The many forms and types of literature often give readers a glimpse into the past; whether if that was the author’s initial intention or not. When classic literature is rewritten, the author has the ability to construct a new narrative that, while adding, removing, or clarifying strategic details, can offer the reader a deeper understanding of certain characters or situations. While weaving in details taken from the original piece, the author can adjust literary devices or narration techniques to aid in solidifying their underlying message and ideas. A shift in narration can be seen when going from Jane Eyre to its rewritten version Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as from Robinson Crusoe to Foe. With this change, the author is offering the reader an adjusted view on the original story as new characters, backgrounds, and ideas are brought to the surface from a new female viewpoint. The narrator is the reader’s guide, and is how the reader perceives events that generate a mental model for the story. Narration effect is generally how the reader gets immersed in the story, identify with characters, and how much of the story is clear. As the reader ventures through Robinson Crusoe, Foe, Jane Eyre, and Wide Sargasso Sea, the changes in narrative techniques allow new details to emerge, or original details to be omitted, while building on the original story, allowing the reader to see the original story from a previously unheard from woman and giving altered character descriptions that can impact their viewpoints in unexpected ways.
Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys came from different backgrounds and orchestrated their novels in different times. Regardless of these differences, however, their creative choices can be compared. Rhys’s 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea is a creative response to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The original novel is a love story that encounters many obstacles, but surmounts these problems to eventually fulfill destiny. The primary source of trouble is Mr. Rochester’s mentally deranged wife, Bertha Mason. Bertha is portrayed as a maniacal Creole who spends her days locked in the attic of Rochester’s country house. The issues presented in the novel tragically resolve when Bertha escapes the attic and burns Thornfield to ashes, killing herself and severely impairing Rochester in the process. This ending, however, did not sit well with Dominican-born Jean Rhys. She did not agree with Bronte’s presentation of Bertha Mason, and set out to create a story and identity for the shunned character.
Rhys built her novel on the viewpoints of the different characters in the original material, but took a different structural approach to the narrative technique employed by Bronte. Wide Sargasso Sea is a multiple narrative, which gives Bertha, a previously marginalized character, a voice she did not originally have. In Jane Eyre, Bertha is only mentioned and seen briefly, and her picture remains hazy throughout the novel as only her negative attributes are seen. She is said to be a madwoman, but none of her backstory or family history is included in her description. Although he remains unnamed, Rochester narrates part two, and Grace Poole enlightens the reader at the beginning of part three. The most obvious, and arguably most impactful, change Rhys makes in Wide Sargasso Sea is the shift in perspective and narration. Rather than being told from Jane’s vantage point, the reader gets follow Bertha, now Antoinette, through the journey of how she came to be. Rhys could have been using this tactic as a repayment to Bronte for not giving Bertha a voice by not allowing Jane one, even though she does make an appearance in the novel. After arguing with her husband, Antoinette declares, “There is always the other side” (Rhys 77), and this proves to be the dominant theme throughout both novels.
In Bronte’s original version, the reader obtains clues on Bertha’s heritage and race, but does not gain a true picture of what or who she truly is. With Rhys’s change in narration, new details emerge and the reader is able to fully see Bertha: “I never looked at any strange negro. They hated us. They called us white cockroaches. Let sleeping dogs lie. One day a little girl follow me singing. ‘Go away white cockroach, go away, go away. Nobody want you. Go away’” (Rhys 13). Here Antoinette describes the hostility she endured from the black society after the Emancipation Act was passed. After the death of her father, the former slave owner Mr. Cosway, her family is not only ruined, but also exposed her to the open threats and abuse of the area’s black community, as the young girl’s term “white cockroach” indicates. Additionally, this nickname is carried out throughout much of the novel. The unclear description of Antoinette given in Jane Eyre has been taken and enhanced by Rhys to give the reader a clearer picture of who she really is, and what her true race is. With this quote, the reader can tell that Antoinette and her family are indeed white in race, but live within a black community that rejects them because of the family’s previous involvement in slavery. The reader is also able to see the hardships that Antoinette endured through a new lense. Being able to watch the hate and mocking this family endured makes her character in Jane Eyre easier to sympathize with as the reader can better understand what trauma she endured in her childhood.
According to Bronte’s Jane, Antoinette’s face “… was a discolored face – it was a savage face… [it] was purple: the lips were swelled and dark; the brow furrowed: the black eyebrows widely raised over the bloodshot eyes” (Bronte 327). Jane’s initial view on Bertha is a frightening one, though perhaps a bit dramatic. Bertha is also described to have crawled around on the floor making animalistic noises and laughing in a satanic way. This suggests that the thread of her sanity has long since snapped. Mr. Rochester even goes as far to say “…and she came from a mad family; idiots and maniacs through three generations” (Bronte 337). When Rochester is caught trying to marry another woman, he tries to justify it by calling his current wife unsuitable because of her mental health. Though the description in Wide Sargasso Sea uses different techniques to paint her picture, the reader is able to get a better sense of what Antoniette looks like. Antoinette is aware of her family’s heritage and that she has both black and white sides to her. The change in narration between the two books, one description given by Jane and the other by the cruel little girl, Tia, highlights the different views offered on Antoinette’s appearance, and the power of someone else’s view.
First-person narration can make the reader feel a closer bond with the narrator because the narrator can share personal thoughts and feelings with the reader, as well as follow what they do and say. One effect of this, however, is that it can make the reader less critical of the narrator, and make the reader blind to their faults. Rhys makes use of narrative irony in Antoinette’s portion of the book. For example, as Antoinette’s story develops, she occasionally mentions her cousin Sandi. Later, both Daniel and Amélie Cosway hint at previous sexual relations between Antoinette and Sandi. At this point, the reader could disregard this since both characters have established interest in discrediting Antoinette. It is not until part three, however, that in some dialogue, Antionette discloses that she and Sandi met frequently and were in love. This leaves readers confused, and with a feeling that Rochester’s suspicions had a solid foundation after all. Antoinette’s story is full of gaps and secrets similar to others in the story. There are also gaps in what she understands and knows; more importantly, however, there are gaps in what she chooses to disclose. With this, Rhys makes Antoinette an unreliable narrator, causing the reader to further question Antoinette/Bertha’s validity in both novels.
Robinson Crusoe is an all-time classic novel, and with the sailing ships, stormy seas, a desert island, guns, and cannibals, it certainly is an exciting story. This novel, similar to Jane Eyre, is still widely read and analyzed today, and both original works contain only one perspective. In Daniel DeFoe’s Robinson Crusoe, the reader follows along with Crusoe on his journey and thought process. In J.M. Coetzee’s Foe, however, the author of the original is actually inserted into the rewriting, and, like Wide Sargasso Sea, this rewriting is a multiple narrative as a few different people narrate various parts of the story. Another noticeable change made by Coetzee is the use of a woman: Susan Barton. Barton narrates much of the novel, and is a huge insertion into the rewriting taking into consideration that there is only the mention of female characters in Robinson Crusoe. With these two changes, Coetzee undertook a unique enterprise with his rewriting, and, like Rhys, gives a previously unheard female a newfound voice.
Similar to Jane, Crusoe is both a character and the narrator in the book. In the original novel, Crusoe narrates the events from his own point of view, and includes both his inner feelings and biographical details in both third and first person narration. Basically, the reader gets to read every little detail that goes through his head. At the beginning of the novel, he says “Being the third son of the family, and not bred to any trade, my head began to be fill’d very early with rambling thoughts…” (Defoe 5). With this, the reader has access to personal details about Crusoe’s life and family, and even gives a little insight into Crusoe’s reaction to his family. The inclusion of these details, minor as they may seem, allow the reader to connect with Crusoe right off the bat. Throughout all of his adventures, however, Crusoe never rarely a woman until after he and Friday finally get off the island. In the final chapters of the novel, the reader learns that Crusoe marries: “In the mean time, I in Part settled my self here; for first of all I marry’d, and that not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction, and has three Children, two Sons and one Daughter…” (Defoe 240). From here Crusoe jumps right back into details about wanting to get back on the sea. With his marital family only getting a mere paragraph, it can be seen that females are only mentioned when they aid men or with the plot of the book.
In Foe, a huge change can be seen right from the beginning: a woman. Though the original storyline is still visible, much is altered from the point of Susan Barton. As the novel opens, the reader immediately sees Barton land on the island that Cruso and Friday inhabit. There is a big character shift between the original Crusoe and the reimagined Cruso, beyond the spelling of his name. Barton’s Cruso differs in many respects: “The stranger’s eyes were green, his hair burnt to a straw colour. I judged he was sixty years of age. He wore… a jerkin, and drawers to below his knees… In his belt were a short stick and a knife” (Coetzee 4). This description is far more detailed than the one given in the original text, and it is given as Barton first meets Cruso. With this new female description, the reader obtains a clearer picture of Cruso’s physical being. As there are only mentioned female characters in Robinson Crusoe, Barton taking over the narrative takes back the identity that was overlooked by DeFoe.
There is, however, some evidence to argue that Susan Barton is more than an overlooked female character. She is a physical manifestation of Foe’s ideas, and could represent the battle between character and author for narrative control. Throughout the first section, Barton and Cruso keep their distance as they feel each other out. In the second section, however, is when the pair physically meet. Cruso, unable to survive without his island, passes away on a ship that carries him away from his home. Susan, on the other hand, is strong enough to leave the island behind, and even take Friday with her. In a way, she leaves the only voice that could denounce her own, and has accompanied herself only with a well-meaning, tongueless mute. With the change in narration in the rewriting, it could be said that Robinson Crusoe is how Foe alters Susan’s story in order to make it more interesting. Foe informs Susan several times that her story simply is not captivating enough to take up an entire novel, and urges her to divulge more information about her life previously in order to pad the story.
The journey from the island to civilization could represent Susan’s journey from character to person. As Susan and Foe become increasingly close, the physical manifestation creates a weird side effect. While Susan becomes more real to Foe, she becomes less real to herself. Her memories quickly fade in the presence of reality. So, while she physically becomes closer to her maker, she is aware of her own lack of substance. Basically, Susan’s sense of self cannot hold up when faced with actual people. This newfound insecurity makes her worried about being replaced as Foe’s muse. She now feels distanced from her author and wants to remain fresh within in his. Unable to contact Foe, Susan deplores, “How I wish it were my power to help you, Mr. Foe! Closing my eyes, I gather my strength and send out a vision of the island to hang before you like a substantial body” (Coetzee 53). Here she is reminding Foe that she is the beacon for his story, and that Cruso’s death should not be the end of her as well. As this section progresses further, Susan, and the reader, begin to question her validity. Her memories of the island grow increasingly distant in her mind, and she wonders if the story is even interesting enough to document: “Are these enough strange circumstances to make a story of? How long before I am driven to invent new and stranger circumstances: the salvage of tools and muskets from Cruso’s ship” (Coetzee 67). As her mind and memory slowly evade her, she starts to become, like Antoinette, an unreliable narrator. As Foe continues ignoring Susan’s attempts to get in contact with him, this could be Coetzee’s way of showing the reader how Defoe silences women in his original work.
While these works and their rewritings were written in different times and are classified in different genres, their rewritings achieve similar outcomes. In both char there is a female character that is only mentioned, but details that explain who they are or where they came from are glazed over. In both of the rewritings for the originals, the authors change the narration techniques used by the original authors and gave those forgotten characters a new voice, as well as clarify some superficial details about a character’s appearance.
Though both originals are vastly different, their rewritings both do the same thing: give a previously disempowered female character a voice by taking on the narrative. In both original works, the reader sees the story through one particular person’s lense. While both novels are amazing, there are characters who took the backseat in order for the protagonist to shine. Daniel DeFoe neglected female characters in Robinson Crusoe, only mentioning them when it aided the plot or Crusoe himself. Charlotte Bronte created Bertha Mason, a supposed lunatic turned pyromaniac without any real backstory of how she came to be. In both situations, the authors of the rewritings saw a female character overlooked and forgotten, and changed that by giving the narrative to those characters. There are many reasons beyond that to change narration techniques, and depending how the author alters narration, the reader is able to see a new side of the story, and, in Bertha’s case, able to see what exactly made her who she is. Giving the narration back to these unheard characters is a bold statement from both authors, and illustrates how powerful a new narrator can be. As the reader ventures through Robinson Crusoe, Foe, Jane Eyre, and Wide Sargasso Sea, the changes in narrative techniques allow new details to emerge, or original details to be omitted, while building on the original story, allowing the reader to see the original story from a previously unheard from woman and giving altered character descriptions that can impact their viewpoints in unexpected ways.