Beloved & Wide Sargasso Sea?!

My A level courseowrk title is 'Compare the presentation of the repression of women in both novels.' Im studying Beloved and Wide Sargasso Sea and don't realy know where to start.... Has anyone studied either of these books before? I can't find very much useful info on either and my first draft has to be in in a couple of weeks.

Can anyone please help?!

Thankyou
xxx

Reply 1

slk999

15

little ninja

My A level courseowrk title is 'Compare the presentation of the repression of women in both novels.' Im studying Beloved and Wide Sargasso Sea and don't realy know where to start.... Has anyone studied either of these books before? I can't find very much useful info on either and my first draft has to be in in a couple of weeks.

Can anyone please help?!

Thankyou
xxx

Well, I s'pose you could examine repression on different levels in Beloved- I've read this one. Of course at Sweet home, Sethe is repressed from having any relationship or freedom at all- yet paradoxically, the white sons of the owner can exploit her to whatever extent they wish. Also i would say that Beloved herself is repressed- she is trapped inside a woman's body and her baby antics are vehemntly alive- i.e. her breath smells of milk and she has a limited linguistic ability- she longs to be set free. Also Denver is repressed by being stuck at 124 for ages- she finally leaves the house and seeks refuge with the village- but the ghost of Beloved almost represses Denver into insanity- Denver is really affected by Beloved's presence, both when she's a ghost, and when she is personified (put into the woman). Also, I'd say that Amy Denver is quite repressed- she must live at sweet home and it is her bid for freedom that she helps deliver Sethe's baby. So basically, repression is the vehicle for events in the novel which present the characteristics of the characters.

does that make any sense??

Reply 2

Tyler Durden

17

I've read them both quite a long time ago. I think the repression in Beloved is pretty obvious - Sethe's an enslaved, black, female living under the rule of sadistic white men. You could analyse the ways in which different aspects of her character are repressed; she's repressed as a mother, as a woman, as someone black. Arguably the character of Beloved is the ultimate symbol of repression - ghosts in literature tend to be a sign of something hidden or repressed (look at the ghost of Hamlet's father for example). It's a bit Freudian really - the repressed memory manifests itself physically.

As for the Jean Rhyss, I don't remember it as well as Beloved, but again there are pretty clear themes running through the novel. Slavery - even though it's been abolished - is still leaving a mark on the characters. Annette and Antoinette both suffer some degree of repression in their relationships. I also remember there being a parrot somewhere in the book with clipped wings which could be read as a metaphor for the repression generally.

Reply 3

camilla16

1

englishstudent

I've read them both quite a long time ago. I think the repression in Beloved is pretty obvious - Sethe's an enslaved, black, female living under the rule of sadistic white men. You could analyse the ways in which different aspects of her character are repressed; she's repressed as a mother, as a woman, as someone black. Arguably the character of Beloved is the ultimate symbol of repression - ghosts in literature tend to be a sign of something hidden or repressed (look at the ghost of Hamlet's father for example). It's a bit Freudian really - the repressed memory manifests itself physically.

As for the Jean Rhyss, I don't remember it as well as Beloved, but again there are pretty clear themes running through the novel. Slavery - even though it's been abolished - is still leaving a mark on the characters. Annette and Antoinette both suffer some degree of repression in their relationships. I also remember there being a parrot somewhere in the book with clipped wings which could be read as a metaphor for the repression generally.

parrot - also mimicry mention that theme its too much ignored, omg how much did i hate wide sargasso sea though - we had a choice - woolf or rhys - of course i picked woolf but we have to do rhys for synoptic unit

just talk about the way in which Rochester's stream of consciousness is different to Antoinettes, the presentation of Amelie in comparison to Antoinette and the way they are both compared to animals. also mention social context - patriarchal society perhaps compare her presentation to jane eyre women

Beloved & Wide Sargasso Sea?!

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