A Psychological Study Of Traumatic Effects Of White Beauty On Female Characters In Morrison’s Novels

Abstract

The study is based on the psychoanalytical exploration of the female characters in Morrison’s two celebrated novels Jazz and The Bluest Eye. The study focuses on exploring how the myth of white beauty is a traumatic experience for the black women and how do the issues of white beauty and gender discrimination contribute to the wretchedness of black women and cast depreciating effects on their psyche. The conceptual framework employed in the study is Freud’s psychoanalytical theory of repressed unconscious which resultantly cultivates psychological problems in individuals. The theory has been applied on the texts to throw light on the effects of unconsciously suppressed memories and emotions on the psyche of Pecola and Dorcas. This study concludes by highlighting the anxious existence of the black women in the white community.