The Natural World in 'Dolly' and 'Wide Sargasso Sea' Abi Bacon College

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and Dolly by Susan Hill both show connections between humans and the natural world. Rhys presents the rich landscape of postcolonial Jamaica to be difficult to harmonise with yet as able to provide comfort, which is mirrored through the feelings and emotions of humans; Rochester and Antoinette. In a review of the book, Victoria Walker states ‘Rhys’s […] ambiguous portrait of the Caribbean is rendered through Antoinette’s conflicting feelings towards her homeland[1]’. Additionally; the title itself suggests an intimate relationship with the natural world, and as the vast North Atlantic Ocean is initially what divides Antoinette and Rochester. The natural world is a reminder of the different cultures that Antoinette and Rochester grew up in, and as the novel progresses Rhys uses the relationships both characters hold with nature to demonstrate their incompatibility as a couple. Similarly, Susan Hill reveals the darkness of nature in her novel Dolly. Repression is used as a typical gothic feature to demonstrate this; both through Leonora’s repressed anger triggered by her temperamental upbringing, and by the physical repression of Dolly who is buried in a box beneath the earth. Hill uses aspects of...