Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys shows the delicate balance between madness and sanity. Throughout both novels there is a lot of unusual behavior to say the least from Antoinette. There are many factors that can have a detrimental effect on one’s mental stability, this is shown blatantly through the relationship between Antoinette and Bertha. This shows the relationship and balance between inherited factors and environmental influences such as events that are happening and other people. Though physically Antoinette and Bertha are the same person the distinction between them becomes apparent when looked at from a psychological point of view.
The narrator imagined the knock; it was all in their head. The audience was able to experience this knock because it was in first person point of view. Another way “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe creates an effect of insanity is when the narrator is “told” by the raven that he will never see his love again, even in death and there is no healing for his pain and grief. This causes him to fly into a frenzy- “‘Be that word a sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked, upstarting- ‘Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
The instances of foreshadowing within the novel enhance the tension and foretell the massacre of antoinette’s sanity. Tia’s cruel betrayal on Antoinette foreshadows the loneliness and the lack of trust in Antoinette. The specific event is also a cause for Antoinette’s marriage.
Defining what is madness and what is considered madness? Is really difficult because what was madness yesterday, is not madness today; and what is madness today, may not be madness tomorrow. With these volatile changes throughout time, it is complicated finding the nature of insanity psychology. Jane Eyre, a novel written in the period of the English Victorianism in 1847 by Charlotte Brontë reflects that any person who adopted an aptitude or attitude outside of the standards of that period was condemned and denominated to be “mad”. The most accurate characterization for the standards of women in that time was having an impeccable moral, being spiritually stimulating, intelligent and impressionably positive, all in the service and favor of men.
Identity is socioculturally constructed. Erving Goffman, a famous sociologist, argues that in fact, there is no true self, and our ideas of who we are as individuals are constructed by our surroundings. Bonny Norton, a professor who studies identity, argues that there is a difference between between “social identity” and “culture identity” and that, as much as society and culture has an influence on individuals, you yourself do as well. Whatever we may believe, when we think of our own identity nationality, ethnicity, occupation or societal role may be the first few that come to mind. All these categories are artificial.
To start off, the irony in the novel has a great influence on the theme. The most evident piece of irony that shows in the novel is the fact that Alice is the Psychology Professor at Harvard and as she teaches her students the study of the human mind, she is losing hers. Alice studied and taught psychology for many years, and all of that knowledge is escaping her now. No matter how hard she tries to keep this disease from overcoming her, she cannot beat it. Her intelligence allows her to develop coping mechanisms that the
Modernism describes Realistic- Allegory as things or abstract ideas used to convey a message or teach a lesson. The subject of the Harris poem is thought-provoking, which is the only way she knows how to project herself. She is finding inspiration from beautiful things in nature while adapting and morphing into a care free woman who refuses to
Bradbury additionally indicates that fear can be seen in literature found throughout the book. At last, the author expresses the importance that fear can be seen when the thought of trying new things comes to mind. To begin, the motif of fear, or lack thereof, demonstrates an adverse impact on the disastrous dystopian society through the characters false sense of security. This idea can be detected throughout the beginning of the book at the time when most of the society, including Clarisse, thought everything was normal. “Did it always use to be that way?” (Bradbury 27).
From early on in the film we get supernatural vibes from Christophine. Since she is from Martinique she is not like other black servants and because of practicing black magic she is feared and in a way respected by others on the island. Her powerful character turns toward the black magic as a source for fighting racial and cultural oppression against men, and in this case against Rochester. Because the Rochester cannot understand the world of Obeah, since he has no knowledge about that world, he decides to leave the island since he has no control over it. “By contrast, I argue that obeah in Wide Sargasso Sea is not about metaphors waiting to be read but about the unreadability of a potent black cultural tradition that destabilizes the white rulers ' worldview.” (Mardorossian 76) “Chicken scene” is a perfect example when we catch the glimpses of Christophine practicing Obeah , in French colonies, it is called Voodoo or simply, black magic.
complex way, interact to create their identities. In a world were society has a great impact on our lives, how do the characters look at themselves? Just like the title, not only the characters but every human being can be thought of to be in a wide Sargasso Sea – an oceanic black hole. Antoinette, her husband, me, and you can be trapped in a Sargasso Sea. In this dark world, how do we find our purpose and who we are?