In her literary criticism "Modern Crosscurrents," Mary Lou Emery investigates Jean Rhys as a writer and how her identity could have translated into her writings.
Emery identifies Rhys as a female, West Indian writer who does her work under the influence of European modernism; she sees Rhys participation in literary movements with such larger social contexts as very influential. In her analysis, Emery considers two approaches. The first approach considers European literary ideas of “character” and “self.” The second approach considers how Rhys’ ideologies built from identity can be conflicting and at the same time critical of the “colonizing countries’ concepts and values even if governed by them.”
Emery believes that Jean Rhys’ life experiences, “her upbringing in Domenica, various jobs in England with traveling theatrical companies followed by a disastrous love affair, a marriage, and a period spent wandering in Europe,” were very impactful of the novel. Rhys was often described as an “outsider among outsiders,” as a female writer and living in a world dominated by men. Rhys was married three times, gave birth to two children, and struggled with alcohol dependence among other social issues. She became marginalized.
How do you think these issues show up in “Wide Sargasso Sea”?
Emery identifies Rhys as a female, West Indian writer who does her work under the influence of European modernism; she sees Rhys participation in literary movements with such larger social contexts as very influential. In her analysis, Emery considers two approaches. The first approach considers European literary ideas of “character” and “self.” The second approach considers how Rhys’ ideologies built from identity can be conflicting and at the same time critical of the “colonizing countries’ concepts and values even if governed by them.”
Emery believes that Jean Rhys’ life experiences, “her upbringing in Domenica, various jobs in England with traveling theatrical companies followed by a disastrous love affair, a marriage, and a period spent wandering in Europe,” were very impactful of the novel. Rhys was often described as an “outsider among outsiders,” as a female writer and living in a world dominated by men. Rhys was married three times, gave birth to two children, and struggled with alcohol dependence among other social issues. She became marginalized.
How do you think these issues show up in “Wide Sargasso Sea”?
It is interesting to hear that Rhys herself felt like an outsider in real life. Perhaps this was her own real-life inspiration for her Wide Sargasso Sea, a novel based on Antoinette's existence as an outsider in Jamaica and in England when she returns as a 'mad woman in the attic'.
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ReplyDeleteYour post on involving a literary criticism is very interesting. Knowing what other people think of the novel has been useful in molding my own opinions about it. Also, I believe her background very much influence her novel and the approach she took to essentially write a prequel to "Jane Eyre".
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