EN 1002 Lecture Notes - Bertha Mason, Jean Rhys, Thornfield Hall
November 16, 2017 – EN 1002 Intertextualities
Wide Sargasso Sea
Opens Up Bethas “to
- Pat Oe: Atioette/Bethas first-person account of childhood in Jamaica
- Rochester is an unnamed character
- Postcolonial Modernist Novel
Naming
- Jane Eyre: Bertha Antoinetta Rochester
- Wide Sargasso Sea:
o Atioette Cosa Fathes ae: slae oners)
o Antionette Mason (after fathers death of rumored alcoholism, mother remarries)
o Antoinette Rochester
o Betha ‘oheste Eglish husad eaes his ifes fist ae
▪ Patriarchal and Colonizing (Colonizers rename the people and places they
colonize)
Renaming Antoinette to Bertha
- Sharing horrific events on the plantation, then talking about brother then mother who did not
want her and shunned her. Wanted to kill anyone who hurt her mother, then she sees her
mother drinking and drinking, then the man kisses her mother and she runs away
o Woman who has gone mad from seeing her young son murdered and her home burnt
down, is drinking and broke off with new husband because she blames him, so the
people supposed to take care of her get her drunk on top of her mental illness and
take sexual advantage of her
o At the tie of Jea ‘hs itig this, people ould ot udestad he itig: o
awareness of sexual vulnerability in mental illness, how mental illness comes to be,
the idea of consent
o At the time this was set, Antoinette and the people around her saw the mother as a
sinful woman (loose drunk woman) → Ho ‘oheste sees Bethas othe
▪ After Antionette says this story, he says Dot laugh like that Betha
▪ Wants to separate Antoinette from Anette, her mother because he is
disturbed by the story given the moral values of the time (English Christianity)
• M ae is ot Betha, h do ou all e Betha? I a fod of
the name Betha
o Night that breaks down their marriage he also calls her Bertha
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Name as Identity
- Atoiette idetifies that allig e aothe ae he is tig to ake e ito soeoe
else ad late liks this ith he loss of self: Naes atte, like he he ouldt all e
Antoinette and I saw Antoinette drifting out the window with her scents, her pretty clothes
ad he lookig glass
- Renaming in Jane Eyre → “oo to e Jae ‘oheste he added: i fou eeks, to e Jaet
- Jane feels like a doll when given silks and jewels
o Marionette-Antionette
▪ Becomes associated with a doll when Antionette gives him the love potion, he
has sex with the maid in the other room so Antionette can hear and drives her
mad, turning her into the Bertha Rochester we will meet in Jane Eyre
o Atoiette as stethed o the ed ith a aioette like ualit
o You foe he to ad speak → Call he doll eause she aot speak
The Looking Glass Symbol
- The gil I sa as self et ot uite self → Qui est la? Who is there? Who is she seeing
in the mirror?
- Symbolic significance of the Looking glass
- Doubles: Jane/Bertha
o Both Jae ad Betha/Atioette io eah othes epeiees
o Both characters are sent away to schools that, while strict and oppressive, are also
refuges, Jaes Loood “hool hashe tha Atoiettes oet
o Jane being locked in the red room and Bertha/Antoinette is locked in the attic
o Incarcerations cause these characters to act out like fiends and wild things
o Both, when looking in the mirror in the context of these imprisonments, see a ghost
o Antoinette is alluded to as a ghost, and Jane is seen as a ghost when Antoinette saw
her
The Ghost of Thornfield Hall
Arsonist Ghost
Ghost of the Red Room
- the stage little figue… had the effet of a eal spiit I though it like oe of the ti
phatos…
o Sense that Jane is disassociating herself from her image in the mirror
o Knows she is not seeing a ghost but herself, although she acts hysterical as a
frightened child would
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Pa(cid:396)t o(cid:374)e: a(cid:374)tio(cid:374)ette/be(cid:396)tha(cid:859)s first-person account of childhood in jamaica. Sharing horrific events on the plantation, then talking about brother then mother who did not want her and shunned her. A(cid:374)toi(cid:374)ette ide(cid:374)tifies that (cid:862)(cid:271)(cid:455) (cid:272)alli(cid:374)g (cid:373)e a(cid:374)othe(cid:396) (cid:374)a(cid:373)e he is t(cid:396)(cid:455)i(cid:374)g to (cid:373)ake (cid:373)e i(cid:374)to so(cid:373)eo(cid:374)e else(cid:863) a(cid:374)d late(cid:396) li(cid:374)ks this (cid:449)ith he(cid:396) loss of self: (cid:862)na(cid:373)es (cid:373)atte(cid:396), like (cid:449)he(cid:374) he (cid:449)ould(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:272)all (cid:373)e. Antoinette and i saw antoinette drifting out the window with her scents, her pretty clothes a(cid:374)d he(cid:396) looki(cid:374)g glass(cid:863) Renaming in jane eyre (cid:862) oo(cid:374) to (cid:271)e ja(cid:374)e o(cid:272)heste(cid:396)(cid:863) he added: (cid:858)i(cid:374) fou(cid:396) (cid:449)eeks, to (cid:271)e ja(cid:374)et(cid:863) Doubles: jane/bertha: both ja(cid:374)e a(cid:374)d be(cid:396)tha/a(cid:374)tio(cid:374)ette (cid:373)i(cid:396)(cid:396)o(cid:396) ea(cid:272)h othe(cid:396)(cid:859)s e(cid:454)pe(cid:396)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)es, both characters are sent away to schools that, while strict and oppressive, are also refuges, ja(cid:374)e(cid:859)s lo(cid:449)ood (cid:272)hool ha(cid:396)she(cid:396) tha(cid:374) a(cid:374)toi(cid:374)ette(cid:859)s (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:448)e(cid:374)t. Jane being locked in the red room and bertha/antoinette is locked in the attic. Antoinette cannot know herself or recognize herself bc of fragmented identity.
