Wide Sargasso Sea

by

Jean Rhys

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Though never named in the novel, Antoinette Cosway’s husband is understood to be Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester, an English gentleman. The husband is deeply disoriented, even disturbed, by the Jamaican landscape and culture, and sees Antoinette as emblematic of both. Though he experiences a short period of passion with Antoinette during their honeymoon, his feelings of distrust and animosity eventually outweigh his love, so that he ends up imprisoning her in the attic of his English manor.

The Husband Quotes in Wide Sargasso Sea

The Wide Sargasso Sea quotes below are all either spoken by The Husband or refer to The Husband. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Otherness and Alienation Theme Icon
).
Part 2 Quotes

This a very wild place — not civilized. Why you come here?

Related Characters: The Young Bull (speaker), The Husband
Related Symbols: The Natural Landscape: Gardens, Jungle, Trees
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:

If she were taller, one of these strapping women dressed up to the nines, I might be afraid of her.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker), Antoinette Cosway
Related Symbols: Clothing and Hair
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:

As for my confused impressions they will never be written. There are blanks in my mind that cannot be filled up.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker)
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

I take up my pen after long thought and meditation but in the end the truth is better than a lie...you have been shamefully deceived by the Mason family...That girl she look you straight in the eye and talk sweet talk and it’s lies she tell you. Lies.

Related Characters: Daniel Cosway (speaker), Antoinette Cosway, The Husband
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:

These people are very vulnerable. How old was I when I learned to hide how I felt? A very small boy.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker)
Page Number: 103
Explanation and Analysis:

But I cannot go. He is my husband after all.

Related Characters: Antoinette Cosway (speaker), The Husband
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:

I was tired of these people. I disliked their laughter and their tears, their flattery and envy, conceit and deceit. And I hated the place. I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and loveliness.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker), Antoinette Cosway
Related Symbols: The Natural Landscape: Gardens, Jungle, Trees
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Husband Quotes in Wide Sargasso Sea

The Wide Sargasso Sea quotes below are all either spoken by The Husband or refer to The Husband. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Otherness and Alienation Theme Icon
).
Part 2 Quotes

This a very wild place — not civilized. Why you come here?

Related Characters: The Young Bull (speaker), The Husband
Related Symbols: The Natural Landscape: Gardens, Jungle, Trees
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:

If she were taller, one of these strapping women dressed up to the nines, I might be afraid of her.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker), Antoinette Cosway
Related Symbols: Clothing and Hair
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:

As for my confused impressions they will never be written. There are blanks in my mind that cannot be filled up.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker)
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

I take up my pen after long thought and meditation but in the end the truth is better than a lie...you have been shamefully deceived by the Mason family...That girl she look you straight in the eye and talk sweet talk and it’s lies she tell you. Lies.

Related Characters: Daniel Cosway (speaker), Antoinette Cosway, The Husband
Page Number: 95
Explanation and Analysis:

These people are very vulnerable. How old was I when I learned to hide how I felt? A very small boy.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker)
Page Number: 103
Explanation and Analysis:

But I cannot go. He is my husband after all.

Related Characters: Antoinette Cosway (speaker), The Husband
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:

I was tired of these people. I disliked their laughter and their tears, their flattery and envy, conceit and deceit. And I hated the place. I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and loveliness.

Related Characters: The Husband (speaker), Antoinette Cosway
Related Symbols: The Natural Landscape: Gardens, Jungle, Trees
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis: