The Loss And Reconstruction Of Identity In Wide Sargasso Sea And In The Castle Of My Skin

Identity, one of the main themes in post-colonial literature, has become a hot issue in post-colonial criticism. It may refer to racial identity, gender identity, religious identity, and national identity, etc. In the former British colonies, the loss and reconstruction of identity is almost always bound up with colonial rule, ideology, and the continuing effects of colonialism.West Indian colonization by the United Kingdom of Britain has already become a history, but the influence bears its mark in every aspect, which can be seen and sensed in Western Indian literature or Caribbean literature at large. Quite a few themes, one of which is identity, can be found in the works of Caribbean writers, regardless of their race and nationality.Jean Rhys (1890-1979), a Creole writer, wrote five novels, many short stories and letters throughout her life. Because of her Creole identity and life experience, alienation from self and isolation from the outside world feature largely in her fictions. Her masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea, the so-called prequel of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, will be taken as a study case in this thesis. Wide Sargasso Sea is, in many ways, the story of a Creole woman who is denied positive racial and gender identity because of her intermediate position in the colonial structure and the patriarchal oppression. Her final"madness"is, in effect, the manifestation of this denial. The thesis mainly deals with the protagonist Antoinette's loss of identity in the following aspects: First, the distortion of racial identity due to the continuing effects of colonialism; Second, the role name plays in the construction of identity; Third, the implied meaning of mirror image and its relation to self-constitution; Finally, the effects of imperial economy and law on identity. Through such a unique perspective, Wide Sargasso Sea aims to reveal and criticize the views of British colonialism and imperialism and at the same time depicts the social existence of women of all walks under patriarchal imperialism.George Lamming (1927--), another Caribbean writer, was born in Barbados. A...