What is Identity?

"Identity (n.) the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another." This definition from the Random House Webster's dictionary is rather vague and provides very little insight on a working definition. In addition, there is no defining of oneself, or itself for that matter. For centuries, philosophers have been trying to find answers to these questions and more. Many times, their work and beliefs is evident in other work from their time period, mainly literature. Two works that provide excellent examples of the search for identity are The Golden Ass by Apuleius and Émile Zola's Thérése Raquin. Although one was written before the year 200 AD and the other before 1900 AD, both of these works share a similar idea of what identity really is. Identity, according to these works, is ever changing, has nothing to do with physicality, and involves several properties associated with a "mind". It also appears to have something to do with purity and evil. The reader can distinguish these ideas within the literature by looking for the following queries: the foundations of human identity, the stability of identity as a construct, and the degree physical appearance provide a crucial foundation for a stable identity. All of the components exist in both works, and are not too difficult to find.

The first topic to address is to figure out what makes up an identity. Obviously, morals and wisdom play an important part. In Apulieus' work, Lucius begins the story as a foolish and careless young man. His being turned into an ass clearly proves this, since he was warned many times to stay away from dark magic; "Take stringent precautions against the wicked arts and evil enhancements of the notorious Pamphile, the wife of Milo, who you say is your host." (Golden Ass, 21) Also, the presense of evil can starve an identity. Lucius learns about this from other characters, such as Thrasyllus. After Thrasyllus kills Tlepolemus on a hunting trip, Tlepolemus' spirit warns Charite of his murderer's intentions: "During this moratorium the shade of Tleplemus, so wretchedly slain, disturbed his wife's chaste sleep... 'provided that you do not accept the sacrilegious hand of Thrasyllus.'" (Golden Ass, 143-144) Once he warns his ex-spouse, she lures the treacherous man into a trap. Charite intoxicates Thrasyllus to the point that he can't defend himself, and then pokes out his eyes. To make matters even worse for the moral-less killer, the widow, Charite, tells the townspeople of his crime. He starves himself to death rather than face their wrath. Therefore, Thrasyllus loses who he was and evil engulfs him. In addition, he is punished with death for his lack of morals. And while he doesn't maintain the same identity throughout the book, his physical appearance proved to have nothing to do with it. While, I'll touch on this case later, Lucius shared the same "mind" as he did when he was a human being. And while Apuleius' work defends these ideas, a second source is needed to make it a creditable argument.

In his works, Zola appears to agree with Apuleis' belief involving evil. One major example of this is Camille. He is portrayed as an innocent weak child throughout his life: "Camille was then twenty, but his mother still coddled him like a little boy... Saved from death, Camille had grown up, but was left badly shaken by the repeated assaults of pain his body had sustained." (Thérése Raquin, 36-37) He maintains the same persona throughout the story. When his cousin/wife, Thérése, begins to desire Laurent, he is blind to the treachery that is going on and continues to love Laurent as a brother. When Laurent later paints a picture of a member in the family, he chooses Camille. Regardless of the reason why he painted it, Laurent's portrait of Camille comes out looking pallid and murky. Nevertheless, the model was honestly happy with the upshot. This suggests that he maintains the same identity. In the meanwhile, Thérése and Laurent each maintain an identity as well. However, their identities disintegrate instead of just changing. Laurent is a horny free loader, looking to live at other peoples' expenses. Thérése, in contrast, is a quiet non-assuming girl that exhibits no emotions on the outside. On the inside, that's another story. Zola wrote her character with incredible amounts of passion. However, she showed plenty of passion once Laurent forced himself upon her: "Her unsated body threw itself frantically into pleasure; she was emerging as from a dream, she was being born into passion." (Thérése Raquin, 64) These identities would not last for long, especially when their affair would cause them to kill Camille. When Laurent threw Camille into the river, Thérése passed out. However, she did allow him to kill her poor husband, an act of evil on both sides. This is where the only possible degree of physical appearance influencing identity takes place. After Thérése and Laurent are married, Camille returns to haunt them. He had upheld the same identity his entire life. Ironically, he causes the other two to completely lose theirs and lose their minds. The two adulterers completely lose their identities', they care about nobody and nothing, except for the pure fear of Camille's hideous shade, until they kill each other. So now that identity has been more or less characterized, its stability needs to be addressed.

Is identity a stable construct, or does it constantly fluctuate? While both choices are represented in these works, there is more evidence to support an ever changing identity. In The Golden Ass, Lucius is turned into an ass. And although he is changed physical form, to an animal no less, he maintains an identity that the reader can follow. For example, Lucius has feelings and thoughts of revenge immediately after he is turned into a donkey: "... I was now a perfect ass, a Lucius-turned-beast, I still preserved my human facilities and I gave long and serious thought to whether I should end the life of that nefarious and abominable woman ...." (Golden Ass, 54) Fortunately, reason came back to him and he decided against killing her. He still possessed what few morals he had before. Not to be out done, Zola presents a small argument himself for identity being static. The character Camille's identity is maintained throughout the work. Up on to the point at which he is drowned, he remains a model of innocence and integrity, regardless of his physical conditions. This may assist in explaining why he was able to maintain his identity while many other characters were not able to. While there is some evidence that identities are stable, there is an even larger amount of evidence that it is dynamic.

Laurent and Thérése are two characters in Thérése Raquin that not only have identities that change, but that completely disappear. When each is first introduced in the story, they are unique individuals that actually had very little in common. As mentioned before, Laurent was a lazy young man, willing to take advantage of others for his own benefit. In fact, he had gotten involved with the Raquin family only for the purpose of exploited them for his benefits: "... he was now the wife's lover, the husbands' friend and the mother's spoilt boy." (Thérése Raquin, 72) Thérése on the other hand was quiet on the outside, but passionate and lively on the inside. Yet, when Laurent was left alone with Thérése after he finished painting, there was something that existed between them. Now most likely, it was probably just "the heat of the moment," but those two took it to themselves to find a way to live together for the rest of their lives. This desire also involved getting rid of Camille permanently, for he was Thérése's wife. Immediately after, and even during, the murder of Camille, Thérése passed out and Laurent became obsessed with going to the morgue to find the body. During this time, they stopped being themselves and were slowly losing who they once were. Once he had found the body and the two murderers were married, they had more or less become the same identity-less character. They shared a painful life with the knowledge that they had each helped kill Camille and became terrified that he might come back. They no longer cared about each other; in fact, they despised each other's company after the marriage. They had lost themselves completely. On the other hand, Lucius changed his identity for the better. In the beginning of The Golden Ass, Lucius doesn't know what's good for him, especially when it comes to magic. After he is transformed into his animal state, Lucius is forced to endure numerous beatings, learn about the poor quality of lower caste living, and perhaps the most important, gain wisdom from his experiences. Once set to work at the mill, things really begin to click for Lucius: "Great heavens, what poor specimens of humanity the men were! Their entire bodies formed a pattern of livid bruises... letters branded on their foreheads... I gained a knowledge of many things...". After his experience in the Baker's mills, he accepts the god Isis' agreement that he join a religious brotherhood. Lucius eventually ends up an upper level member of a religious group for each of two gods. He had changed his personality since the beginning of the tale. He had become wiser and less of a fool. Lucius stayed away from the dark acts of magic and ventured towards the safety of religion. Therefore, his identity was dynamic and not a stable construct.

There are many questions surrounding the concept of identity that people have been looking at for ages. What exactly is identity, does physical appearance have any affect, and is it a stable construct are three such questions. Using evidence from The Golden Ass by Apuleius and Émile Zola's Thérése Raquin, possible answers to these questions become apparent. For example, identity is represented as ever changing with the growth in wisdom and morality within the character. Also, physical appearance has nothing to do with that character themselves, according to some of the text found in these books. And while this definition differs from the one found in Webster's dictionary, it is a fully creditable argument. After all, isn't that what philosophers spend their lives looking for, creditable justifications about the mysteries of life?

Random House Webster's College Dictionary, page 655.
Apuleius. The Golden Ass, pages 21, 54, 143-144.
Émile Zola. Thérése Raquin, pages 36-37, 64, 72.