Identities on the Move by Castro-Borrego Silvia Pilar; Romero-Ruiz Maria Isabel; Aguilar María José Coperías

Author:Castro-Borrego, Silvia Pilar; Romero-Ruiz, Maria Isabel; Aguilar, María José Coperías
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre are both landmark novels in their own right; however, a complementary reading, as was Jean Rhys’s intention, enables us to reach a greater understanding of both novels by re-reading and re-addressing issues of sexuality and gender relations from contemporary, postcolonial, and feminist perspectives. Connell’s four-part method for the analysis of gender relations as relations of power, production, emotion, and symbolism has been shown to provide a solid framework for the discussion of the portrayal of sexuality and gender relations in literary analysis.

This analysis of sexuality and gender relationships in both novels using Connell’s four-part framework leads to the conclusion that the characters who are able to make decisions over their sexuality, take part in production, control their emotions, and understand their roles in symbolic interaction are more successful in gaining happiness, independence, and achieving their objectives. A postcolonial and feminist approach leads us to identify colonialism and patriarchy as fundamental issues in both novels. Jane Eyre depicts the presence of patriarchy and colonialism from the nineteenth century perspective of a cautious woman writing under a male pseudonym, which Wide Sargasso Sea takes up a century later by exposing what happened behind the scenes from the contemporary perspective of someone who understood the hidden message in the original text. Wide Sargasso Sea explains and invites re-readings of the characters and events portrayed in Jane Eyre; therefore a complementary reading of both texts is a valuable way to fully uncover the patriarchal and colonial influence over sexuality and gender relations depicted in both novels.

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