Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - Summary and Analysis

Unlock the more straightforward side of Wide Sargasso Sea with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which was inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and tells the story of the most frequently overlooked character in that novel: Bertha Mason, the infamous “madwoman in the attic”. Rhys’s novel takes the reader back to Bertha’s childhood in the Caribbean, when she was known by the name Antoinette Cosway, and explores how her status as an outcast, her unhappy marriage and the pernicious influence of rumour and slander eventually transform her from a quiet child into the deranged character from Brontë’s novel. Wide Sargasso Sea was the last novel published by Jean Rhys prior to her death in 1979, and is generally considered her masterpiece. It was also partially influenced by Rhys’s own childhood in the Caribbean.

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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
•A complete plot summary
•Character studies
•Key themes and symbols
•Questions for further reflection