Abstract:

This article offers a postcolonial ecofeminist analysis of Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), exploring the interconnected legacies of colonialism, environmental degradation, and gender oppression within the text. From the postcolonial ecofeminist perspective, the novel critiques and deconstructs the binaries of man/woman, culture/nature, Eurocentrism/otherness, and colonizer/colonized. The focus lies on the portrayal of women and nature as "the other" in the colonized landscape. It delves into the socially and historically constructed link between the domination of both nature and women, influenced by Eurocentric patriarchal ideologies. In Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys probes the notion of identity within the frameworks of feminism and postcolonialism, emphasizing the intersection of identity with nature. Nature, portrayed as a significant character, is interconnected with other characters and lends depth to the narrative. Detailed descriptions of the natural world serve as mirrors reflecting characters' assumptions about race and gender, offering insights into their emotional and mental states. This portrayal of nature plays a pivotal role in comprehending the subjugation and colonization of women. The novel, following the character of Antoinette, reimagined from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, underscores the excessive desires of patriarchy to control women. These desires symbolize the imperialists' struggle to maintain economic and legal dominance over the West Indies and women. The novel underscores these dominating motives through the lens of women and nature, ultimately highlighting the consequences of patriarchal society and colonialism: the domination of women and the degradation of nature.

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