While the theme of the quest for identity is woven into the heart of both George Eliot’s Silas Marner (1861) and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), it is also clear that loss and destruction have significant roles to play in the texts. The characters are hit with the loss of their homes, their identities, their relationships, and their wealth, both due to their actions and the actions of others. Loss and destruction are particularly strong for Antoinette Mason in Rhys’ multi-vocal novel as she loses everything she loves and is constantly repressed by her unnamed husband. Through the sea of loss and destruction, the reader sees how the characters develop and discover their identities.
In both texts, the loss and destruction of the characters’ homes is a crucial factor to both the plot and the character development. In George Eliot’s- a pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans- Silas Marner, Silas loses his home in the village because of the actions of other people which links back to the destruction caused because of relationships, and eventually meets Eppie who has also lost her home-‘The mother’s dead, and I reckon it’s got no father: it’s a lone thing- and I’m a lone thing.’ The repetition of ‘long thing’ reinforces the theme of loss and encourages the reader to feel sympathy for what Silas and Eppie have lost. As argued by David Sonstroem, Marner views Eppie as ‘divine restitution’ for his original loss of wealth which links to a later point concerning Marner replacing his lost wealth with Eppie. By viewing Eppie in this way, he resolves his loss of wealth, companionship, and his home as through Eppie, he interacts more with Raveloe therefore gaining new relationships and a new sense of community. Kate Brown’s view supports this: ‘Silas's adoption of the orphaned child transports him from a temporal frame ('the intermittent and occasional') to a spatial one ('of Raveloe'), and his story is one of losses restored’ as many of the losses that occur in Marner’s life are restored by the end of the novel and in fact, he even gains more than he had lost such as the comfort of a child. This supports Brown’s view that Silas Marner is a ‘story of one of losses restored.’ as he gets a happy ending. Eliot’s focus on Marner’s queer family and how his loss is resolved through his adoption of Eppie could be because of her own queer family as she had two half-brothers from her father’s previous marriage.
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In contrast, Rhys does not allow Antoinette the comfort of her loss of home being restored as because of the imprisonment and mental abuse she suffers at the hands of her husband, she never views his home as her own. However, while Antoinette does not physically return to her previous home in the West Indies, she ‘calls ‘Tia!’ and jumps’ in her dream of burning down her husband’s home therefore she mentally returns home while also destroying her husband’s. This creates an equilibrium as he forces her to leave her home therefore she has destroyed his, supporting the view that Wide Sargasso Sea is a feminist and anti-colonial response to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1847) which involves Bertha Mason burning down Thornfield Hall. Rhys further demonstrates how characters lose their homes through the character of Christophine who loses her due to postcolonialism as she was a ‘wedding present’ from Antoinette’s father. (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, P.8) This loss of a familiar location could be due to Rhys’ racial struggles as Teresa F. O’Connell states that ‘Rhys, herself caught between places and cultures, classes and races, never able to identify clearly with one another, gives the same marginality to her heroines, so that they reflect the unique experience of dislocation of the white Creole woman…’. Overall, the loss of their home disrupts the characters on their quest for identity and potentially diverts them towards the path of destruction which is highlighted by Antoinette’s loss of stability as she is now in the clutches of her manipulative husband.
In addition, Antoinette’s implied destruction of her husband’s house symbolizes her rejection of the patriarchy and the destruction of the image of herself that she sees in the mirror. Through burning his home, she destroys her husband’s key assets for living such as land and wealth as during the 1800s, having land and a nice home was crucial for status. She also destroys the control both he and the patriarchy have over her as she takes control of her own life, makes her own decisions, and potentially chooses death to escape the bounds he has over her. While she is destroying herself by taking her own life, she is also setting herself free from the destruction of her mind which was caused by her husband. Interestingly, Cristina Pennisi argues that ‘The rejection of her Self, at this point, should not be interpreted as the destruction of the Self’. This supports Stephanie Coartney’s theory that ‘Antoinette finally forms a secure sense of self at the end of the novel, thus freeing her from the restrictive labels,’. While I agree with Coartney’s argument that Antoinette does destroy the bounds that have been forced on her through her death, I do disagree slightly with Pennisi as the implication of Antoinette’s suicide does involve her destroying herself, even if she is sure of her identity at the end.
While the loss is very prominent in Rhys’ postcolonial novel, Eliot’s character of Silas Marner is not exempt. His loss is described as so bad that it cannot be understood: ‘But even their experience may hardly enable them thoroughly to imagine what was the effect on a simple weaver like Silas Marner, when he left his own country and people,’ which demonstrates how Silas Marner is a story of loss and destruction, even though it ends with the loss and destruction being repaired. When considering the five key events of the novel- the betrayal, the theft of the gold, Eppie’s appearance, the return of the gold, and Godfrey’s attempt to claim Eppie- it is clear how the structure of the plot creates a cause-and-effect as without losing the gold, Silas may never have claimed Eppie. Furthermore, Eliot’s use of an omnipotent narrator reinforces the depth of Marner’s loss therefore making the reader feel more sympathy for him.
A crucial theme in Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea is the loss of identity through repression. This is shown through Antoinette’s unnamed husband robbing her of her name- ‘I think of you as Bertha,’- which he continues to call her despite her objections: ‘My name is not Bertha.’ (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, P.86). Li Luo argues that: ‘Without a name, she does not know what to call herself; without a face, she becomes a ghost,’ which reinforces how Antoinette loses her identity. This repression contributes to Antoinette’s destruction which is mentioned later in this essay as her husband is taking away a key part of her identity which could also refer to how colonizers stripped people of their roots and tried to force them to become a part of their society. The husband also refers to her as ‘Marionette,’ which connotes puppetry therefore objectifying her and illustrating her loss of power (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, P.99). In addition, while the first-person narrative is controlled by Antoinette for most of the text, she briefly loses control of it when her husband takes her to England which illustrates how Antoinette’s sense of identity is slipping away. The fact that he took her away from her family and her newfound home to move to England- aka his home- demonstrates how he contributes to her loss as Antoinette loses a familiar land which links back to the argument that Antoinette loses her home. This supports Li Luo’s interpretation that ‘Antoinette was lonely put in a mirrorless prison and Rochester exacerbates her feeling of disconnection and loss of herself.’
Antoinette also loses her power once she marries her husband, both spiritually and financially. As argued by Jennifer Gilchrist, her husband’s ‘desire to squash the erotic, feminine power of Antoinette’ is repeatedly shown, especially when he tramples on the orchids that he picked for Antoinette while comparing them to her. Through this, Rhys symbolizes the power her husband has and the power that Antoinette is losing.
In Silas Marner, Godfrey also loses his power over Eppie once Silas Marner takes her in. The relationship between Eppie and her birth father is destroyed even more when she rejects his claim for her- ‘Godfrey felt an irritation inevitable to almost all of us when we encounter an unexpected obstacle.’ (Eliot, Silas Marner, P.150) Godfrey is a key character in Eliot’s novel as Silas Marner is split into two plots: Silas’ loss and his redemption and Godfrey’s mistakes with his two wives. Geofrey’s two wives are parallel to Silas’ two loves (Eppie and Gold) yet while Silas’ losses are restored, Godfrey loses a wife and Eppie. This illustrates how literary texts are about loss and destruction as not all characters are allowed a happy ending where losses are restored.
Linking back to Antoinette losing power when she married her husband, she also loses power over her finances which is similar to Silas’ loss of gold in Silas Marner. While Antoinette’s loss is not unusual as in the nineteenth century, women handed over any finances they had when they married, it does contribute to her inevitable destruction and her loss of power as she has no means of escaping her husband.
Going back to Silas Marner, after the initial losses of his relationship, reputation, male relationships, and an albeit broken community but still a community all of the same, he loses the one new thing he holds dear: his money- ‘his gold was not there. Again, he put his trembling hands to his head, and gave a wild ringing scream.’ (Eliot, Silas Marner, P.38) The ‘wild ringing scream’ illustrates how much his gold meant to him therefore his loss is extremely significant to his destruction of character, specifically his inability to trust. As his gold had become his obsession: ‘[he] thought fondly of the guineas that were only half-earned by the work in his loom, as if they had been unborn children.’, this is shown to have briefly destroyed him and illustrates how a loss can impact a character’s identity. (Eliot, Silas Marner, P.38), (Eliot, Silas Marner, P.19) This quote ironically foreshadows the ending of the book as while Marner’s money is returned to him, he also gains a child therefore highlighting how Silas Marner is also a tale of losses restored.
Very early on in Eliot’s novel, Silas is hit with the loss and destruction of his previous community, specifically his loss of ‘intimate same-sex friendship’ as Frederik S. Roden states which potentially leads to his loss of faith as the loss occurs after the event. After being betrayed, Marner shuts himself off from God and the rest of the world, repeatedly refusing offers of friendship-’*quote*- which demonstrates how he has lost the comfort of companionship and is potentially damaging and destroying potential future bonds. This changes once Eppie is placed in his care as he becomes more open with the villagers, therefore the loss of companionship and community is restored.
This loss of companionship is also demonstrated in Wide Sargasso Sea as when Antoinette’s house burns down, killing her little brother, Antoinette turns to her friend Tia for help- ‘she was all that was left of my life as it had been,’- but Tia rejects her by throwing a stone: ‘I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face.’ (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, P.24) This is significant because it is the catalyst that begins the long journey of Antoinette’s destruction as she loses everything she loves in one night. Yet, Antoinette’s destruction is foreshadowed early in the book as children tease Antoinette, saying that she is ‘crazy like your mother,’ therefore it can be argued that her destruction was inevitable. (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, P.27) While Antoinette does find companionship in other women such as Christophine, she never fully regains that level of companionship. Linking back to an earlier point where Antoinette calls out to Tia in her dream, it is argued that she regains a part of companionship as she refers to her friend in what is assumed to be similar to her last moments but as Tia isn’t there and she is never shown to reaccept Antoinette, part of their friendship was still lost with the fire, alongside her home.
In conclusion, while literary texts do focus heavily on the protagonist’s quest for identity, it is also crucial to acknowledge how they primarily feature stories of loss and destruction. Throughout both Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea and George Eliot’s Silas Marner, the characters lose their identities, power, homes, and companionship. Even when these losses are resolved, we cannot ignore their significance or the destruction they have left behind for the characters such as Antoinette’s mental destruction. Loss and destruction contribute heavily to the characters’ quest for identity therefore it can be argued that while literary texts focus on the quest of identity, loss and destruction are significant factors in driving the stories forward.
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