The Wide Sargasso Sea

Anyone who loves literature (especially feminist literature) would know 'The Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys. It is a story written from the perspective of "the mad woman in the attic" (Antoinette Cosway/ Bertha Mason) of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'. In Jane Eyre, she is Mr. Rochester's wife, who he must hide away for she is mad and violent - a disease she has inherited from her mother. She is of Creole descent, and beautiful and she charmed the young and naive Rochester who was only to willing to marry the heiress. He is of course, saved from his plight by the simple and loving tender affections of Jane Eyre in Bronte's novel.

But in Rhys's novel, she is a mere woman who is torn by a culture she both loves and does not completely understand. She is a beautiful and confident woman who has only just discovered her sexuality. She is an independent, vivacious young lady and the young, uptight boy who has come to make his fortune in the Carribean is swept away in a whirlwind of romance. but this is their doom for the very exoticism that once intoxicated him, scares him. He becomes afraid of the culture that is so different from the rigid, patriarchal society that he comes from and begins to view the difference with dislike. He becomes suspicious of both the land, the culture and his wife and this poison finds and buries its roots deep within the two lovers, slowly driving them mad.

It is Antoinette who succumbs to the madness and in that madness she liberates herself from the chains her husband has tried to force on her.

Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible – the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest trees, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched. One was snaky looking, another like an octopus with long thin brown tentacles bare of leaves hanging from a twisted root. 

This section is dedicated to my favourite manga.
Please scroll below to view them.

[coming soon]