Of Flesh and Stone: An Ovidian Reading of Wide Sargasso Sea Anonymous College

In Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, there is a shift in Part Two of the novel as Antoinette’s narrative voice is traded for that of her unnamed husband, presumably Mr. Rochester of Jane Eyre. As he chronicles the events of their honeymoon leading up to Antoinette’s confinement in the attic of Thornfield Hall, there is a distinct change in his perception of his new wife, in which indifference gives way to lust, which gives way to suspicion, before completely surrendering to paranoia. To formulate an analytical understanding of these moments of transformation and transfiguration, I will reference Ovid’s tale of Pygmalion—specifically, the animation and the naming of his statue Galatea—as the foundation upon which my analysis of Wide Sargasso Sea will be built. In comparing the two texts, I aim to answer the following question: How does an Ovidian reading of Wide Sargasso Sea impact its depictions of language, power, and narrative?

Edith Hamilton’s rendition of “Pygmalion” presents Galatea’s animation as a miracle so unbelievable that sculptor briefly doubts his own reality: “Was it self-deception or did she really feel warm to his touch? … Venus, he thought. This is the goddess’s doing” (Hamilton 9). Yet, beneath the initial shock...