Turning Tides in Antoinette's Sargasso Sea
Antoinette is the protagonist in Jean Rhys’, Wide Sargasso Sea, whose life drastically changes during her marriage to a young English man. As I will discuss in this post, Antoinette was driven mad by the progression of her marriage, seen for instance in her violent reception of her visitor at the house where she was held as a patient. Her breakdown is reasonable considering her situation: a loveless marriage to a stranger and adulterer, who consistently entertained rumours about her and now legally owned all her assets. No, he was not her husband but her handler. Like her mother who watched her whole house, and hope for a new life, burn because of her husband's neglect, Antoinette's life and hope for a loving marriage was consumed by hatred set on by her husband's misdeeds. Reading this novel in the 21st century, there are some things that do not resonate with me, like the seemingly strained, overbearing manner of dress with petticoats and such (in a warm climate) or the b...