This paper analyzes Maria Velasco’s play Save Yourself from the Beauties I Wished for You through the intersecting lenses of postcolonial identity and psychoanalysis, exploring how the colonial past of the West continues to shape personal identity construction. The protagonist, Maria, struggles with inherited guilt stemming from Europe’s colonial history and attempts to align herself with the oppressed. However, in doing so, she inadvertently reproduces the very colonial structures she seeks to reject. Her relationship with her Senegalese lover, Pap, reflects the power imbalance between the colonizer and the colonized, while her emotional bond with her father deepens her identity crisis. This study brings together postcolonial theory, psychoanalytic interpretations, and feminist perspectives to discuss the paradoxes of self definition in a postcolonial world.

Postcolonial identity is inherently shaped by historical power imbalances. Colonialism imposed a system of hierarchy in which both the colonizer and the colonized defined themselves in opposition to each other. Although Maria consciously rejects colonialist narratives, she cannot escape their ideological framework. Her relationship with Pap is not a partnership of equals but a mechanism of self redemption, reflecting her desire to atone for the sins of European colonial history. She perceives Africa as a space of authenticity and resistance to Western hegemony, yet her fascination with it stems from the same exoticizing gaze that colonial discourse historically imposed on the non European world.

The play critiques the concept of “white liberal guilt” by revealing the contradictions in Maria’s self perception. She believes she is an ally of the oppressed, but her actions suggest otherwise. She treats Pap not as an autonomous individual but as a symbolic figure, reinforcing a colonialist dynamic where the oppressed become tools for the moral purification of the privileged. Pap, however, refuses to conform to her expectations. His resistance exposes Maria’s struggle to engage with him outside of her ideological framework, highlighting how even progressive intentions can reinforce hierarchical structures.

Maria’s relationship with her father adds another dimension to her identity crisis. As a figure who embodies colonial ideology, her father represents everything she intellectually opposes. Yet, despite rejecting his worldview, Maria is emotionally dependent on him, illustrating the tension between inherited privilege and political awareness. Her father, a hunter and an advocate of hierarchical power, symbolizes the European colonial mindset. Though Maria condemns his beliefs, she finds herself instinctively defending him against external criticism, revealing the subcon scious hold of inherited ideologies. This contradiction underscores the difficulty of completely breaking away from the structures that shape one’s identity.

Maria’s struggle reflects the broader dilemma of postcolonial subjectivity. Her attempt to construct a morally righteous identity leads to an endless cycle of guilt and self doubt, resulting in what can be called a crisis of identity. Drawing from Sigmund Freud’s Mourning and Melancholia, this study argues that Maria experiences melancholia linked to Europe’s colonial past. She mourns a lost innocence she believes can never be regained and seeks redemption through her relationship with Pap, despite recognizing its inherent contradictions. Her behavior aligns with bell hooks’ critique of white liberal guilt, which suggests that many well intentioned individuals attempt to reconcile their historical privilege through performative acts of allyship rather than engaging in systemic change. Maria embodies this dilemma; her efforts to define herself through her association with the oppressed ultimately reinforce the same power structures she claims to reject.

Velasco’s play challenges the notion that identity can be constructed solely through political correctness. Maria’s identity crisis demonstrates that inherited privilege and historical guilt cannot simply be erased by adopting progressive values. Instead, they continue to shape self perception in ways that often remain unexamined. By attempting to free herself from colonial legacies, Maria becomes trapped in a performative cycle, preventing her from establishing an authentic sense of self. Her love for Pap is overshadowed by her need for moral validation, and her ideological rejection of her father is undermined by her emotional ties to him. These contradictions prevent her from fully inhabiting any single identity, leaving her suspended between competing narratives of self definition.

Rather than offering a resolution, Save Yourself from the Beauties I Wished for You presents an openended reflection on the challenges of postcolonial identity. It questions whether it is possible to truly escape the legacies of colonialism or whether attempts to do so inevitably reproduce the same hierarchical structures in different forms. By critically engaging with the performative nature of white liberal guilt, the contradictions of progressive identity  politics, and the persistence of historical power dynamics, Velasco’s work urges its audience to reconsider how identity is constructed and negotiated in a postcolonial world. Through Maria’s character, the play suggests that self definition is never a neutral act; it is always shaped by history, ideology, and unconscious biases that complicate even the most well intentioned efforts at decolonization.