“I often wonder who I am and where do I belong”: Naming, Social Power, and Crises of Identity in the Novels of Jean Rhys

This thesis examines the impact of naming, nicknaming, and name-calling on identity construction by way of three Jean Rhys novels: Wide Sargasso Sea, Voyage in the Dark, and Good Morning, Midnight. Using various scholars of identity theory, I demonstrate how the act of naming is inherently connected to how we construct and verify numerous aspects of our identities––such as race, gender, and ethnicity. I argue that when used as a tool of oppressive social power, naming can inhibit an individual from categorizing themselves as a valid and working member of society, and also from internally self-verifying. This can often lead to a crisis of identity, loss of self, and severe psychological fragmentation. As Jean Rhys centers her novels on Creole women in settings of deep societal transition, I argue that the application of identity theory is an appropriate, and currently under-utilized, lens through which we can analyze the ostracization and marginalization of her protagonists. Using these concepts from identity theory, I establish two forms of identity-based naming within the novels of Rhys: cultural and gender-based. I demonstrate how social power-holders specifically target these facets of identity, by way of naming, to exclude and reject those they deem to be “other.” Ultimately, I conclude that by investigating Rhys’s use of naming via identity theory, we can better understand the internal and psychological mechanisms that drive the deep-rooted social exclusion and loss of selfhood present in her novels.