The Sargasso Sea

After finishing Wide Sargasso Sea, I thought it would be interesting to do a little research on the name and to figure out why Jean Rhys may have chosen it. So, the Sargasso Sea is located in the North Atlantic and is seen as a very mysterious and unique creation of nature. It has no shores, so it is only bound ocean currents on all sides. To its west is the Gulf Stream Current, to its east is the Canary Current, on its northern side is the North Atlantic Current, and on its southern side is the North Atlantic Equatorial Current.

The sea area is strangely warm with stable weather conditions and calm and weak winds. Another way it sticks out is how it was named. The water area is covered with a dense seaweed that thickly forms on the surface. The free floating golden-brown seaweed is known as Sargassum. Although the sea remains relatively calm with its surrounding currents, a subtropical gyre constantly forms, and so the entire sea, with its seaweed and all, slowly rotates clockwise. The seaweed itself isn’t blown into this area from the surrounding water currents (which would presumably carry them from surrounding shores), rather they are actually native to this area and grow hundreds of miles away from the shores. Even a bunch of trash and marine plants drift into the Sargasso Sea from nearby ocean areas and become embedded in these weeds. Once they move into the area, it is unlikely that they won’t ever be able to move out due to the nature of the currents on all sides.

Many sailing vessels that try to pass through this area sometimes become virtually motionless due to the exceptionally weak and calm winds, along with the thick seaweed bed that covers almost the entire sea area. The Sargasso Sea is also known as the “Horse Latitudes” because, when it caused Spanish ships to become stranded for weeks, they often had to throw away their horses overboard in order to save drinking water.

But, despite its strange nature, the Sargasso is seen to play a huge role in the wider North Atlantic ecosystem. The dense mat of seaweed is home to many fish, turtles, and other types of marine life. The American and European eels come and use the weeds as their breeding ground. Young Sea Turtles use the ocean currents to travel to the mat of weeds to get a cover from their predators and return once they become mature. It also serves as food for Wahoo, Tuna, and other types of fish. It is even used as a great place for migrating humpback whales to forage for food. So, even though the Sargasso can be seen as a huge, almost impossible, obstacle to overcome in one’s voyage, it is also an important sea area because of the resources it provides for many marine life.

I know Mr. Mitchell stated this in class, but I can definitely see the reasoning behind choosing the name Wide Sargasso Sea for Jean Rhys’ novel. Like the Sargasso Sea, the cross from English culture to Jamaica is a huge leap; one that many are unable to cross. It could be argued that Rochester’s and Antoinette’s relationship was like the Sargasso Sea; huge strips of dense seaweed separated their lifestyles, cultures, and mannerisms. In my view, it seems as though these two were suffering, having been caught in the seaweed, and so Rochester, in order to seemingly save himself, threw Antoinette overboard (like the horses) to make it through the sea and carry on a new life. (And then of course locked her up in his attic for good measure...).