Comparing Rhys’s and Goodison’s Portrayal of Jamaica

Comparing Rhys’s and Goodison’s Portrayal of Jamaica

In Rhys’s poem, she focuses on a nameless mother who is struggling to keep her children with her despite their being sold away. The poem paints an intimate portrait of the mother’s love for her children and her lengths to ensure their safety (Rhys, 2001). The poem also highlights the brutal realities of slavery in Jamaica and how it affects the mother’s life. The black woman is depicted as strong and resilient in the face of adversity, a common theme throughout Rhys’s work. As she cooks, cleans, and carves wood to create images of her children, she is a symbol of resistance against the oppressive forces of slavery.

Meanwhile, Goodison’s poem takes a different approach in its portrayal of Jamaica during emancipation. The speaker in the poem addresses a friend named Quasheba and encourages her not to give up hope (Nlj.gov.jm, 2011). The poem is filled with vivid imagery of what life was like for slaves in Jamaica, from the “battering song” that they were subjected to to the cruel overseer inspecting the grass “hard like a cruel overseer.” Goodison also uses biblical references to evoke a sense of solidarity and perseverance among the slaves. Through her poem, Goodison portrays the struggle of the slaves in Jamaica to maintain their freedom and dignity in a world that is constantly trying to take them away from them.

Comparing Rhys’s Portrayal of Characters in Jamaica with Bronte’s Bertha

While there are similarities in Bronte’s and Rhys’s stories, Bertha and Amelie show distinct differences. Bertha is a madwoman confined by her mental illness and ultimately destroyed through confinement. Bronte portrays her as a victim of society’s oppressive forces, and her story is a tragedy (Lodge, 2008). Bertha’s parents, the Rochester family, confine her to a dark room to contain her madness. Amelie, on the other hand, is portrayed by Rhys as an independent woman fighting to keep her family together despite their enslavement (Rhys, 2001). She is a strong and defiant character who refuses to give up in the face of adversity. Amelie’s story ends with her freedom, whereas Bertha’s ends with her death. While both characters are victims of oppressive forces, the power of Rhys’s poem lies in its celebration of Amelie’s strength and resilience.

References

Elkhiddir, E. (2015). Impact of Setting in Thomas Hardy’s Novel “Tess D’urbervilles” and Sharlotte Bronte’s Novel” Jane Eyre” (Doctoral dissertation, Sudan University of Science and Technology).

Lodge, S. (2008). Charlotte Bronte-Jane Eyre. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Nlj.gov.jm. (2011). Lorna Goodison – Poet Laureate of Jamaica 2017-2020. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://nlj.gov.jm/poetlaureate/lornagoodison/

Rhys, J. (2001). Wide Sargasso Sea. In Reading Fiction: Opening the Text (pp. 145-151). Palgrave, London.

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How does Rhys’s portrayal of the people and tensions in Jamaica during the long process of emancipation compare with Goodison’s?

Comparing Rhys’s and Goodison’s Portrayal of Jamaica

Are there parallels between the way Bronte portrays Bertha in Jane Eyre and how Rhys portrays, say, Amelie, Hilda, or Tia?