English Essay Proposal

This essay explores the narrative techniques used in Jean Rhys' novel 'Good Morning Midnight' to depict the dynamic between the inner and outer worlds of the characters. The essay argues that the theme of alienation and desolation is a result of the past life experiences of the main protagonist of the story.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY PROPOSAL
English Essay Proposal
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1ENGLISH ESSAY PROPOSAL
Q: Drawing on relevant literary theories, identify narrative techniques (like stream of
consciousness, framing devices, etc) in the primary texts we’ve studied this semester to
explore the dynamic between the inner and outer worlds of the characters.
Jean Rhys tells the stories through the prism light of her own consciousness. The
novel “Good Morning Midnight” was written in 1939 , and is a masterpiece creation of hers.
It is a terrifying novel which narrates the story of Sasha Jansen, who has arrived to Paris with
the borrowed money, so that she could relive and recapture the happiness and purge the pain
that she received in her previous life. In the story, the author explores a different kind of
claustrophobic environment that Sasha is in (Zemgulys).
 The main argument that this essay proposes include that the theme of
alienation and desolation is a result of the past life experiences of the main
protagonist of the story.
The novel very efficiently explores the themes of the male abandonment, patriarchy,
alienation as well as the contrast in the views of both the male and the female. She has been
suffering in an environment of exile in the past. Her past life had been filled with the
memories of extreme poverty, pain and betrayal. The past makes its way through the present
and she reflects the feeling of solitude and loneliness. The character of was both trivial as
well as realistic, since he cares deeply about nothing (Dell’Amico). She says, “Yes, I am sad,
sad as a circus-lioness, sad as an eagle without wings, sad as a violin with only one string and
that one broken, sad as a woman who is growing old. Sad, sad, sad...” (Carr).
Jean Rhys is not essentially a feminist, and her female characters are not exactly
angry or rebellious. They are generally unhappy dealing with pain and are helpless. However
the character of Sasha is someone who is willing to accept comedies and also can find the
humour in the most bitter memories as well as humiliating encounters. Sasha had been in a

2ENGLISH ESSAY PROPOSAL
bitter marriage and this had been taking a toll on the past life. Her concept of marriage was in
sharp contrast to the idea of sexual fidelity of her husband. The naïve character of the main
protagonist of the story compelled her to have a blind trust over everyone. Thus throughout
the novel the concept of alienation from men is evident. The main protagonist says, “Now I
no longer wish to be loved, beautiful, happy or successful. I want one thing and one
thing only - to be left alone” (Carr). The novel on the other hand can be interpreted
through the theory of modernism. Sasha’s thoughts continuously shifted between the past and
the present, thus making the narrative relate to events in patchwork, and a nonlinear manner.
This clearly reflects the modern philosophy. Where the memories do not have a linear
chronology, but shifts its pivot continuously between the past and the present (Zimmerman).
The title itself is a paradox (Carr). The novel ends in an open ending, where the
ambivalence of the protagonist’s consciousness is restated. The author effectively portrays
the theme of desolation mixed with dark humour, but what remains and lingers on is
hopelessness. The novel is all about the people of the world who are dispossessed, powerless,
and helpless as well as the damaged. In accordance with there is the presence of the people
who damage. Thus the novel deals with the feelings of a woman who is vulnerable,
depressed, lonely and desperate due to the aftermath of the two World Wars.

3ENGLISH ESSAY PROPOSAL
Works Cited:
Carr, Helen. Jean Rhys. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Dell'Amico, Carol. Colonialism and the modernist moment in the early novels of Jean
Rhys. Routledge, 2013.
Zemgulys, Andrea. "Menu, Memento, Souvenir: Suffering and Social Imagination in
Good Morning, Midnight." Rhys Matters. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2013. 21-
39.
Zimmerman, Emma. "“Always the same stairs, always the same room”: The Uncanny
Architecture of Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight." jml: Journal of Modern
Literature 38, no. 4 (2015): 74-92.