Wide Sargasso Sea Identity Essay

Throughout history, identity has gained the connotation of being one’s personality and behaviour. In Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, those that harbour an true identity of their own form a healthy mentality, whereas those that are deprived of possessing a true identity deteriorate mentally. The characters’ ability to form a healthy mental state is inhibited by their loss of self-identity, loss of racial identity and by gender interfering with their ability to embody a true identity. Therefore, the loss of identity acts as a catalyst for mental deterioration.
The loss of self-identity impedes on one’s ability to form a healthy mental state. Annette undoubtedly fails to provide Antoinette with the nurturing qualities expected of a mother. Instead, …show more content…
Rochester suppresses Antoinette by taking away her name, thus stripping away her self-identity. An individual’s name is crucial to one’s identity, and contributes greatly to forming one’s self. Rochester continually addresses Antoinette as ‘Bertha,’ and Antoinette contests her name change, “Bertha is not my name. You are trying to make me into someone else, calling me by another name. I know, that’s obeah too” (Rhys 95). Antoinette belongs to a repressive marriage in which she cannot maintain her self-identity due to Rochester depriving her of her real name. Similarly, when an individual becomes a slave, they are appointed with a slave name in which they must adhere to; thus stripping away their identity (Inscoe 527). Therefore, Antoinette’s incipient insanity is a result of her loss of self-identity through her repressive marriage. Furthermore, Rochester’s decision to remove Antoinette from all that she has loved, and forcing her to move to England strips her from her self-identity. Antoinette visits Christophine to inquire advice concerning her marriage, “She smelled too, of their smell, so warm and comforting to me. […] This is my place and this is where I belong and this is where I wish to stay” (Rhys 67). Antoinette comes to realization that Jamaica is where she belongs and it is the place where she psychologically feels loved and wanted. By removing Antoinette from an …show more content…
One’s identity is crucial in developing the self. Those that form a true identity of their own tend to develop a healthy mental state, whereas those that are constrained from forming a true identity typically deteriorate mentally. The loss of self-identity, loss of racial identity and gender playing a vital role in contributing to one’s loss of identity hinder an individual’s ability in forming a healthy mental state. Therefore, the failure to possess a true identity stimulates mental