Reconstructing Identity from the Margin: Ambivalence in Eugene O'Neil's play: The Emperor Jones

Abstract

The paper seeks to explore, from a post-colonial perspective, the issues of ‘ambivalence’ as adapted into colonial discourse theory by Homi K. Bhabha, perceived in the protagonist Jones in Eugene O'Neil's play: The Emperor Jones. The study attempts to place the subjectivity of the central character, which is apparently and temporarily in the centre of the hegemonic circle, in the margins of it where it actually belongs. It surveys the problems of cultural appropriation as well as ghettoisation relevant to both Jones and Smithers, the only two characters with individual identity in the play. The paper finally looks into the complexities of the psyche of Jones as a representative of them, face to face with history and unable to escape from the trappings of a colonial past.