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Allusions
Dialect
Explanation and Analysis—Creole:
Rhys uses a variety of dialects in the dialogue of Wide Sargasso Sea. The novel is set on two different islands in the West Indies and features characters from other parts of the region. The English spoken by the Cosway and Mason families, the nuns and girls at the convent, and the husband differs from the English spoken by the Black Caribbean characters. Additionally, the Black characters speak a range of creoles. Although it may seem as though the White and creole characters speak English in one way and the Black characters speak English in another, Rhys is attuned to the linguistic nuances that distinguish the speech of people from respective islands.
The variety of dialects in the novel is a legacy of European colonization of the Americas and the transatlantic slave trade. It also serves as a persistent reminder of the differences between Antoinette and the people around her. She was born in Jamaica and feels attached to her Black servants and friends, but she is the creole daughter of a White woman from Martinique and an English plantation owner. This is the basis of her alienation, which also informs the novel's title. The Sargasso Sea is a region in the northern Atlantic Ocean that is home to a kind of seaweed called sargassum. In the past, people believed that ships would get trapped in the sargassum, and the Sargasso Sea was therefore considered dangerous by seafarers. Although it's closer to the Caribbean than England, the Sargasso Sea is situated between Europe and the Americas, just like Antoinette.
Even the term "creole" contributes to confusion and ambiguities surrounding language and provenance. While it was originally a label for people like Antoinette—born in the colonies but of Anglo-European descent—it was increasingly used in the 19th century to describe the mixture of African and European culture, language, and food that existed in the West Indies. The day after their wedding, the husband watches his new wife and thinks to himself that she may be "creole of pure English descent," but that her eyes "are not English or European either." Antoinette's creole identity makes her trapped in her own metaphorical Sargasso Sea.
In the first part, which is set in Jamaica, the Black characters mostly speak a creole based on English. These characters include Godfrey and Myra, as well as the mob of people who drive the Cosways out of Coulibri. The bullies that follow Antoinette to the convent have the same dialect. Although Tia's mother Maillotte is "not a Jamaican," the reader can assume that Tia's dialect is similar to that of the other Black Jamaican characters.
In the second part, which is set in Dominica, the Black characters speak a creole that is more based on French. These characters include Hilda, Amélie, and Baptiste. Christophine originally comes from the French-speaking island of Martinique. In the exposition, Rhys emphasizes that Christophine's habits, culture, and language differ from the other Black characters around her. Reflecting on her multilingualism and attempts at assimilation, Antoinette explains that "though she could speak good English if she wanted to, and French as well as patois, she took care to talk as they talked." Despite Christophine's efforts, Antoinette recalls that "they would have nothing to do with her." This is part of what separates her from the other servants, but it is also part of what gives her a commanding presence. Although their situations differ greatly, this cultural and linguistic non-belonging may inform some of the mutual understanding between Antoinette and Christophine.
Related Themes:
