The Tragedy of Wide Sargasso Sea
In Jean Rhys' novel Wide Sargasso Sea, whether Antoinette Cosway really goes mad in the end is debatable. Nevertheless, it is clear that her life is tragic. The tragedy comes from her numerous pursuits for love and a sense of belonging, and her failure at each and every one of these attempts.
As a child Antoinette, is deprived of parental love. Her father is a drunkard and has many mistresses and illegitimate children. According to Daniel Cosway's account, old Cosway is cruel to his own son. Yet even if Daniel was not really a Cosway, and his descriptions were made out of spite, or if old Cosway had cared any more for his legitimate children than his bastard ones, his alcoholism is real, and thus he could not have been a loving father to Antoinette.
Her mother, Annette, does not show much motherly affection to her either. Antoinette needs and wants her mother's love, but Annette is indifferent to her. Once, Antoinette sees her mother frown, and tries to smooth the frown out with her hand,
But she pushed me away, not roughly but calmly, coldly, without a word, as if she had decided once and for all that I was useless to her. She wanted to sit with Pierre or walk where she pleased without being pestered, she wanted peace and quiet.…. 'Oh, let me alone,' she would say, 'let me alone' (13; part 1).
One night, when Antoinette has had a nightmare, she awakens to see her mother at her bed. This makes her feel safe, but even then her mother has not come to show concern for her, but to look after Pierre, whom is frightened by her noise.
When her needs for love and belonging are neglected by her parents, Antoinette seeks to fulfill them elsewhere. She seeks love from a newly foun...
... middle of paper ...
...r her, if there has ever been any, is completely gone, andall that is left is destructive hatred:
If I was bound for hell let it be hell. No more false heavens. No more damned music. You hate me and I hate you. We'll see who hates best. But first, first I will destroy your hatred. Now my hate is colder, stronger, and you'll have no hate to warm yourself. You will have nothing (110; part 2).
He thus murders her last hope for love and safety, and brings her to England to be locked away in his attic. This is her second dislocation, this time not only removed from her own familiar world, but completely isolated from the entire world. Here her tragedy is complete, for her heart and soul are killed, and she is but a ghost, with "nothing left but hopelessness" (110; part 2).
Work Cited
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. Ed. Angela Smith. London: Penguin, 1997.
When Marie tries to ask the protagonist to take a walk, this action shows that she is trying to achieve Pauline’s dream by getting her outside of the house. Therefore, she could finally feel the true meaning of freedom. Nevertheless, Pauline’s mother’s response demonstrates that she wants her daughter’s safety more than anything. The mother tries to keep Pauline away from the danger, so the protagonist can at last have a healthier life. However, Agathe’s reply shows that her mother is willing to sacrifice Pauline’s dream to keep her secure.
No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...
The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.
The Infant Child plays a huge role in Blanche’s early life. As a result of her mother’s death, Blanche has a fearful temperament, and
Previously, the narrator has intimated, “She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves. They had never taken the form of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own.” Her thoughts and emotions engulf her, but she does not “struggle” with them. They “belonged to her and were her own.” She does not have to share them with anyone; conversely, she must share her life and her money with her husband and children and with the many social organizations and functions her role demands.
Jeannette and her father Rex have a hopeful beginning to their relationship which consists of its own heroic moments filled with many learning experiences, moments of trust, and source of comfort, which letter on took a disappointing end filled with, hypocrisy, lack of trust, lack of protection, alcohol addictions, and death.
Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards
Plant hormones are certain chemicals present in plants that control plant growth and development by affecting the division, differentiation, and elongation of cells. (Campbell, 2008) Each hormone has multiple effects depending on its site of action, its concentrations, and the developing stage of the plant. (Campbell, 2008) Auxin is a plant hormone that is synthesized within the apical meristems and young leaves of a growing plant. Auxin stimulates stem elongation when it is present is low concentrations. It promotes the formations of lateral and adventitious roots, regulates development of fruit, enhances apical dominance, functions in gravitropism and phototropism, promotes vascular differentiation, and retards leaf abscission. Gibberellic acid is one of several plant hormones that govern a plant’s growth. Gibberellins allow for stem elongation in plants. Plants without enough of this hormone tend to grow short or stunted. This chemical is high in the element potassium, which is one the main components of plant fertilizer and very important for plant growth on its own. The...
In “Caroline’s Wedding”, Caroline’s mother shows how love of family encourages her to survive through the breaking of tradition for her daughter's happiness.
It differs greatly, in its portrayal of mothers, from Le Brun’s Self-portrait with her Daughter and Cassatt’s artworks. Behind Marie Antoinette, you see a jewelry cabinet, off to the right of the canvas. This illustrates that, although she is with her children, she finds treasure within her own materialistic objects. Furthermore, her expression lacks emotion as she holds the child loosely within her arms. The child looks off, barely acknowledging its mother, who is holding him. Next, the child, on the far right of the canvas, reveals an empty cradle, alluding to a child who has died. Again, Marie seems unfazed or simply chooses not to acknowledge the boy’s actions. Furthermore, the young girl, on the right of the canvas, clings on to her mother as she lovingly looks up to her mother. Marie holds a wry smile, appearing somewhat annoyed or displeased. The color scheme is dark, but Le Brun utilizes contrast to emphasize the royal family. However, it only works to further expose the detached relationship between a Marie and her children. According to the lecture, “To counter people’s hatred of the queen and their criticisms of her as a bad (even a degenerate) mother, Vigée Le Brun was commissioned to paint this portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children” (Gartrell). Sadly, the painting was
Every plant grows best when their basic necessities and needs are supplied naturally or artificially. All the plants require air, water, and food for survival and own needs. Plants need water, certain nutrients, and different types of environmental factors like enough temperature/climate and the adequate amount of sunlight for growing. Depending upon the different type of plant used, the results may differ (buzzle.com)
Some females take this to the extreme by having plastic surgery performed on their bodies. These operations could be anything from implants to face-lifts. Procedures likewise are not the best alternative for a person’s body. Some surgeons have refused to perform surgery on individuals under the age of 18 due to the effects that it can cause. The operation can cause damage to the body before it is fully developed and therefore causes distortion in one’s appearance. Side effects or issues that can occur with plastic surgery are skin discoloration, and infection. Procedures such as liposuction can cause issues as well. During the procedure the fat cells are demolished. This makes it difficult for the patient in later years when fat is again added to their body. This fat would appear in undesired locations such as the back. The financial stress the operations provide is also a burden on the individual undergoing the procedure. Surgeries such as the operations described above cost the person an extensive amount of money that could have been used to pay for something else such as the house mortgage.
For the rioters, Coco the parrot, and Antoinette, fire offers an instrument of escape from and rebellion against the oppressive actions of their respective captors. Wide Sargasso Sea takes place shortly after the emancipation of Jamaican slaves. Annette's husbands, first Alexander Cosway and then Mr. Mason, have both profited immorally off of the exploitation of black Jamaicans. Unsurprisingly, the former slaves feel great hatred towards the Cosways--- hatred that boils over when the ex-slaves set fire to Annette's house (35). The significance of th...
...child relationship is pure agony and resentment. In the same way her master forced her to work he forced her to bear a child that she does not want. In response, she runs away from her master by running away to Pilgrim's Point. She runs away from her duties as a mother by killing her child.
Cosmetic Surgery has been around ever since the early wars to repair scars and injuries but, “today, cosmetic plastic surgeries outnumber reconstructive ones in many countries.” (Edmonds, 2012, p. 134). Cosmetic surgery continues to grow in popularity all around the world. It has now evolved to beautify an unattractive physical appearance. In 2013, Americans spent more than seven billion dollars on cosmetic surgery according to a website titled, Healthline. Cosmetic surgery may sound ideal to someone who is unhappy with a physical appearance but it can be very dangerous. According to “The Culture of Beauty”, “analysts agree that because