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CT International Baccalaureate Academy

June 10, 2006

Academic Subject Area: English

“Authors’ Deliberate Influence on the Perspective of Readers”

How do the authors, Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys, deliberately influence the perspective with which their audience views and understands the characters and

elements within their novels, Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea?

Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteThe Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Dempsey

Word Count: 3, 493

Subject: English

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Abstract

Authors shape the course of events and the description of characters in an effort to make readers understand and perceive certain things about the novel and the way in which the characters interact. The two novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys have been written in such a way that readers come away with very clear ideas and images of the main characters. The perceptions readers receive from Bronte are so very different from those of Rhys. Bronte paints a dramatic picture of a romance that is broken because of the insanity of a “mad” woman, and is repaired only through the heroism and enduring devotion of a man for his unsuspecting lover. Sympathy twists its way all throughout the lines of this novel, pulling the readers in to dramatize the bad in the “mad” woman and the bravery of her husband. Rhys presents a dramatic contrast to Bronte’s novel showing us a human and emotional character that fell victim to lies and abandonment. The thoughts of the readers are deliberately influenced by the authors to create definite ideas and perceptions about the characters that suit their novels.

Word Count: 195

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Abstract……………...…………………………………….2

Table of Contents………………………………………….3

Full Essay………………………..……………………..4-14“Authors’ Deliberate Influence on the Perspective of Readers”

Works Cited……………………………..…………….....15

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“Authors’ Deliberate Influence on the Perspective of Readers”

With reading comes a certain freedom to explore, understand, and make

judgments. The author’s job is to guide so that readers see things from certain

perspectives. Perspective in itself is a freedom; one in which things come alive in ways

that cause us to see things in a certain light and to realize and understand characters and

situations with purposeful minds and individual ideas. The written word is powerful and

the way in which it is written becomes all the more important when readers begin to bond

with characters. The two novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and The Wide Sargasso

Sea by Jean Rhys, both follow the lives of characters that are intertwined with one

another in different ways. The characters and relay of events in the novels are

complimentary in that they deal with the lives of related characters and the struggles that

they go through. Each author has a different way of revealing certain elements of the

story that grab readers and define their views on the main characters. Some of what is

shown through Bronte’s writing is ignored or shown in a different way in Rhys’s writing

and vice versa. In this way the reader develops certain perspectives about each character,

perspectives that are somewhat incomplete without the information that both novels

reveal. This focused style of writing influences the way that we as readers understand the

relationships between characters. By comparing the two novels, it is obvious to realize

that subconsciously we take sides, jump to conclusions, and determine things about the

characters that we are absolutely intended to see.

The characters being examined in these two literary works are in many ways

linked to one another. In Jane Eyre readers meet an innocent young Jane with a plain and

sensible sort of attitude. She falls in love with someone she never expected to- the master

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of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester, a sullen and business oriented man,

steals Jane’s heart, making her his fiancé. One problem remains; Mr. Rochester already

tied the knot with a barbaric women that he locked up in his attic for his own protection

many years ago. This “crazy” woman is the very center of Jean Rhys novel. Antoinette,

as she is called, was not always a mad woman and we see a very different side of the

story when we hear her tell it to us. Her relationship with Mr. Rochester was one of

confusion and necessity. It was a link made for wealth and power rather than love and

friendship. This is where the two novels differ so greatly in their ideas. One presents a

heroic lover, the other a power hungry man blinded by pride and greed. The two women,

complete foils of one another relate to Rochester in vastly different ways, but in the end

their fates are influenced by one another.

One area most definitely influenced by the authors of the two novels is the

marriage between Mr. Rochester and Antoinette. Readers are shown two very different,

somewhat contradicting views about how and why the two came to be married. Bronte

plays out the scene as though it were a terrible and unfair situation into which Mr.

Rochester was tricked to marry a lunatic. During his confession to his lawyers and wife-

to-be, Jane Eyre, Rochester says:

‘Bertha Mason is mad; and she came of a mad family- idiots and maniacs

through three generations! Her mother, the Creole, was both a mad-

woman and a drunkard! As I found out after I had wed the daughter; for

they were silent on family secrets before. … I had a charming partner-

pure, wise, modest! You can fancy that I was a happy man!’ … ‘I invite

you all to come up to the house and visit Mrs. Poole’s patient, and my

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wife! You shall see what sort of a being I was cheated in espousing, and

judge whether or not I had a right to break the compact, and seek

sympathy with something at least human’ (Bronte 339).

Bronte uses some powerful words to express strong ideas of hate for the lunatic wife and

sympathy for Mr. Rochester. The words “mad,” “idiots,” and “maniacs,” are all negative

images that give the idea of an uncontrollable freak. They make readers think of a crazy,

witless woman ensnaring a helpless man. He states that, “he had a charming partner,” and

“was a happy man.” This suggests that he was given a wrong image and that he was lied

to. Readers get the idea that what he ignorantly thought was going to be a happy and

wonderful marriage turned out to be something awful when it was already to late. The

fact that Bronte uses the word “patient” shows that she wants us to think of a sick person,

sick in the mind. Rochester also declares that he was “cheated”; another strong word that

suggests a scam and a sly trick. Bronte finishes his outraged declaration with a plea for

sympathy, which at this point the reader is all too obliged to give.

Contrary to this sympathetic view from Bronte, we are given a much more

judgmental view of the character Mr. Rochester, switching the “sympathy” to a sense of

appalling outrage. Again Rochester tells the story, yet here exposing a hidden detail,

when he recalls the wedding arrangements:

‘She won’t marry you.’ ‘But why?’ ‘She won’t give a reason. I’ve been

arguing with the little fool for an hour. Everything arranged, the presents,

the invitations, what shall I tell your father?’ … I spoke gently. ‘What is

the matter, Antoinette? What have I done?’ She said nothing. ‘You don’t

wish to marry me?’ ‘No.’ She spoke in a very low voice. ‘But why?’ ‘I’m

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afraid of what might happen.’ … ‘Can I tell poor Richard that it was a

mistake? He is sad too,’ She did not answer me. Only nodded (Rhys 47).

Here we are given a shockingly different portrayal of the marriage proposal. It was not

Rochester who was sneakily “ensnared” but rather a quiet Antoinette who was persuaded

and spoken for. She very plainly says, “No,” when asked if she wants to marry Rochester.

He clearly ignores her simplicity and goes on. There is no mistaking her fear when she

states, “I’m afraid of what might happen.” She is not trying to trick him; she is only

trying to warn him. There is definitely a flag going up in the readers mind. What is it that

she is afraid of? Perhaps this is where the confusion lies. Bronte suggests an evil scheme

to trap a rich man, whereas Rhys portrays a timid young woman being pulled into a

marriage. The first half of Antoinette’s story shows us her mother’s marriage that was

ripped to shreds, perhaps the reason she was afraid. Rhys leaves no room for doubt in the

fact that Rochester was not in fact forced to marry. He was rather driven by pride and

necessity. Bronte’s image of a love worn man only longing for normality is shattered by

the simple answer of a woman- “no.”

Another main area of difference in the novels is the idea of this woman Antoinette

being or becoming a “lunatic.” Bronte’s descriptions of her give the reader an idea of a

madwoman attempting to kill poor Jane out of jealousy. We also see someone too insane

to be humanely dealt with. Jane speaks of her encounter with Antoinette saying:

Mr. Rochester flung me behind him; the lunatic sprung and grappled his

throat viciously, and laid her teeth to his cheek. They struggled. She was a

big woman, in stature almost equaling her husband, and corpulent besides.

She showed virile force in the contest- more than once she almost throttled

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him, athletic as he was. He could have settled her with a well-planted

blow; but he would not strike, he would only wrestle. At last he mastered

her arms. (Bronte 341).

The words are very carefully chosen to depict this woman as a large brutish thing. The

word “lunatic” jumps out right away, immediately setting up the image Bronte wants the

readers to see- a bedraggled, massive, waving crazy woman coming at Mr. Rochester in

vengeance. The simple word “big” gives the connotation that she is of a manly stature,

and then she is again compared to the size of her husband, “almost equaling” him. This

description of her size is completely contrary to that of Jane. We see Jane as a petite and

timid girl that is “obliged to be plain” (Bronte 109). In his critique of Victorian times,

Daniel Holbrook examines women’s roles in his book, Charles Dickens and the Image of

Woman. He states that, “the ideal woman for marriage was one who was demonstrably

inferior to the male- ignorant of the world, meek, holding no opinions, helpless, and

weak…” (Holbrook 64). This demonstrates how women were supposed to need their

husbands. The “ideal” woman was small, petite, and innocent- just like Jane. This is the

opposite of the woman that Bronte shows us biting at her husband. The mad wife of

Rochester is exactly what a man in the Victorian era would not have looked for in a wife.

A wife was meant to stand humbly beside her large and protective husband- she was not

meant to be nearly the same size.

Again, Bronte eases in a note of heroism on the part of Mr. Rochester. He “flung

[Jane] behind him,” showing that he was trying to protect his true love. Then again we

see the idea that he is trying to be a gentleman even in a fight when Jane says that, “he

would not strike.” Bronte builds up Mr. Rochester’s “good” image while dramatizing the

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actions of Antoinette, whom she makes all the more inhuman by referring to her simply

as “the lunatic.” The combination of her abnormal size, garish appearances, and beastly

behavior show us a sort of monster with whom our heroic Mr. Rochester was so

unfortunately ensnared.

Rhys presents Antoinette in an entirely different light. The woman has a name

right from page one. We read some of the story through her eyes, discovering the truth

behind her terrible childhood and lonely upbringing. Rhys deliberately draws the readers

to this somewhat eccentric and yet refreshingly free and unique character that makes up

Antoinette. We never see an ounce of “lunatic” in her. There are the occasional

wandering ideas, but Rhys chooses not to focus on this aspect of her character. Antoinette

is not crazy in The Wide Sargasso Sea- she is abandoned and confused by a man who

persuaded her to be his wife for the sake of reputation and wealth. She says, “…‘he does

not love me, I think he hates me. He always sleeps in his dressing-room now and the

servants know. If I get angry he is scornful and silent, sometimes he does not speak to me

for hours and I cannot endure it any more, I cannot’” (Rhys 65). There is an apparent

discontent within the relationship at this point. Rhys emphasizes Antoinette’s feeling of

abandonment. Instead of her going wild and biting at Rochester, she quietly observes him

in wonder. The words, “scornful” and “silent” show how this woman notices things and

feels as though there is an obviously negative alteration in the way her husband sees her.

The fact that she says, “I think he hates me” shows how despite her wishes not to marry,

she is emotionally attached to this man. She saw what happened to the disaster that her

mother became, even after being remarried, and so she clings to the little things that have

gone wrong in her own marriage. The fact that the “servants know” gives the idea that

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people are whispering about her and the poor relationship that she and her husband have.

She has realized something is wrong, but what she might have done to cause him to

despise her is beyond her understanding. Here, Rochester is the one who seems cruel- to

have ignored and abandoned his innocent wife. The fact that Antoinette “cannot endure

it” shows how this is truly a painful and hurtful experience for her. Her husband is slowly

pulling away and she knows it, but she can do nothing to stop it. The word “endure”

means to continue and carry on, but she cannot even hope to do this anymore because of

the way her husband is treating her. Rhys paints a picture of a bewildered and unsure,

childlike character so that when this pain and uncertainty comes in, readers want to rush

to her rescue, not fend off a lunatic.

Mr. Rochester’s dealings with his wife are also in question between the two

novels. Bronte’s portrayal reveals a man beat down and held captive by his legal wife,

who through every hardship still cares for and tries to save her. When an old butler relays

the story to Jane upon her return he states:

…‘Mr. Rochester was at home when the fire broke out!’ … ‘he went up to

the attics when all was burning above and below, and got the servants out

their beds and helped them down himself- and went back to get his mad

wife out of her cell. And then they called out to him that she was on the

roof, where she was standing, waving her arms about the battlements, and

shouting out till they could hear her a mile off; I heard her, and saw her

with my own eyes. She was a big woman, and had long black hair; we

could see it streaming against the flames as she stood. … We heard him

call ‘Bertha!’ We saw him approach her; and then, ma’am, she yelled, and

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gave a spring, and the next minute she lay smashed on the pavement.’

(Bronte 498).

Again, Bronte deliberately paints a heroic picture of Mr. Rochester seemingly saving

everyone in his path that there is to save- even his lunatic wife when he could have

conveniently disposed of her in the flames. The picture readers are given are again of a

“big” woman “waving her arms” while “on the roof.” Bronte knows readers will be given

quite the image in their own minds. The word “big” again gives the idea of a bulky

brutish woman. “Waving” only further emphasizes the idea of being crazy- who in their

right mind would stand on the roof waving their arms about and yelling amidst a blazing

fire? As Rochester tries to “approach her” she jumps. “Approach” shows deliberate steps,

nothing forceful on his part. Naturally Bronte implies that the lunatic jumped to her own

death leaving Mr. Rochester with no options.

This further emphasis of her large and abnormal size seems important. Bronte is

repetitive in her style and continues to suggest that this woman is estranged not only

because of her troubled mind, but also because of her manly size. This again contrasts her

to the petite Jane of Jane Eyre. Her animal like qualities have been looked at in a number

of different ways. The fact that she jumps to her death shows Antoinette has given up

hope, finding solace in suicide.

Ruth Robbins has chosen to look at this aspect in a different light. Is it Jane who

is the monster? What would cause a woman to jump to her death? Rejection- possibly; or

perhaps the competition brought by Jane. Robins suggests in her book, Literary

Feminisms, that, “Because for Jane happiness equals Rochester, she can only achieve

happiness if Bertha is dead. Chillingly, for all the apparent perfection of her future life

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with her husband, Jane’s freedom is thus built on the mangled body of her predecessor, as

well as on Rochester’s mutilation” (Robbins, 41). This is a startling, opposing, yet valid

view of Jane Eyre. She is saying that Jane finds pleasure and power in the death of

Antoinette and the weakness of Rochester. Perhaps this romance is not so innocent and

clean. Perhaps readers don’t always look to Jane and Rochester’s relationship as one that

triumphed over evil (Antoinette) and stood the test of time. Robbins suggests here that

Jane finds pleasure only through the pain of others. This too could be a take on the novel;

however it seems that Robbins overlooked one important point- Jane’s own misery.

Despite the fact that Jane Eyre is a “happily ever after” Jane herself suffered through

many hardships before getting her happy ending. First, Jane is tortured by an unloving

aunt, eventually escaping to a prison-like boarding school, only to be shipped off to a

stranger’s mansion to become a servant. The last thing readers see is Jane benefiting out

of any of this. Any benefit that she receives is purely fate because she never intended to

love her master.

Later on in the novel, Jane finds her lover as one who is, “helpless, indeed- blind

and cripple” (Bronte 499). This one mad woman has left a once strong and powerful man

“helpless”. This word suggests a vulnerability and weakness. This serves to further the

readers’ sympathy for Rochester and his condition. Jane becomes his caregiver, his

companion, and his lover. The actions of Antoinette seem to have brought Jane and

Rochester closer together. Antoinette was shown as powerful and huge, in contrast to the

husband she once knew whom she leaves weak and crippled. Antoinette’s independent

and manly figure seems extremely out of place next to the image of her broken husband.

Bronte emphasizes the fact that Rochester is battle scared because of the fact that he did

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try and help Antoinette. Again, readers are drawn to sympathy, condemning the mad

woman and comforting Mr. Rochester right alongside Jane.

Contrary to this image, Rhys leaves us with an entirely different idea of what the

end of Antoinette’s life was like. She fills the pages of the end of the novel with an

innocent and apparent confusion on the part of Antoinette. She says:

They tell me I am in England but I don’t believe them. … This cardboard

house where I walk at night is not England. … Now at last I know why I

was brought here and what I have to do. There must have been a draught

for the flame flickered and I thought it was out. But I shielded it with my

hand and it burned up again to light along the dark passage” (Rhys 112).

This image is sad and solemn. Antoinette again feels lied to as is apparent by here

statement, “I don’t believe them.” Instead of being a faithful husband and hero, Mr.

Rochester is just another letdown and liar in the tragic life of this woman. After being

locked up for so long, she begins to realize that something is wrong, something is not

right, and she must do something to save herself because he husband will do nothing.

When she says “I know why I was brought here” she has come to the realization that she

has been put away, locked up, and abandoned. She goes out “along the dark passage.”

Rhys suggests that this is an indication of death. Antoinette has nothing left to live for

and contrary to Bronte’s ideas; Rochester is in no way rushing to comfort her cold heart.

In this case the reader is distressed and saddened to think that Antoinette is alone- even in

death.

These obvious and deliberate differences in the novels truly sway the reader’s

perspective. It is easy to see how one might agree with either novel, accepting the

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characters at face value through the author’s descriptions. Janice Haaken discusses a

similar opinion of the effects of these two novels in her book, Pillar of Salt: Gender,

Memory, and the Perils of Looking Back, when she says, “Rhys’s novel reverses [from

Bronte’s] perspective, telling the story of this woman in the attic, of her own losses and

betrayals in being forced from her home in Jamaica and swindled by her husband’s

family” (Haaken, 88). Each novel has a very distinct purpose, deliberately crafted by the

author to yield and develop certain emotions and perceptions from their audience. While

they have two very different portrayals of very key components of the relationships these

characters share, the two authors, Bronte and Rhys, write with direction for their

individual novels. Jane Eyre, being written first, was the foundation for Rhys. The Wide

Sargasso Sea was very much an answer to the readers’ questions about why and where

the “lunatic” in Jane Eyre was coming from. Each encounter and each deliberate choice

of words causes readers of both novels to see certain things and to side with certain

characters. It is when both novels are examined together that we see a true idea.

However, as individual creations, these novels are masterpieces in themselves that are

intentionally brought to conclusions that suit the author and the readers who have

struggled and lived right along with the characters.

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WORKS CITED

Charlotte, Bronte. Jane Eyre. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.

Haaken, Janice. Pillar of Salt: Gender, Memory, and the Peril of Looking Back.

Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998.

Holbrook, David. Charles Dickens and the Image of Women. New York, NY: NYU

Press, 1993.

Rhys, Jean. The Wide Sargasso Sea. A Norton Critical Edition: Edited by Judith L

Raiskin. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. , 1999 .

Robbins, Ruth. Literary Feminisms . NY: St. Martin's Press, 2000.