Rhys, it seems was politically inspired to rewrite Jane Eyre and write back to the empire. Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Jane Eyre which was written British Empire was at its peak. Jane Eyre was a representation of England to the English. Rhys decided to write back, because of being of white West Indian descent herself, she was offended by the representation of the mad Creole in the novel. Although Rhys says that she is not a conscious feminist her novels are always written from a female perspective and in Wide Sargasso Sea, the male character is exposed as the one who is the outsider or other, as opposed to the women (and the mad lunatic in particular).
In Bronte’s novel, Bertha is a silent character. She has no voice in the novel although she is pivotal in the lives of its two main characters. In Wide Sargasso Sea, Bertha is given a chance to speak and be heard. Rhys was convinced in the writing of her book that Bertha “must be at least plausible with a past, the reason why Mr Rochester treats her so abominably and feels justified, the reason why he thinks she is mad and why of course she goes mad”.
Antoinette’s husband in Rhys’ novel, although he is the narrator for the largest section of the novel, remains to the reader unnamed. Rhys has cleverly used this strategy so that the character (in the reader’s eyes) becomes merely a representative of England itself and takes away any personal characteristics to which the reader may feel sympathy for. Also through using him as a narrator, we can see the otherness of the West Indian culture from the English Imperialist culture.
The technique also further highlights of one of the key points Rhys was demonstrating in her story, that there is always another side to any story. Rhys explicitly demonstrates to the reader through Antoinette, who tells her husband (regarding Daniel Cosway’s letter to him) “he lies about us and he is sure that you will believe him and not listen to the other side”, to which her husband replies “is there another side?” and she retorts, saying “there is always another side, always”. This is in contrast to Bronte’s story in which the reader only gets the English side of the story.
Rhys’ character Antoinette is a victim in her novel. She is a victim of imposed culture, the colonial experience and hierarchies of power which allow for the dominance of wives by their husbands. Antoinette’s husband marries her for her money, in the era when women could not own property and everything they owned became the possession of their husbands. In Wide Sargasso Sea, we see the man possessing even the woman and being in control of everything in her life, including the very essence of who she is, that being her name. From a feminist point of view, Rhys shows Antoinette as a woman who is not shy about her sexual desires and her husbands refusal of her wishes (or suppression of his) as an act of mere cruelty and once again, a way in which British Imperialism held power over other cultures.
The women in Wide Sargasso Sea are not silent or passive characters. They all have their opinions which they are willing to express and put forward quite assertively. Christophine in particular, is not afraid to tell Antoinette’s husband exactly how she feels towards him/ On page 132 for example, Christophine says ‘I tell her so’…always it don’t work for beke. Always it bring trouble…so you send me away and you keep all her money. And what you do with her?” and later on further exposes and questions assumptions and values that Antoinette’s husband when she tells him “Read and write I don’t know. Other things I know.”
So we can see the many ways in which Rhys uses the intersections of feminist and postcolonialist reading positions and criticism to expose certain aspects of character. Whether it be through two narrators, leaving one unnamed, showing many different sides to a story and emphasising and exposing the otherness of each are amongst many other narrative strategies.
