Wide Sargasso Sea Critical Assignment

Elizabeth Dalton describes Antoinette`s sense of self in Wide Sargasso Sea `as damaged goods` (Dalton, 2000). Discuss this claim in the context of your own reading of Rhys`s text. Further, compare this view of Antoinette with the `sense of self` displayed either by one of the central protagonists in The Homecoming. . .

The fluent, poetic language and imagery of, Jean Rhys`s novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, emphasises the victimisation and emotional tumult of the protagonist, Antoinette (Wyndham, Francis 1999). Elizabeth Dalton describes Antoinette`s sense of self `as damaged goods`; however, Wide Sargasso Sea is not a one dimensional novel but one of many dimensions, which represents a paradoxical mix of dependence on a pretext, Charlotte Brontë`s Jane Eyre, and independence within its own text (Maurel, Sylvie 2002).

Throughout the novel, Antoinette`s identity remains in flux, especially inherent in any discussion of colonisation (Mezei, Kathy 1987.) Wide Sargasso Sea possesses unquestionable links with colonial context, as the novel is established after the emancipation of the slaves. The protagonist is unwanted by the black Caribbean in addition to the white English societies, accordingly, Antoinette, is enforced to see herself as `the other` in terms of race. For instance, Antoinette`s husband is a coloniser, who confuses and obliterates the identities of the colonised, and dislocates and depersonalises both the place and people.

In contrast to Victorian novels where a "promise" and spouses come to be a comfort and source of joy, Antoinette`s husband is the source of her pain rather than a source of comfort (Olaussen, Maria 1992), the marital sphere comes to destroy her somewhat than deepen her. "There is no looking glass here and I don`t know what I am like now . . . What am I doing in this place and who am I?" (Rhys180). Knowing not her place in the world, nor who she is, she asks desperate questions with no answer, paradoxically afraid and unable to recognize herself (Ripple, Zoe 2004). Rather than having a clear sense of identity or purpose, in contrast to Rochester`s beloved Jane Eyre, who grows into caretaker, wife and mother, Antoinette is demonised by her "failure" to create a sense of self and reluctantly becoming Elizabeth Dalton`s descri ption `as damaged goods`.

However, Dalton`s descri ption of Antoinette`s sense of self is a harsh response to the character, consequently, in the novel; Jean Rhys tries to justify this. Wide Sargasso Sea can be seen as a powerfully feminist text, for Rhys tells the story of Antoinette from a woman`s point of view, defending her against the prejudices of the male-centered world, where a woman who does not live according to the standards set for her is deemed mad. In the attitude of the French feminist Hélène Cixous, Rhys`s language appears to originate from the unconscious and emotional feminine experience of the writer, and hence it can be perceived as an example of écriture feminine (Cixous, Hélène 1981). However, in light of the Anglo-American feminist theory, correspond to by critics Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, it can be argued that Rhys also converts the traditional stereotypes of women by making the reader sympathise with the emotional and sexual madwoman `you only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she`s not deadly. She`s beautiful and she`s laughing` (Cixous 1981). "She`ll moan and cry and give herself as no sane woman would-or could. [.] then lie so still, still as this cloudy day" (Rhys 165), Antoinette`s silence on command eludes Rochester. By keeping Rochester unsure of her actions, Antoinette controls Rochester unbeknown to him. In this manner, Rhys breaks the female stereotypes by converting them to use in Antoinette`s aid.

Consequently, the suggestion, by Dalton, that Antoinette is `damaged goods` is debatable. Although Rochester renames her, he controls her body, but not her spirit. Antoinette is only a puppet for him to control: `The doll had a doll`s voice, a breathless but curiously indifferent voice` (Rhys 135). In the novel, Rhys reveals gender roles of the early 19th century that men reduce women to objects in order to exert their masculine power, but inside the doll, there is still the woman who would rather give up her body than her spirit (Wyndham, Francis 1999). Antoinette possess a power that Rochester cannot control and for this reason to call Antoinette `damaged goods` is dismissing towards her spiritual empowerment over Rochester, rather than just focusing on her physical and geographical power in the novel. With this, Rhys turns her `madwoman` into a symbol of female liberation.

Harold Pinter`s, The Homecoming, set in London 1965, is a two-act, disturbing, play, which presents a piercing insight into the dark male attitudes focussed at women. The all-male members of Max`s family are evident with preference towards physical and verbal abuse, treating women as whores and sluts (Peter, John 1997). While the presence of, the only female character, Ruth defies and challenges the male pre-dominance, the family`s trait towards women stays the same.

Resembling Antoinette, in Rhys` Wide Sargasso Sea, the character of Ruth is too a central protagonist, linked to dominance of the male sex. However, the dimensions between these two characters differ, as Ruth leads to the intrigue of a shocking licentious woman and the assumption she was a prostitute before marrying Teddy: "Ruth is indeed coming home to her former self" (Prentice, Penelope 1980). The 1960s was a decade in which women`s liberations was a prominent movement- movies and art reflected it and protests were made. The Homecoming as the title may well be seen as a statement about women`s liberation in writing, as the entire plot line gives the impression a tennis match of power between the sexes. Like Rhys, it gives the impression that Pinter is turning his `harlot` into the symbol of female liberation instead of degrading her as a puppet for the male sex to use as they wish.

Although, Martin Esslin singles out a particularly pressing problem: `Why should a woman, the mother of three children and the wife of a college professor, calmly accept an offer to have her set up as a prostitute?` (Rowe, M.W. 1991). Perhaps, like Antoinette, in a certain sense Ruth does match the descri ption of Elizabeth Dalton`s `damaged goods`, for when she is presented with affection and attention by the male sex, she is oblivious to any manipulation and feels wanted, creating a false sense of power in her own mind: `How very nice of them[...] It`s very sweet of you[...] I`m very touched[...] Yes, it sounds a very attractive idea` (Pinter 125, 126, 133). To answer Esslin`s question, more accurately, M.W. Rowe proposes an analysis of the play based on Freud`s article, `The Most Prevalent Form of Degradation in Erotic Life`:

The principal means of protection used by men against this complaint consists in lowering the sexual object in their own estimation [...] they have remained addicted to perverse sexual aims which they feel it a considerable deprivation not to gratify, yet to such men this seems possible only with a sexual object who in their own estimate is degraded and worth little.

Lenny, Max, Joey and even Teddy "Ruth... the family have invited you to stay" (Pinter 125) all portray their lack of respect for Ruth, as they do not see her as a wife, a mother or their own family member but simply as an object to use when they please. There again, it is evident Ruth is a strong protagonist, and not `as damaged goods` when the audience discover she was born nearby, allowing Ruth to know the lay of this desiccated land. Her comfort in this milieu is what makes credible her eventual outrageous decision to leave Teddy and her three children and stay in Max`s female-starved household (Lahr, John 2007). In one way or another, she is the object of each man`s hidden desires: the aging Max wants to feel potent; Sam wants company; Joey wants to be nurtured; and Lenny wants a trick to put on the game. Sensual, elegant, and private, Ruth hides her anger behind a façade of self-control.

The ending of The Homecoming sees Ruth enthroned in Max`s chair, with the new order established and the men grouped around her; `I`m not an old man [...] Do you hear me? Kiss me.` (Pinter 138). As the curtain falls, it is clear that the distribution of power among the characters is poised to change.