Comparative analysis of Property and Wide Sargasso Sea -- A grade - page 1
Keywords: Propery Valerie Martin Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys Central heroine authority's effect
By georgie1 on 31/12/2009
Level: A Level (Year 12) / AS Level
Page Number: 1 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Which, in your view, is the more convincing portrayal of authority’s effect on the central ‘heroine’ in Property and Wide Sargasso Sea; Martin’s or Rhys’s?
In 1948, the United Nations declared that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and right”. However, just one hundred years previous, exploitation and prejudice were rife. Both Property by Valerie Martin and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys explore the adverse culture of the mid-nineteenth century in South America and the Caribbean, where the tyranny of white slave owners posed little resemblance to this statement. As a young white woman amidst such a society, the protagonist of each novel finds herself forced to conform to the roles asked of her. Both women are required to adapt to new situations and take influence from figures of authority, questioning the reader’s attitudes to other characters, laws, and moral principles. As parallels are drawn between the two character’s behaviour, and their responses to such authority, the reader connects with the central ‘heroines’ and can analyse which character provides the more believable response to the trauma she is presented with.
As well as being “the chief female character in a book, play, or film” (Oxford Dictionary), the term ‘heroine’ was originally known as a ‘demigod’ in Greek mythology, meaning the offspring of a mortal and a sacred being. As the central ‘heroine’ of Property, Manon Gaudet is the daughter of a deceased slave owner and a mother whom she strives to impress. Despite Manon’s efforts, her mother is critical of her marriage, and of her inability to enjoy her relationship and bear children. She is glad of the knowledge that Joel Borden would not inform her mother of her husband’s illegitimate son: “My only comfort was that I knew Joel would say nothing to my mother”. She does not want to fail her mother: the ‘sacred being’. Similarly, Antoinette Cosway provides the ‘heroine’ of Wide Sargasso Sea, whose late father was also a slave owner. Her mother, Annette, embodies Antoinette’s memories before the Emancipation Act, when the affluent family enjoyed their autocratic position in society. Despite the decline of her mother’s health following the destruction of their estate, Antoinette remains passionate for her mother: “I put my arms around her and kissed her”. This implies that Antoinette perceives her mother as ‘sacred’, and thus places Antoinette in the mythological role of ‘heroine’.
The primary source of authority over
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