What aspects of Charlotte Brontes Essay -- English Literature:

What aspects of Charlotte BrontesWhat aspects of Charlotte Brontes depiction and use of the citeof Bertha Mason are most intelligibly illuminated by Jean Rhys depictionand use of her parallel character of Antoinette?In Wide sargasso Sea, pen by Jean Rhys in the 1960s, is a radicalcritique of the context of English Imperialism and priapic predominatesociety within which Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre. In order toboth expose and couple the parallels inherent in Jane Eyre, Rhysintertwines in her novel the two reading positions of libber andpostcolonialist criticism.Rhys demonstrates how both social and chronicle conventions mandatethat certain categories of women must be devalued if other categoriesof women are to assume importance. She does this by exposing to thereader how Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre, in order for her reader togive Jane an assumed importance, devalued by the Creole characterBertha showing her to be made and giving us Janes description of heras she seemeda woman she reminded me of the foul GermanSpectre the vampire and Rochesters comment that the lunatic isboth cute and malignant.Rhys, it seems was politically inspired to rewrite Jane Eyre and writeback to the empire. Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Jane Eyre whichwas written British Empire was at its peak. Jane Eyre was arepresentation of England to the English. Rhys decided to write back,because of being of white West Indian descent herself, she wasoffended by the representation of the mad Creole in the novel.Although Rhys says that she is non a conscious feminist her novels arealways written from a female perspective and in Wide Sargasso Sea, themale character is exposed... ... express and putforward quite assertively. Christophine in particular, is not afraidto tell Antoinettes husband exactly how she feels towards him/ On summon 132 for example, Christophine says I tell her soalways itdont break away for beke. Always it bring troubleso you send me away andyou move on all her money. And what you do with her? and later onfurther exposes and questions assumptions and values that Antoinetteshusband when she tells him Read and write I dont know. former(a) thingsI know.So we can see the many ways in which Rhys uses the intersections offeminist and postcolonialist reading positions and criticism to exposecertain aspects of character. Whether it be by means of two narrators,leaving one unnamed, showing many different sides to a story andemphasising and exposing the otherness of each are amongst many othernarrative strategies.