Abstract

As Jean Rhys’s creative rewriting of Jean Eyre, Wide Sargesso Sea has drawn much critical attention since published in 1960s. The critical studies employed in the novel mainly include the intertextuality between Wide Sargasso Sea and Jean Eyre, postcolonialism and African Caribbean perspectives. This thesis explores the theme of “power and insanity” in Jean Rhys’s story Wide Sargasso Sea, from the perspective of Foucault’s theories about madness and power. Firstly, it centers on the nature of Antoinette’s madness to prove that her madness is not a kind of illness but the product of social civilization. Secondly, the thesis focuses on the cause of madness through the interactions of power and discourse, power and discipline as well as power and resistance, thereby pointing that Antoinette’s madness is produced by complex power mechanism. 

Key words: madness; power; Foucault; Wide Sargasso Sea

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

3. Normality or Madness-4

3.1 Foucault’s interpretation of madness-4

3.2 The nature of Antoinette’s mandess-5

4. Interpretation of Antoinette’s Madness from Power Perspective-7

4.1 Foucault’s power theory-7

4.2 The manipulation of power in Wide Sargasso Sea-8

5. Conclusion-13

Works Cited-14