Divided Self in Jean Rhys’ Voyage in the Dark

Abstract

This paper discusses the problems of identity, time and place in Jean Rhys’ 1934 novel, Voyage in the Dark. It analyses Rhys’ aesthetics concerns in the creation of a subjective construction of the imperial metropole and the colonial space. In doing, this paper suggests how Rhys builds a bridge between contemporary modernist narrative techniques and a preceding Post-colonial perspective. The constant juxtaposition of time and place makes of Rhys’ protagonist, Anna Morgan, an elusive self. By means of this fragmented self, the author aims to reformulate colonial power relations and raise crucial questions about discourses of gender and national identity. As a result, this paper engages in a Post-colonial thought, arguing how issues about gender and race issues are articulated in Rhys’ novel. Rhys creates the subjectivity of a marginalized woman showing the effects of colonization and creating a metropolitan female identity based on fragmented and juxtaposed memories.