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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.