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The other side of the story
Apr 11, 2006 06:06 PM 6240 Views
(Updated Apr 11, 2006 06:55 PM)

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Story:

This book is written to give us the untold story behind the story of Jane Eyre. Basically the other side of the story from the first wifes point of view.


The book is called WIDE SARGASSO SEA BY JEAN RHYSS


This book is about a young girl, Antoinette, who grows up in Jamaica. She is of mixed race, so she belongs to neither the white or black culture. Neither accepts or respects her. She is called the ''white cockroach'' by the locals who talk about her and her mother. She has a brother who she never sees he is always asleep. Her mother has no time for her and she is raised by the servants. Her first taste of discrimination comes when her playmate turns on her and screams obscenities, stealing her only good dress.


Her mother remarries, but the locals still do not accept the family, no one visits them ever, they are not welcomed by anyone. One night the house is set on fire, her brother dies and her mother never recovers. The incident is the final straw and knocks her mother over the brink of reality into insanity.


Antoinette is separated from her mother and goes to a convent school. In the second part we jump to the marriage of Antoinette to an Englishman. He has obviously married her for her money and when he hears the local rumors it doesn't take much to reject her. It seems he was looking for a way to punish her; he doesn't like the fact that she is self contained and he cannot understand her. He feels frustrated at her isolation even though she tries and does love him. He carries on punishing her. It seems he had to marry her and cannot forgive himself or her. Using the local talk he makes her miserable. He eventually goes to far, committing adultery with a maid within hearing distance of her. She is turned into an alcoholic by a local Obeah maid who had raised her. Thinking numbing her would take away her pain, it only made her dependent.


I have read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhyss. THe author has attempted to tell the first wifes story feeling she was not fully explained in the original.


TI know this is not Jane Eyre, but I am new to this .........


he third part is where it connects up with the Jane Eyre story. The husband refuses to release her and instead takes her to England and locks her up with a permanent nursemaid/jailer. However, every now and then when the maid is passed out drunk, she takes the keys and wanders the house. She seems to have blackouts, mostly drink induced. Here the story becomes interesting, it is the parallel to Jane Eyre, and supposedly Antoinette is the mad wife who is locked up in the house. To understand the third part I needed to draw on my memories of Jane Eyre, otherwise I might not have understood what was going on exactly. Then it goes on to describe the fire and why it happened.


The book is well written in the same vane as Jane Eyre and Jean Rhyss has done justice to the story, making us reassess our feelings towards Mr Rochester. You no longer see the woman as a raving lunatic, she is now portrayed as the true victim of both society and Mr Rochester. Her husband has gone from hero to villain, willingly or unintentionally. I think it was probably typical of these arranged marriages in those days to end in grief. Marrying for prestige and money alone can only bring self loathing and bring out the worst in human beings.


If you loved Jane Eyre, you should read this story and compare them. An interesting addition to your book collection.


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