Customer Reviews

Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Student Editions)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wide Sargasso Sea is the prequel to Jane Eyre, following Antoinette Cosway from childhood to her marriage to Rochester. They don't care for each other, but must accept the match, Rochester because he has no other prospects, and Antoinette because her family has a history of madness and Rochester doesn't know the stories.

The book itself is very different from Jane Eyre. It begins from Antoinette's point of view, focusing heavily on Antoinette's mother, a troubled--eventually insane--widow. Then perspective shifts to Rochester and his preoccupied young wife, Antoinette.

Anyone who has read Jane Eyre (and probably many others besides) will know what's coming, and this contributes to the spooky tone of the book. Antoinette from her own perspective feels so justified and normal, but from Rochester's she is oddly detached and her behavior grows to mirror her mother's eerily. The book keeps you thinking long after the ending...it's one of the most amazing things I've ever read. Please, please read it.

I've been reading the book reviews, many of which are glowing beyond measure...and I can respect the author's past and why she felt so strongly about writing this novel. In and of itself, the Wide Sargasso Sea story, while incredibly depressing, and not altogether perfect, is interesting on several levels (historically, women's issues, Creole women's issues, etc.). Indeed, the latest film version is well acted especially by the heroine, and you do like her, feel sorry for her and wonder why she's thought mad, since she doesn't seem at all insane.

But I have to ask: Have any of these people actually READ the Jane Eyre novel? Because if they had, they'd see that this author, who's chosen to write her book based on the classic, doesn't even keep to the specific details in the book, about Rochester, about Bertha Mason, about her family--mother, brother, etc. Antoinette is certainly not the crude, loose, bad-tempered, whorish, insane, mean and nasty character she's described in Jane Eyre. In Sargasso Sea, Rochester is portrayed as a thoroughly nasty, mean, selfish brute, while in the original, Jane Eyre, despite all his faults, he's actually likeable and lovable and has a heart. I realize there are some diehards out there who love Sargasso Sea, but it is such a different tale, and doesn't bother even to conform to the details described in Jane Eyre, that it seems morally wrong to attach itself to the Jane Eyre novel, which is one of hope, love, redemption, and yes, even humor at times. I felt insulted that this novel could claim to be the prequel to Jane Eyre. It's a story, alright, but I don't think it's the one that would have preceded Jane Eyre. Don't believe me? Re-read (or even read) Jane Eyre.

I came upon this book raw: I didn't know anything about it, didn't know of its fame, did not know that it has become canonical. To me, it was only a dusty book on the library shelf. But when I began reading the book, it was clear that I had stumbled upon something of great value.

The "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys is well-deserving of its newfound stature. The book is beautiful and haunting from start to finish. It is dreamlike in its tone. The tale becomes nightmarish, though, as Rhys masterfully overlays the confused rationalism of Rochester, the jungle of Jamaica, the troubled youth of Antoinette, and the maddening backdrop of newly outlawed slavery.

Rochester is a man of reason and masculinity: things are to be known, owned, measured, and governed. He can scarcely fathom a world which resists his ideas about rationality, and poses its own rejoinders. And what of this mad world he despises? It is the seething confusion of enslavement and empire: the black magic and savagery Rochester fears are products of his own elite brand of Englishness.

The narrative, which changes between the minds of Rochester and Antoinette, is deeply fair to both. Contrary the remarks of other reviewers, Rochester is not a "pig" until he falls into his own kind of madness: Rhys is straightforward and even sympathetic with the Englishman's ethics and perspective. Each voice in fact humanizes: this is a book about paradigmatic collisions and the legacy of violence. Rhys has not taken a cheap shot at Eurocentric masculinist culture. This is no mere political commentary of cardboard dramatists: this is a work of literature, all the more haunting because the characters are so believable.

Although originally unaware of the novel's recent accolades, I was bowled over by this remarkable work. "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a great work of art, not only for its beautiful language and compelling story, but for its penetration of repression and rationality. I agree with those who have placed this work on this lists of great novels. May it be discovered for generations to come.

I generally have an enormous problem with authors writing spin-offs on books such as classics, simply because they're essentially writing fanfiction and being praised for it. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books and at first I was upset at this book. However, it's joined Jane Eyre as one of my favorite books. It is extremely well written, not to mention all the literary devices the author uses very effectively. I like her premise, that she felt it was unfair of Bronte not to give Antoinette Mason a story. In Jane Eyre she is simply depicted as an evil madwoman, whereas in Wide Sargasso Sea the author forces the reader to see her as a complete human being who has lived a complete life. By the end of it I had the greatest sympathy for her, though as a fan of Mr. Rochester I did feel she was a little hard on him, considering what he had to go through. All in all, though, this is a magnificent book.

Rhys wrote this as a response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) (note: while there are cheaper paperback editions of Jane Eyre, I highly recommend you purchase the Penguin Classics edition because of the brilliant, unmatched introduction by the novelist and academic, Stevie Davies, as it provides much insight, wisdom and appreciation about that novel), in order to re-position the character of Mrs Rochester, the "mad woman in the attic", into a primary position, rather than being voiceless and without any expressed identity of her own, as in Charlotte Bronte's story. Rhys does this by setting her story prior to the events in Jane Eyre; effectively the novella is a prequel to the latter. Most importantly, she prioritises the white Creole, Antoinette - her original name: in Jane Eyre we know her only as the mysterious madwoman in the attic, until later, she is explained as being Bertha, the first Mrs Rochester. As a result, her character in 'Sargasso', being placed front and centre, creates an entirely different set of interpretations and emphases, not least that Antoinette achieves her own identity and humanity here, rather than being relegated into a prison space of madness and silence, one in which Mr Rochester himself was responsible for.

This is a powerful, deeply haunting and hallucinatory, deeply poeticised novella (the style, in this regard, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved (Vintage Classics); it is an original and heartbreaking of love unrequited, leading to madness. The story is split into three parts, the first set in Jamaica, from the viewpoint of Antoinette as a child and in her youth, living on her plantation; the second section in Dominica, regarding the marriage and written both from Mr Rochester's imperialist viewpoint and sense (he only marries her as an arrangement established by his father to gain Antoinette's sizeable dowry and land), and Antoinette's increasingly troubled self (she knows that Rochester has had a sexual relationship with one of the female servants, while being with her); all the while you experience Rochester's own confusion and increasing disgust with the local people and the way of living, the heat and the tropical intensity of the place, so alien to him from his English, cold viewpoint. And, the third and most dramatic part, in which we once again return to "Antoinette", now Bertha, not only abandoned, but left imprisoned - the original "madwoman in the attic" - in Rochester's house in England; a world she neither understands nor values, and in which there is no love for her, no interest; she is effectively made persona non grata for all the years she is locked up there.

Throughout the story, you experience the intensity of all those involved, the stifling physical environment, you feel the insecurity and uncertainty of the prescribed gender roles between Antoinette and Mr Rochester, and the locals, including servants. There is no ultimate exit or freedom for the female; for the male, there is simply the repetition of the male-dominated power structure, such that it deprives the male of any real identity, beyond that of his family's expectations and a prescribed role for his own masculinity and authority. 'Sargasso' is a powerful read, troubling and passionate, and a unique and profound creative take on issues of identity (especially including Colonial, slave, and the power dynamic between England and the Caribbean), sexuality and madness. It is a fascinating, moving and clever re-interpretation of the story told in Jane Eyre, and is highly recommended.

PS - NOTE FOR STUDENTS who may be obliged to study this novella: The Penguin Students Edition is a genuinely worthwhile and helpful edition for students. Hilary Jenkins, who has written the editorial material, has done a good job. She provides not only a clear introduction, highlighting the distinctive qualities and structure of the story, but also a brief chronology of the author's life, very helpful notes on Creole language and phrasing, as well as historical points, exam- and essay-related questions you'd expect to have to answer as a student, as well as a separate section on the story's geographical and cultural, historical setting/context. Importantly, Jenkins concludes with Critical Responses to the novella, as well as suggested further critical/academic reading.

This short book is beautifully written, with fully drawn characters in an historical, social context. Very sad, though.

This book was delivered in a timely manner and in the condition stated. It was packaged correctly because there was no damage to the book which was also in its original shrink wrap. Overall i am very satisfied with this product.

I read this as part of a class on Jane Eyre, and I am so glad I did. The chance to look at the story from Bertha's perspective added another level of richness to one of my favorite classics.

This book was actually worth the money no scratches, no dents, or anything of that sort

I bought this book to read for my book club. It was great. It was a student edition so I could even refer to line numbers. Loved the story.