浅析《小妇人》中的女性主义.docx

浅析《小妇人》中的女性主义.docx

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浅析《小妇人》中的女性主义

Contents

浅析《小妇人》中的女性主义

摘要

路易莎·梅·奥尔科特的《小妇人》是在19世纪的美国所创作出的众多歌颂女权主义的文学作品之一。

随着时间的推进，女性解放运动在世界上的众多国家与地区都取得巨大的发展，女性的社会地位也有极大的进步。

而《小妇人》一书在其中起着重要作用。

本文将结合《小妇人》的创作环境及背景，深入剖析这本小说所蕴含的女权主义思想。

在众多同类书籍中，路易莎的《小妇人》可以说是其中典范。

小说中诠释了女性的美丽品质和独特精神，书中角色都有强烈的情感，她们追求自由与平等，严格自律。

《小妇人》是在美国内战期间创作的，当时的女性对男性的生活方式和价值观有着浓厚的兴趣，而那时社会认可传统的女士形象无法进入主流社会，要想改变自己的社会地位，只能通过社会唯一认可的方式---婚姻。

女性必须遵循父权制社会为其设定的价值观和道德规范，这时的妇女没有任何社会权利，也没有受到社会的尊重。

关键词：

《小妇人》；女性主义；19世纪

ABriefAnalysisofFeminism

inLittleWomen

Abstract

LittleWomenbyLouisaMayAlcottisoneofmanyfeministliteraryworkscreatedinthe19thcenturyintheUnitedStates.Countriesandregionshaveachievedgreatdevelopmentandwomen’ssocialstatusandspiritualaspirationshavealsomaderemarkableprogress.AndLittleWomenplaysanimportantroleinit.ThisarticlewillcombinethecreativeenvironmentandbackgroundofLittleWomentodeeplyanalyzethefeministideascontainedinthisnovel.CountingnumerousAmericanfeministbooks,Louisa’snovelLittleWomencanbesaidtobeamodeloffeminism.Inherwork,Louisainterpretsthebeautifulqualitiesanduniquespiritofwomeninhercharactersandhernovels.Thecharactersinitallhaveaverystrongenthusiasm.Theypursuefreedom,advocateequality,andarestrictwithself-discipline.LittleWomenwascreatedduringtheAmericanCivilWar.Atthattime,Americansocietyrecognizedthattraditionalwomenwereattachedtomen’slifestyleandvalues.Societyrecognizedtraditionalladyimages.Womencouldnotenterthemainstreamsociety.Theycanonlychangetheirsocialstatusthroughmarriage,theonlywayrecognizedbysociety.Womenmustfollowthevaluesandmoralstandardssetbypatriarchalsociety.Atthattime,womendidnothaveanysocialrightsandwerenotrespectedbysociety.

Keywords:

LittleWomen;feminism；19thcentury

1.Introduction

LittleWomenwaswrittenbyAmericanwriterLouisaMayAlcottin1868andisconsideredoneofthefeministmasterpiecesforitsstrongfeministappeal.ThenovelismainlybasedontheemotionsandlivesofthefourdaughtersoftheMarchfamily,Josephine,Meg,BethandAmy.ThenoveldescribestheupsanddownsofthelivesoffoursistersofanordinaryfamilyinNewEngland.Thenovelhasadeepermeaninginthedescriptionofordinarylifeandexpressesaprofoundthemethroughsimplenarration.Atpresent,theacademiccircle’scommentsonthisnovelmainlyfocusonthecharacterofthefourprotagonistsandtheanalysisoftheplotofthenovel.Infact,thefeministconnotationinvolvedinthetextisworthyofattention.FeminismrunsthroughthewholeplotofLittleWomen,whichmakesthisnoveluniquetoattractreaders.Inthenovel,theauthorputsforwardsomethoughtsandideas,whichreflecttheimportanceofwomen’sdignityandindividualfreedomandequality.

DuringtheAmericanCivilWar,women’sactiveparticipationinvarioussocialmovementsslowlyraisedtheirstatusinsocietyandchallengedthetraditionalconceptoffamily.Nolongerweremenworkingoutsideinthefamily,andwomenweregivenjobopportunitiesandtheynolongerdependedonthem.Forwomen,theyhavegainedthesamerightstoeducation,votingandotherrightsasmen.ItisthebackgroundofLittleWomen.

2.LiteratureReview

LittleWomenistheproductofsocialthoughttransformation.Ontheonehand,itisinfluencedbythetraditionalmoralstandardsofwomen,thatis,submissivenessandfamily-related,inthelate19thcentury.Ontheotherhand,itisalsoinspiredbytheearlyfeminismmovement.Itsupportswomentohaveaspiritualoutlookofself-reliance,independenceandthepursuitoffreedom.Therefore,womeninthisperiodhavedualattributesandsomewomenhesitate,cower,andreceivegoodenlightenmenttotrytoescapefromthecontradictionwithtradition（王晓丰,2011）.However,itisnoteasyforwomentotakeeverystepforward;itcanbedescribedasdifficult,becausewomen’swordsanddeedsareunderthewatchfuleyeofmen.Wecanalsounderstandthiskindofgazeasakindofsurveillance,whichisarestraintonwomen’sbehavior,incasewomenoverstepthelimitations.Itcanbeimaginedthatwomen’sliteratureproducedunderthisbackgroundwillalwaysbesubjecttovariousrestrictions,anditisdifficultfortheestablishmentofwomen’ssubjectiveconsciousnesstoescapetheinfluenceofpatriarchy.

LouisaMayAlcottcompletedthecreationofLittleWomenin1868.Shewasinthesecondindustrialrevolution（late1960s-1870s）.Atthattime,therapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,thehumandesiretocontrolnatureexpandedunprecedentedly,confusingnaturewiththerealproblemsfacinghumanbeingsthemselves,tryingtoconquernaturethroughtheuseoftechnology,andmeetingtheneedsofhumandevelopmentastheultimategoal（LeeJ,2006:

21）.TheCivilWarisaclassicexample.Technologicalrationalityembracesthebeliefthathistorywillalwaysprogress.Whenslaveryinthesouthimpededthedevelopmentofnortherncapitalism,warasacertainsenseofrationality,theuseofscienceandtechnology,andutilitarianism,broughtgreatchangestoAmericansocietyandatthesametime,thosechangesprogressivelyturnedintothedominantforcesrestrictingpeopleespeciallywomen（莫亚文,2013）.Atthattime,theUnitedStateswasapatriarchalcountry.Itwascustomarythatmenenjoyhigherstatusthanwomen.WomenhadnosubjectiveconsciousnessandwereseverelyrestrainedanddominatedbytraditionalVictorianideas.

Thefirstwaveofthewomen’sliberationmovementfromtheendofthe18thcenturytothe1920smadefeministideaswidelyspread.Thegoalofthewomen’sliberationmovementatthattimewastostriveforequalrightswithmen,suchastherighttovote,therighttoeducation,propertyrights,andtherighttowork.Thecontradictionbetweenwomen’spursuitoffreedomandpatriarchyhasintensified,andfeministideashaveemergedatthehistoricmoment,breakingtheelectoralsystemexclusivelyformen,andwomen’srighttovotehasgreatlyimprovedwomen’ssocialstatus.Feministsaretryingtomodifythemindsetofpeopleandlaunchanunprecedentedimpactontraditionalgenderroleconcepts.WomeninLittleWomenchangedthetraditionalfemaleimage,germinatedthefemalesubjectiveconsciousness,andstrovefortheirownvalue（LeeJ,2006:

21）.Theywerenolongeraffiliatedwithmenandbecamerepresentativesofnewwomen.

3.WritingBackgroundandContentIntroduction

3.1WritingBackground

BorninPhiladelphia,USA,LouisaspentherlifeinConcord,NewEngland.ConcordisthecitywhichEmersonandthegreatphilosopherThoreaulived.Therefore,whenshewaswritingLittleWomen,Louisaalwayscastthoseheroicmen’sthoughtsintothelinesofthenovelwithoutleavingatrace.Atthesametime,sheintegratedConcord’sbeautifulnaturalsceneryandharmoniouslifeintohermind.Inaddition,theauthorwasinfluencedandnurturedbyherself-taughtfatherasachildanddevelopedastronginterestinwriting.Inthenovel,Louisaalsorevealedthatherparentshadadvancedanduniqueeducationforthefouroftheirsisters,thatis,advocatingnature,payingattentiontotheinnereducationoftheirsisters,andlearningthebookknowledgeonthebasisofmaintainingtruth,goodnessandbeauty.AndthesewonderfulmemoriesoflivinginConcord,LouisausedthecreationofLittleWomentopresentthemonebyonetothereaders,anddrewapictureofthepeacefullifeinthebeautifulnaturallandscape.

LuisaMayAlcottcreatedLittleWomenduringtheperiodofpatriarchalruleinAmericanSociety. Atthattime,thesocietyrespectedthetraditionalmoralstandardof"realwoman",andthecoreofitscreedwastobanwomen’snaturalinstinctsfromfamilylife,toplaytheroleofgoodwivesandgoodmotherstipulatedbysocietyforwomen,andtohinderwomen’spersonalityliberationwiththisinvisibleshackle （王欣欣,2014）.Thesociety’soppressionofwomenmadeherawareoftheconstraintssocietyimposedonwomen.Shedeterminestofollowtheindependentpathandarrangeherdestinyaccordingtoheridealpattern. Sheworkshardtocreateliteraturesothatshecanimproveher family economic conditions.Shewrites,‘Iwillgettomakeabattering-ramofmyheadandmakemywaythroughthisroughandtumbleworld.’

DuringtheAmericanCivilWar,women’sactiveparticipationinvarioussocialmovementsslowlyraisedtheirstatusinsocietyandchallengedthetraditionalconceptoffamily.Notonlyweremenworkingoutsideinthefamily,butalsowomenweregivenjobopportunitiesandnolongerdependedontheirhusbands.Forwomen,theyhavethesamerightsasmentoeducation,voting,etc.LittleWomenwascreatedinthiscontext.

3.2ContentIntroduction

ThestoryofLittleWomentakesplaceduringtheAmericanCivilWarandittellsthelifeofanordinaryfamilyinNewEngland.Themainthreadofthenovelistheemotionalconflictbetweenfamilymembers.ThefourdaughtersoftheMarchfamilystruggleforloveandlife,andeachperson’spersonalityadifferentendinginlife.Megisextravagantandvanitywhensheisyoung.Butinordertopursuetheloveinherheart,shemarriesapoorboyandlivesapoorbuthappylifeaftermature.Thehousewifelaterbecomesawriterafterhardwork;Bethshowsmorephilosophiesaboutlifeanddeathandexistence.Bethistoughandbrave,doesnotfearofdeath,andcanfacelifecalmly.Amyiswillingtohelptheweakandsetupacharity.Sheandherhusbandrespecteachotheraftermarriage.Inthenovel,thefoursistershavedifferentpursuitsinlife.Theylovetheirfamilies,valuethefamilyandlove,butintheprocessofchasingtheirideals,theyshowanindependentandstrongside,self-disciplineandself-relia