Major Themes
Wide Sargasso Sea is usually thought of as a postmodern and postcolonial response to Jane Eyre. Rhys uses multiple voices (Antoinette's, Rochester's, and Grace Poole's) to tell the story, and deeply intertwines her novel's plot with that of Jane Eyre. In addition, Rhys makes a postcolonial argument when she ties Antoinette's husband's eventual rejection of Antoinette to her Creole heritage (a large factor in Antoinette's descent into madness). As postmodern and postcolonial literature have taken a greater place in university curricula, the novel has been taught to literature students more often in recent years.
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“Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again,
Sliding by semi-tones till I sink to a minor,—yes,
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The C Major of this life: so, now I will try to sleep.”
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