The selection of letters presented to us in pages 132 to 145 show us, the readers of the letters, an in depth analysis of the mind of Jean Rhys in her writing of here book, Wide Sargasso Sea. She makes at first many comments about freedom of criticism in the relation between Americans and the English, how she was "dragged into writing by a series of coincidences", and the state of the arts.
Now, at first, this may seem like menial things just to talk about with a friend but however, everything she writes here is reflected on in here novel. She chooses to write about the mind of a lunatic from the West Indies. This goes to contradict what the English generally publish which is about pleasant things in a sense to control he masses, an abstraction of what was written by Jean Rhys herself. She takes on the perspective of a character of whom would be difficult to understand of which is a feat in literature, a new perspective. She wants to build up the "mad Creole". Give an explanation to the madness, a reason for Mr. Rochester cruelty.
Jean Rhys makes it perfectly clear in her letters about her intentions for her novel. Not only does she want to build this character up, but as mentioned in the letter to Francis Windlam in the 4th paragraph, "But I, readin it later, and often, was vexed at her portrait of the "paper tiger" lunatic, the all wrong creole scences,...", she wanted to build up Creole, and the true cruelty of Mr. Rochester. On the note of Mr. Rochester true cruelty, here is a quote in the same letter that shows a perspective from whence his cruelty came. I say a perspective because it is not the only perspective:
"Mr. Rochester tries hard not to be a tyrant. Back in Spanish Town he gives her a certain freedom, tries to be kindly if distant.
But now she is angry too. Like a hurricane. Like a Creole. For his second revenge - his affair with her maid (and next door) has hurt more than the first.
She uses her freedom to rush off and have an affair too - first with her pal Sandi - then with others. All coloured or black, which was, in those days a terrible thing for a white girl to do. Not to be forgiven. The men did as they liked. The women - never.
So imagine Mr.R's delight when he can haul her to England, lock her up in a cold dark room, deprive her of all she's used to - watch her growing mad. And so on ..."
This perspective offers insight to the cruelty of Mr. Rochester in the sense that he is getting hypocritical revenge for her not only smearing her own name, but in the process smearing his.
All of which falls in line with her novel Wide Sargasso Sea. These letters are the inner-workings of Rhys' mind as she worked on completing the novel.
(Sorry for the wall of text! ~Leroy Hunter 8:49pm 30/1/2013~)
I would like to mention that in the very last reading, From Black Exercise Book†, there was this sense of double consciousness She feels uneasy with both black and white people. She felt akin to black people but in reality is rejected for she is white yet, although she is white, she feels akin to black people. A conundrum which create the double consciousness.
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Again, I am sorry for the wall of text provided here, I could not organize my thoughts as I would have liked. (Sensitive to the light being emitted everywhere on the account that I might be sick.) So this wall of text is an example of the untrimmed version of a blog that I put up at first.
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