The problems of identity in Jeanette Winterson’s Why be happy when you could be normal? Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and The Passion

Abstract

This paper investigates identity problems following the life of Jeanette Winterson presented in her autobiography Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? and the characters of her works Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and The Passion. The article seeks answers mainly scrutinizing Freud’s accounts of conflict theory, childhood experiences, the significance of unconsciousness, and drives of libido, which find their reflection in the social, gender, and sexual identity inadequacies presented by Winterson. The discussion centers on the issue of the true self and the attempt at (re)stabilizing the self-image, whose construction is hindered by both personal indeterminacy and conformity to the norms standardized by the orthodox society. Literary analysis of chosen examples aims at regulating whether there is a possibility of (re)defining one’s own identity despite past influences.