Ontological Uncertainties of Identity in Angela Carter’s Night at the Circusand Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Abstract

This essay explores ontological uncertainties of subjectivity in Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. The novels address the question whether subjectivity is innate or constructed, or a combination of both? The main characters of these novels experience existential crises and question to what extent they are in control of their own subjectivity. Are they born into a pre-given identity or are they in control of shaping their identity according to free will? Or is identity perhaps a social construction indoctrinated by society? In my analysis of these novels I read subjectivity as a phenomenological problem and compare how the novels tally with and contrast to the philosophies of Judith Butler, Donald Hall and Georg Hegel. In conclusion, I advocate the idea of subjectivity as a paradox between a limited free will and a self-conscious inability to control external and internal pressures.