Names are
identifying characteristics that influence how people see you and
how you see yourself. Names are peoples identities, without them,
loss of self and identity are inevitable. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean
Rhys continues Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre and the motif of names
is present in both. Rhys uses it in a more complex and apparent
way. Rhys uses names to convey the loss of identity in Antoinette
and the invading anonymous character of, who we assume is, Mr.
Rochester.
Changing your name, as in
marriageor
nicknames, can redefine you, but in Antoinettes case, her
redefinition is bad. She starts out as Antoinette Cosway, but
through her
mothers
marriage to Mr. Mason, and then her Marriage to Mr. Rochester her
surname changes significantly. If she had married Sandi Cosway,
she would not have lost either of her names, for she and he carry
the same
familyname
(Drake 199). In changing her surname, she loses her connection to
her family and this creates a loss of self. People are very
connected to their family, Antoinette is no different. She views
her family as a connection of herself and in losing her name she
also loses her family. She is the sole survivor of her family and
in losing her name she loses that connection to her parents. She is
repeatedly compared to her
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Names matter,
like when he wouldnt call me Antoinette, and I saw Antoinette
drifting out the window with her scents, her pretty clothes and her
looking glass (Rhys 106-107). Being Antoinette was all she knew
and when Mr Rochester decided to start calling her Bertha instead,
Antoinette became lost and she didnt know how to find herself
within that. Being called a name that you dont identify with is
confusing and feels like an insult to someones identity.
Antoinettes name was a variation of her mothers and in changing
her name, she loses her connection to her
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