Madness as Subversion: Decolonizing the Doubly Colonized Female Self in Wide Sargasso Sea

Abstract

This research seeks to investigate the language of female madness as the central trope of the decolonizing struggle against double colonization. Rhys’ female protagonist in Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette, is alienated and deprived of her original identity in race and class. The hegemonic process of colonial patriarchy embedded in the victimization of the female subject objectifies her through her double marginalization at the hands of colonial apparatus and patriarchy. Her decolonizing outburst against double colonization, when expressed through an unconventional language, is viewed as an act of madness by the society. This research routes its argument through the so-called sanity of a societal structure rooted in the dispensation of colonial atrocity which, as a consequence, gives rise to mental imbalance (madness) of the female protagonist. This study, located in the qualitative paradigm, develops its methodology on the qualitative grounds with an interpretive and exploratory design. It uses textual analysis as research method and deploys theoretical support from Postcolonial Feminism with a focus on ‘decolonization’ and ‘double colonization.’