Book Reviews: Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

and

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Review by Peter Tran

I recommend Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” a mid-19th century Victorian classic. The plot is about an orphan who survives a traumatic childhood to become a governess of the ward of the mysterious master, Edward Rochester, of an English manor called Thornfield Hall. Ostensibly the rest of the novel is about the ups and downs of their romance, but the real themes are the coming of age and agency of an unusual Victorian heroine. Jane is ahead of her times in some ways as a feminist but is also a timeless protagonist because of her integrity and honesty. Bronte’s inner psychological portrait of Jane is compelling, convincing, and empowering. I hope you learn as much as I did from Jane.

An interesting pairing with this book is “Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys, a modernist/postmodernist writer. She writes this prequel to “Jane Eyre” to give voice to one of the minor but one of the most pivotal and intriguing characters in Jane Eyre, a woman with mental illness. The best way to describe the heroine is as one critic put it, “vulnerable, sensitive, and self-defeating.” The title of the book refers to the mysterious Sargasso Sea near the island setting of the book which is in the Bermuda Triangle, a body of water not defined by shores, but a mass of sargassum seaweed infamous for entangling the motors and rudders of ships. The main point of the novel is that one’s identity is largely formed by the regard and expectations of others. Since the heroine is a Creole rejected by both the blacks and whites on her island, thought she is rich and beautiful, she’s sunk so to speak, fated for misunderstanding and maltreatment because of the prejudices around her. A comparison of the heroines is very instructive. Jane is neither beautiful nor rich, but what self-agency she has! She taught me to appreciate the qualities of being strong-willed and feisty! She also made me realize the crucial importance of at least some good role models and truth speakers in a person’s life. So don’t underestimate the good you can do! Revolt against Rhys’ thesis and keep fighting to communicate and change prejudice and keep the faith!

Photo by Annie Spratt