Madness and Isolation in 'Wide Sargasso Sea' and 'The Great Gatsby'

Although the subjects, characters, events, and symbols are completely different, we see characters experiencing the same emotions in the novel "The Great Gatsby" written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and in the novel "Wide Sargasso Sea" written by Jean Rhys in 1966. In two of the novels, the main characters Antoinette and Jay fight a great psychological battle. Both authors reveal this psychological war with places, colors, intense emotions, and other characters. The madness and isolation that occurred after this psychological warfare completely take over the characters. From the very beginning of the two books, it is clear that these two emotions are dominant in the two characters.

In the novel "The Great Gatsby", we may first see the main character, Jay Gatsby, as a rich and happy man who organizes big parties at his gorgeous mansion. As the novel progresses and the character explains himself, we see how lonely he is and that he lives only for hope. This hope is to reunite with his love Daisy. A man who has completely isolated himself from the world and throws big glittering parties every night, right across the shore from Daisy's house that she shares with her husband, Tom, to attract the attention of his love. No matter how hopeful he is, his inability to reach his love and the sacrifices he makes for his love lead him to death. Gatsby's isolation is just emotional, not physical. In the novel, we always see so many people around him, but in his mind, none of these people mean anything to him. The biggest example of this is his mansion and the people who flock to his mansion for parties. We can also see this hope and loneliness in the “green light” symbol. It symbolizes his hope that he will be reunited with her, but on the other hand, it symbolizes how lonely and weak he is as much as this light. The other topic that the author wants to show in the book is the "American Dream". Gatsby's American Dream consists of reaching Daisy. Gatsby's devotion to this American dream, which caused his isolation and madness, can be explained as “Gatsby's gospel of hedonism is reflected in his house, wild parties, clothing, roadster, and particularly in his blatant wooing of another man's wife. Daisy, a rather soiled and cheapened figure, is Gatsby's ultimate goal in his concept of the American dream. However, he falls victim to his own preachings. He comes to believe himself omniscient -above the restrictions of society and morality. His presumption extends to a belief that he can even transcend the natural boundaries placed upon human beings. He will win back Daisy by recapturing the past” (Pearson 6). Nick Carraway, from whom we read the story, says the following about Gatsby's funeral: “Nobody came” (Fitzgerald 133). So, Gatsby's funeral is a reason that shows physically and tangibly how lonely he is. 

"Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys is a novel that tells the story of Bertha from "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë. It explains the background of Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's first wife who goes crazy. In the book, places are important for showing how “Antoinette Cosway” feels alone and falling apart. Her first isolation feeling starts with the fire at the Coulibri Estate. It represents Antoinette’s identity and heritage and her family bonds. With the fire, she loses them. A physical event damages the character emotionally. The Jamaican Landspace also represents her loneliness and being left alone with a chaotic mind. In the novel, nature, mountains, flowers, and the sky are all described with very intense colors and emotions. A nature that is so intense is like the inside of Antoinette's mind. It is a fact that she is isolated from the rest of the world, like this wild nature, but the thing that drives the character to madness is that she is isolated in this wild nature, she is left only with her wild mind. The feeling of isolation that begins with this fire at the beginning of the book may be a foreshadowing of the madness that caused the Thornfield fire at the end of the book and the fact that Antoinette inability to endure isolation any longer.

Antoinette's mother, Annette, and Mr. Rochester are the two characters that cause Antoinette to go crazy. When Antoinette was already a lonely child, she could have escaped with her mother from this madness. But in this novel, this is impossible, because Annette was already left alone and started to go crazy because of the events she experienced- such as losing her son, Pierre, in the fire- or because of other people in the place where she lived. The fact that she ignores Antoniette while fighting with such psychology may be the first reason for Antoinette's madness. Annette’s attitude on this issue can be explained as “The mother cannot reflect Antoinette. She has established her alliances clearly. It is Pierre's face that the mother mirrors and not Antoinette's, despite the male's handicap, while Antoinette is made to feel somehow inadequate, lacking” (Fayad 5). And the other big factor that pushed Antoinette into this madness for the rest of her life was her husband, Mr. Rochester. In a certain part of the novel, Mr. Rochester starts calling Antoinette as Bertha instead of her name. He has his reasons for doing so. He does not like the name Antoinette because it is similar to her mother's name, Annette. I see this name-changing as a metaphor. The reason he changed her name is not the similarity of names, but because her mother is crazy and he thinks her daughter is going to be the same. This name-changing is again a loss of identity for Antoniette. She is slowly starting to not recognize herself anymore. Just like her name, she is now turning into a different woman. To make Antoinette go crazy, the most monstrous thing Mr. Rochester does is lock her in a room. Staying in this room, alone with her wild mind and wild dreams, Antonitte is approaching the edge of madness. In the end, Antoinette is influenced by her dream and Rhys ends the novel with a fire like in Antoinette’s dream. 

When it comes to Gatsby’s madness, it is all because of his love for Daisy. Gatsby's propensity for madness stems from the fact that he is so obsessed with his past that while all the other characters in the novel live in the present, Gatsby constantly lives in the past. Even if he gets Daisy, the woman he gets will not be the woman he knew in the past, but a woman who has changed just like other people, Gatsby cannot see this fact because he is too obsessed with the past and his love. “’Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (Fitzgerald 85). Being so obsessed with the past leads a person to a very bad psychological and mental situation, and we see these in Gatsby in this novel. Although hope is a positive form of thought and feeling, for Gatsby this feeling is more than positivity, it brings him closer to madness. The fear of not being able to achieve this hope, and the feeling that nothing will be the same, are perhaps the problems that lie in the hidden corners of his mind. The only reason why he is so full of hope is that he feels helpless and has no shelter other than hope. He lives in a fantasy world created within his mind. A character who can no longer live with this reality because the things he wants are things he can't get in the real world. The reason why he dies tragically at the end of the novel is again his fault. If he had not taken responsibility for the car accident, if his eyes had not been so blind for his love, and if he had not lost himself so much mentally to madness, such a death would not have happened. “’Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves me.’” (Fitzgerald 100). This quote is one example of how much Gatsby denies the real world and clings to what he hopes for. At the same time, there is that anger and inability to handle the possibility that the woman he loves may love someone else. All these denials are the reason for Gatsby's madness. 

Fitzgerald helps us understand the characters' emotions and the reasons that they are trapped in madness in more detail with the narrative techniques he uses in "The Great Gatsby". From the point of view, he creates a character, Nick Carraway who is completely impartial and observes the events around him, and shows the facts to the readers. So, the novel has a first-person narration, it is explained as “Nick acts as both a witness and participant in quite a lot of important events through the whole story.” (Yan 609). There are also multiple flashbacks in the novel, which help us understand the events better and Gatsby’s mysterious past life. “The Great Gatsby has a fragmented structure, which appears as a modernist feature. Despite a somewhat chronological order, some flashbacks or embedded narratives appear to disturb the linear development of the narrative. That can be seen when Jordan tells Daisy and Jay’s story to Nick.” (Goublomme 31). We can also say that there is an irony used by the author in the novel for the American dream of Success because what is shown in the novel is that this dream is never achieved. This American Dream of Success symbolism is explained as “In the pursuit of dreams, Gatsby held a lavish banquet to meet with Daisy. This also represents the illusion of the American dream. In the desolate wilderness of Ashenvale, he regards illusion as the essence of pursuing dreams. The American dream is impossible to come true. Although he pursued his dream relentlessly, it was wiped out by the cruel society and eventually became a victim of an era.” (Yongping 1492). Another technique used by the author is symbolism, these symbols show us the underlying facts, for example, the green light, Gatsby’s mansion, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, East and West Egg, Valley of the Ashes, Gatsby’s boyhood schedule. Each of these symbols stands for a person, an event, and the emotions of the characters.

Rhys uses these techniques to write her novel "Wide Sargasso Sea". We have a different point of view here, it has a dual first-person narrative, in the different sections, the story is told sometimes by Antoinette and sometimes by Mr. Rochester. When we read the novel with the voices of these two characters, we also learn their origins, culture, and mindset of the characters, as explained here: “Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea lies between Rochester's England and Antoinette Cosway's island, between the opposite categories of colonizers and colonized, between the world of capitalism and post-Emancipation West Indies, and between privileged men and dependent women.” (Winterhalter 1). The novel has a non-linear structure, so it helps us know the characters’ past through flashbacks. Thanks to these flashbacks, we learn the reasons for the current situation of the characters, especially for Antoinette. There are two important irony in the novel, dramatic irony and situational irony. Rhys uses dramatic irony for Antoniette and the readers. We, readers, are aware of the fact that whatever Antoinette does, Mr. Rochester hates her, and his hatred grows ever greater. It is explained as “In depicting Antoinette‟s destiny, Antoinette struggles to have a love affair with her husband and she always try to improve their relationship. Antoinette doesn‟t expect that her husband will leave her in a locked room, while the reader knows about Rochester‟s feeling of hatred toward her. The reader is aware of the fact that Rochester just marries with Antoinette because of her wealth. So a reader is able to foresight the tragic destiny which awaits her while Antoinette never ever thinks of that.” (Eyvazi 163). The other irony is situational irony. In Antoniette’s words: “But Christophine, if he, my husband, could come to me one night. Once more. I would make him love me” (Rhys 102). Antoinette thinks that if Christophine makes a poisoned drink, it will work in Mr. Rochester for loving her and it is explained as “She uses this irony when Antoinette pleas a love potion from Christophine. When Antoinette gives that love potion to Rochester she hopes his love will increase but it never happens and ironically Rochester betrays her. … Rochester becomes hostile toward her and starts an affair with a servant named Amelie.” (Eyvazi 163). Rhys uses symbolism by showing places like Coulibri Estate, the Jamaican landscape, and Thornfield Hall because it is where Antoinette is locked by Mr. Rochester. The symbolism of Thornfield Hall is explained as “It is the symbol of Rochester’s wealth and patriarchal power. It can be compared to the patriarchal system that stifles Antoinette physically and spiritually. Confined in the dark and cold attic in Thornfield, Antoinette is situated in an insane and confused state, for she is unable to follow the passage of time and recognize the location. What is left in her mind are fragmentary episodes of the isolated visual images.” (Luo 1227). So these three places represent loneliness and madness for Antoinette at different periods.

These two characters have different periods and although they experience very different events, we see that both of them are destined to die at the end of the novel. It is the feelings of isolation and madness that lead these two characters, Jay and Antoinette, to death. Even though the events are different in the writing of these two novels, they have the same narrative technical titles. The only different thing is the reasons why the two characters are driven to madness. If I am going to compare two characters in a general way, Gatsby is a man who drives himself crazy. There is one person who affects him, his impossible love, but besides this, Gatsby also has his own mistakes for being mad. Still holding on to the past and trying to get Daisy is one of the mistakes he cannot see. On the other hand, Mr.Rochester is a big part of the reason why Antoinette goes completely mad. Here, we see the male oppression. Her husband is the one who changed Antoinette's name, cheated on her, and locked her in a room. So while Gatsby drove himself mad on his own, Antinette was forced to become mad.

Work Cited

Pearson, Roger L. Gatsby: False Prophet of the American Dream. National Council of Teachers of English, 1970.

Fayad, Mona. Unquiet Ghosts: The Struggle For Representation in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Wang, Yan. Discovering Nick: An Analysis of the Narrative Features in The Great Gatsby. David Publishing Company, 2022.

Goublomme, Florette. Echoes of War: Trauma and Ineffability in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender is the Night (1934). [Dial.mem Digital Master Thesis), 2021.

Yongping, Chen. American Dream: The Concrete Embodiment of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby. Francis Academic Press, UK, 2019.

Winterhalter, Teresa. Narrative Technique and the Rage for Order in "Wide Sargasso Sea". Ohio State University Press, 1994.

Eyvazi, Mojgan. Evaluation of Intertextuality and Irony in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea: A Postmodern Outlook. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 2014.

Luo, Li. A Symbolic Reading of Wide Sargasso Sea. Academy Publication, 2018.