The Plight Of Existence:an Interpretation Of Antoinette The Heroine In Wide Sargasso Sea From The Perspective Of Existentialism

Jean Rhys who has received WH Smith Literary Award is one of the greatest female writers in the 20 th century.During her career of literary creation,Jean Rhys had been focusing on revealing the living conditions of females who were under heavy pressure and did not have identity or freedom,which were little to be known especially to the Western world.In her novels,Rhys does not avoid describing the difficult situations and crises her heroines are faced with,yet she doesn't make her heroines give up any efforts to change their own destinies.She imparts them much courage of seeking identity with other community and figuring out their own possible conducts to drive out their fear.In that way,they still feel a slice of hope.Wide Sargasso Sea is such a mature novel that truthfully reflects the thought of Jean Rhys.However,both domestic and international studies on this novel have not given enough attentions to the efforts the heroine Antoinette has made,which makes her image as an independent human being incomplete.Jean-Paul Sartre,a famous modern French philosopher,is also concerned with the living condition of human beings.In his existentialist theory,the first principle is that man is nothing other than what he makes of himself;and man can push away the threatening situation while he projects a certain number of future conducts.Focusing on the motif of the existential plight of Antoinette,this thesis tries to apply Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism to interpret Wide Sargasso Sea.The thesis falls into six parts.Chapter one is a brief introduction to the life of the author,her literary creations,the literature review and the significance of the study.Chapter two introduces the theoretical basis of the thesis,and the relation between Sartre's theory and Rhys' s novels.Chapter three analyzes the two existential plights Antoinette encounters in an existentialist sense,fulfilling the ceremonies and being threatened bythe Other's look.Chapter four discusses how Antoinette is trying to get rid of the two existential problems and why she fails in the end.In the Chapter five,the author of the paper analyzes how Antoinette's reactions in the state of despair,and applauds for her efforts whenever there is not much hope.Her courage and perseverance from those actions are truly inspiring to others.Based on the above analysis,Chapter six concludes that the fundamental fact of human existence is human being shall act without hope,according to the example of Antoinette who is much more persevered in changing her destinies than the image created in Jane Eyre,...