Liberty and confinement in the hauntological
Central to the realm of the hauntological within Wide Sargasso Sea is its ability to embrace many truths. As Antoinette asserts to Rochester, “there is always the other side, always” (Rhys 2000, 82). The realm of the hauntological within Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea is both constraining as well as liberating. The hauntological realm allows for the removal of Antoinette from the repressive structures Rochester exercises on her to, in order to discover her inner-self. It is within the realm of the hauntological where in which Antoinette asks the question, “What am I doing in this place and who am I? (Rhys 2000, 117).
The closing of the novel suggests to the reader the new-found agency Antoinette has recognized within herself through its development within the realm of the hauntological. Antoinette reports to the reader in the last paragraph of the novel, “now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do” (Rhys 2000, 124). This newly acquired agency suggests the possibility for the construction of a new identity and a new understanding of the self, untainted by external “Victorian constructions of otherness” (Maurel 2009, 155). Although Antoinette develops a degree of agency within herself, her physical agency remains subjected to the control of …show more content…
The persistent desire of Rochester to assert his own world view on that of another, establishes itself as the ultimate “revenant that haunts the novel” (Rhys 2000, xxiii). Rochester reveals his desire to control that which he does not understand as he asserts to the reader, “I too can wait – for the day when she is only a memory to be avoided, locked away, and like all memories a legend. Or a lie . . ." (Rhys 1966,
Central to the realm of the hauntological within Wide Sargasso Sea is its ability to embrace many truths. As Antoinette asserts to Rochester, “there is always the other side, always” (Rhys 2000, 82). The realm of the hauntological within Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea is both constraining as well as liberating. The hauntological realm allows for the removal of Antoinette from the repressive structures Rochester exercises on her to, in order to discover her inner-self. It is within the realm of the hauntological where in which Antoinette asks the question, “What am I doing in this place and who am I? (Rhys 2000, 117).
The closing of the novel suggests to the reader the new-found agency Antoinette has recognized within herself through its development within the realm of the hauntological. Antoinette reports to the reader in the last paragraph of the novel, “now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do” (Rhys 2000, 124). This newly acquired agency suggests the possibility for the construction of a new identity and a new understanding of the self, untainted by external “Victorian constructions of otherness” (Maurel 2009, 155). Although Antoinette develops a degree of agency within herself, her physical agency remains subjected to the control of …show more content…
The persistent desire of Rochester to assert his own world view on that of another, establishes itself as the ultimate “revenant that haunts the novel” (Rhys 2000, xxiii). Rochester reveals his desire to control that which he does not understand as he asserts to the reader, “I too can wait – for the day when she is only a memory to be avoided, locked away, and like all memories a legend. Or a lie . . ." (Rhys 1966,