Literature Matters

Literature Matters October 28, 2026

 

Literature Matters: Literature in the Community Series

Shame, Sex, and Work in Jean Rhys's Interwar Novels

A Public Talk by Department of English Ph.D. Graduate Megan Solberg

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

7:30 pm

Social Hall, Grace-Westminster United Church
505 10th St E, Saskatoon

Although Jean Rhys is best known for her 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea, a retelling of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre from the perspective of Brontë's "madwoman in the attic," Rhys began her career in the 1920s with four lesser known, yet still haunting novels. This talk will focus on a figure that would come to be known by critics as the "Rhys Woman" in each of these four novels. The protagonists in these novels are alone; they are unmarried and have been rejected by their families; they have no money; they have no home; they unsuccessfully work odd jobs; they drink too much; and though they rely on relationships with men they encounter in order to survive, these men are embarrassed to be seen with them and are quick to discard them.

As Good Morning, Midnight's Sasha is aware, she has "no pride, no name, no face, no country. I don’t belong anywhere,” and such a (lack of) identity emphasizes the shame of her liminal position. She is constantly aware that she has failed according to the rules of society, and yet she also knows that the existing system functions to prevent women’s mobility and constrain their agency. But Rhys's women, crucially, are not mere victims of shame in Rhys's novels; rather, they are granted agency through their ability to understand and use established social scripts to their advantage. They do not escape shame or achieve shamelessness through this approach, but instead they are able to exploit – and thus expose – the operations of gendered shame to survive amidst the social, political, and cultural changes occurring in 1920s-1930s Britain.

Free and open to the public
Sponsored by the Department of English
306-966-1268 | english.department@usask.ca

Reading, studying, and talking about literary works helps us to make sense of the world around us. Since 2012, the Department of English has sponsored its literature in the community series, Literature Matters, featuring talks about our research for the Saskatoon community. Presenters are members of the department, including professors, sessional lecturers, and graduate students. All events are held on Wednesdays between September and May at 7:30 p.m. in the social hall of Grace-Westminster United Church, 505-10th Street East, Saskatoon. Everyone is welcome.

For our upcoming lectures, please watch for our Facebook and front page event postings for more detailed day/time information or contact english.department@usask.ca.

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