Janes SelfDevelopment in The Diaries of Jane Somers An Analysis of Doris Lessings Feminist Per.docx

Janes SelfDevelopment in The Diaries of Jane Somers An Analysis of Doris Lessings Feminist Per.docx

《Janes SelfDevelopment in The Diaries of Jane Somers An Analysis of Doris Lessings Feminist Per.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Janes SelfDevelopment in The Diaries of Jane Somers An Analysis of Doris Lessings Feminist Per.docx（10页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

JanesSelfDevelopmentinTheDiariesofJaneSomersAnAnalysisofDorisLessingsFeministPer

Jane’sSelf―DevelopmentinTheDiariesofJaneSomersAnAnalysisofDorisLessing’sFeministPerspectives

　　Received8November2014；accepted11January2015

　　Publishedonline26February2015

　　Abstract

　　DorisLessingisoneofthegreatestwomennovelistsinBritishliterature.Thoughsherefusestobeclassifiedasafeministwriterandanadvocatorforthefeministmovement，sheisdeeplyconcernedwiththelifeofwomenandformsherownfeministperspectivesinhernovels.

　　ThispaperaimstoexploreDorisLessing’sfeministperspectivesthroughtheanalysisoftheprotagonistJaneinTheDiariesofJaneSomerswhoachievesherself-developmentafterexperiencingthelostofloveandthesearchforlove.Thoughit’snotLessing’smostfamousnovel，itrepresentsherdeepthoughtsonfeministexistenceandhercontinuouseffortstofindawayoutforwomeninthesexualrelationshipinapatriarchalsociety.

　　KeyWords：

Feministperspectives；Lackoflove；Searchforlove；Self-achievement

　　INTRODUCTION

　　Asanextraordinaryandproductivenovelist，DorisLessingcontributesagreatnumberofmasterpiecestotheworldinvariousstylessuchasTheGrassisSinging，TheChildrenofViolenceseriesandTheGoldenNotebookwhichwinstheNobelPrizein2007.Thoughresentingbeingclassifiedasafeministwriter，sheshowsherownfeministperspectivesinherworksasshefocusesonthefemaleexperiencesuchastheirdesperationandhelplessness，theirsufferingfromthesocietyandstruggleforabetterlife.Herworksexploreawayoutforwomenandasolutiontoabettersexualrelationswithherkeeninsight.TheDiariesofJaneSomerscontainstwoparts.ThefirstpartTheDiaryofaGoodNeighbordepictsthelovebetweenJaneandMaudiewhoisthesubstituteforJane’smotherandhelpsJaneaccomplishhersearchforlove.ThesecondpartIftheOldCouldtellsanextramaritallovebetweenJaneandRichardwhichawakesJanethatherrealloveisherlatehusband―Freddie.Duringtheprocess，Janereexaminesherselfandachievesherself-achievement.ItalsoshowsLessing’sreflectiononwomen’spositioninthesexualrelationship.Ononehand，Lessingquestionsthesubordinatedrolesofwomenwhomakegreatsacrificeandlosetheirownidentities.Ontheotherhand，sheadvocatesthetraditionalvirtuesofwomeninfamiliesandcooperativesexualrelationship.

　　1.DORISLESSING’SFEMINISTPERSPECTIVES

　　DorisLessing’sfeministperspectivesaredeeplyinfluencedbythefeministmovementsofthelate1960sand1970swhichaimtorealizesexualliberationandeconomicindependenceandchangethetraditionalsubordinatedroleofwomen.Feministconsciousnessarousespeople’sattentionfromsomewomenwriters.“DorisLessing，VirginiaWoolf，DorothyRichardson…..allcreatedfemalecharacterswhoshareonecharacteristic：

thetensionresultingfromtheconflictbetweentheidealofsexualequalityandtherealityofsexualsubordination.（Kaplan，1975，Cover）Lessingresentsbeingclassifiedasafeministwriter.YettheauthoragreeswithGayleGreenewhoarguesthat“Lessingisdeeplyfeministandherevolutionintuitsamajormovementwithinfeminism.”（Greene，1994，p.29）Itisadmittedthatwomen’sissuehasbeenanimportantconcerninmostofLessing’sworksandwomen’sconsciousnessdevelopmentandtheirsearchforidentityisaneternalthemeofherworks.Lessing’sfeminismisdifferentfromthestereotypicalonethatlacksthesenseofindependenceandidentitythatwomenneedinthenewarea.Womenareexpectedtomakegreatself-sacrificetothefamilyinaninferiorpositionaccordingtotheoldnorms.Atthesametime，sheisalsoopposedtotheotherextreme：

Womenseektheireconomicandspiritualindependencebyfightingwithmenandseparatingthemselvesfromthemeaningoffamilylifeandtraditionalrolesasagoodmother，daughterandwife.Thetraditionalvirtuesofwomensuchaslove，tenderness，nurturingandcare-takinginthefamilyareabandonedandtheclosenessbetweenmenandwomenbecomesdistant.JustasBellHookspointsout“theanti-malestancewasareactionaryperspectivethatmakesfeminismappeartobeamovementthatwouldenablewhitewomentousurpwhitemalepower，replacingwhitemalerulewithwhitefemalesupremacistrule.”（Hooks，1998，p.268）Heridealfemininityisaharmoniousunionbetweenmenandwomeninwhichwomengiveandlove，meanwhilepossessingherfemaleidentityandfemaleaggressivenesswhichisaguaranteeofherpowerandindependence.Onlyinthiswaycouldbeabalancedandharmonioussexualrelationshipbeestablished.Womencouldnotaccomplishherideallifewithouttheinvolvementandlovefromherfamilymembers.Thefemalecharactersinhernovelsallsparenoeffortstobea“newwoman”，butafterreexaminingtheirindividualexperience，theyfindthetruemeaningoflifeandachievetheirself-fulfillment.　　2.JANE’SLACKOFLOVE

　　AccordingtoSimonedeBeauvoir，themotherhoodisthereflectionofthepatriarchalideologyandthefemininityhastakenbeyondthematernalrole.DorisLessinghasmademother-daughterrelationshiponeofthemainthemesofherlargenumberofproductions.Sheisafamousfemalewriterforherdepictionofthemother-daughterbond.Actually，DorisLessinghascomplicatedfeelingsabouthermother，lovetogetherwithhatred.Inherrecords，hermotheriscapable，yetunqualified.Inhernovels，themother-daughterrelationshipisalwaysintensewithapowerfulanddominatingmomandarebelliousdaughterwhoseekherfreedomandcontrolofherowndestiny.TherelationshipbetweenJaneandhermotherisnoexception.Inthefirstpartofthenovel，Jane’smotherdiesfromcancer.Janefeelssorryforher，butsheshowslittleconcerntohermother’ssufferings.Beingyoung，JanelefthomeforLondonandcometoworkforself-development.Shedoesnotwanttofollowhermotherwhoisahousewifeandrestrictedbyhusbandandfamily.Whatshewantsistoachieveherself-developmentbyworkinghard.Janeoveremphasizesherworkasawaytofulfillherdreamandanescapefromtraditionalrolesofwomen.Thereislittlecommunicationorlovebetweenthem.Janeissoindifferenttohermotherthatevenhermotherdies，shesaystoherself“Icouldnotkissher…Icouldn’ttouchher…Icouldn’tthinkofanythingtosay”（p.8）Althoughsheisasuccessfulcareerwomanwithrespectablejobandfashionableappearance，shedoesfailtoloveandfeelloveforhermother.

　　Janeisnotonlylackofmother-daughterlove，butalsohusband-wifelove.Freddie，husbandofJane，isanotherimportantpersoninJane’slife.Freddiealsodiesofcancer.JanehasnotgivenachanceforFreddietopourouthissufferingsfromcancer，hisquestsforapairofears，andhisdreadofgoingtodie.Intheirmarriage，theyarenotlikeacouplebutthepartnerswholivetogether.“Janechosetohaveneitherchildrennoranemotionallycloserelationshipwithherhusband，Freddie”（Sprague，1987，p.119）Itseemsthatdeeplyinfluencedbyfeminismwhichadvocatestheequalitywithmenandfightsforwomen’srights，Janeisa“newwoman”anda“superwoman”whoisself-confidentandself-competenttopurchasefreedomandindependenceasherideallife.Therefore，thetraditionalroleofwomeninthefamilyasasubordinatedexistenceinapatriarchalsocietyislookeddownuponinhermind.Sheraisesherconsciousnessoffeminismtotheextremesandwecouldnotfindthetraditionalfemalevirtuesinhersuchaslove，nurturance，tendernessandcaringforherclosestfamilymembers.Thereisalsolittlecommunicationbetweenthem，asJanesays“Yetwecouldnottalktoeachother…becausewhenshestartedtotryIshiedaway.”（p.6）EvenwhenFreddiebegantobeill，Jane’sreactionis“Unfairtome，Ithoughtsecretly.Ipartlyknewhewasdying，butwentonasifhewasn’t.Thatwasnotkind.Hemusthavebeenlonely.IwasproudofmyselfbecauseIwentworkingthroughitall，‘keptthemoneycomingin”-well，Ihadtodothat，withhimnotworking.ButIwasthankfulIwasworkingbecauseIhadanexcusenotbewithhiminthatawfulness.”（p.5）What’smore，Janedeniestheroleofmotherwhichisconsideredasanobstacletoherself-fulfillmentanditmayputherinconfinement.“Therewasnevertimeforchildren”evenif“Iknowhewantedchildren”.（p.23）　　Janeisatypicalrepresentativeoftheself-sufficientandself-appreciatedwomenwhichthefeministsadvocate.ButLessingdoesnotapproveofthiskindofwomenastheyaresoconcentratedonthemselvesfortheiregotismthattheyneglectthecare，loveandclosenessneededinthefamilyandevensocialcontact.Shequestionswhethertheabsoluteindependenceandisolationfrommenarewhatwomenreallyneedandwhetherwomencouldachievetheself-fulfillmentwithoutlovefromfamily.Sherethinksofthefemalerolesandsexualrelationshipinthefamily，whichcouldbepresentedinthechangesofJane’sattitudetowardsworkandlife.

　　3.JANE’SSEARCHFORLOVE

　　Duringthelastthreedecadesofthe20thcenturymanyfemalewritersseemedmorereadytoacknowledgetheirdebttotheirmothers，sothatthemother-daughterbecomesamajorconcernofmanywomenwriters.InTheDiariesofJaneSomers，Lessingalsohopestorepairthisrelationshiptoreversetheideathatwoman’svalueandpositioninthesocietyshouldbeobtainedatthecostofmother-daughterloveandsheadvocatesthatmother-daughterrelationshipisimportantintheconstructionoffemaleidentity.Atthebeginningofthenovel，asa“handsome，middle-agedwidowwithagoodjobinthemagazineworld.”（p.9）intheupperclassofthesociety，Janeshowslittleconcernandl