A Postcolonial Reading of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

ŞENEL N.

Journal of Language and Literature Education, no.11, pp.38-45, 2014 (SSCI)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Journal Name: Journal of Language and Literature Education
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
  • Page Numbers: pp.38-45
  • Erciyes University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

A Postcolonial Reading of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Res. Asst. Neşe Şenel
Erciyes University, nesesenel@erciyes.edu.tr
Abstract
Despite the fact that the story retold in Wide Sargasso Sea on the surface seems to be a pathetic love story of a Creole woman who goes crazy due to unrequited love in her
marriage to an English man, through a close postcolonial reading of the novel several
crucial cultural and political orientalist attitudes towards Creole people, Europe’s
alternative and potential “other,” are depicted. “Orientalism, in Said’s formulation, is
principally a way of defining and ‘locating’ Europe’s others”. Accordingly, within the
context of this paper, the other version of the story of “the othered” will be examined
from a post colonialist perception through the representations of the characters
especially, that of Mr. Rochester. His orientalist and “othering” attitude towards
Antoinette and the Creole way of life in the Caribbean and the related crucial identity
problems of Antoinette will be discussed within the framework of this postcolonial
reading on Wide Sargasso Sea.
Key Words: postcolonialism, orientalism, postmodern paroody, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jane Eyre