The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Character and Themes in the Novels of Jean Rhys

Author(s): Elgin W. Mellown
Source: Contemporary Literature, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Autumn, 1972), pp. 458-475
Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
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CHARACTER
THE NOVELS

AND THEMES
IN
OF JEAN RHYS

Elgin W. Mellown

Jean Rhys,born in the West Indies in 1894, publishedfivebooks

between1927 and 1939. Her firstcollectionof storieswas sponsored
by Ford Madox Ford, and herfoursucceedingnovelswerepraisedby
reviewers
inEnglandand America.Butbecauseoftheoutbreakofwar
her
and she droppedout of public
in 1939,
bookswerenotreprinted,
attention.
Then,in 1958, theBBC broadcasta dramatizedversionof
hernovel,Good Morning,Midnight.Its criticalreceptionencouraged
and to begin
Rhysto publishsomeshortstorieswhichshe had written
workon thenovelwhichin 1966 gainedthehighestpraiseof any of
herwritings,
WideSargassoSea. In itshetellsthestoryofthefirst
Mrs.
Rochester,the shadowyfigurewhom CharlotteBronteonly lightly
sketchedin JaneEyre.
Wide Sargasso Sea is both an imaginativetourde forceand a
novel valuable in its own right.It places the earliernovelsin a new
whichshowsthatJeanRhysis notone of thealso-ransbut
perspective
a masterof her genre.In hernovelsshe depictsthe characterof one
particulartypeof woman,whileexploringcertainhumanthemesand
to developa close relationship
betweenstyleand
constantly
attempting
content.Her books arenow againin printand are beingread throughouttheworld,especiallyinHolland,Belgium,andFrance,wherePierre
her stories.1Yet Rhysremainsa mysterious
Leyrisis translating
figure-so muchso thatwhen,in 1969, theLondon Observerpublished
Marcelle Bernstein'sinterview
withher it was appropriately
entitled
"The InscrutableMiss JeanRhys."2
1La Nouvelle Revue Francaise, 202 (Oct. 1969), 481-507, esp. 481-83.

2 (1 June 1969), 40-42, 49-50. This interviewand Francis

Wyndham's

"Introduction,"Wide Sargasso Sea (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968) are the

XIII, 4

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JeanRhyswas thedaughter
of a Welshdoctorand hisEnglish
Creolewife.ShecametoEnglandwithan auntin 1910toattend
school
in Cambridge;
fromthereshe wenton to the Royal Academyof
DramaticArts.Whenherfather
died-she was thenseventeen-she
wentto workas a chorusgirlin a theatrical
troupewhichtouredthe
in London.In 1918,
between
theaters,
provincial
engagements
living
thentwenty-four
she
"married
a
Dutch
yearsold,
poetandfortenyears
liveda rootless,
lifeon theContinent,
wandering
mainlyin Parisand
Vienna."3
In theseyearsshebegantowrite;
andin 1922or 1923,when
shewas livingin Paris,Mrs.GeorgeAdam,wifeof theFrenchcorherstories
ofTheTimes,brought
andsketches
totheattenrespondent
tionofFordMadoxFord.Rhyswasnothappyin hermarriage-she
andherhusbandlaterdivorced-andfora timeshelivedwithFord
wifeStellaBowen,theAustralian
andhiscommon-law
painter.
The complexrelationships
in thismenagea troishave been de-

DrawnfromLife,
scribedgenerally
byBowenin herautobiography,
and obliquelyby Rhysin herfirsttwonovels.(Ford'sbiographers
havesaidverylittleaboutthisparticular
affair.)ApartfromtheperFordwas probably
themostimportant
sonalrelationship,
inliterary
issue
of
the
last
the
In
Transatlantic
fluence
he
Review,4
uponRhys.
a
few
"Vienne"
the
title
sections
of
under
a
novel
called
published
andsometime
between1925
"TripleSec"whichshewasthenwriting;
forherto translate
FrancisCarco'snovelPerand 1927 he arranged
himself
in theprojectto suchan extentthatboth
versite,
involving
PascalCovici,thought
FordhimCarcoandtheAmerican
publisher,
He alsowrotea lengthy
selfwasthetranslator.5
prefacetoRhys'sfirst
sourcesof the biographicalinformation
givenhere. I completedthis essay
beforethe publicationof ArthurMizener's The Saddest Story: A Biographyof

Ford Madox Ford (New York and Cleveland:World,1971), whereMizener

detailsto those
refersto Rhyson pp. 344-50 withoutaddingany significant
whichwerealreadyavailable.
5.
(Dec. 1924), 639-45.

3 Wyndham,p.
4

5 During"the wintermonthsof both 1924-25 and 1925-26,Ford and

Stella"livedin Toulonwhereone of theirfriendswas FrancisCarco (Frank
MacShane, The Life and Works of Ford Madox Ford [New York: Horizon,

of literarytalent,Ford evidently
1965], p. 194). Alwaysthe entrepreneur
wantedto helpbringCarco'snovelPerversite
(Paris: J. Ferencziet fils,1925)
beforetheEnglish-reading
public.At anyrate,on 7 January1926 Carco wrote
himforhis interest
to Ford thanking
(David Dow Harvey,Ford Madox Ford,
1873-1939, A Bibliographyof Worksand Criticism[Princeton:PrincetonUniv.

Press,1962],p. 97); and in 1928 Pascal Covici publishedan EnglishtranslaRHYS

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459

book,a collectionof shortstoriesentitledThe LeftBank,which

Jonathan
in 1927. In thesameyearFordbrokeoff
Cape published
hisrelationship
to England.Shemarried
withRhys,andshereturned
she
in
second
husband
died
the
mid-1940s,
(her
again
whereupon
married
hiscousin,whohassincedied); andbetween1928 and 1939

she wrote four novels: Postures,After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie,

Voyagein theDark, and Good Morning,Midnight.6

eachnovelcenters
Although
upononewoman,thefourindividof thesamepsychological
uals are manifestations
type-so muchso
we
thatifwereadthenovelsintheorderoftheirinternal
chronology,
findin themone,fairlysequentialstory,albeittheprincipalfigure
a changeof namefromnovelto novel.This storybeginsin
suffers
and central
1912. The narrator
Voyagein theDark,in theautumn,
a
a
is
in
at
Anna
chorus
figure
Morgan,
girl touring
company Southsea.
fromherhomein theWest
She is an orphan,havingbeenbrought
In Southseasheis picked
Indiestwoyearsearlierbyherstepmother.
who
older
meets
herlaterin London
an
Walter
Jeffries,
man,
up by
inlove
andseducesher.He takescareofher,andshefallsdesperately
withhim.TheirliaisonlastsuntilOctober,1913,whenWalterbreaks
fromonemanto another
ofprein thedemimonde
itoff.Annadrifts
an
unknown
warLondon.In March,1914,threemonths
pregnant
by
She almostdies
man,shebegsmoneyfromWalterforan abortion.
butas thenovelends,thedoctorwhohas
fromthebungled
operation;

tion with Ford's name given as the translator.But in lettersto Edward Naumburg, Jr. (Harvey, p. 97) and Isabel Patterson (Richard M. Ludwig, ed.,
Letters of Ford Madox Ford [Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1965], pp.
176-77), Ford declared that the translationwas actually made by Rhys. To
the latter he wrote, "I could not have done it myselfhalf so well if at all
because translatingis not one of my giftsand I do not know the particular
Parisian argotthatMr. Carco employs."In March, 1972, Rhys told me thatshe
translatedboth Perversityand Edouard de Neve's Barred (London: Desmond
Harmsworth,1932).
6 Postures (London: Chatto and Windus, 1928; American title-which
Rhys prefers-Quartet [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1929]), After
Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (London: JonathanCape; New York: Knopf, 1931),
Voyage in the Dark (London: Constable, 1934; New York: William Morrow,
1935), and Good Morning,Midnight (London: Constable, 1939; New York:
Harper, [1967]). Page referenceswith abbreviationsare noted parenthetically
in the text and are to the followingeditions: Q-Quartet, A-After Leaving
(London), V-Voyage (Harmondsworth:Penguin, 1969), G-Good Morning
(New York).
460

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been broughtto herassuresherfriendLaurie that"She'll be all right.

... Readyto startall overagaininno time,I've no doubt"(V, p. 159).7
The storyresumesin Quartet.The year is now 1922, and the
heroine,twenty-eight
yearsold,is namedMaryaHughes.She is married
to a Pole, StephanZelli,and theylivein Paris.Stephan,a mystery
man,
d'art.
In
for
September,1922, he is
appearsto be a fence stolenobjets
arrestedforlarceny,and thedestitute
Marya is takenup by a British
his
wifeLois. She lives withthe
Heidler
and
J.)
(H.
couple, Hugh
her withthe knowledgeand
makes
love
to
soon
H.
and
J.
Heidlers,
is only a matterof
connivanceof his wife.But Lois' permissiveness
necessity,and she becomes so unpleasantthatMarya moves into a
hotelwhereH. J. visitsher.AlthoughMarya is repulsedby thesituafromStephanto H. J. and
her love-dependency
tion,she transfers
cannotbreakaway fromhim.WhenStephanis releasedfromprison,
he has to leave France; but beforehe leaves,Marya sleepswithhim.
Heidler,because she has "betrayed"him,breakswithher and sends
herto Canneson a pensionof threehundredfrancsa week.The novel
ofmelodrama:Stephanand Maryareturnto Paris; he
endsin a flurry
to killH. J.; she criesout thatshe willbetrayStephanto the
threatens
police; Stephanthrowsher aside and goes offwithanotherwomanof
to himself,"Encore une grue" (Q, p. 227).
thedistrict,
thinking
In AfterLeavingMr. Mackenziethecentralfigureis namedJulia
Martin.The place is Paris; the time,April, 1927. Since the previous
OctoberwhenherloverMr. Mackenzielefther,Juliahas been living
on theweeklythreehundredfrancswhichhis lawyersendsher. (This
seemsfixedin Rhys'smind.) Now the allowsum foran ex-mistress
hundredfrancs.Julia
ance is stoppedwitha finalpaymentof fifteen
in a fitof ragereturnsthecheckto Mackenzie;on thesame nightshe
7The story,"Till SeptemberPetronella" (London Magazine [Jan. 1960],
19-39; rpr. Tigers Are Better-Looking,with a selection from The Left Bank
[London: Andre Deutsch, 1968]), set in London, 28 July 1914, gives a less
desperate picture of Anna- here named "Julia Petronella Gray" - as she
encountersvarious men. Rhys fuses several periods in this story: the description of Petronella'slover "Marston" correspondsto descriptionsof Ford, while
the French girl who helps Petronella choose her dresses is named Estelle.
Obviously it is more than a mere coincidence that Ford's New Poems (New
York: William Edwin Rudge, 1927) contains a poem commemoratinga past
love affair- "There shall no refugebe for you and me/Who haste away .... /
But in the deep remotenessof the heart,/Inthe deep secret chambers of the
mind /.../ Lo! you, enshrined." - which is entitled "To Petronella at Sea"
(p. 35).

RHYS

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1 461

meetsGeorge Horsfield.He gives her moneyand persuadesher to

returnto London. She does so in orderto meether firstlover,W.
[?Walter]Neil James-who gives her money-and to see her sister
Norah and hermother,an invalidwho dies whileJuliais in London.
Norah and her paternalUncle Griffiths
send Julia away afterthe
funeral;she takes Horsfieldforher lover and thenreturnsto Paris.
The novel endswithherbeggingone hundredfrancsfromMr. Mackenzie.
The storyreaches its conclusionin Good Morning,Midnight.
Sacha Jansen,livingin bitterretirement
in Bloomsburyon a pension
froman unidentified
is
two
now
(it
person
poundsten a week) and
to
drink
herself
to
is
fora visitby herfriend
sent
to
Paris
death,
trying
Sidonie.Sacha walksthroughthestreetsshe knewin earlierdays,the
familiarplaces and evenremembered
back eventsofthe
facesbringing
Her
memories
a
sound
bittersweet
above
the harsh,inpast.
melody
for
Paris
is
while
she
has
escapablepresent,
unchanged,
aged and faded
and becomea mereshellof hate.In a cruel,reversedmimicry
of her
own life,a younggigoloattacheshimselfto her.She triesto persuade
himthatshedoesnotwanthimand thatsheis notwealthy.He attempts
tomakelovetoherinherhotelroom,and shewoundshimas sheherself
has beenwoundedbyoffering
himmoneyas a bribeto leaveheralone:
"You can have themoneyrightaway,so it wouldbe a wasteof time,
wouldn'tit,"she says (G, p. 183). But he leaveswithoutforcinghimselfon Sacha and withouttakinghermoney.His notmakinguse ofher,
whichnegativeact is a recognition
ofheras an individualwhosewishes
are to be respected,bringsher out of the isolationand hatredwhich
have forso longsurrounded
her;and out of compassionshe givesherselfto the man in the adjoiningroom whomshe has previouslydespised.The storyin thefournovelsis thatof thespiritualprogressof
a womanfromthejoy of childhoodintotheordealof adolescentlove
and sexualexperience,througha resulting
bitterness,
grief,and selfish
which
will allow her to develop a comisolation,towarda position
of thehumansituation.
passionateunderstanding
In hisNew YorkTimesreviewofWideSargassoSea WalterAllen
pointedout thatCharlotteBronte'sMrs. Rochestersummedup "the
natureof the heroinewho appears undervariousnames throughout
JeanRhys'sfiction."8
the earlynovelsnot quite accuRemembering
8 18 June
1967, p. 5.

462

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Creoleinorigin
"sheis a youngwoman,
hecontinued,
generally
rately,
at sea in her
andhelplessly
whois hopelessly
andartistic
in leanings,
The
withmen,a passivevictim,doomedto destruction."9
relations
is indeedalwaysa
womanuponwhomRhyscentersher attention
herself
and devictim.StellaBowensaw thisqualityin thenovelist
scribedheras being"cast fortherole ... of thepoor,braveand des-

peratebeggarwhowas doomedto be letdownbythebourgeoisie."10

is always
Thereis neveran escapefortheRhysheroine:happiness
herfirst.
worse
than
followed
and
her
last
state
is
sadness,
always
by
ofdegraded
Thisfigure
Yetwemustqualify
thesegeneralizations.
isnotstatic,
noveltonovel,thedevelopwomanhood
from
butdevelops
mentbeing,at leastin part,Rhys'smovement
awayfromautobiogof the
rendition
toward
an
ever
more
raphy
complete,
imaginative
first
unlike
in
the
character.
Zelli,
Thus,
novel,Quartet,
Marya
single
has a strength
thelaterheroines,
andvivacity
thataresappedbutnot
so
becausesheis an autobiographical
projection,
completely
perverted
thenovelist
muchso indeedthatshefailsas a fictional
bestows
creation:
havepossessed.
Rhys
qualities
uponMaryathatshewouldnotactually
to havelearnedwhichof herownexperiences
seemsonlygradually
whomshewas to sketchoverand
properly
belongedto thecharacter
overinhernovels.Shealsolearnedto concealthisrecognition
and,in
for
to
the
of
a calculated
play verisimilitude,give impression complete
Ifwe wishto appreciate
JeanRhys,we mustsidestep
our
subjectivity.
that
are
and
first
we
her
examine
the
impression
reading autobiography
novelsas imaginative
works.Onlythencanwe seehermostimportant
theportrayal
achievement:
ofa psychological
literary
typeneverbefore
Thesecomplete
so accurately
described.
makethechardescriptions
she
is
rather
woman
actermorethana psychological
in one of
type:
herarchetypal
roles.
treated
Themostbasicexperience
thewoman's
byRhysconcerns
Itspeaceandsecurity
areassociated
witha warmclimate,
childhood.
toheradultinsecurity
in a coldnorthern
world.Thispatin contrast
shivers
ternis mostobviousin Voyagein theDark: Annaconstantly
in theEnglishclimate.Herloveaffair
withWalterJeffries
andsuffers
froman adolescent
desireto findthatwarmth
and security
springs
inthegameofsexuallovewitha partner
whichsheknewinchildhood
Thisthemeis tentatively
old enoughto be herfather.
announced
in
severalofThe LeftBank stories,whilein WideSargassoSea itbecomes
9 Ibid.
10 Drawn
fromLife, Reminiscences(London: Collins, 1940), p. 167.

RHYS

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463

a poignantmemoryof the frustrated

who is brutally
nymphomaniac
restrained
in thecold isolationof ThorfieldHall.
This archetypal
womanneverfindsa manwhowillfaithfully
continueto fulfil
herneeds.Maryaknowssuchhappinesslongerthanany
oftheotherwomen,butevenStephan,herolder,lover-husband,
eventuallyfailsher.Her need is bothpsychicand physical(Rhyswas one
of thefirstwomenwritersto expressan unabashed,directacceptance
of woman'sdesireforsexual love); and whenStephanis imprisoned
fora yearshe mustallow herselfto be takenby anotherman who is,
as always,olderand, as always,a brute.Instinctively
knowingthather
man will deserther,thewomanincreasingly
debasesherselfin a desperateattemptto hold on to him,the inevitableresultbeingthather
abandonedpositionincreaseshis revulsion.The Rhyswomanmaybe
a mistressin name,but in factshe is alwaysa victimof love because
she is at themercyof heruncontrollable
desires.
An adjunctthemehas to do withwomanas creator.These torturedwomencannotreachmaturity
by givingbirthto a childwhich,
will
force
on
them
into adulthood;and, havingno
depending them,
husbandsto provideforthemand withno wayofearninga livingother
thanbysellingtheirbodies (whichmustthusbe keptfreeof a dependent child), theymustabortany lifethatmay springin theirwombs.
If theydo givebirth,as JuliaMartindoes,thentheyare unableto keep
thechildalive.Woman as creatorand sustainerof lifehas no partin
thisarchetypalfigure."
These womenare foreveralone outsidethe realm of everyday
of life.In themwe see a
societyand cutofffromtheordinarypatterns
literalmeaningof the termdemimonde,for theirsis only a partial
existence.They knowthattheyare alive because theysufferand because moneypasses throughtheirhands.The respectableworldviews
such womenas commodities
to be boughtand as hostageswho must
their
As
Maudie
saysin Voyagein the Dark,"Have youever
way.
pay
cost morethanthe girlinsidethem?...
that
a
clothes
thought
girl's
much
than
People are
cheaper
things"(V, p. 40). In thisunderstandthemes,that
ingoflifelies theoriginof one of Rhys'smostimportant
is
determined
economic
wealth.
This
attitudeapby
personalidentity
with
to
link
that
realistic
tradition
which
Defoe and
Rhys
pears
and certainly
her stressupon thisthemebrings
Richardsonrepresent,
11Here is one of the clearest distinctionsbetween Rhys and her heroine:
Jean Rhys gave birthto a child (is indeed a grandmother)and also created
the fictionalcharacterwho is the subjectof thisdiscussion.
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CONTEMPORARY

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her obviousromanticimpressionism
intoline withthe harshrealities
of modem economiclife.But she goes further
thanany of her predecessors.In hernovelsall of the prevailingmoralvalues come solely
fromthissinglestandard,withno attentiongivento any of the other
arbitersof moralitywhichearlierauthorsrecognized,if only to pay
lip serviceto them.The Rhyswomanreasonsthat,sinceherphysical
else does too-character,
existencedependsupon money,everything
morals,ethics,even religiousvalues. And since she knowstoo that
moneyis merelyan artificialthing,thatwhichmen give to women
whentheymakeloveto them,orwhentheysendthemaway,shecannot
respectthatrespectablesocietywhichvaluesit: shedescribesthosepersonswho have a devil-may-care
attitudeto moneyas chic. Hereinlies
JeanRhys'stwentieth-century
developmentof the realistictradition.
Her womendo notidentify
themselves
as theownersof plantationsin
ofthesquire'shousehold,positionsvalued
Virginia,or as themistresses
bya money-minded
societyno matterhowtheymayhave beengained.
Ratherthesewomenfindtheiridentityand a truthforthemselves
by
theirdisdainforthemoneyuponwhichsocietyis based. Julia
flaunting
Martinthrowsaway the check and, aware of her sister'sand uncle's
absolutedisapprovalof her,spendsherlast shillingson rosesforher
mother'scremation,whileMarya and Stephanrecklesslyspend their
last francson an unneeded,luxuriousmeal. StellaBowen wroteabout
to Rhysherself,and hercommentsquite acthisattitudein reference
describe
fictional
world:
Rhys's
curately
inherview,weresummed
whichmeant
Allthevirtues,
upin"beinga sport,"
to
take
risks
and
show
and
one's
last
crust;more
beingwilling
gallantry share
no doubt,thanpatienceor honesty
or fortitude.
attractive
She requalities,
ofthe"haves"againstthe"havenots"and
gardedthelawas theinstrument
witheveryrungofthatlonganddismalladderbywhich
waswellacquainted
citizendescendstowards
therespectable
degradation.
and thecynicism
It was notherfaultthatsheknewthesethings,
they
hadan unanswerable
methattheonlyreally
logicinit.It taught
engendered
solventand
unbridgeable
gulfin humansocietyis betweenthefinancially
You can'thave self-respect
without
thedestitute.
money.You can'teven
havetheluxury
ofa personality.12
WhileRhys'snovelsare thuslinkedone to anothernot onlyby
the centralcharacterbut also by thisharsh,economicview of life,
studiesor economictracts,butcaretheyare notmerelypsychological
12Bowen, pp. 166-67.
RHYS

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465

dramasofcharacter
In WideSargassoSea
fully
designed
development.
thisgrowth
is obvious-after
to
chose
enter
a progression
of
all,Rhys
events
witha predetermined
ending(thatis,thenovelJaneEyre);but
thisnovelis a specialcase,andtheearlieronespresent
moretypical
situations
facedby thenovelist.
character
is
Although
development
less accomplishedin Quartetand AfterLeavingMr. Mackenziethan

inthenexttwonovels,
tothe
bytheendofQuartet
Maryahaschanged
extent
thatsheadmitsherloveforHeidlerandreshapes
herrelationshipwithStephan.In thesecondnovelthereis a moresignificant
Juliais smartingly
aliveto thecruelties
oflife.Then,
change:initially
aftera nottoosubtleflashback
to thefirst
timeshewas "happyabout
thefirst
time[shewas]afraidaboutnothing"
(A, p. 211), a
nothing;
which
linked
to
is
her
butterflies
which
brokethemmemory
catching
selvestopiecesintrying
toescapefrom
theboxinwhichsheimprisoned
theincident
therefollows
ofGeorgeHorsfield
herarm
them,
touching
as theysneaktogether
the
dark
of
her
stairs
Hill
up
Notting boardinghouse.Shescreamsandawakensthelandladyand ofcourseis asked
to leave.She is thebutterfly
brokenbyherownstruggles
againstthe
walls
of
her
and-no
less-of
her
defenseless
imprisoning
society
the
end
of
But
at
the
novel
she
is
a
sensitivity.
rejected
by youngman
followed
heron a darkstreet,
seesherrevealed
who,having
bya street
lamp:
He gavehera rapidglance.
"Oh,la la," he said."Ah,non,alors."

He turned
aboutandwalked
away.

The joke'son me thistime."

"Well,"said Juliaaloud,"that'sfunny.

(A, p. 247)

She no longerfeels the criticismwhich would have destroyedher

earlier,nor does she feelanypityfora starvingman whomshe sees;
and she realizesthatshe is ending"wheremostsensiblepeople start,

indifferent
andwithout
anypityat all" (A, p. 248).

Perhapsitwas thisdead endofemotionin hersecondnovelwhich

a biographical
causedRhystoturnawayfrom
inherthird,
chronology

descenton the
Voyagein theDark. It chroniclesAnna'snever-ceasing
ofdegradation
scaleofpersonaland socialvalues,a history
all themore
chillingbecause so obliquelytold. Not forRhys the gloatingof the
over salaciousincidents:such mattersmaybe the stuff
pornographer
of life,but she is the artistconcernedwithcharacterportrayal,her
shapedbyitsdemands.We experienceonlywhat
stylebeingcompletely
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Annaexperiences;
and ifwe wantto see herin theeyesoftheworld,we
mustmakeour own deductionsand extrapolations.
But whilethereis moreactionin Voyagein theDark thanin any
of theothernovels,Good Morning,Midnightis actuallythemostaccomplishedof the four novels in termsof characterdevelopment.
Anna is a drifter
Maryaand Juliabothcometo termswiththemselves,
who is shapedby thepersonswhomshe meets,and none of thethree
evertrulyachievesan adultrelationship
withanotherperson.It remains
forSacha Jansen,thelonging-for-death
dipsomaniac,who has deliberthe
of
frozen
over
love
to live only throughher
ately
wellsprings
of
the
to
into
an
adult
memory
past, develop
by goingbeyondher
adolescenthate-fearof otherhumanbeings.Yet this change comes
onlyon thelast page of thenoveland is moresuggestedthandefined.
HavingwoundedtheRussiangigoloas deeplyas she herselfhas ever
beenwounded,and havingseenhimturntheothercheek,Sacha leaves
her door open, invitingthe man next door whom she has so long
avoidedintoherbed. The novelends as she looks up at him:
ThankGod,he doesn'tsayanything.
He doesn'tsayanything.
I look
his
and
into
another
of
a
human
for
devil
eyes despise
poor
straight
being the
lasttime.For thelasttime....
ThenI putmyarmsaroundhimandpullhimdownon tothebed,saying:"Yes-yes-yes...." (G, p. 190; exactpunctuation)
I thinkthattheseechoesofMollyBloom'svoice are deliberateand that
theyserveto tellus moreabout Sacha thanRhyswas willingto state
directly.Sacha overcomesthe drifttowarddeath that obsessed the
of theRhyswomanby finding
earliermanifestations
thiscompassion,
and in somewayitso altershercharacterthatsheis no longera subject
forthe novelist.The fournovelsworkas a unitwhich (like certain
othercontemporary,
novels) endsbecause the
quasi-autobiographical
materialhas beenbroughtto a logicalconclusion.Significantly
Rhys's
subsequentnovel,WideSargassoSea, is setin a distantland in a nontime.
contemporary
Reviewersof Rhys'sbooks, even of her first,praisedher technique,13althoughnone realized that it is based on the consciously
13D. B. Wyndham-Lewis,"Hinterland of Bohemia," Saturday Review,
23 April 1927, p. 637; "Miss Rhys's Short Stories," New York Times Book
Review, 11 December 1927, p. 28; among others. The Left Bank was widely
and favorablyreviewed.
RHYS

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467

ErnestHemingway,
manipulated
pointofview.Like hercontemporary
their
Rhyslearnedto allowhercharactersto createthemselves
through
own narrationof theirstories.The techniquederivesof coursefrom
Browning'sdramaticmonologues-JakeBarnes comes to life in the
same waythattheDuke of Ferraradoes-and in themoresuccessful
storiesof The LeftBank Rhysmakesa comparablyadroituse of the
narrator.
In "Illusion"the"exceedingly
nice" Miss Bruce,l4an English
artistresidentin Paris, is strickenwithappendicitisand rushedto a
hospital.The narrator,in searchingout personalnecessitiesforMiss
Bruce in her apartment,comes upon the sensiblelady's secret,an
armoireof brightfrocks.The storyis onlyan amusingvignettewith
overtonesof Krafft-Ebing-until
one realizes that the authorhas
becauseshehas madethenarratorso ambiguous
caughtone'sattention
thatnotevenhis sex can be determined.
Similarlyin "The Blue Bird"
Carlo (nee MargaretTomkins) tellsher storyof hopelesslove fora
"Bad Man" to the narratorwho is certainlyfemalebut whose exact
to Carlo is neverexplained.
relationship
The storiesof The Left Bank are generallytold by a sexually
ambiguouspersonawho is alive to pathos,keenlyaware of her own
sensibilities,
generallyconsciousof theemotionsof others,and always
amoral
in her evaluations.They are experimental
pieces,
completely
and one would like to knowhow muchFord workedwithhis young
in his "Preface"that,whenhe tried
protegeeon them.He commented
to get Rhysto introducetopographicaldetailsinto her writing,"she
matteras had
eliminatedeven such twoor threewordsof descriptive
If
she
she
in.
refused
direct
however
."
..
suggestions, profited
crept
in thattechniquewhichhe called
fromFord's example,particularly
d'efet," the idea "thateverywordset on paper-every
"progression
wordseton paper- mustcarrythestoryforwardand,thatas thestory
thestorymustbe carriedforward
fasterand fasterand with
progressed,
In Quartettheforward
moreand moreintensity."'6
movement
is so fast
thatRhysloses controland the endingdegeneratesinto melodrama.
But in isolatedpassageswe can see herdiscarding
everywordthatdoes
the
total
as
in
contribute
to
confession
to Stephan
not
effect,
Marya's
ofwhathappenedwhilehe was in jail:
14 The Left Bank and Other Stories,with a Preface by Ford Madox Ford
(London: JonathanCape, 1927), p. 30.
15
Ford, Preface to The Left Bank, p. 26.
16
Quoted fromJosephConrad, A Personal Reminiscence (London: Duckworth,1924), p. 210, by Frank MacShane, ed., CriticalWritingsof Ford Madox
Ford (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1964), p. 87.

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"Yes. Therewasa letter

him[Heidler]atthehotelto-day.
Butfirst
from
...I musttellyou...When
I'd been therewiththem...alittletime,Heidler
started
makingloveto me...Andso I wentto her,to Lois, and I toldher
whatwashappening
andI askedhertoletmehavethemoneyto go away....
Andshesaid...that
whatwasthematter
withmewasthatI wastoovirtuous
andthatshedidn'tmind....And
thatI wasa foolnotto trustHeidler....And
thatnightshewentoutsomewhere
andleftme alonewithhim...."(Q, pp.
218-19;punctuation
exact)
The passage also illustrates
thedistinction
whichFord made betweenthespokenlanguageand"English-literary
jargon."'7Marya,Julia,
Anna, and theothercharactersspeak or thinkin thelanguageappropriateto theirindividualvoices,butwhenRhysis outsidethecharacter,
givingus, as in thispassage fromAfterLeaving Mr. Mackenzie,the
character'sinarticulated
and actuallyunrecognizedfeelings,she uses
a literarylanguagewhichis unrelatedto the character.Juliasets off
forMontparnasse
withhighhopes,but(as we saw in thepassagequoted
above) a youngmanturnsawayfromherin repugnance,and afterthis
rebuff
she beginsto feela totalindifference
to humanity:
The Place du Chateletwas a nightmare.
A pale moon,like a claw,
lookeddownthrough
theclaw-like
branches
of dead trees.
to theleftandwalkedintoa partofthecitywhichwas unSheturned
knowntoher."Somewhere
neartheHalles,"shethought.
"Ofcourse,at the
backoftheHalles."
Shesawa thinman,so thinthathewaslikea clothed
skeleton,
drooping
ina doorway.
Andthehorses,
ofpatient
likestatues
Shefelt
standing
misery.
no pityat all....
It usedtobe as ifsomeonehadputa handandtouched
herheartwhen
shesaw things
likethat,butnowshefeltnothing.
Now shefeltindifferent
andcold,likea stone.(A, p. 248)
In thesepassages thereis a devicewhichRhysprobablypicked
from
Ford: theuse oftheellipsisto indicatethosepauseswhichare
up
a partofthespokenlanguage,or to showa sequenceofeventsor ideas,
or some typeof change,whichthe novelistdoes not want to follow
throughin detail. The techniqueis appropriatefor the inarticulate,
forsuch charactersas
heroine,but is much less satisfactory
drifting

17

100.

In his letterto AnthonyBertram, 14 Aug. 1922. Critical Writings,p.

RHYS

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469

Lois and Heidler,who are alwaysself-conscious

and aware of themselves.
But Rhysonlygraduallylearnedhertechnique,and herfirsttwo
novelsare flawedby herfailureto controlthepointof view. In both
she is theomniscient,
thirdpersonauthor,evenpausing-in theFord
manner-to addressthereaderdirectly,
as here,at theopeningof the
secondchapterofQuartet:"Marya,youmustunderstand,
had notbeen
thehazards
and
to
from
solid
comfort
suddenly ruthlessly
transplanted
of Montmartre"(Q, p. 13). But Rhys'spointof view is so patently
thatof themainfemalecharacterand so biased in herfavorthatthe
abruptshiftsinto the thoughtsof anothercharacter-oftenthe one
of the
againstwhomthe heroineis reacting-destroythe continuity
narrativeand weakenits psychologicalverisimilitude.
Quartetis the
worstoffender
usestheviewsofMarya,H. J.,
becauseRhysalternately
Lois, and Stephan,and evenentersintotheconsciousnessof strangers
passingby. The problemis less criticalin AfterLeaving Mr. Mackenziesincethecast of charactersis smaller,yetthe movementfrom
Julia'sthoughtsto thoseof thepersonswhomshe meetsdistractsthe
reader,notleastbecause thesecharactersenterthenarrativeonlybecause theyhave somerelationship
withJulia;theydo notexistin their
ownright.
The solutionto thisnarrativeproblemcomes in Voyage in the
Dark. In itRhysrealizedthatherconcernwithone characterdemanded
thatshe writein the firstperson,utilizingonly thosesensations,imcouldreasonand experiences
whichthefirst
personnarrator
pressions,
ablyhave had. Anna Morganand Sacha Jansenknowonlythatthey
outsidethemselves
exists
suffer
and thattherefore
theyexist;anything
it
to
or
because
think
about
because
it,
impinges
only
theyhappen
The controlledpointof viewwhichholdsto
upon theirconsciousness.
of thecentralcharacteris not onlya functional
theconsciousness
way
of tellingherstory,but also expressesher solipsisticphilosophy.The
aestheticvalue of bothVoyagein theDark and Good Morning,Midnightis raisedbecause the firstpersonpointof view is the technical
of life.
of JeanRhys'sunderstanding
correlative
I havedelayedlookingat WideSargassoSea becauseitis a masterpiece thatneednotbe discussedexcepton itsownterms,as wellas the
of thedevelopments
in thepreviousfournovels.In
logicaloutgrowth
it Rhys suppliesthe storieswhichCharlotteBrontedid not tell of
wifepriorto (as wellas during)thetimeperiod
Rochesterand hisfirst
of Jane Eyre. Rhys givesher own accountof theirearlylives,their
470

CONTEMPORARY

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marriage,and Bertha's subsequentmadness and incarcerationat

Thorfield Hall, endingthis"secrethistory"withthe deathof Bertha
in the fire.
Wide Sargasso Sea is composed of firstperson narrativesby
AntoinetteCosway Mason Rochester(only her husband calls her
Bertha) and by Edward FairfaxRochester,along with a one-page
conversation
betweenGrace Poole and Leah, themaid. The sections
narratedby Antoinette-thefirst,
partof thesecond,and the thirdarein thepasttenseand appearto havebeenwritten
at ThomfieldHall;
recollections
or,perhapsmorelogically,to be Antoinette's
duringher
momentsof lucidityat Thorfield Hall. The last sectiontakes us
throughRichardMason's visitto theatticroomto themomentbefore
Bertha-Antoinette
slips out of the atticwiththe lightedcandle to set
fireto theHall. The sectionsnarratedbyRochesterare also in thepast
The wholestoryis knownto Antoinette
tense,butare subtlydifferent.
as shewrites,and we,knowingitsend butnotitsprogress,
mustaccept
theworkings
outofitsdetailsbecausewe recognizetheinexorableconclusionloomingbeforeus. Rochester'snarrationhowevertakesplace
we sharewithhim
at themomentthateventsoccur,and consequently
his revelationsand growinghorror.Thus the two voices tell us one
butmoreimstory,givingus notmerelythecontrastof theirattitudes,
for
the
effect
of
horror
it
the
of the
which
contrast
portant
produces,
victimwhoknowsherfatewiththatof thevictimwho mustgradually
learnhis.Antoinette
knowsfromthestartthatshe is doomedand that
while
act
is
Rochesterimagines,even as his destinybears
futile,
any
downuponhim,thathe is a freeagent.
The biographicaldetails which Rhys providesfor Charlotte
Bronte'scharactersare as complexas any actuallygivenby the Victoriannovelist.AnnetteCosway,an EnglishCreolein Jamaicawho is
widowedaboutthetimeoftheEmancipation(1834) whenherdaughterAntoinetteis ten yearsold, lives withher daughterand imbecile
son Pierre for five years on the rundownplantationCoulibri, an
object of ridiculeand hate to the freeNegroes.Finallyshe manages
in therefurbished
to marrythewealthyMr. Mason; theylive together
driven
until
are
out
blacks.
The house
house
byrioting
they
plantation
is injuredand becomesseriously
is burned,Pierreis killed,Antoinette
ill, and Mrs. Cosway-Masongoes mad. She is keptin privateconfinementwhereshe is the sexual preyof herNegro attendants.She dies
while Antoinetteis at conventschool, as does Mr. Mason, but not
RichardMason,
thousandpoundson Antoinette.
beforehe settlesthirty
herstepfather's
son,arrangesforRochester,theimpoverished
younger
RHYS

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1 471

son of ThorfieldHall, to marryAntoinette;

he comesout to Jamaica
and is marriedafteronlya fewweeks'acquaintance.Antoinette
gives
herselfbodyand soul to him,Richardhavingalreadygivenhermoney
to himwithno settlement
made in herbehalf.Rochesterrealizesthat
he does notlove Antoinette,
by her.
althoughhe is sexuallyinfatuated
Her passionforhimcorresponds-somuchso thathis basicallyPuritanicalnatureis revolted,and he is readyto turnaway fromher in
thathe has been
disgustwhenhe is told by her coloredhalf-brother
trickedintomarrying
thedaughterof a mad nymphomaniac.
His suddenrevulsionthrowsAntoinette
intoa sexualpanic;we gatherthatshe
is indeedunfaithful
to him; and to protecthis "honor"as well as to
"punish"Antoinette,
Rochesterbringsher to England and imprisons
herinThomfield
Hall, hisownfatherand elderbrother
havingdiedand
theestatehavingdevolveduponhim,ironically
removingthenecessity
forhismarrying
theheiress.Duringthevoyageto EnglandAntoinette
knowsonlyintermittent
moments
actuallygoes mad and subsequently
ofsanityin hergarretprison.
Here,then,spelledout clearerthanin anyofthepreviousnovels,
are the detailsof thelifeof thenow familiarRhysheroine:a happy
childhoodin a tropicalstateof nature,growthintoadolescencewithout thepresenceof a father,a completesubmissionto physicallove,
theinevitablelossofthatlove,and theconsequentmisery.In one sense,
of
then,as WalterAllennoted,Antoinette
Coswayis theembodiment
Marya,Julia,Anna,and Sacha. On theotherhand,however,hercharacterlies in a somewhatdifferent
spherefromtheirs.Theyare shadows
ofan archetypal
and
their
figure,
preciseoutlines(because we see them
from
theinside,so to speak) are oftenindistinct.
Theirindefialways
nitenesscontributes
not a littleto theiruniversality.
while
Antoinette,
a manifestation
of the same archetypalfigure,is howevera positive
characterwho is not to be confusedwithanyoneelse. She may be
of nineteenth-century
Creole girlsat the mercyof forrepresentative
tune-hunting
youngersons,and shemayevenbe an exampleoftropical
hotblood reactingto theicyrestraint
of thenorth,butshe is not,like
theotherRhysheroines,Womanwitha capitalW.
Interestingly
enough,Rochesterdoes notsharethisindividuality.
men
all
have
Rhys's
basicallythesame psychology:theyare creatures
withphysicaldesireswho have thepowerof simple,logical thinking.
Rochesterdiffers
verylittlefromStephanZelli (the outcomeof both
storiesresultsfromtheirnotionsofhonor),whilehisabilityto separate
frompsychiconesparallelsthistraitas it appears
physicalrelationships
in Heidler,Mackenzie,and even Anna's firstlover,WalterJeffries.
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CONTEMPORARY

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A man's heart,accordingto Rhys,is nevermuch involvedwithhis

physicaldesires.
The techniqueof the novel reinforces
the different
approachto
themale and femalecharacters.
The manconsidershimselfto be a free
notfearingthefutureand notcompletely
agentin thepresentmoment,
at themercyof thepast. But thewomanknowsinstinctively
thatshe
mustactouta preordained
roleand that,no matterwhatpresentevents
mayindicate,her end is inevitable.While the firstfournovelsincorporatethesepsychologicalconcepts,onlyin WideSargassoSea is the
techniquecompletely
appropriateto theauthor'sbasic conceptof life.
This harsh,realisticview is at timesheavilyFreudian,the spectreof
Nietzschebeing neverfar away; and it appeals only to the strongmindedreaderwho, like the authorherself,can look directlyat the
humancomedy.Because this attitudeto life is so convincingly
presentedthroughall themeansat thenovelist'scommand,we realizethat
while Wide SargassoSea capturesus initiallybecause of our interest
in the story-its explanationof eventsabout whichwe have always
wondered-and because of its abilityto provide that frissonthat
readerscan neverresist,its ultimateaestheticvalue comes fromits
work tocompleteunity.Technique, content,and characterization
to
a
view
of
life.
delineate
mature
artist's
gether
It is perhapstoo soon to assignJean Rhys a definiteplace in
literaryhistory,althoughwe can noticeher relationshipto her conmakesus compareherto
The storyof herlifeinevitably
temporaries.
KatherineMansfield.Bothwomenwereex-colonialswho neverforgot
the islandswheretheywereborn.Both of them-like manyanother
colonialnewlycome to London or Paris-discovered a maddermusic
in a bohemianlife morallymore lax than thatwhichthe nativesof
SwissCottageor theBoul' Mich everenjoy.And althoughbothMansfieldand Rhysfrequently
wroteabout thehelplesswomanwho needs
of a man,theywerethemselves
thelove and protection
solitaryartists
whoknewtheirtruelifebestwhentheywereseatedat thelonelywriting
maketheirwritings
in theirpersonalattitudes
desk.Yet thedifferences
KatherineMansfield,in spiteof her labors to master
quite different.
theContinentaltraditionof writingcontesand herdesireto be like a
turnthebrillianceof
Chekhovor a de Maupassantwhocould fleetingly
and fixingthemforever
his geniusupon prosaic events,illuminating
moralstanceof the
as he saw them,neverdepartsfromthetraditional
Britishnovelist,except,fromtimeto time,to slip fromit into sentiJeanRhys,in contrast,
employednotonlythemiseen scene
mentality.
RHYS

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473

of the Continent,but also the European Zeitgeist-its new ideas in

itsaestheticapplicationofcertainphilosophicalideas,and,
psychology,
mostof all, its between-the-wars
appreciationof theplightof the individual,theisolationof existentialism.
Caughtup in such ideas, she
leaves
behind
her
the
of realismas practicedby
traditions
quickly
earlierBritishnovelistsand,neithercommenting
uponnormanipulating her charactersaccordingto any moral pattern,allows them (or
moreaccurately,
thesinglecharacter)to expresswhatis. Relentlessly
she developshersinglevisionof a worldin whichfreewill is a myth
and theindividualhas no powerto controlhis destiny.She pays little
or no heed to thereader'sresulting
depressionor occasionalmystification and never,like Mansfield,utilizesan ironyto exalt the reader.
KatherineMansfieldoftenputshimon the side of the gods wherehe
can feelsuperiorto the self-deluding
Miss Brillswho flounderbefore
him;JeanRhysdoes notsalve ourpride,but aimsthroughhervarious
technicaldevicesto make us experiencethedegradationand humiliationof hercharacters.In theRhysworldthereis no superiorvantage
pointforanyone.18
Comparisonswithsuch femalewritersof theperiodas Virginia
Woolfand thosewhomLionel Stevensonhas aptlynamed"A Group
of Able Dames" in The Historyof theEnglishNovel: Yesterdayand
littlehelpin defining
There
offer
After'9
history.
Rhys'splace in literary
betweenthecontentof Rhys'snovelsand those
are certainsimilarities
in thepost-warParisiansettingand in
by Djuna Barnes,particularly
the fascinationwithbizarrepsychologicaltypes,as indeed thereare
betweenRhys'snovelsand thosebyRadclyffe
Hall.
someresemblances
Hall gave to misunderstood
The stresswhichJeanRhysand Radclyffe
and sociallyunacceptableaspectsof femalepsychologyhelped open
of all typesof characterswhich
thewayforthatunabashedtreatment
we accept and even demandfromnoveliststoday. Of course Hall's
ofpropagandizing
foroppressedwomenputher
evangelicalintentions
class fromRhys's;and certainly
novelsin a different
Hall, in
Radclyffe
her
of
mores
and
never
sexual
deof
her
sophistication,
flaunting
spite
she
her
traditional-even
from
county-English-morality: is
parts
that the more palatabletales by
18Whileit is not perhapssurprising
Mansfieldhave gained a wider circulationthan Rhys's gloomynovels,we
MiddletonMurrywas a betterpublicistfor
shouldalso notethatthegrieving
- woman.
thedead womanthanFord was forthelive- and stillpublishing
19The Historyof the EnglishNovel: Yesterdayand After,XI (New York:
Bares, 1967).

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1 CONTEMPORARY

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Sucha concern
withhercharacters
as moralentities.
alwaysconcerned
In itwe find
is ofcoursecompletely
from
Jean
fiction.
missing
Rhys's
ofhumanbeings,
ofonetypeofwoman,funca portrayal
particularly
and
who
froma physiological
in
seen
an
economic
are
tioning
society,
are
of
view.
moral
values
are
Whatever
point
psychological
present derivedfrom
thecharacters
themselves.
of
Thesetypesand theirworldarenowperhapscommonplaces
write
that
literature.
Even
in
Bowen
could
Stella
1940
contemporary
"thisworld. . . has . . . foundan impressiveliterature
in the works

likeCelineandHenryMiller."20
ofwriters
We might
nowadd to this
listsuchnamesas Tennessee
Williams(his novelThe RomanSpring
version
ofGood
ofMrs.Stonereadsinsomewayslikea slick-magazine
"Pauline
author
of
the
Midnight);
Morning,
R6age,"
pornographic
The Storyof O; as wellas
storyof a woman'scompleteabasement,
others.
Mostoftheseauthors
wouldbe EuropeanorAmerican,
rather
In spiteof all thechangeswhichhave takenplace in
thanBritish.
andin theotherforms
of ourmodernculture,
thecontemliterature
British
novelist
has
not
abandoned
traditional
moral
completely
porary
values.Perhapstheliterary
of
the
tradition"
of
heritage
"great
morality
is sufficient
tooutweigh
thenewforcesinsociety.
has notbeen adoptedby other
Yet if JeanRhys'sphilosophy
British
thatfactsaysnothing
aboutherabilities
as a novelist.
novelists,
Her fivenovelsare modelsforanyonewhowantsan originalunderof lifeand of humannature,and whodesirestheaesthetic
standing
betweentechniqueand
pleasureone findsin a perfectcorrelation
content.
Duke University
20Bowen, p. 167.

RHYS

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475