Deception In Jane Eyre And Wide Sargasso Sea

1323 Words6 Pages
Although Bronte and Rhys lived and wrote their novels in different time periods they both write around the theme of deception. Both authors have very different writing styles, Bronte is known for writing exactly what she feels and wants to convey, expressing them as precise as she can. Her style of writing creates pictures and situations which aren’t easily forgotten, her description and writing style brings her novels to life. Rhys however focuses on what she knows and the negative side of society and everyday life; particularly isolation, loss of authority, dependency and the overall sense of everything breaking down. Deception in both extracts is represented as emotional turmoil, and Bronte has written her novel ignoring the stereotypes of her time and has shown that men can be emotionally unstable as well as women. However she did write it under the male alias Currer Bell, so she had more freedom as to what she could write. Rhys had more leeway with what she could write as she wrote in the sixties, and has shown that a person’s actions do affect everyone, even though they may not realise it, Rochester’s actions effect Antoinette in a great way however he doesn’t see this and doesn’t feel the need to discuss issues with his wife. ‘We won’t talk about it now’. Both extracts show key parts of the novels involving deception. Jane finds out that Rochester has lied to her and that he has a wife, Bertha, in the extract he is trying to explain himself. The extract from Wide Sargasso Sea is where Antoinette finds out Rochester has been to see her half-brother Daniel who tells him of the madness within the family. Now Antoinette is the one explaining herself to her husband. In Jane Eyre, Bronte represents that Rochester has deceived his fiancé in order to protect her and get what he wants. However Rhys represents Rochester as selfish, he has deceived his wife for
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