"Compare and contrast the ways Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys have used a range of narrative methods to explore the journey of their protagonists."

Both ‘Jane Eyre’, by Charlotte Bronte, and ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, by Jean Rhys, are written in the genre of bildungsroman, in which the reader follows the journey of their protagonists from childhood to adulthood. Charlotte Bronte structures her novel 'Jane Eyre' in a classical Victorian format as the story moves in a chronological linear time-frame which is narrated by a single character, this story explores an isolated child who develops and thrives in Victorian society through submission and inheritance. However, Jean Rhys uses a post-modernist style which uses multiple narrative voices and a non-chronological structure which appears fragmented, exposing Antoinette’s gradually disintegrating mind due to the effects of the patriarchal society which entraps her. Ultimately both texts use different narrative methods to display a vast difference in the journey’s experienced by their protagonists.

Both protagonists experience isolated childhoods, which influence the way in which they develop to adulthood. Jane is an alienated and lonely child at Gateshead which is caused by the rejection she receives by the Reed’s. Through the language device of pathetic fallacy, Bronte has reflected her ‘saddened’¹ heart through the weather. The words used to describe the weather are harsh and blunt; the wind is ‘cold’², the clouds ‘sombre’³ and the rain ‘penetrating’⁴ exposing Jane’s emotional feelings of confinement. Furthermore the pronouns ‘I’⁵ and ‘me’⁶ are used to highlight the emotional barriers between herself and the other characters. However, Jane’s detachment is not enough to stop her poor treatment, as she is continually bullied by Mrs Reed’s ‘darlings’⁷- especially by John Reed, who is determined to ‘punish’⁸ Jane for being a ‘dependent’⁹ calling her vicious names such as a ‘rat’¹⁰. Furthermore, a feminist critic would observe the injustice of Jane's treatment by the ‘Master’¹¹ of the house as in the 19th Century, Victorian society was patriarchal-a structure which ensured women were submissive to men due to their lack of legal rights.

Similarly, the protagonist Antoinette experiences rejection and isolation. Jean Rhys used the background of the Post Emancipation Act which created an atmosphere of mistrust and violence in society. This symbolised through Antoinette’s garden that is as ‘large and beautiful as that garden in the bible’¹² (The Garden of Eden) which becomes ‘wild’¹³ with ‘snaky looking’¹⁴ objects. The snake is a motif used throughout to symbolise evil and corruption. This is to show the racial tension which is first presented at the start of the book with the use of pronouns and battle jargon- ‘They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.’¹⁵ Which shows how the creoles can be ‘accepted neither by the negro community nor by the representatives of the colonial centre.’¹⁶ Because of this, Antoinette is seen as ‘nothing’¹⁷ to either race. This ultimately made Antoinette feel threatened (due to her mother’s horse being ‘poisoned’¹⁸ –at the start of the story- by the angry ex-slaves) so she tries to seek feelings of safety and comfort within her mother, but is rejected by Annette who tells her daughter ‘oh let me alone’¹⁹. This is a significant moment in Antoinette’s life as she becomes ‘useless’²⁰ to her mother. This ultimately fuels her desperation for emotional acceptance by Rochester to the point of self-destruction.

But both protagonists deal with their obstacles in different ways. Jane is undeterred by her lonely childhood she still has lessons to learn which will help her to overcome the obstacles she will encounter in the future. The first main lesson Jane must learn, is that her fiery ‘passion’²¹ must be tamed; this lesson is learnt in the ‘red room’²² which she is entrapped within by Mrs Reed, and would only be ‘liberated’²³ on the condition of ‘perfect submission and stillness’^24. A feminist critic would understand the vital lesson of submission. This was a lesson every Victorian woman had to learn if they wanted to be successful, as they had no rights in a marriage. 18^th Century English jurist William Blackstone described a woman’s legal status within marriage as ‘in law a husband and wife are one person, and the husband is that person’²⁵. In addition, a post-colonial critic would observe the description given to Mrs Reed- ‘skin was dark’²⁶- which gives her a distinct un-English quality. The original readership would understand that this was only reserved for villainous characters. This reflects the attitude of mistrust towards foreigners in a 19th Century England that had little experience of other cultures. Additionally, the strength of Jane’s character is continually tested through various experiences Jane encounters, for example whilst at Lowood she challenges the hypocrisy of organised religion which through Bronte’s structural use of journalism, for example stating it was ’five o’clock’²⁷ on the ‘19^th of January’²⁸. With this, in addition to the genre of ‘The Conditions of England’, it presents the immoral events as fact. An example of this is when Mr Brocklehurst, who claimed he was strict Anglican, removed the donated money, intended for the orphaned children, to pay for his family who ‘were splendidly attired in velvet, silk and furs’²⁹. The incongruity is taken further when Brocklehurst insists on cutting the curls off one of the orphaned girls to then have his wife and children parade around the institution with a ‘false front of French curls’³⁰.

Alternatively, unlike Jane, Antoinette is unable to overcome her problems in childhood which is evident when she gradually dismantles which is shown through the texts structure as it becomes more frequent in its fragmentation. Rhys shows Antoinette’s inability to act on the issues which ultimately entrap her. This is foreshadowed through Annette’s parrot Coco who had his wings ‘clipped’³¹ by Mr Mason before Coulibri was set aflame by the ex-slaves. Coco makes an ‘effort to fly down’³² however his ‘clipped wings fail him’³³. From a feminist’s perspective, the death of Coco may be seen as an allegory for the danger of male power in a patriarchal society, due to its symbolisation of Antoinette’s death who had her wings clipped when she was locked in the attic of Thornfield. The argument of Antoinette being entrapped by patriarchal society is furthered when Antoinette takes ‘refuge’³⁴ in a matriarchal convent where she felt ‘bolder, happier, and free’³⁵ but is removed by Mr Mason causing her fear as she knows she cannot thrive ‘outside’³⁶. Antoinette is continually displayed as a passive character that will not shape her own fate. This is exampled the morning she found the ‘dead horse’³⁷ displaying the attitude of denial (‘it may not be true’³⁸). Yet it is this attitude that contributes to her lack of power around men. She is continually given the opportunity to walk away, for example -a psychological critic would observe that after her marriage had disintegrated with Rochester she turned to Sandi to for emotional stability. However when she is given the opportunity to be happy with another person, she declines. Even though she is ‘unhappy’³⁹ she continues to be dictated to by patriarchal ideals.

Another significant factor in the journey of both protagonists is their experiences with Rochester. In part two of ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ he tells the story through his perspective after taking the narrative voice away from Antoinette- this was after they had married which is symbolic for Antoinette’s loss of power due to patriarchy -which left a woman with no voice.  Rochester’s relationship to Antoinette is vastly different to his relationship with Jane as it is based upon money and lust. This is highlighted through the epistolary technique which is used to the reveal psychological truths about Rochester. This evident after Rochester’s arrival in Granbois when he takes ‘refuge’⁴⁰ in Mr Mason’s old English study, writing a letter to his father. A psychological critic would detect the anger in the line ‘All is well and has gone according to your plans and wishes.’⁴¹ as his resentment stems from being controlled by his father. There is an intentional emphasis on ‘your’⁴² to stress marrying Antoinette was not what he wanted but an arrangement by his father and brother so as to provide for him without having to divide the family estate. Furthermore, a psychological critic would decode Rochester’s feelings of Antoinette through the tentative language he uses to describe Granbois- ‘I suppose’⁴³ highlights Rochester doesn’t understand where he is neither does he try to. This is further shown through the repetition of the word ‘alien’⁴⁴ to create an outsider effect.  Moreover, Rochester furthers Antoinette’s feelings of entrapment which have been consistent since childhood by calling her ‘Bertha’⁴⁵. By doing this he is not only ‘denying her true self’⁴⁶ but he is also placing the power of the relationship in his own hands, in this way he can deny Antoinette her identity and ensure she surrenders into his idea of what a woman is. This has the effect of descending her into madness, highlighting Rochester’s role in the oppression of Antoinette.

Jane’s journey ends in a classical Victorian format, with the novels structure ensuring all problems are resolved at the end-leaving the protagonist with a happy ending. This is shown in the last chapter which is entitled ‘Conclusion’⁴⁷; this is symbolic as it implies Jane’s story has been completed due to her successful Victorian marriage which resulted in motherhood. The original reader would appreciate this ending when compared to a modern feminist as a successful marriage was the aim of every Victorian woman, due to its financial security, therefore Jane achieved the best outcome possible. Moreover, it is apparent to the reader that Jane is delighted in her family life as she addresses the reader directly-‘Reader, I married him’⁴⁸. This is a motif Bronte uses to show Jane’s moments of heightened emotion. This adds to the sense that Jane has completed her journey and emphasises her happiness.

In contrast to Jane’s journey, is Antoinette’s death in the destruction of Thornfield. The fire of Thornfield was structurally foreshadowed in part three due to the frequent use of the colour ‘red’⁴⁹, symbolising the fire that will destroy Thornfield. However the colour red also connotes Antoinette’s home- as it is a warm vibrant colour that represents Jamaica. Hence why Antoinette recalls her memory of Tia at ‘the pool at Coulibri’⁵⁰, which ‘beckoned’⁵¹ her to return home, making the cyclical structure evident. A psychological reading would suggest that Antoinette’s final act of reaching out to Tia and ‘the sky so red’⁵² in her last moments shows a psychological regression. However, the line ‘Now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do’⁵³ suggests a moment of clear rationality, displaying a different side to Antoinette then the continuously displayed passive character that always reacted to men. By actively setting fire to Thornfield and committing suicide, Antoinette is gaining the power that always evaded her by deciding her own fate. This is symbolic of Antoinette breaking free of the binds that were enforced upon her, by society, ever since she was a child.

In conclusion, Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys use lots of methods to display the significant difference in the journeys of their protagonists. The reason for the difference in their journey is based on ‘the difference in the way they accept their roles as women in a patriarchal society.’ Jane’s journey of an isolated child transforming into the perfect stereotypical Victorian woman is suited to the classical Victorian structure as the events are chronological and allow a resolution at the end due to all questions being answered. Whereas, Rhys displays Antoinette’s mental disintegration gradually- through the style of a modernist text, which is fragmented due to its lack of chronological order and use of different perspectives. This emphasises Antoinette’s lack of power due to society’s patriarchal structure which ensured women had no voice.

The difference in the narrative methods used by Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys, display the extensive difference in journey’s experienced by their protagonists.

Word Count: 1963

Bibliography

¹ Page 3, ‘Jane Eyre’, Charlotte Bronte, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1992

² Page 3, ‘Jane Eyre’, Charlotte Bronte, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1992

³ Page 3, ‘Jane Eyre’, Charlotte Bronte, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1992

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⁹ Page 6, ‘Jane Eyre’, Charlotte Bronte, Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1992

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¹¹ Page 6, ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, Jean Rhys, Penguin, 1997

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¹⁶ http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/sargasso.htm

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⁴¹ Page 46, ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, Jean Rhys, Penguin, 1997

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⁴⁶ Richard Griffiths, ‘Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea- Other Voices’,  http://apsenglishlanglit.edublogs.org/files/2011/01/JE-and-WSS-Other-Voices-2atqgu1.doc

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