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    Wide Sargasso Sea - Marxist Analysis

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    prettyligth
    This document provides a Marxist analysis of Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. It outlines the Marxist focus on how society and history influence literature, and analyzes the novel's portrayal of class struggles in colonial Jamaica. The analysis describes the hierarchical structure of society in the novel, dividing characters into the ruling "haves" and disenfranchised "have-nots." It examines several themes through this Marxist lens, including social status, money, and the use of power to maintain colonial class distinctions. Key discussion questions are also posed.

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    Wide Sargasso Sea - Marxist Analysis

    Uploaded by

    prettyligth
    668 views9 pages
    This document provides a Marxist analysis of Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. It outlines the Marxist focus on how society and history influence literature, and analyzes the novel's portrayal of class struggles in colonial Jamaica. The analysis describes the hierarchical structure of society in the novel, dividing characters into the ruling "haves" and disenfranchised "have-nots." It examines several themes through this Marxist lens, including social status, money, and the use of power to maintain colonial class distinctions. Key discussion questions are also posed.

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    A presentation that presents a Marxist analysis of Wide Sargasso Sea.

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    This document provides a Marxist analysis of Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. It outlines the Marxist focus on how society and history influence literature, and analyzes the novel's portrayal of class struggles in colonial Jamaica. The analysis describes the hierarchical structure of society in the novel, dividing characters into the ruling "haves" and disenfranchised "have-nots." It examines several themes through this Marxist lens, including social status, money, and the use of power to maintain colonial class distinctions. Key discussion questions are also posed.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    668 views9 pages

    Wide Sargasso Sea - Marxist Analysis

    Uploaded by

    prettyligth
    This document provides a Marxist analysis of Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. It outlines the Marxist focus on how society and history influence literature, and analyzes the novel's portrayal of class struggles in colonial Jamaica. The analysis describes the hierarchical structure of society in the novel, dividing characters into the ruling "haves" and disenfranchised "have-nots." It examines several themes through this Marxist lens, including social status, money, and the use of power to maintain colonial class distinctions. Key discussion questions are also posed.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
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    The text provides a Marxist analysis of the novella Wide Sargasso Sea, discussing themes of class conflict, economic domination, and the transformation of culture into commodities under capitalism.

    The main themes discussed are social status, money, and power as they relate to class struggles between the haves and have-nots in colonial society.

    The text describes the structure of society, distinguishing between the ruling elites (haves), Creoles of lesser status, white servants, and black servants (have-nots), noting tensions between the recently emancipated slaves and other classes.

    Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys

    A Marxist analysis

    Adrián Martínez Torres

    Ethnicity, class and gender in world literature written


    in English

    2019-2020
    What is the Marxist analysis?
     Focus on the influences of society and history on literature (class
    conflict).

     Analyses of history, sociology and politics (unequal class


    arrangement, class struggles and economic domination).

     Critical Theory: a social theory that criticizes society in order to


    change it as a whole.

     (Late) capitalism transforms creativity and cultural production into


    commodities (consumerism).
    Structure of society in Wide Sargasso Sea:

     The haves: the ruling elites who have power and money. The
    Creoles, of a lesser status, want the old days to return and their
    status to be restored.
    - White people (England): Mr. Mason, Mr Rochester
    - Creole people (Jamaica and Martinique): Annette, Antoinette

     The have-nots: a large disenfranchised group who lack power and


    money. The Black slaves have been recently emancipated so there is
    tension between the two classes.
    - White servants (England): Leah, Grace Poole
    - Black servants (Jamaica and Dominica): Christophine, Baptiste
    Linen Market, Dominica, oil painting by Agostino Brunias, circa 1780. Wikimedia Commons
    Main themes and concepts in the novella:
     Social status (class struggles). The impoverished Creole characters
    desire to acquire the status of a white person.
    Quotations 1 and 2

     Money (economic domination). Several characters behave


    accordingly to their –desperate or not- need to have money.
    Quotations 3 and 4

     Power (class distinctions). White people make use of the oppressive


    structures to maintain their colonial power.
    Quotations 5 and 6
    Questions for discussion:

     Do you think Antoinette serves as a bridge between the two social


    classes, the haves and the have-nots?

     Considering that slaves burned plantations in real life and in the


    novel, does Antoinette behave more like her black ancestry at the
    end of the novella?

     Bertha is the antithesis of Jane Eyre in all aspects. Can we compare


    Antoinette’s fortune to Jane Eyre’s inheritance in a similar fashion?
     How do you think Jean Rhys, when writing about the white fear of
    blackness, relates it to Brontë’s underlying prejudices in Jane Eyre?

     Antoinette, during the novella, tries to defy the classist colonial


    society. Do you think her closeness with Christophine and her other
    servants reflect this defiance?
    Bibliography:

     Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. United States of


    America: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999.

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