Rhys, Jean

Rhys, Jean
orig. Ella Gwendolen Rees William

born Aug. 24, 1890, Roseau, Dominica, Windward Islands, West Indies
died May 14, 1979, Exeter, Devon, Eng.

Dominican-born British novelist.

Rhys left the West Indies for London to study acting at age 16. She later moved to Paris, where she was encouraged to write by Ford Madox Ford. She earned acclaim for short stories and novels set in the bohemian world of Europe in the 1920s and '30s, including Good Morning, Midnight (1939). After settling in Cornwall, she published nothing for nearly three decades before producing Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a memorable novel about Mr. Rochester's mad first wife in Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre (see Brontë sisters); and two story collections.

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▪ British writer
original name  Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams  
born Aug. 24, 1890, Roseau, Dominica, Windward Islands, West Indies
died May 14, 1979, Exeter, Devon, Eng.

      West Indian novelist who earned acclaim for her early works set in the bohemian world of Europe in the 1920s and '30s but who stopped writing for nearly three decades, until she wrote a successful novel set in the West Indies.

      The daughter of a Welsh doctor and a Creole mother, Rhys lived and was educated in Dominica until she went to London at the age of 16 and worked as an actress before moving to Paris. There she was encouraged to write by the English novelist Ford Madox Ford. Her first book, a collection of short stories, The Left Bank (1927), was followed by such novels as Postures (1928), After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1931), Voyage in the Dark (1934), and Good Morning, Midnight (1939).

      After moving to Cornwall she wrote nothing until her remarkably successful Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a novel that reconstructed the earlier life of the fictional character Antoinette Cosway, who was Mr. Rochester's mad first wife in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Tigers Are Better-Looking, with a Selection from the Left Bank (1968) and Sleep It Off Lady (1976), both short-story collections, followed. Smile Please, an unfinished autobiography, was published in 1979.

Additional Reading
Arnold Davidson, Jean Rhys (1985); Carole Angier, Jean Rhys (1990).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Rhys,Jean — Rhys (rēs), Jean. Originally Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams. 1894 1979. West Indian born British writer known for Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a novel based on the character of the first Mrs. Rochester in Charlotte Brontë s Jane Eyre. * * * …   Universalium

  • Rhys, Jean — orig. Ella Gwendolen Rees William (24 ago. 1890, Roseau, Dominica, Las Antillas 14 may. 1979, Exeter, Devon, Inglaterra). Novelista inglesa nacida en República Dominicana. Rhys dejó las Antillas y viajó a Londres para estudiar actuación a los 16… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Rhys, Jean — pseud. di Rees Williams, Ella Gwendolyn …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • RHYS (J.) — RHYS JEAN (1890 1979) Née à Roseau (Dominique), de mère créole et d’un père médecin anglais, Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams est devenue Jean Rhys après avoir utilisé plusieurs pseudonymes. Comme la plupart des écrivains antillais, elle a passé la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • jean — jeaned, adj. /jeen/ or, for 1, Brit. formerly /jayn/, n. 1. Sometimes, jeans. a sturdy twilled fabric, usually of cotton. 2. jeans, (used with a pl. v.) a. See blue jeans. b. pants of various fabrics, styled or constructed like blue jeans. Cf.… …   Universalium

  • Jean — Fr. /zhahonn/ for 1, 2; /jeen/ for 3, n. 1. born 1921, Grand Duke of Luxembourg since 1964. 2. a male given name, form of John. 3. a female given name. * * * (as used in expressions) Jean François Gravelet Jean Boulogne Jean Baptiste Poquelin… …   Universalium

  • jean — altjean o yin/alt (voz inglesa) ► masculino Pantalón de tela muy resistente, generlamente de color, con costuras vistas. También jeans o yins para referirse a una sola prenda. * * * (as used in expressions) Agassiz, (Jean) Louis (Rodolphe)… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jean Rhys — (eigentlich Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams) (* 24. August 1890 – möglicherweise auch 1894 – in Roseau auf Dominica; † 14. Mai 1979 in Exeter in England) war eine britisch koloniale Schriftstellerin. Rhys war die Tochter eines walisischen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jean Rhys — (Roseau, 24 de agosto de 1890 Exeter, 14 de mayo de 1979), cuyo nombre original era Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams, fue una novelista caribeña de la primera mitad del siglo XX. Sus primeras novelas fueron publicadas durante las décadas de los años… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Rhys — is a surname or (usually male) given name of Welsh Origin that translates to the word Ardour, meaning Eagerness, Love and Passion. It also exists in the Anglicised forms Rice, Rees, Reese and Reece.Rhys is the last name of: * Keidrych Rhys, Welsh …   Wikipedia

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