Racism In Wide Sargasso Sea By Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys discusses White-Black relations during a crucial changing point in the West Indies. According to Maria Olaussen, the Wide Sargasso Sea showed that racism was still alive during the setting 's time, although the Emancipation Act, otherwise known as the Abolition of Slavery Act, had already been put in place (65). In my own opinion, I believe that Rhys showed racism with her characters throughout her work of the Wide Sargasso Sea. In Wide Sargasso Sea racism between the White and Black races in the book can be seen in the background and history of the time era that Jean Rhys wrote the book, the search for racial identity, and in the text when those of the Black race and the White race are in contact or have conversations. …show more content…
An example of the resistance to forget the past after the Emancipation Act can be seen in the Wide Sargasso Sea when Christophine thought and said, "No more slavery! She had to laugh! 'These new ones have Letter of the Law. Same thing. The got magistrate. They got fine. They got jail house and chain gang. They got tread machine to mash up people 's feet. New ones worse than old ones- more cunning, that 's all ' " …show more content…
Antionette 's husband, although not specified is thought to be Mr. Rochester, showed that racism still existed in this post-slavery area when he kicked Christophine off of the island when she spoke up against the injustice that Rochester was causing to Antoinette, with her affection and with her money (1071-1072). Rhys portrays this conversation when Christophine said, "And she love you and give you all she have. Now you say you don 't love her and you break her up. What you do with her money, eh? '" leaving Rochester to respond with, "Leave the West Indies if you don 't want her no more" (158). Mardorossian stated that this action from Rochester shows that "the abolition of slavery has far from eradicated the set of attitudes on which the concept of Englishness depends"