Teaching Wide Sargasso Sea

Instructions for You

Objective: "Is there another side?" Rochester asks, and Antoinette responds: "There is always the other side, always." These lines seem to sum up Jean Rhys's project in Wide Sargasso Sea: tell another side of Charlotte Brontë's beloved classic Jane Eyre. But they also suggest a problem of almost infinite proportions. Once we start considering other characters' sides of the story, when do we stop?

We can turn this problem into an opportunity, though, since Rhys provides so many mysterious minor characters in her novel. In this activity students are encouraged to turn Rhys's own method against her by rewriting Wide Sargasso Sea from the perspective of one of her minor characters. Doing so can allow students to consider how first-person narratives focus on one character's subjective experience, and often fail to consider that of others.

Teachers can plan for one class period for introduction and discussion, plus homework assignment.

Step 1: Teachers should provide some background about Rhys's desire to tell Bertha's Mason's story, and perhaps an excerpt from Jane Eyre. These Shmoop resources may be useful:

• Wide Sargasso Sea introduction
• Jane Eyre Bertha Mason character analysis

Teachers might also want to consider discussing Rhys's use of the multiple first-person narrators, and how their conflict calls our attention to the limits and biases of any single perspective.

Step 2: Teachers lead a discussion by asking students to list characters besides the two narrators, Antoinette and Rochester, and speculate on what the events of the novel, and life in general, was like for that character. Are these characters stereotypes as they are portrayed in Wide Sargasso Sea? Who is stereotyping them – the narrator (Antoinette or Rochester) or the author Rhys? How can we tell?

Annette, Christophine, Tia, Sandi Cosway, Aunt Cora, Godfrey, Sass, Grace Poole – all these and others would make for provocative discussions.

Step 3: Introduce the assignment: rewriting Wide Sargasso Sea from the perspective of a minor character. Students may write a standard first-person narrative, but should be encouraged to be creative. Diaries or letters are welcome; more dramatically-inclined students might want to write and perform a dramatic monologue; musicians or poets could write a song/poem in which a character laments her plight.

(California English Language Arts Standards Met: 9th & 10th grade Reading 2.3, 2.8, 3.3, 3.4, 3.8, 3.9, 3.12; Writing 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4; Listening & Speaking 1.1, 1.3, 1.9, 2.1, 2.4; 11th & 12th grade Reading 2.2 2.4, 2.5; 3.3, 3.8; Writing 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; Listening & Speaking 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3.)

Instructions for Your Students

"Is there another side?" Rochester asks, and Antoinette responds: "There is always the other side, always." These lines seem to sum up Jean Rhys's project in Wide Sargasso Sea: to tell another side of Charlotte Brontë's beloved classic Jane Eyre. But they also suggest a problem of almost infinite proportions. Once we start considering other characters' sides of the story, when do we stop?

We can turn this problem into an opportunity, though, since Rhys provides so many mysterious minor characters in her novel. In this activity, you'll get to turn Rhys's own method against her by considering Wide Sargasso Sea from the perspective of one of her minor characters.

Step 1: Read up on the connection between Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea using these Shmoop resources:

• Wide Sargasso Sea introduction
• Jane Eyre Bertha Mason character analysis

Step 2: Participate in class discussion by exploring the minor characters in Wide Sargasso Sea. Can Christophine really make love potions? What might be going on in Grace Poole's mind? Could Daniel Cosway be as malicious as his letters let us believe? Why does Tia throw that rock at her friend?

Step 3: For homework, pick one of the minor characters in the novel (not Antoinette or Rochester). If you need to jog your memory, check out Shmoop's Wide Sargasso Sea character list.

Step 4: Now write a fictional narrative, letter, diary entry, dramatic monologue, poem, or song, written from the perspective of the minor character you chose. Narrate the events of the Wide Sargasso Sea from this character's perspective. Feel free to give some back-story if it's relevant. (For example, if you choose Annette, you might explain why you were always so worried about Pierre. Or if you choose Christophine, you might clear things up about your Obeah, and time spent in prison – not to mention in slavery!)