【作者】 黄灵芝；

【导师】 舒奇志；

【作者基本信息】 湘潭大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2016， 硕士

【摘要】 伊迪丝·华顿(Edith Wharton,1862-1937)是美国19世纪末一位重要的现实主义作家,也是评论界关注较多的美国经典女作家。其作品《纯真年代》(1920)、《欢乐之家》(1905)受到美国大众的欢迎,相比之下,《暗礁》这部作品却没有引起更多的关注。这部作品是其晚年遭遇婚姻情感困顿,游历法国巴黎时创作的。小说以空间变化为线索,讲述了不同阶层的两位女性在世纪之交动荡不安的社会背景下的人生经历。评论界对该作品的研究多结合华顿的情感经历,探讨作品女主人公的心路历程以及华顿对传统婚姻制度的看法,但对小说中女性人物遭遇的困境却少有深入探究。女性困境历来是女性主义关注的焦点。女性主义批评认为,在男权社会中,女性由于经济、社会地位等因素始终处于第二性的地位。父权制的社会意识以一系列的文化规约塑造女性并制约女性的发展,女性因此遭遇到诸多的社会困境。本文拟从女性主义批评的视角着重分析作品中两位女性所遭遇的困境,认为小说中两位女性在身体、道德和身份层面上遭遇的不同困境,再现了19世纪末20世纪初美国现代女性和传统女性的现实处境,也传达了华顿中立的女性观。论文共三章。第一章分析两位女性的身体困境。本章一方面通过对现代女性在追求梦想过程中身体缺乏安全感的分析,指出女性在男权社会面临缺乏独立和自由的困境;另一方面,通过对传统女性在追求婚姻幸福的过程中身体遭到禁锢的讨论,认为女性感受到男权社会赋予她们的婚姻角色所带来的困境。第二章分析女性的道德困境,认为女性的道德困境既来源于传统社会有关女性贞操的道德规约,也来源于传统社会对于忠贞爱情的道德规约。这两种道德困境再现了现代女性和传统女性对于传统性伦理观念的反抗与服从。第三章剖析女性的身份困境,指出现代女性由于职业选择陷入到有限的身份建构的困境中,传统女性却因为全身心履行家庭角色陷入自身身份缺失的困境,两种困境都影响了女性的自我实现。文章结论指出,两位女性所遭遇的困境具有社会现实意义,反映了华顿对于女性困境问题的关怀与思考。华顿认为女性要拥有一定的女性意识,同时遵循合理的传统价值观念。这是华顿在帮助传统女性和现代女性走出困境的问题所持的中立之道。更多还原

【Abstract】 Edith Wharton(1862-1937) was an important American realist writer at the end of nineteenth century. Her works The Age of Innocence(1920) and The House of Mirth(1905)are popular in America. In contrast, The Reef draws little attention from the public. The fiction was created during Wharton’s travel in France when she was suffering weary marital problems. The novel takes spatial variation as the clue and illuminates experiences of two women from different classes in the turbulent turn of the century. Many critics explore the heroines’ psychological process and Wharton’s insight on traditional marriage system in the light of Wharton’s emotional life. But there are few studies focusing on female plight in this novel.Female plight has always been the focus of feminism. Feminist critics think that woman is always regarded as second sex in the patriarchal society due to the influence of economy,social status, etc. The social consciousness of patriarchal institution molds women and restrains their development by a series of cultural conventions, thus they confront with various social plights. The thesis tends to make a thorough analysis of the two heroines’ plights in the novel from the perspective of feminist criticism. It maintains that the physical,moral and identity plights of the two heroines reflect the real situation of American modern woman and traditional woman in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century,conveying Wharton’s neutral views on woman.The thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter one analyzes the two heroines’ physical plight. On the one hand, it discusses that modern woman lacks of independence and freedom in the male-oriented society because of her deficiency of physical security in pursuing her dreams. On the other hand, it holds that traditional woman suffers the plight caused by marital roles imposed by the patriarchal society, which is shown in her physical confinement in pursuing happy marriage. Chapter two analyzes the two heroines’ moral plight. This part holds that female’s moral plight is caused by social moral conventions on female chastity and fidelity in love, presenting traditional woman and modern woman’s resistance and conformity to sexual ethics. Chapter three analyzes the two heroines’ identity plight. It points out thatmodern woman is caught in the plight of limited identity construction on account of occupational selection, while traditional woman confronts the identity plight of losing self-identity because of playing family roles.The conclusion points out that the plight of the two heroines is significant to understand the society in the late nineteenth century, reflecting Wharton’s concern and thinking on the issue of female plight. In Wharton’s view, women should have certain female consciousness and abide by the reasonable traditional conventions. This is the neutral position that Wharton holds toward for helping traditional woman and modern woman out of plight.更多还原