Wide Sargasso Sea

Truth can lie between two different realities. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester’s plans to marry Jane are frustrated by the revelation that the long-suffering man is already married and in fact, his mad wife is locked in the attic. But what is her story? And if she is ‘mad’, how did she get that way? The wife is Antoinette Bertha Mason Rochester, nee Cosway; she prefers Antoinette. Rhys is masterful showing the descent of Antionette’s life and mind as well as the gradual rise of Rochester’s contempt and control of her. The evolution of Antoinette’s voice from clarity to ‘madness’ is exquisite and sad. Like Rhys herself, Antoinette is of Creole descent. We meet her growing up in Dominica with her widowed mother and disabled brother. From the beginning, Antoinette is unsure of who she is. As white Creoles, they are rejected by both the English and the Blacks, who call them “white cockroaches.” As women, they lack status or agency. After the Emancipation Act frees the slaves, Antoinette’s slaveholding family, once wealthy, becomes destitute. Antoinette’s mother pursues the only option she believes is open to her, and marries a rich white carpetbagger, Mr. Mason. Mason decides to replace the family’s remaining servants with Eastern coolie workers. The staff overhears, however, and they set fire to the home, Coulibri, resulting in the death of Antoinette’s brother and leading to her mother’s emotional devastation. Mr. Mason abandons his mad wife to abusive caretakers and sends Antoinette to convent school. It is his responsibility to identify a husband for her, howe ver, and he does. It’s an unnamed English gentleman, though readers of Jane Eyre will recognize him as Mr. Rochester. As a second son, Rochester needs the money bequeathed to Antoinette by her stepfather. They wed, and at first the match seems successful. Rochester breaks down Antoinette’s reserve through affection and physical passion. Antoinette responds, opening herself to experience a happiness her childhood had trained her to never expect. Yet Rochester has a nagging distrust of his exotic Creole wife, and antipathy for Dominica. Geography becomes a proxy for the perceptions and misperceptions of the spouses. Neither view the home of the other as “real.” Antoinette sees England as cold and dark; in her eyes Dominica is lush, beautiful and fragrant. Rochester views the technicolor Dominica as ominous and threatening, as if he were about to be devoured by a giant Venus flytrap. And then there is the Sargasso Sea, a dead-calm oceanic mire that Dominica borders upon. For Antoinette, it’s a metaphor for her deepest fears. For Rochester, it is a physical barrier between himself and his beloved England. Rochester receives a letter received from a man who may or may not be Antoinette’s brother by her father and one of his slaves. The letter warns Rochester he was tricked into marrying a degenerate girl with a family history of madness. These allegations prey on Rochester’s insecurities and cause him to abruptly reject Antoinette. Her fragile sense of identity shaken and desperate to win back her husband’s affection, Antoinette resorts to means which unintentionally goad Rochester into acting on his worst impulses. The rift between them devolves into a chasm leading to her own undoing. Rochester drags his broken wife to cold and dark England, where he confines her to the attic, under the care of servants paid for their discretion. The Wide Sargasso Sea is a stunning work of understanding and empathy for all characters in this book – and the next.

A haunting tale. I highly recommend it.

I generally have an enormous problem with authors writing spin-offs on books just because they often fall far short of the original, but this was a definite exception. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books and at first I was upset at this book. However, it's joined Jane Eyre as one of my favorite books. It is extremely well written, not to mention all the literary devices the author uses very effectively. I like her premise, that she felt it was unfair of Bronte not to give Antoinette Mason a story. In Jane Eyre she is simply depicted as an evil madwoman, whereas in Wide Sargasso Sea the author forces the reader to see her as a complete human being who has lived a complete life. By the end of it I had the greatest sympathy for her, though as a fan of Mr. Rochester I did feel she was a little hard on him, considering what he had to go through. All in all, though, this is a magnificent book.

Eufemia es de esos libros que empiezas “solo para ver de qué se trata” y terminas leyendo de corrido, aunque digas que no tienes tiempo. Su estilo irónico y directo te hace reír justo cuando pensabas que no se podía decir nada más absurdo… pero sí, se puede. Una historia que mezcla realidad y sarcasmo de manera brillante, ideal para quienes disfrutan reírse incluso de lo serio.

I am disappointed to say that this is not a well-written book. I loved the idea of this "prequel", but the execution lacks merit. Certainly, one could look through the tatters of the Union Jack in 19th century England and find racism and fear in everything, including Jane Eyre. I am surprised that these are not more pervasive, considering that Charlotte Bronte was cloistered most of her life and obtained her view of the world mostly through contemporary English literature. Yes, it's a sad story that Mr. Rochester was a product of his time, and I would have liked to see his character develop more... or should I say disintegrate a little more over the course of Wide Sargasso Sea? I wish I had seen him in greater depth. I wanted to learn more of the first Mrs. Rochester, Antoinette Mason, who later became the mad woman in Mr. Rochester's garret. Somehow, I just never got to know her well enough from the pages of Ms Rhys's novel. Pity. When someone writes a novel based upon the story and characters of another novel, especially one of such wide acclaim as Jane Eyre, that someone should be as adept as the original author at handling and developing those characters. Jean Rhys was not up to the task.

All time classic, arrived as promised

Era para un regalo

迅速な対応、新品でリーズナブルな価格に満足

Livro sensacional.

Ik heb het pakket niet ontvangen (zogezegd vandaag 18/10 achtergelaten in brievenbus)...