Examine the Ways in Which Rhys Demonstrates How Women Are Victims of a Patriarchal Society in Wide Sargasso Sea.
Examine the ways in which Rhys demonstrates how women are victims of a patriarchal society in Wide Sargasso Sea.
A patriarchal society is one whereby men are the decision makers and hold positions of power and prestige. Patriarchy refers to a societal structure whereby men are dominant not in number or in force but in their access to status related power and decision making power. In these societies, women are presented with an interpretation of the world made by men, and a history of the world defined by men’s actions. Rhys presents her interpretation and opinions on first-wave feminism in Wide Sargasso Sea. Second wave feminism and beyond suggests that men exploit women in nearly every aspect of their lives. Radical feminists define patriarchy as ‘a system of social structures and practises in which men dominate, oppress and exploit’.
Wide Sargasso Sea purposely highlights problems in its conceptions of gender. It is suggested that all women, including Antoinette, in Rhys’ novels are exposed to the financial and gendered constraints of an imperial world. This imperial world is created and controlled by white men and is therefore extremely based on patriarchy. Antoinette is the development of a forced dependency on the world that excludes her.
Annette feels helplessly imprisoned at the Coulibri estate after the death of her husband, repeating the word ‘marooned’ over and over again. This repetition of the word ‘marooned’ implores sympathy and emphasises imprisonment. Antoinette can be suggested to be doomed to a form of enslavement in her love for and dependency upon her husband. Due to the patriarchal society of the time, the women’s childlike dependence upon both fathers and husbands represents a figurative slavery that is made literal in Antoinette’s physical captivity. It is this childlike dependence on the nearest man that causes the demise of both Antoinette and Annette. Both women marry Englishmen in the hopes of ridding their fears as vulnerable
A patriarchal society is one whereby men are the decision makers and hold positions of power and prestige. Patriarchy refers to a societal structure whereby men are dominant not in number or in force but in their access to status related power and decision making power. In these societies, women are presented with an interpretation of the world made by men, and a history of the world defined by men’s actions. Rhys presents her interpretation and opinions on first-wave feminism in Wide Sargasso Sea. Second wave feminism and beyond suggests that men exploit women in nearly every aspect of their lives. Radical feminists define patriarchy as ‘a system of social structures and practises in which men dominate, oppress and exploit’.
Wide Sargasso Sea purposely highlights problems in its conceptions of gender. It is suggested that all women, including Antoinette, in Rhys’ novels are exposed to the financial and gendered constraints of an imperial world. This imperial world is created and controlled by white men and is therefore extremely based on patriarchy. Antoinette is the development of a forced dependency on the world that excludes her.
Annette feels helplessly imprisoned at the Coulibri estate after the death of her husband, repeating the word ‘marooned’ over and over again. This repetition of the word ‘marooned’ implores sympathy and emphasises imprisonment. Antoinette can be suggested to be doomed to a form of enslavement in her love for and dependency upon her husband. Due to the patriarchal society of the time, the women’s childlike dependence upon both fathers and husbands represents a figurative slavery that is made literal in Antoinette’s physical captivity. It is this childlike dependence on the nearest man that causes the demise of both Antoinette and Annette. Both women marry Englishmen in the hopes of ridding their fears as vulnerable