Where do I start when talking about the historical and cultural significance of England? There are thousands of years of history to this country and the empire it boasted for a couple hundred years. That's a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time and a lot of that information will have very little connection or impact on my discussion. To narrow it down, I'm going to talk a little bit about England and the West Indies, since that relationship has the most direct relation to my discussion and poses the most direct impact on the novel.

A few hundred years ago, England loved telling people that they were inferior. This mentality meant that they often went out of their way to colonize places that weren't initially theirs, such as a handful of islands in the West Indies: Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts), Barbados, Jamaica, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Tobago, and Grenda. These islands were cultivated for sugar and coffee and contributed to the powerhouse that is England through the slave labor that supported this export economy. Emancipation of enslaved Africans eventually came through but conditions didn't always improve; some were free while others were stuck in a system barely a step above slavery. This portion of history mostly affects Bertha's youth through fear of retaliation against the white plantation-owning class, of which Bertha was a participant. This system greatly benefitted England by putting a lot of money in its pockets. The British rule over this area also meant that British citizens were slightly revered, demonstrated in Wide Sargasso Sea by consistent allusions to the husband as a good English gentleman. All in all, however, England was a weird mixture of civility and savagery in a way in lieu of a mullet: England and its citizens often presented in a civil fashion while simultaneously supporting cruel practices in the West Indies (done either through outright support or simply turning a blind eye to the suffering of the enslaved people).

Focusing on England feels a bit like a cop-out for this assignment since Jane Eyre took place in it entirely; however, England within Wide Sargasso Sea plays an important role that makes me think about Bertha's mental state. In today's culture, especially America, the Caribbean often gets romanticized for its clear seas and lush landscaping. This idyllic paradise view of the natural flora and fauna can get misconstrued. ("Why Do People Associate the Caribbean with Paradise?") In other words, Bertha's home would be viewed a lot more dream-like than England would be considered. This is interesting put into the context of Wide Sargasso Sea. Bertha idolizes England many times throughout the novel. First, she recounts a letter from an old friend literally mentioning that England is a dream. (Rhys 47) Bertha's husband retorts that the beautiful island seems ". . . quiet unreal and like a dream." (48) This perfectly demonstrates the two viewpoints: those who live in England find the tropics exotic and those who live in the Caribbean are intrigued by the opposing lifestyle England proposes. A couple of dozen pages later, Bertha further romanticizes England when she mentions that she will be a different person in England. (Rhys 66) This comment is also a fun bit of foreshadowing in addition to showcasing the character's mental distance from the idea of England; Bertha is viewed as ravenous and savage once she becomes sequestered in Thornfield Hall, a completely different person than readers are first introduced to at the beginning of Wide Sargasso Sea. This confusion of England's reality versus its expectation is further demonstrated later on in the novel: "That afternoon we went to England. There was grass and olive-green water and tall trees looking into the water. This, I thought, is England. If I could be here I'd get well again and the sound in my head would stop." (Rhys 109) To be frank, this quote was selected for two purposes. The first is that it concisely represents the mental fugue state Bertha is mixed up in. All throughout the third part, when talking to Grace Poole, Bertha refuses to believe that she is in England while she is locked up in the house. however, the one time she gest to travel outside, she in fact finds herself in England; this is hinted at by the "that afternoon we went to England" moment of the quote. The second purpose of this quote supports my personal inkling that Bertha's insanity kind of stems from the expectation of her to be insane and the subsequent treatment of her as such. In other words, Bertha isn't as insane as she's made out to be, so she just acts how they expect her to since she's unable to change Rochester's mind about her own mental wellbeing.

Bibliography

Brereton, Bridget M. and Clarke, Colin Graham. "West Indies". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Nov. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Indies-island-group-Atlantic-Ocean. Accessed 6 February 2022.

Brontë, Charlotte, and Deborah Lutz. Jane Eyre. W.W. Norton and Company, 2016.

Rhys, Jean, et al. Wide Sargasso Sea. W.W. Norton, 1999.

“Why Do People Associate the Caribbean with Paradise?” BBC News, BBC, 3 Sept. 2014, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29034205.