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Chapter one
Born in late 19th century， Jean Rhys is known as a Dominica novelist. She is best-known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea which has seen as a “prequel” to Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece Jane Eyre.
The novel contains three parts. The first part introduces the hard life and unfortunate experience of Antoinette in her childhood in West-Indies. The second is about the relation between Antoinette and Rochester， and the sufferings of the heroin. The last part shows how Antoinette is treated after being taken to England and ends up into madness.
No matter how hard it is， s Antoinette is always brave enough to fight against reality and pursues happiness and social identity. This paper aims to use Lacan’s Psychoanalytic Criticism to analyze Antoinette’s sufferings and pursuits.
Chapter two
1. Antoinette in the imagery order
After birth， human is in the imagery order. During this time mother is the carrier and protector of the infant. She carries all the hopes， imagination and recognition of the infant. But to Antoinette， it can be said that her mother doesn’t play an active role in her childhood， even in her lifetime. She is abandoned by her mother.
When it comes to the mirror stage， by the mirror， people establish consciousness， that is， people’s realization of self. Losing the love of mother， Antoinette lacks the protector and guider to the new complicated world. So she can only pursue her identity by herself. But being a mix-blooded person in West Indians， she feels confused about her identity. Despite of race and politics， she still makes friends with Tia， who is a black girl. Antoinette thinks her as her best friend. However， finally， she is betrayed by Tia. So her first pursuit of self identity fails.
2. Antoinette in the symbolic order
After growing up， she enters into the symbolic order. Symbolic stage is full of miseries. Antoinette marries Rochester， aiming to find her identity in marriage， but her dream has been broken. There are three main reasons. First， Rochester doesn’t love her even believe her. He marries her only for her dowry. Second， in this period， Antoinette has to learn to accept the pre-determined “position” in such linguistic oppositions mainly as male/female. This is the realm of the law of the father and man. Third， Rochester， her husband， who lives and is educated in a patriarchal society， represents the symbol of father and power.
But even in this situation， Antoinette insists to pursuing her identity. After being kept in the attic， Antoinette still has the hope to find out who she is and finally return to be the unity with the image in the mirror. But as she has no power and money， even no freedom， her pursuit failed again.
3. Antoinette in the real order
Being tortured in the imagery order， Antoinette is deprived of rights of speaking; she is driven to be mad. Madness is the only way to go back to the real order， where there are things we have and don’t have in the material world. She understands how to find her identity. So finally she sets fire to Thornfield and ruins everything， and gets reborn. Antoinette dedicates to find her identity， and at last she succeeds in finding a way to pursue her identity， even at the cost of her life.
Chapter three
Living in a miserable age and place， Antoinette can’t find her identity in an easy way. She is always lost in the society relationship. But she insists in looking for her social identity no matter how hard it is. And finally she succeeds in her own way. Life and reality are always miserable， but Antoinette is brave enough to break the plight， and looking for her own way out， even at the cost of her life.
Born in late 19th century， Jean Rhys is known as a Dominica novelist. She is best-known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea which has seen as a “prequel” to Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece Jane Eyre.
The novel contains three parts. The first part introduces the hard life and unfortunate experience of Antoinette in her childhood in West-Indies. The second is about the relation between Antoinette and Rochester， and the sufferings of the heroin. The last part shows how Antoinette is treated after being taken to England and ends up into madness.
No matter how hard it is， s Antoinette is always brave enough to fight against reality and pursues happiness and social identity. This paper aims to use Lacan’s Psychoanalytic Criticism to analyze Antoinette’s sufferings and pursuits.
Chapter two
1. Antoinette in the imagery order
After birth， human is in the imagery order. During this time mother is the carrier and protector of the infant. She carries all the hopes， imagination and recognition of the infant. But to Antoinette， it can be said that her mother doesn’t play an active role in her childhood， even in her lifetime. She is abandoned by her mother.
When it comes to the mirror stage， by the mirror， people establish consciousness， that is， people’s realization of self. Losing the love of mother， Antoinette lacks the protector and guider to the new complicated world. So she can only pursue her identity by herself. But being a mix-blooded person in West Indians， she feels confused about her identity. Despite of race and politics， she still makes friends with Tia， who is a black girl. Antoinette thinks her as her best friend. However， finally， she is betrayed by Tia. So her first pursuit of self identity fails.
2. Antoinette in the symbolic order
After growing up， she enters into the symbolic order. Symbolic stage is full of miseries. Antoinette marries Rochester， aiming to find her identity in marriage， but her dream has been broken. There are three main reasons. First， Rochester doesn’t love her even believe her. He marries her only for her dowry. Second， in this period， Antoinette has to learn to accept the pre-determined “position” in such linguistic oppositions mainly as male/female. This is the realm of the law of the father and man. Third， Rochester， her husband， who lives and is educated in a patriarchal society， represents the symbol of father and power.
But even in this situation， Antoinette insists to pursuing her identity. After being kept in the attic， Antoinette still has the hope to find out who she is and finally return to be the unity with the image in the mirror. But as she has no power and money， even no freedom， her pursuit failed again.
3. Antoinette in the real order
Being tortured in the imagery order， Antoinette is deprived of rights of speaking; she is driven to be mad. Madness is the only way to go back to the real order， where there are things we have and don’t have in the material world. She understands how to find her identity. So finally she sets fire to Thornfield and ruins everything， and gets reborn. Antoinette dedicates to find her identity， and at last she succeeds in finding a way to pursue her identity， even at the cost of her life.
Chapter three
Living in a miserable age and place， Antoinette can’t find her identity in an easy way. She is always lost in the society relationship. But she insists in looking for her social identity no matter how hard it is. And finally she succeeds in her own way. Life and reality are always miserable， but Antoinette is brave enough to break the plight， and looking for her own way out， even at the cost of her life.