The Perception of Women in the Early 19th Century

Written towards the end of her career in 1966, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea features the creole woman, hybridity, loss of identity, and madness. She reimagines history and uses literary tradition to suit her voice and what she wants to articulate. Rhys writes, or elaborates on the history of Charlotte Brontë’s Bertha or â€Å"the madwoman in the attic† in the 19th century novel Jane Eyre, and gives her the voice she was denied with Brontë. Instead of the â€Å"animalistic† fiery woman who was negatively portrayed because of her â€Å"madness,† Rhys allows the reader to understand the history that caused the wounds Bertha bore. As Burns says, â€Å"Rhys’s novel consistently undermines stereotypes by illustrating their constructed, sociological basis† (22). Rhys sets up explanations for the actions of her characters and challenges readers’ notions of the ideologies about blacks, creoles, and life in the tropics. Rhys shows that Antoinette is not to be thought of as a monster as she is portrayed in Jane Eyre but rather—a woman who had dreams, fears, desires, and hopes of finding her identity and place in her world. The transformation of the identity of the mad Creole Bertha Rochester to Antoinette Cosway, illustrates how Rhys fills the void that Brontë left by affording Bertha her side of the story. When Rhys decided to write the history of Bertha she uncovered the colonist ideology that is seen in Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre Bertha is considered â€Å"other† and in keeping with colonialism theShow MoreRelatedDominance over Women by Men Essay905 Words   |  4 PagesWhen women are seen with pen in hand, they are met immediately with shrieks commanding a return to that life of pain which their writing had interrupted, a life devoted to the womens work, of needle and distaff†(Archangela Tarabotti), thoroughly acknowledges the various struggles experienced by a typical woman in the 19th century. 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