Rejection is further imposed on Antoinette both socially and existentially. A sense of being “marooned” (abandoned) arises with the murder of the horse; thus presenting Antoinette as a character who is isolated from society. This sense of isolation is reinforced by the narrative technique the central protagonist employs; making her writing disjointed and unclear. Antoinette’s later identity crisis can be predicted from her narrative, which fails to express her feelings.
Antoinette, after this incident, acts as if nothing had happened, believing that “if [she] told no one, it might not be true”. This can be seen as a rather childish form of denial. Her solution to the given problem could be interpreted, to certain extent, as a form of self-rejection; for she is nor prepared to accept this, which seems to be her destiny. Is seems that she is reflected on her mother, who after this event changed “suddenly, not gradually”, leaving both of them isolated from the rest of the world. However, they do not act as a protecting group, but rather this separates them even more, consolidating Annette’s rejection of Antoinette “as if she has once and for all decided that [she] was useless to her”.
Furthermore, we are witnesses of how Antoinette is falling out of safety, and is therefore afraid. This is communicated by the lively image of the garden “large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible”, for “it has gone wild”. By referring to the wildness of the place, Antoinette depicts is as a place full of shame and tragedy. Plus, the ¡fact that she “never went near it”, but nonetheless thought is was “wonderful to see”, suggests that she is somewhat scared of the aggressiveness of the world, but simultaneously attracted and intrigued by it. this idea of being repulsed by even the plants in the garden reinforces the extremity Antoinette is reaching in relation to her becoming alien to all that surrounds her.
Antoinette’s isolation from the world combined with the acts of rejection she has suffered; provoke a fear of being alone to arise within her. This is demonstrated by her clear preoccupation of losing the only person she had delft who was close to her: Chrisrophine. Once she is assured that Christophine “wanted to stay”, she feels safer, though she is also negatively affected by her mother saying that they “would have died if she’d (Christophine) turned against them and that would have been a better fate. To die and be forgotten and at peace”. Annette’s idea is later in the novel repeated by her daughter; this scene could be therefore considered as a key scene which had an ultimate effect on Antoinette, confusing her and ergo alienating her from the rest of the world.
The separation of Antoinette from the world is also shown when she shares with us her frustration due to being rejected by “negros” who “called [them] white cockroaches”. But even as she doesn’t show her feelings, she makes use of many images to communicate to the readers her true feelings. Making this reference to how “they hated [them]”, introduces a further step into alienation taken by Antoinette, ultimately making her solitary life a refuge for her.
Her alienation is again demonstrated by her lack of self-awareness, which in turn indicates her little sense of identity. Antoinette’s fragile identity is exposed to us when Tia speaks through her. Moreover, when Tia tells her that “black nigger better than white nigger”, Antoinette, along with us, experiences another rejection. This rejection ends in a problematic confusion of identities. In this novel dresses are powerful symbols of identity, so an exchange of these occurring between Tia and Antoinette depicts how Antoinette loses grip of her identity. From this point on, her narrative becomes fatalistic.
Dreams also play a very important role within this novel. The first dream Antoinette has narrates how “someone who hated [her] was with [her], out of sight”, suggesting that she is to some degree paranoid due to her feeling alone and fragile. This reinforces the idea that she is surrounded by a harmful world which will bring her no good. Due to this image created of her adjacent world, our protagonist feels even more scared, and therefore she desperately seeks refuge; which she finds in the garden. The garden is described as “better than people”. Her comfort here is clearly expressed by saying “I am safe… I am safe from strangers”.
The fire at Coulubri is extremely important, for it adds and completes Antoinette’s alienation. The fact that her family was attacked by the inhabitants of Coulubri indicates that she is not accepted or wanted in this society. This makes her feel a stronger rejection from humans, explaining her search for a refuge, and making us understand that she has not only been affected socially, but physiologically as well. This harm will prologue until the end of the novel, where it seems she reclaims herself after an amount of extreme suffering.
By the end of part one, before she was withdrawn against her will from the other shelter ( place of safety) which was that convent; it seems Antoinette feels the need to attach herself to the last essence of her being by writing her “name in fire red”. This is supported by the dream she has afterwards; which clearly shows her as being oppressed by a patriarch society. It seems almost as if she is being forced to change by the way in which she is “walking with difficulty”. This could also be a foreshadowing of Rochester later trying to change her, destroying the only identity she had left.
The second part of the novel is narrated by an almost equally alienated character: Rochester. However, he is alienated in a different way compared to Antoinette. He shows a degree of doubt that will later become alienation since his first sentence: “So it was all over, the advance and retreat, the doubts and hesitations. Everything finished; for better or for worse”. This military metaphor has a sense of resignation that will continue throughout the next pages.
Rochester’s narrative differs from Antoinette’s in the sense that he is not alienated from the world (the way she is), he is simply alienated from the setting in which the second part takes place. It can be argued that he reaches this degree of alienation through the mistrust and rejection he feels towards his wife. Throughout this part in the novel, Antoinette is portrayed as passionate and energetic; just as the place surrounding them; creating a parallelism between her and this place. This parallelism, in turn, enlarges Rochester’s feeling of being repulsed by Groanbois
A tone of resignation and ignorance can be extracted from his way of talking. It is as if he doesn’t even begin to understand this place, and he therefore rejects it. as expected, Rochester seems to an extent afraid of this place as a consequence of his ignorance towards it. this fear later gives way to his will to control and dominate it. this is similarly reflected by the way he tries to control Antoinette, as well as how he is confused by her passionate personality, which he fails to understand. “The woman is a stranger, her pleading expression annoys me”. This quote clearly depicts his way of thinking. Everything seems “strange” to him, and therefore it “annoys” him.
His alienation is better shown, however, by his description of Granbois, and his continuous attempt to compare it with England. He widely expresses how he feels threatened by this place, which is “not only wild but menacing”. Before comparing Granbois with England, he highlights the fact that everything in this place seems to be extreme. Rochester feels “everything is too much”, which communicates the reader a sense of claustrophobia and further alienation felt by Rochester. Moreover, his comparison of Granbois with England could be interpreted as a way he uses to comfort himself in this strange place with a woman who has “long, sad, dark, alien eyes”. In this search for comfort, Rochester himself becomes extreme when making comparisons with England; this is clearly shown when he describes the place where he will stay for his honeymoon as “an imitation of an English summer house”.
Rochester also relates his alienation with his relationship with his wife, creating a disassociation with her and her surroundings. He describes how “every moment he made was an effort of will and sometimes he wondered that no one notices this”. This sense of rejecting her wife is consolidated by Daniel Cosway’s letter addressed to him as “urgent” and portraying Antoinette as a mad woman who would destroy him completely. This new vision Rochester develops towards his wife is increased by the “names he calls her”, such as Bertha and Marionette. This finalizes by destroying all the sense of identity that Antoinette had left, pushing her into madness. It could be argued that Antoinette’s decline into madness was the product of both her and her husband’s feel of alienation.
Taking into consideration all of the above arguments, it can be deduced that alienation is a key motif of “Wide Sargasso Sea”. It is presented in many ways, and it could be regarded as an excuse for the decline into madness that both of the protagonists suffer. However, Antoinette’s alienation is expanded to a wider extent than that of Rochester; this could be because she is the one who is considered mad and without any “reason”. The alienation these characters suffer enables us to feel sympathy towards them, creating a sense of consideration for them which is key for the understanding of the novel.
