology of the 9aitian :ombie, Cha!el Bill, -niversity of 0orth
Carolina 1ress, 19HH, ?uoted in 0e"man, The 6allistic 6ard, cit$, !$ 19$
1H
@%ut at night I$$$J al"ays this tal' of death$A ('', !$ <<$
19
(he legendary figure of the :ombie can be regarded as yet another danger arising out of
that obscure Caribbean universe that threatens the /uro!ean man$ Classic fol'lore has it that
sorcerers turn !eo!le into :ombies using !otions in order to ma'e them "or' for them tirelessly$
(hough maintaining the a!!earance of living !eo!le, :ombies are recogni:able for a blan'
e#!ression and a lac' of "ill and thought$ Judie 0e"man uses this account to validate her thesis
that in ('' :ombification acts as a meta!hor for the colonial e#!loitation of slaves, an analogy
that can clearly be traced in the :ombies hard labour under the control of the magician$ 0e"man
sets the myth of the :ombie against a mKlange of cultural references) not only fol'loric tales, but
also !o!ular films such as +lague of the :ombies (1966 or ;ing of the :ombies (19F1, she says,
can hel! identify the role of this !resence in (''. &n !articular, it is 4 (alked (ith a :ombie
(19FD, !roduced by Lal 0e"ton, that in 0e"mans vie" influenced Rhys, though !erha!s not at a
conscious level$ (he !arallels bet"een the film and the novel are, indeed, numerous (an unchaste
"hite "ife, a /uro!ean husband, obeah and :ombification, even a scene "here the !rotagonist
climbs stone ste!s$ &n the film, it is the husbands mother "ho !ractices obeah and initiates the
catastro!he, a detail "hich seems to reinforce Christo!hines claim, in ('', that "hite !eo!le
should never meddle "ith obeah$ See 0e"man, The 6allistic 6ard, cit$, !!$ 1D;6H$
67
@.esire, Batred, 2ife, .eath came very close in the dar'nessA, ('', !$ <5$
61
.reams in the novel contain a symbolism "hich, combined "ith several !remonitions,
creates the sense that the heroines destiny is in some "ay !redetermined and that the future can be
foretold by !aying attention to certain signs, "hich !oint to the ending "ith uncanny !recision$
(he first dream occurs "ith the arrival of the 2uttrells, the ne" /nglish neighbours, "ho "ill bring
trouble by introducing =r$ =ason "ho, in turn, "ill bring Rochester$ 4n this occasion *ntoinette
has a very ha:y dream, of "hich she can only say that she "as in a forest "ith someone "ho hated
her and that she felt !aralysed$ (he anguish of the nightmare is soothed by the thought that she is
safe, as long as there is @the barrier of the seaA to shield her from danger$ Soon, she "ill find out,
someone "ill cross the sea and there "ill be nothing to !rotect her$ (he second dream ta'es !lace
after another decisive scene, "hen =r$ =ason announces to *ntoinette that she "ill soon have to
leave the convent as friends from /ngland are coming to visit him) at least @one of them "ill
comeA$ *gain !rotection, this time in the sha!e of the convent "alls, is removed, and in the night
*ntoinette "ill see clearly "hat =asons "ords did not say$ &n the second dream she is "earing a
"hite dress, li'e the one Rochester "ill be fond of, but it is trailing in the mud$ (he feeling of fear
of the first dream is no" e#treme, and the hating !resence that had no face is no" visible$ (hough
frightened, *ntoinette does not try to esca!e because @this must ha!!enA$ Considered against the
ending of the story, these "ords may mean the girls acce!tance of her conflict "ith the man and
15
)ouble comple#ity in Jean Rhys$s Wide Sargasso Sea
her im!risonment, in order for her to see' and assert her identity$ *t the beginning of the dream;
vision she is in a forest, but then the setting changes into @an enclosed garden surrounded by a
stone "allA9 her /nglish !rison$ (here are also ste!s, and she foresees that @it "ill be "hen & go u!
these ste!sA (in the atticR$ (hen she holds on to a tree "hich starts >er'ing and sto!s only "hen a
voice says @in hereA$ (he connection of the t"o dreams "ith the last one is underlined by
*ntoinette in a dis?uieting !remonition during her visit to Christo!hine in 1art ("o9 @& 'no" the
bed "ith red curtains "here &ll dream the end of my dreamA$ 2oc'ed in her /nglish attic, she "ill
have her last and final dream, and in it she "ill achieve a clearer understanding of her e#istential
situation and of its !ossible solution$
66
(he conce!t of e#teriori:ation is fre?uent in critical inter!retations$ Eor an e#haustive
analysis, see %aer, @(he Sisterhood of Jane /yre and *ntoinette Cos"ayA, op. cit$
6D
S!iva', @(hree Womens (e#tsA, cit$, !!$ 6FD;661$
6F
4bid$, !$ 6FH$
6<
Carole *ngier, Jean Rhys, Barmonds"orth, 1enguin, 19H6$
66
*nne %$ Sim!son, Territories of the psyche/ the 3iction of Jean Rhys, %asingsto'e,
1algrave =acmillan, 677<$
65
/d"ard Gamau %rath"aite, 1ontradictory <mens/ 1ultural )iversity and 4ntegration in
the 1aribbean, Gingston, Jamaica, Savacou 1ublications, 195F, !!$ DD;DH$
6H
S!iva', @(hree Womens (e#tsA, op. cit$
69
@& called Q(iaR and >um!ed and "o'eA, ('', !$ 16D$
D7
%aer, @(he Sisterhood of Jane /yre and *ntoinette Cos"ayA, cit$, !$ 1D6$
D1
(iffin, @=irror and =as'A, cit$, !!$ D6H;DF1$
D6
(old by 0e"man in The 6allistic 6ard, cit$, !!$ 6D;6H$
DD
See Lirginia Bamilton, 'tories !round the (orld, 2ondon, Bodder and Stoughton, 1997,
?uoted in =aria 4laussen, @Jean Rhyss Construction of %lac'ness as /sca!e from White
Eemininity in (ide 'argasso 'eaA, !riel 6F (199D, !!$ 6H;H1$
1H
'ilvia +ani,,a
/*'0# Ci!%.
*ngier, Carole, Jean Rhys, Barmonds"orth, 1enguin, 19H6$
%aer, /li:abeth R$, @(he Sisterhood of Jane /yre and *ntoinette Cos"ayA, in
/li:abeth *bel, et al$ (eds$, The 2oyage in/ 3ictions of 3emale
)evelopment, Banover and 2ondon, -niversity 1ress of 0e" /ngland,
19HD, !!$ 1D1;1FH$
%arreca, Regina, @Writing as Loodoo9 Sorcery, Bysteria, and *rtA, in Sarah
Webster 8od"in and /li:abeth %ronfen (eds$, )eath and Representation,
%altimore and 2ondon, (he Johns Bo!'ins -niversity 1ress, 199D, !!$ 15F;
191$
%rath"aite, /d"ard Gamau, 1ontradictory <mens/ 1ultural )iversity and
4ntegration in the 1aribbean, Gingston, Jamaica, Savacou 1ublications,
195F$
%urro"s, Lictoria, (hiteness and Trauma, %asingsto'e, 1algrave =acmillan,
677F$
Ciol'o"s'i 2aura /$, @0avigating the (ide 'argasso 'ea9 Colonial Bistory,
/nglish Eiction, and %ritish /m!ireA, Tentieth 1entury 5iterature FD
(1995, !!$ DD9;D<9$
ClKment, Catherine, @(he 8uilty 4neA, in BKlPne Ci#ous and Catherine ClKment
(eds$, The 0ely 6orn (oman, =anchester, -niversity 1ress, 19H6, !!$ <;
D<$
.avies, Wade, The *thnobiology of the 9aitian :ombie, Cha!el Bill, -niversity
of 0orth Carolina 1ress, 19HH$
/mery, =ary 2ou, Jean Rhys at .(orld$s *nd$/ 0ovels of 1olonial and 'e#ual
*#ile, *ustin, -niversity of (e#as 1ress, 1997$
/r"in, 2ee, @Q2i'e in a 2oo'ing 8lass9 Bistory and 0arrative in (ide 'argasso
'eaA, 0ovel 66 (19H9, !!$ 1FD;1<H$
Eanon, Erant:, 5es )amn7s de la Terre, 1aris, 2a .Kcouverte, 1961$
Bamilton, Lirginia, 'tories !round the (orld, 2ondon, Bodder and Stoughton,
1997$
0e"man, Judie, The 6allistic 6ard/ +ostcoloninal 3ictions, 2ondon, /d"ard
*rnold, 199<$
4laussen, =aria, @Jean Rhyss Construction of %lac'ness as /sca!e from White
Eemininity in (ide 'argasso 'eaA, !riel 6F$6 (199D, !!$ 6H;H1$
Rhys, Jean, (ide 'argasso 'ea (1966, Barmonds"orth, 1enguin, 6771$
Richardson, *lan, @Romantic Loodoo9 4beah and %ritish Culture, 1595;1H75A,
'tudies in Romanticism D6 (199D, !!$ D;6H$
S!iva', 8ayatry Cha'ravorty, @(hree Womens (e#ts and a Criti?ue of
&m!erialismA, 1ritical 4nquiry 16 (19H<, !!$ 6FD;661$
(iffin, Belen, @=irror and =as'9 Colonial =otifs in the 0ovels of Jean RhysA,
(orld 5iterature (ritten in *nglish 15 (195H, !!$ 15;DF$
19