英语专业本科毕业论文范文JaneDuWord格式.docx

英语专业本科毕业论文范文JaneDuWord格式.docx

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May20,2012

内容摘要

《名利场》是英国19世纪批判现实主义作家萨克雷的代表作，通过描述两位性格迥异的女性形象及其各自不同的命运，揭露了当时英国上层社会的道德危机和腐败堕落，进而批判了资本主义社会金钱至上的观念。

大部分人对名利场中的两位女性形象持否定态度，人们普遍认为利蓓佳·

夏泼自私、贪婪、虚伪，艾米利亚懦弱、缺乏主见，然而本文认为这两位女性都具有女性主义独立，智慧和坚强的特质，综合分析认为作者萨克雷实际上对这两位男权社会压迫下的女性持同情与赞扬的态度，而非批判。

本文主要在介绍作者的女性主义思想发展的基础上，从女性主义角度对小说中两位女性形象进行分析。

通过作者对笔下两位女性生动的描写，读者可以看到萨克雷对这两位女斗士的态度与波伏娃的女性主义理论不谋而合。

关键词：

女性形象；

女性主义；

男权社会；

赞扬

Abstract

VanityFairisthemasterpieceofThackeray,acriticalrealismwriterinthe19thcenturyinGreatBritain.Bydescribingtwotypicalfemaleimageswithcompletelydifferentcharactersandfates,itrevealsthemoralcrisisandcorruptionofBritishuppersocietyandthencriticizesthemoney-orientatedconceptofcapitalistsociety.MostpeopleholdanegativeattitudetowardsthefemaleimagesinVanityFairandtheygenerallyconsiderthatRebeccaSharpisselfishgreedyandhypocriticalandAmeliaiscowardly,stubborn,andweak-minded.However,thispaperthinksthesetwofemalesbothhavethefeminismfeatures,suchasindependence,wisdom,andbraveness,andbelievesThackerayactuallysympathizedandpraisedthesetwowomenratherthancriticizedthem.

ThispapermainlyanalyzesthetwofemaleimagesinVanityFairfromtheperspectiveoffeminismbasedontheauthor’sthoughtdevelopmentoffeminism.ThroughThackeray’svividdescriptionofthetwofemalesinamale-orientedsociety,wecanseetheauthor’sattitudetowardsthetwowomencoincideswithBeauvoir’sfeministtheories.

Keywords:

femaleimage;

feminism;

male-orientedsociety;

praise

Contents

1.Introduction

ThispartmakesabriefintroductiontotheauthorThackeray,hisnovelVanityFair,andfeminism,andintroducestheheroinesinthenovelVanityFairfromtheperspectiveoffeminism.Comparedwithotherliteraturereviews,thispaperhasadifferentidea.

1.1Thackeray’slifeandhis“VanityFair”

Thackeray（1811-1863）wasanrepresentativeofcriticalrealisminthe19thcenturyEngland.HewasborninIndiainthefamilyofanEnglishofficial.Inhisearlylife,Thackeraywroteallkindsofarticles,mainlyshortpiecesforjournalsandrelativelyslimbooks.Upto1847,aseriesofhissatiricalsketcheswerecollectedinTheBookofSnobs.ButitwasnotuntilthepublicationofVanityFairthattheworldrecognizedtheappearanceofanewnovelistofthefirstrank.

VanityFairasThackeray’smasterpiecegivesacomprehensiveviewofEnglishsocietyintheearly19thcentury.BythetitlewhichisderivedfromBunyan’sPilgrim’sProgressmeaning“afair,whereinaresoldallsortsvanity”,theauthorintendedtopaintavividpictureoftheegoistic,hypocriticalandmoney-grabbingworldofhisage.Thesubtitleofthebookis“ANovelwithoutaHero”.Fromthisitcanpossiblymeanfirstlythattherearenoexactlypositivecharactersinaworldfullofbadandfaultypeople.Secondlyitmayimplythatthisisanovelaboutwomeninsteadofmen.Althoughthesubtitlemaymeanthatthereisnorealherointhenovel,RebeccaandAmeliacanbetherealheroinesofthenovelinaway.

1.2Feminismandthepurposeofthispaper

“Inasimpleway,feminismisabeliefinthesocial,politicalandeconomicequalityofthesexes,andamovementorganizedaroundtheconvictionthatbiologicalsexshouldnotbethepre-determinantfactorshapingaperson'

ssocialidentityorsocio-politicaloreconomicrights.Manyfeministsareespeciallyconcernedwithsocial,politicalandeconomicinequalitiesbetweenthesexeswhichfavourmenatwomen'

sexpense;

somehavealsoarguedthatgenderedandsexedidentities,suchas"

man"

and"

woman"

aresociallyconstructed.Feministsmaydisagreeoverthesourcesofinequality,howtoattainequality,andtheextenttowhichgenderandgender-basedidentitiesshouldbequestionedandcritiqued;

someofthisdisagreementmaystemfromcontinuingpressuretoconformtomasculinenorms”[1].

Thegoaloffeministhistoryistoexploreandilluminatethefemaleviewpointofhistorythroughtherediscoveryoffemalewriters,artists,philosophers,etc,inordertorecoveranddemonstratethesignificanceofwomen'

svoicesandchoicesinthepast.Twoparticularproblemswhichfeministhistoryattemptstoaddressaretheexclusionofwomenfromthehistoricalandphilosophicaltradition,andthenegativecharacterizationofwomenorthefeminineinit;

however,feministhistoryisnotsolelyconcernedwithissuesofgenderperse,butratherwiththereinterpretationofhistoryinamoreholisticandbalancedmanner.

Thisthesisistodiscussthetwomainfemalecharacters’imagesfromthefeminismperspective,whichcanmakereadersknowmoreaboutthenovelandthemainthemesaswellasthesocialbackground.What’smore,thisthesiscanmakethemknowtheauthor’swritingintention.Readerswillhaveadeepunderstandingofthenovelandthecharactersinthenovel.Atthesametime,thesediscussionscangivesomeimplicationsforthemodernreadersandthemodernwomen.

1.3LiteratureReview

SincethepublicationofVanityFair,alotofscholarsdomesticandoverseashavestudieditfromdifferentviewinganglessuchastheheroines’characteristicsandreflectedrealisticproblems.

TheresearchofVanityFairinChinaboomsinrecentyearsbutmostofthemarescantyindepthorextension.Mostresearchersagreethatthemaincharactersinthebookarelifelike.SomeresearchersfocusonspecialcharacterstoexplorethehumanityoftheVictorianAge.Thelifeoftheheroinesisametaphorofhumanbeing’sdesire.

Theresearchoftheforeigncriticsmainlydividesintoseveralaspects.SomecriticsconsiderthatThackerayisasentimentalnovelist.TheseresearchersconsiderthatVanityFairisthestrongsupporttotheviewthatThackerayisacynicinheartandsoul.OtherresearchersregardVanityFairasarealisticnovel.Inthisnovel,Thackerayhasportrayedthelivingmannersofhisownageandtheybearatrueanddeepresemblancetotheirprototypesofthe18thcentury.Inaddition,someresearcherstakeThackeray’sVanityFairasamasterpieceofsatire.Gao（2002）surveysthepositionandroleofwomeninamoney-orientedandstatus-consciousmaleworld.Wu（2003）exposessituationofcorruptedandhypocriticalsocietywhichadvocatestheVictorianVirtuesofmarriageandfamily.Charlottecommented:

“ThemoreIreadThackeray’sworksthemorecertainIamthathestandsalone-aloneinhissagacity,aloneinhistruth,aloneinhisfeeling…ThackerayisaTitan”[2].

Criticsshifttheirattentiontoalmosteveryaspectofthenovelastimegoeson.Somearebytheethnicalcontent;

someareinterestedinthepolysemyofthetheme;

sometrytointerpretthemajorcharacters;

somepayattentiontoitspsychologicaldimensions.Thisresearchmainlydiscussestheheroines’vanityandsnobbishnessanditsreflectioninrealsociety,withapurposetomakereadersbetterunderstandthethemeofthenovelandthoughtoftheauthor.

Takingtheseliteraturesasreference,thispaperdecidetodiscusstheheroines’feminismcharacteristicsinrealisticsocietyandtheirfeminismfemaleimagesfromtheirdifferentcharactersandtheirbehaviors.Bydiscussingthetopic,thispaperaimstofindoutthethemeofthenovelandthoughtoftheauthoronwomen.

2.TheSourcesofThackeray’sFeminism

AccordingtoalotofliteratureaboutThackeray,wecaneasilydiscoverthathisfeminismcanbetracedbacktothesocialcircumstancesandhisfamilylifeinThackeray’sday.

2.1Thesocialsources

Intheauthor’slivingtime,AncientGreatBritain,afterexperiencingthe17thcentury’sbourgeoisrevolutionand18thcentury’sindustrialrevolution,until19thcentury,finallyfinishedtheprimitiveaccumulationofcapitalbasedonthelargescalecolonialplunder.Atthatmoment,theBritishcommercewasprosperousandthemonopolypositionofBritishindustrywasmorestablethanbefore.Inthattime,withthefastdevelopmentofthescienceandtechnology,people’sideologyandfaithchangedalot.Femalesbegantorealizetheirpoorlivingsituation,andthediscriminationagainstthem,andtheydecidedtostruggleforthemselves.TheFeministmovementemergedaroundthelate19thcenturywiththebeginningsofthefirstwaveoffeminism.Thefirstwavereferstothefeminismmovementofthe19ththroughearly20thcenturies,whichdealtmainlywiththeSuffragemovement.Itwasanoutgrowthoftheanti-slaveryandabolitionistmovements,inwhichwomenfightingfortherightsofBlacksintheUnitedStatesrealizedthattheythemselveslackedsomeoftherightstheywerefightingforothers.

Asacriticalrealismwriter,Thackeraywitnessedacorrupted,hypocriticalandmammonishVictoriansociety.Inamoney-orientedandstatus-consciousmaleworld,womenunderwentapatheticsocietythatwasfullofprejudice.

FromtheseitcanbeseenthatthesocialbackgroundandthedevelopmentoffeminisminThackeray’stime,whichposeseffectonhiswritinginthisnovelVanityFairandthecreationsofthefemalescharacters.Thackeraywantedtowritesomethingtowakeupmorewomen,andadvocatethemtostanduptofightandliveinanewlife.

2.2Hisfamilysources

Toalargedegree,Thackeray’sfeminismthoughtderivedfromhisfamily,hismother,wife,andhisdaughters.Melvillesays,“Thackerayhadanatureofalmostwomanlysoftness”[3].

Attheageoffour,Thackeray’sfatherdied.Fromthatmomenton,hismotherbecamehisonlyspiritualsupportinhisearlylife.Unfortunately,laterhehadtoseparatewithhismotherwhenhewassenttoEnglandtostudy.InEngland,Thackerayledaterribleandlonelylifebecauseofhisunhappyandcrueleducationalexperience.Heexpressed,“Irememberkneelingbymyl