The Interpretation Of The "Constructed" Mad Woman In Wide Sargasso Sea From The Perspective Of Foucault’s Madness Theory

As Jean Rhys’ s masterpiece,Wide Sargasso Sea is mainly about the tragic fate of the heroine Antoinette,the madwoman in the attic who finally meets her doom at the end of the novel.This thesis will apply Foucault’s madness theory to analyze the causes of Antoinette’s madness from two perspectives.Based on Foucault’s interpretation of madness,this thesis intends to prove that Antoinette is not born a madwoman,but she is driven mad instead.This thesis points out that the colonial culture does exert a great influence on Antoinette.Under the colonial background,Antoinette lives a hard life between the local blacks and the pure whites because of her complex identity as a white Creole.She struggles to live and is always haunted by the sense of belonging that she pursues throughout her life.The long history of colonization casts a shadow on Antoinette’s psychology and exerts a great influence on her later life.In addition,patriarchal culture is another cause of Antoinette’s madness.Antoinette tries hard to live in the patriarchal society.She endeavors to please her husband who is the representation of the patriarchy,but is ultimately betrayed and abandoned by him.She suffers much from the patriarchy and cannot escape from its domination.It is the constant oppression of the patriarchy that eventually drives her mad and causes her tragedy.Thus,this thesis will mainly focus on the analysis of how colonial culture and patriarchal culture construct Antoinette’s madness step by step.Based on the analysis,this thesis further concludes that under the great oppression of the two cultures,Antoinette is so helpless and desperate that she has to resist fiercely even at the cost of her own life.To some extent,Antoinette’s madness can be regarded as the resistance to the patriarchy and her self-destruction can be interpreted as the means of self-salvation.