Wide Sargasso Sea tells the story of Mr. Rochester's first wife, Bertha Antoinette, who is the impediment to his and Jane's marriage. Hers is the second story about a crazy woman I'm reading this weekend. The first was actually heard, on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast - a story by John Cheever called the Five Forty-Eight.
I'm really enjoying the Jean Rhys, which is narrated alternately by Rochester and Antoinette. Here is the excerpt in which Rochester gets a letter which reveals the nature of his wife's family.
"I was later than usual that morning but when I was dressed I sat for a long time listening to the waterfall, eyes half closed, drowsy and content. When I put my hand in my pocket for my watch, I touched the envelope and opened it.
Dear Sir. I take up my pen after long thought and meditation but in the end the truth is better than a lie. I have this to say. You have been shamefully deceived by the Mason family They tell you perhaps that your wife’s name is Cosway the English gentleman Mr Mason being her stepfather only, but they don’t tell you what sort of people were these Cosways. Wicked and detestable slaveowners since generations - yes everybody hate them in Jamaica and also in this beautiful island where I hope your stay will be long and pleasant in spite of all, for some not worth sorrow. Wickedness is not the worst. There is madness in that family Old Cosway die raving like his father before him."
Both this and the Cheever story are told by solemn, passive, apparently cold, though somehow vulnerable male characters, who find themselves at the mercy of the crazy women in their lives.
I have to say, I think it makes a lot of sense that many women should be driven crazy by their lot in life.
I'm really enjoying the Jean Rhys, which is narrated alternately by Rochester and Antoinette. Here is the excerpt in which Rochester gets a letter which reveals the nature of his wife's family.
"I was later than usual that morning but when I was dressed I sat for a long time listening to the waterfall, eyes half closed, drowsy and content. When I put my hand in my pocket for my watch, I touched the envelope and opened it.
Dear Sir. I take up my pen after long thought and meditation but in the end the truth is better than a lie. I have this to say. You have been shamefully deceived by the Mason family They tell you perhaps that your wife’s name is Cosway the English gentleman Mr Mason being her stepfather only, but they don’t tell you what sort of people were these Cosways. Wicked and detestable slaveowners since generations - yes everybody hate them in Jamaica and also in this beautiful island where I hope your stay will be long and pleasant in spite of all, for some not worth sorrow. Wickedness is not the worst. There is madness in that family Old Cosway die raving like his father before him."
Both this and the Cheever story are told by solemn, passive, apparently cold, though somehow vulnerable male characters, who find themselves at the mercy of the crazy women in their lives.
I have to say, I think it makes a lot of sense that many women should be driven crazy by their lot in life.
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