Abstract
This thesis analyzes and discusses Jean Rhys s five novels: Quartet (1928), After Leaving Mr Mackenzie (1930), Voyage in the Dark (1934), Good Morning, Midnight (1939), and Wide Sargasso Sea (1966). I have explored the interdependence of money, beauty, sexuality, and identity in Jean Rhys s fiction to see how these factors relate to madness.
I have looked at the evolution of the main female characters throughout Jean Rhys s authorship and discussed the level of passivity in the heroines. The thesis also explores the relationships between men and women and discusses whether the main male characters can be seen as victims rather than villain-seducers. The aim of my thesis is to examine whether the Rhys woman in fact is a victim and who then victimizes her. I have tried to analyze the Rhys heroine s will and power to change the course of her own life and thus escape her miserable fate.