Identity And Trauma In Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, which serves as the prequel to Bronte's Jane Eyre, has got its due since its publication. Many critics have noticed the traumatic childhood of the heroine Antoinette and her identity crisis as well, but few have linked them together and probed into her self-realization from the perspective of trauma. In this regard, I would argue that Antoinette has experienced identity crisis which is epitomized in the traumatizing event of the fire accident in Coulibri and ultimately recovery from trauma by constructing a black identity.This thesis consists of three parts: Introduction, three chapters and Conclusion. Chapter one focuses on the cause of Antoinette's trauma, that is, her identity crisis, as well as the trauma itself. Chapter two concentrates on Antoinette's effort of getting over her trauma and her vulnerability which not only fail her in working through the trauma but also bring her retraumatization. Chapter three first analyses Antoinette's madness, and then reveals how Antoinette recovers from trauma. In the concluding part, compare Rhys's personal experience during her exile in England with Antoinette, drawing the conclusion that Rhys expresses her deep concern with the historical trauma of Creoles as epitomized in Antoinette and exposes an "unspeakable" history.