Divisions Between Women in Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea

Divisions between Women in Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea

In Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, a sea of “differences” engulfs the women, stirring up prejudice and animosity. Instead of perceiving how much they are alike, these women allow the water to destroy the bridges between them. They are envious of each other’s wealth, leery of each other’s premature aging, and unforgiving towards those who do not “belong” to their ethnic groups. Differences in economics, age, and nationality among the women cause misunderstandings and divisions between them.

An economic hierarchy towers above the lush gardens and sparkling waters in the poverty-stricken West Indies. As Tia says to Antoinette: “Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger”(Rhys, 21). Although slavery was abolished from the Coulibri Estate many years ago, the “black niggers” continue to despise Annette and Antoinette. Perhaps this is because even though the Coulibri Estate is wild and run down, the Cosways still own the property while most “black niggers” do not have land to call their own. Moreover, the Cosways are “white”, so despite being on an economic level similar to that of the “blacks”, their social status is still above that of the latter, and this leads to resentment. The Cosways continue to keep “black” servants and do not work except for the occasional sewing. When Annette’s horse is poisoned, she can only complain helplessly, “Now we are marooned…now what will become of us?” (16). Accustomed to the previously wealthy lifestyle, the Cosways’ helplessness inspires the mockery and envy of the “black niggers”, who have always sustained their livelihoods through labour.

Economic fluct...

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...ogical age usually garners respect, but premature aging springing from physical and emotional stresses make way for increased torment and alienation. In the end, though, it is the different nationalities of the women that effectively separate them. The women who do not fit into the traditional Jamaican society are outcasts, but the “black” women also resent the hierarchal superiority of the other women. Turning a blind eye to the other’s plights that are in reality similar to their own, the women are unforgiving of the perceived “differences” between them. As a man remarks to a “black” woman during the Coulibri fire: “You cry for her – when she ever cry for you? Tell me that”(37). Holding back their tears for one another, the women continue to widen the sea of misunderstanding between them.

Work Cited

Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin Books, 2000.