The Wide Sargasso SeaLocations take on symbolic meaning in the Wide Sargasso Sea. Discuss the way Jean Rhys uses different locations in the narrative. The location in 'The Wide Sargasso Sea' seems to be used to convey Antoinette's state of mind at different times in her life. Wally Look Lai believes that "The West Indian setting... is central to the novel... (and) the theme of rejected femininity is used symbolically to make an artistic statement about West Indian society and an aspect of 'West Indian experience'. In the first part of "The Wide Sargasso Sea", Coulibri and the convent of Spanish Town are presented as contrasts as they represent danger and safety respectively. Antoinette's mother describes how she feels "abandoned" in Coulibri, which could refer both to their geographic location and the fact that they live on an island, and to their position in society and the racial tension that exists within it. This racial tension between white Creoles and blacks stems from the fact that Creoles like the Cosways' ancestors had been slave owners, and emancipation had left these families virtually penniless and disrespected. Jane Miller argues that “a lonely woman…is always alone if dependent on men…and as vulnerable and weakened as the…stranger is vulnerable and weakened.” You therefore believe that Annette and Antoinette's isolation is due not only to the fact that they are foreigners, but also to the fact that they are women forced to depend on men, and I agree that this is partly what contributes to their isolation from the company. Antonietta always pays careful attention to her natural environment. They seem almost perfect as he uses the simile to com...... middle of paper ......ntoinette, but Anna Morgan, the heroine of "Journey into the Dark", who comes from England to the Caribbean and tells the his attempts to come to terms with his new life. A feminist would say that Antoinette primarily fights against the dictates of patriarchy. For example, it is Rochester who declares that Antoinette is "neither English nor European" and who also takes her away from her home in the West Indies and locks her in the attic of his home in England. However, Selma James believes that feminism and racial issues are parallel to each other. She thinks that "the female dilemma and female vulnerability towards men and in society at large are inseparable from West Indian concerns about race...", and I am inclined to agree with her, and I think that Jean Rhys uses location in the novel extremely effectively to convey this idea.