Wide Sargasso Sea

Plot synopsis:
The novel opens a short while after the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. The protagonist Antoinette relates the story of her life from childhood to her arranged marriage to an unnamed Englishman (implied as Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre). As their marriage progresses, Antoinette, whom he renames "Bertha" and confines to a locked room, descends into madness, in part from despair at being torn from her island home in the Caribbean and subjected to an alien culture and climate.
The novel is split into three parts:
Part One takes place in Coulibri, Jamaica, and is narrated by Antoinette as a child. Since the abolition of slavery her family has become very poor, Antoinette's mother Annette must remarry to a wealthy Englishman Mr. Mason. Angry at the returning prosperity of their oppressors, freed slaves living in Coulibri burn down Anette's house killing Antoinette's younger brother who is mentally disabled. As Anette had been struggling with her mental health up until this point, the grief of losing her son drives her to worsen. Mr. Mason sends her to live with a couple who torment her until her death and Antoinette does not see her again.
Part Two alternates between the points of view of her husband and of Antoinette during their "honeymoon" excursion to Granbois, Dominica. Likely catalysts for Antoinette's downfall are the mutual suspicions that develop between the aforementioned couple, and the machinations of Daniel, who claims he is Antoinette's (illegitimate) brother; he impugns Antoinette's reputation and mental state and demands hush money. Antoinette's old nurse Christophine openly distrusts the Englishman. His apparent belief in the destructive accounts about Antoinette aggravate the situation; Rochester becomes visibly unfaithful to her and emotionally abuses her. He begins to call her Bertha rather than her real name and flaunts his affairs in front of her to cause her pain. Antoinette's increased sense of paranoia and the bitter disappointment of her failing marriage unbalance her already precarious mental and emotional state. She flees to Christophine's house, her former servant and the woman who raised her. Christophine uses obeah to try to ease Antoinette's pain, however, foreseeing danger in this reverts to alcohol to calm her distraught friend. Antoinette returns home in a drunken rage and Christophine confronts her husband. The Mr. Rochester figure does not accept Christophine's suggestions of help for his wife and decides to take her back to England.
Part Three is the shortest part of the novel; it is from the perspective of Antoinette, renamed by her husband as Bertha. She is largely confined to "the attic" of Thornfield Hall, the Rochester mansion she calls the "Great House." The story traces her relationship with Grace, the servant who is tasked with guarding her, as well as her disintegrating life with the Englishman, as he hides her from the world. He makes empty promises to come to her more but sees less of her. He ventures away to pursue relationships with other women—and eventually with the young governess, Jane Eyre. It is clear that Antoinette is not of sound mind and has little understanding of how much time she has been confined to her attic internment. She fixates on options of freedom including her Stepbrother Richard Mason who, however, will not interfere with her husband, so she attacks him with a stolen knife. Expressing her thoughts in stream of consciousness, Antoinette dreams of flames engulfing the house and her freedom from the life she has there, she believes it is her destiny to fulfill the vision. Waking from her dream she escapes her room, sets the fire, and takes her own life by jumping from the roof.

Tags: insanity, revenge, flashback

Review:
I think that there seem to be some confusion expressed in a number of the reviews of this and a subsequent version of Jean Rhys' most famous novel.
Bertha (to use Rochester's name for her) was clearly white enough to appear white and indeed, like Jean Rhys herself, may have been entirely of European ancestry.
The Wide Sargosso Sea is a sort of prequel but it is also a re-imagining of the back story for Jane Eyre that is intended to take Bertha's character and expand on it with Rhys inability to ever fully reconcile herself to the differences between her origins and life in Europe.3.
Of the two filmed versions, the first makes the characters too physically attractive and really misses the novel's stress on the protagonists never meshing rather than loving and losing love.5.
The first film seems to run out of time and rushes the end.
The novels (both Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargosso Sea) have a great deal of narration which is lost in the earlier film and perhaps insufficient in the second.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.Finally, while not great, the films both aspire to be literary, which means a lot in an age when filmmakers think there is a need for horror/splatter movies and lots of people apparently agree so I for one say thank you for both versions of the Wide Sargosso Sea and all of the versions of Jane Eyre that offer relief from the current tripe..
The following review is taken from my contribution to a thread called "Worst novel adaptations" from the Film General board: Wide Sargasso Sea was originally a beautiful, haunting novel set in mid-19th century Jamaica written by Creole-Welsh writer Jean Rhys in the 1960s.
Plot-wise, it's basically the prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, the story of a young Mr Rochester traveling to the Caribbean and meeting his first wife, the "mad wife" in the attic featured in Jane Eyre (though here she is young and not yet "mad", and we are described what gradually led her to losing her sanity).
It's a sensual novel, mainly because the lush Jamaican countryside and emotional spontaneity of the local people was too much for the straight-laced, English Victorian gent, Rochester.
But there are no sex scenes in the novel - basically, it's NOT an erotic novel as the film "adaptation" would suggest.
There's lots of passion in Wide Sargasso Sea THE BOOK, but it's mostly emotional.
It has no artistic integrity whatsoever, as its shameless makers must surely know they lifted their middle finger at the spirit of the Jean Rhys novel when choosing to make the film the way they did.
Just a lot of pointless, choreographed sex between beautiful people in an "exotic" setting.
Needless to say I think you should give this insulting (to the memory of Jean Rhys) film a miss, especially if you've read the novel: it'll just frustrate you, no matter how keen on a bit of easy titillation you may be feeling at the time..
The Wide Sargasso Sea is one of the most beautiful books ever written.
Following a string of only mildly successful novels and short stories, Rhys disappeared off the radar, and many believed her dead.
Throughout her house were numerous manuscripts forming what became The Wide Sargasso Sea. The novel was a labour of love for Rhys in a sense, but despite the critical acclaim it received she described the success as (I paraphrase) too little too late.Rhys' novel details the relationship between the Rochester of Jane Eyre and Antoinette, his first wife.
Rochester cannot handle this aspect of her nature, and attempts to remove it from her but cannot; it is inherent.The film suggests that Anotinette descends into madness.
Antoinette never went insane, but rather the anger if her treatment at the hands of Rochester drove her to an act of rashness, but not madness.
This was, it would appear, to make was for as much gratuitous nudity as possible.All that redeems the film (and the only reason I rated it a 3 and not a 1) is the beautiful depiction of the scenery.
I suggest people who have read the book avoid the film, and those interested in both stick to the novel and stay well away from this..
The film that gives Mr. Rochester his motives and makes Jane Eyre more understandable.
Anyone who has ever read Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte's brooding masterpiece, knows the adult, world-weary Edward Rochester.
What Charlotte never fully explains is how Mr. Rochester came to be the aloof, stony man he is and how is wife came to be mad.Well, The Wide Sargasso Sea attempts to answer those questions.
In my opinion The Wide Sargasso Sea does an excellent job.This is a vivid and sensual film, and depending on the version you see, VERY explicit.
I recommend this one.I like to watch The Wide Sargasso Sea first and then put on my VHS of the splendid A&E production of Jane Eyre with Ciarn Hinds as Rochester.
"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a very elegant, sexy, melodrama about the meaning of love.
Young Creole girl Antoinette Conway is married to Englishman Edward Rochester, and the two move to her coastal home in Jamaica.
Kinda slow, but worth it, it makes you think and has the feel of a gothic potboiler."Wide Sargasso Sea" is Unrated for graphic sexuality and nudity.NOTE:  "Wide Sargasso Sea" is available in R-Rated and Unrated versions.
This movie takes a great, rich, wonderful novel and reduces it to the level of near soft porn.
Major plot points seem to happen suddenly, without context or explanation and characters are poorly developed And the nude scenes aren't even very good, they were just cheesy - after the second or third time Rochester and Antoinette stripped, I was laughing out loud.The film has some great Jamaican locations, but that's about the only good thing I can say for it..
'Wide Sargasso Sea' is a film that combines a very loose film adaptation of Rhys's novel with sex scenes that are alternately hokey and hilarious (they never get it on nearly as prodigiously in the novel).
However, their abilities are wasted on a film that suffers from amateurish pacing (with the story advancing in disorienting fits and starts), inconsistent cinematographic style (occasionally stunning, sometimes questionable, such as the event early on with the parrot).Anyone looking for a faithful adaptation of the novel is frankly out of luck and anyone wanting a true background on "Jane Eyre" would do well to read the far-superior book of the same name.Cheers and good luck..
I think reading the book helps the viewer appreciate the movie.
The movie tells the story of the crazy wife in the attic in Jane Eyre.
The spirit of each main character appears nude as well, by the film's end.
Karina Lombard's beauty (as Antoinette) runs all through here, but women will get quite a few opportunities to view Edward (played by Nathaniel Parker).
But "Wide Sargasso Sea," in Lombard's portrayal of Antoinette, overmatches "Swept Away" for the strength of its lead female character.
I'm not saying "Wide Sargasso Sea" is the better film.
Both stories originated with women writers: Jean Rhys, in the novel of the same title for "Sargasso" (many years before the film was made).
I've read Rhys' novel, by the way -- you can't blame the director or the film's scriptwriters for the passion and sensuality portrayed onscreen in "Wide Sargasso Sea." It amazed me how closely the screenplay matched the original text in terms of the dialog.
Yes, the passion and nudity aren't so explicitly described in the novel -- but that doesn't mean they aren't felt and imagined all the more powerfully by the reader.
As it was, it seemed to always be missing something.Now, I understand Jane Eyre fans know all about Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker) and the "mad women who lives in the attic" (Karina Lombard as Antoinette Cosway).
But, not having read the books, I have to rely on the movie to tell the story.
I've heard so many great things about the novel Wide Sargasso Sea and I expected this movie to at least live halfway up to its literary counterpart.
Within the first ten minutes of the movie, however, the ludicrousness of the storyline reared its proverbial ugly head.First of all, the movie's treatment of Black Jamaicans reads like something out of a Jim Crow era film.
This aspect of the film is downright nauseating.Secondly, Mr. Rochester's character is diametrically different from the Rochester of the Jane Eyre novel.
Of course, the film depicts his earlier years before he develops into who he is in the novel, but give me a break!
Based on Jean Rhys' 1966 novel, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is the story of Antoinette Cosway, who shows up in Charlotte Bronte's classic 1847 novel "Jane Eyre" as Rochester's first wife Bertha Mason - confused?
Gorgeous Jamaican scenery, lush erotic scenes (I think I saw the uncut version) that perfectly convey Rochester and Antoinette's passion, but a sense of foreboding (for those familiar with the Bronte book, anyway).
The ending is a bit abrupt, and seems rushed after the leisurely pace of the rest of the film.Having just read Rhys' novel, I was delighted at how much of its dialogue and narrative was so faithfully adapted, and praise the screenwriters for making sense out of a rather confusing book - it jumps around in time, and is narrated by Antoinette and Rochester in turn.
Excellent performances from KARINA LOMBARD(is that her real accent?) as Antoinette, NATHANIEL PARKER as Rochester, and CLAUDIA ROBINSON as Christophine (a much more sympathetic character than she appears in the book).
Back when this movie came out, I read reviews which said how powerful and erotic it was.
I haven't read Jane Eyre, and maybe this movie tries to explain a few things which happen in that book, but on the whole it seemed contrived, and lacked any real passion.
No one sets out to make a bad movie, but I think this film had to have fallen short of what the filmmakers intended.
One sign that they felt the script wasn't delivering the punch needed was the number of times the stars shed their clothes.It's a pretty complex plot, and is the prelude to the story of "Jane Eyre".
Antoinette Cosway (Karina Lombard), like her mother before her, marries an English gentleman; in her case this is Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker).
For a while, Edward and Antoinette are happy, and can't leave each other alone, having many a sweaty encounter in the candlelit bedroom.Then everything starts to unravel; the madness that runs in Antoinette's family begins to overwhelm her, and there is trouble with the servants.
Edward heads off to England and it all ends in tears, flames and madness.The over-the-top quality of the whole thing does give the film a certain energy, and there is frisson in naked trysting to the beat of voodoo drums, but there is a lot in the film that just doesn't gel.Narration can be a lazy way to tell a story in movies.
The script problems are not helped by the awkwardness of the lead actors.The film includes real locations in England and Jamaica but are shot in a very straightforward and unimaginative way.
While not unwatchable by any means, the film has more than a few problems to overcome, not the least being an actress out of her depth, and little feeling for time and place..
the idea is that Jamaica, like the emblematic Sargosso sea, will tangle you up and pull you into it.
the fact that the film only exists to fill in a few gaps from Jane Eyre (explaining where one character came from) explains a lot.
the author would have done better by making a stand-alone film.Lombard is great in her role which is quite difficult to pull off.
I think all the main actors portray Rhys's characters well: Rochester as masterful yet in over his head; Antoinette as passionate but mercurial; the servant girl Amelie as wide-eyed and irresistible; and especially the spooky Christophine as intensely self-possessed and a formidable defender of those she holds dear.On DVD, this film can be watched in its NC-17 form or one that was edited down to a softer R rating.
There is occasional female nudity (mainly by Antoinette) and a bit of male frontal nudity (by Rochester), but the sex is not strikingly graphic.
"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a 1993 film starring Karina Lombard and Nathaniel Parker.
Based on the novel by Jean Rhys, it's Rhys' imagining of the first marriage of Edward Rochester's, before the book Jane Eyre begins.
It takes place in 1840s Jamaica.Mr. Rochester (Nathaniel Parker) arrives by arrangement to marry Antoinette (Karina Lombard) so that she may keep her property.
The voodoo and the presence of Antoinette's servant Christophene (Claudia Robinson) is threatening to Rochester.
The marriage begins to disintegrate.As I didn't read the novel and I am a huge fan of Nathaniel Parker, I didn't have the problems with this film that others did.
Though there is no sex in the book, the film is sexually charged.Nathaniel Parker is about 31 here, very young, and a newlywed.
Karina Lombard and Parker were nude quite a few times and in the throes of passion.
The film ends incorrectly -- the happenings shown did not take place until much later in the book Jane Eyre.
If you're a fan of Nathaniel Parker's or Karina Lombard's, run, don't walk, and rent it.
This disc contains both the R and NC-17 rated versions and checking the running times, that latter is only about 15 seconds longer, hardly a justification for putting both on the same disc, especially since it's all fairly tame nowadays as a sex film.
Anyway, this movie is a filming of a novel that sought rather ambitiously to serve as a prequel to Jane Eyre, telling its story from the viewpoint of Mr. Rochester's mad first wife and filling in how she wound up as she did.
Jean Rhys has taken seven years to finish the novel, on which the movie is supposed to be based on.
However, this rated film seems to be only concentrating on the sexual relationship between Rochester and Antoinette, as well as Sandi and Antoinette.
The relationship with Sandi is deliberately kept as question marks for readers to ponder upon in the novel, but here in the movie it is explicitly interpreted and the sympathy created by Rhys is lost.
But the movie is nevertheless a representation of colors in the Caribbeans--red, purple, blue and green--the exotic side of life that has repeled Rochester..
Well, ok, it's the sequel to "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.
We watched the movie and it's slow and I really hated "Jane Eyre" so I didn't like this one much either.
Some years later, Mason arranges Antoinette (Karina Lombard) to marry Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker) and they take over his island property.Karina Lombard is undoubtedly a beautiful woman.
This film was gorgeous; Jamaica is a beautiful country.
But for those who haven't read the book, there should be enough information in the film itself to keep the reader afloat.
At no point in the movie were Mr. Rochester's "issues", as it were, fully explained.
Again, maybe this is the ultimate point, that Mr. Rochester is a snob and the archetypical Victorian Englishman and that Antoinette is the victim of both his prejudice and that of the Jamaicans.
One minute they are sailing off for England and the next she is the insane woman in the tower who burns down Mr. Rochester's house in "Jane Eyre."  There is by no means enough plot development to support such a leap.
A period piece, sensual and evocative; also great prequel to Jane Eyre.
The movie is based on Jean Rhys' 1966 novel and is a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's 1847 classic Jane Eyre.
Having read Rhys' book, I can attest that the movie is sufficiently true to the novel (it's always best not to expect too much in that respect).
The Sargasso Sea is painted on screen as an ethereal place, one of almost psychedelic imagery, but quite pleasant though; it is in fact a very real region, not mystical nor mythical.We follow young Antoinette Cosway, played by Casey Berna on her journey from the time her mother, played by the beautiful and talented Rachel Ward, retreated from the outside world and went mad, till the time of her passing, which Antoinette claims happened in the burning of the family mansion.
In comes Edward Rochester (yes, that's the Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre) played by Nathaniel Parker, who by marrying her assumes the land owner status he was destined for.
The two have an idyllic honeymoon at home; we get to view Lombard's grace and beauty in sensual scenes with Parker, but this happiness is short lived as the couple's distrust of each other is fueled by Antoinette's entourage and Edward's new acquaintances on the island.
The novel did not lead me to expect the level of sensuality you'll find in the movie, but I'm thankful it went that way.The cast includes characters such as Christophene, Amelie and Young Bull, who play an important part of Antoinette's life; they are played respectively by the mysterious Claudia Robinson, the seductive Rowena King and intimidating Paul Campbell.
The one thing that I always felt I wanted to know more about concerning the novel Jane Eyre, was the backstory of Mrs. Rochester; Jean Rhys' novel satisfied that thirst and if you don't wish to read it, only care to see the movie, then by all means see this one, go rent it if you can still find it.
By the way, the novel is really a short read so why not go for that if you care, as I did, for Mrs. Rochester's backstory; you'll find Rhys' style most pleasant (you can almost hear the period accent).