About this title: This novel declares itself to be the history of Mr. Rochester's first wife--the madwoman in the attic in JANE EYRE, described by Charlotte Brontė only as "a Creole heiress." Rhys was obsessed for years with the first Mrs. Rochester, and finally felt compelled to do justice to the figure to whom Brontė gave such short shrift. Rhys herself was torn between the disparate elements of her own background: her father was a Welsh doctor, her mother a white Creole from Dominica in the Caribbean. As a teenager, Rhys moved to England and also lived in Paris, but in WIDE SARGASSO SEA she recreates the ...
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780393308808ISBN:0393308804
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 190 p. Norton Paperback Fiction. Audience: General/trade. small damage to upper margin read more
Description: Very Good. 0393000567 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please e us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Description: Very Good. 0140028781 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
"I was so interested in reading this book that I had my library bring it back from an inter-library loan. Most of my eagerness was based on my love of "Jane Eyre" coupled with the curiosity I had always had about Mr. Rochester's first wife. However, while the book is not a total disappointment, it was not all that I hoped it would be.
First of all, let me say that the descriptions of the Caribbean Islands are detailed and beautiful. Having just returned from the island of Haiti, I would also say that Rhys' descriptions of the alienation between black and white was dead-on, and still exists in just the form that she described in many places.
That being said, it is clear from the very beginning that the author wishes to convey the increasing madness of Antoinette/Bertha through the herky-jerky writing style that is employed. Thoughts skip and scatter, and reading this prose is unnerving and unpleasant.
I did like Rhys' short exploration of Rochester's reasoning for marrying the mad Island woman. However, some of his actions (without adding spoilers) went far beyond believable when weighed against his total character development in the rest of this book and in Jane Eyre.
Finally, I have to agree with one reviewer who commented that "The English are greedy and cruel, the black West Indians are secretive and inscrutable, and the Creole women are caught in the middle, and it drives them mad, mad, MAD!" Ultimately and rather sadly, that is about the only thing that I took away from this book."
"I would only suggest this book to someone interested in playing with critical theories in reading. It's complicated style reflects the thought which went into every sentance in the novel. It's not written to read, it's written to study and that takes all the interest out of it. The plot is thin, due to the development of the charactures and their place in the plot. This novel is all about people, if you enjoy drama and soap operas, then you'll LOVE this book. If you are more in tune to stories, and figuring out hidden ideas, then I don't suggest reading it. The essays in the back are interesting and the notes at the bottom of the pages are necessary!"
"Despite the critical acclaim that skyrocketed the author into modern cannon, I was quite lukewarm about this novel, but let's get into some background first, eh?
Jean Rhys, the author, was born to a white father and creole mother in Dominica and thus, I think had every right to attempt this novel, which is the record of Jane Eyre's notorious lunatic's true story. For those of you who need a recap of the Bronte novel: the titular heroine falls in love with the tragic Mr. Rochester only to discover he has been hiding his mad Caribbean wife in the attic for years. Forced to flee, what will young Jane Eyre do? But for Rhys, the haunting question was always, what did young Bertha Mason do to end up mad?
Here's what I found interesting about the main characters: 1) Antoinette Bertha Cosway Mason - grows up in a deteriorating society that is still lush with colors. I guess you could think that as rot sometimes gives off a sickly sweet scent, so does the Dominica she lives in, suggesting a sensuous, fruitful, but mortal and fallible society. We find the child Antoinette poor after the British emanicipate all slaves on the island and leave. The family of mixed blood is derided from all sides, black and white (which is interesting that in this island of prismatic colors and scents, black and white rule everything). Her mother reweds to keep her family alive, but is driven to insanity by her new husband, Mason, and the death of her son. Left friendless, Antoinette is spends the rest of her life unsure where to find safety. She is eventually married off to Rochester who drives her insane with his indifference.
A bit of summary, but Antoinette's character was very different from the "vampyre" painted by Charlotte Bronte. She is innocent, vulnerable and sensitive even after the corruption of her childhood. She loves what has been good to her, but knows how society will never allow her peace of mind. In the end, because an English marriage makes escape of any kind impossible, Antoinette is forced to lash out through her madness. Even her madness in Thornfield is really her attempt to escape, but alas, it never works as she plans.
2) Rochester - in Jane Eyre says that he was forced into the marriage by his father and brother for money and that Antoinette's indiscretions disgusted him. He also tells Jane that he had been kind to his mad wife because he is a decent human being; he could have found a way to get rid of her long ago.
In Rhys's book, I ended up thinking of Rochester as an Othello character. Here is a man who after his wedding date and honeymoon realizes he has made a huge mistake. Unfortunately, his new wife seems to love him a lot even though he could care less. As Othello allowed himself to be swayed by Iago, Rochester allows the racial hatred of black Dominicans, and the rumors of Spanish Town society to pollute his image of Antoinette. He prefers to think that she will go mad and has had affairs as that allays any guilt of his contempt for her. He sets about to break his wife by betraying her love and trust when he sullies her last haven, their marriage bed, and friendship with Christophine. In the end, their love has turned to hate, but Rochester will not allow her to leave. Instead, he will lock up his mistake so it will seem as if it never happened. But he will lock up his wife to punish her for the fact that he has made her hate him. Even though I didn't think I would like Rhys to demonize Rochester, I felt her portrayal was effective.
It seems action packed, but I guess what made me lukewarm about the novel was its modern style. Modern literature tends to rely on too much on simplicity of language, dialogue that goes in circles and a jagged chronology. It especially struck me because of the novel it complements:Jane Eyre was written during Victorian England, and if Rhys's history happens before, it seems weird. Also, because of the chronology, I had a hard time making mental leaps or connections. For instance, part one finishes with Antoinette in a convent and then, upon part two, she's married and on her honeymoon. Narrators also change without warning and then you can never be sure if there is a point where Antoinette becomes crazy and Rochester might be justified as her thoughts sometimes become quite convoluted and insane.
Anyway, overall, I liked finally reading about Rhys's ideas of what happened to Rochester and Bertha, but felt it could have been expressed better."
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