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How did Antoinette's life change?: An Analysis

 How did Antoinette's life change?


For protagonist Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea, her life changing is attributable to the emancipation of slavery. In this post I will assert that the passing of the Emancipation Act led to Antoinette questioning her identity. The novel is set in  nineteenth century Jamaica, a time in which racial tension was at it's highest.As a 21st century Caribbean reader, it was interesting to see another perspective on the aftermath of Emancipation. 

After emancipation, slave owners were no longer at the top of the metaphorical food chain, and the blacks were free. How does this affect Antoinette?  Antoinette  and her mother experienced downward mobility in both social and financial status. They were not accepted by white society in Jamaica or by black individuals. Due to their ethnicity ( they were creole women), beauty and poverty. This gave Antoinette  a feeling of otherness and isolation which is explored throughout the novel. This is shown when she opens the novel by saying this. 



By inspecting Antoinette’s description of the Coulibri garden and the overall motif of nature in the Novel, it becomes clear that Antoinette’s life underwent a debilitating change.




 Rhys uses symbolism to show Antoinette's current situation as well as her future. The once beautiful Garden representing Antoinette, when she had more than one dress and tia, was still her friend. The wild garden representing Antoinette at the end of the novel, when she burns down her husband's home.

 


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Comments

  1. Semaj-HallFebruary 14, 2022 at 6:18 AM

    Thank you for this post. Be mindful of clarity when examining symbols. And make sure you proofread for grammar and structure!

    ReplyDelete

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