The Analysis of Female Characters in The Thorn Birds荆棘鸟中女性人物分析毕业论文.docx

1、The Analysis of Female Characters in The Thorn Birds荆棘鸟中女性人物分析毕业论文XX大学本科生毕业论文(设计)题目: The Analysis of Female Characters in The Thorn Birds荆棘鸟中女性人物分析学 号: 姓 名: 院 (系): 专 业: 完成时间: 指导老师: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have given me

2、much help in my pursuit of the bachelors degree and in my thesis writing.First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs. Li, who has offered me her insightful comments and enlightening suggestions in the whole course of my thesis writing. Without her patient instruct

3、ions, I could hardly have completed my thesis.Second, I wish to express my sincere thanks to professors and teachers at the Department of English, who have instructed and helped me a lot in my English learning. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my roommates and my fellow classmates who gave me thei

4、r help and times in listening to me and helping me work out my problems in these four years. Last but not least, my thanks would go to my beloved family for their understanding and support which have relieved me of a lot of anxieties and tensions that have accompanied my studies all through these ye

5、ars. 摘 要荆棘鸟为澳大利亚著名女作家考琳麦卡洛所作，它于1977年问世后便在全球范围内引起极大的轰动，被誉为澳大利亚的飘。在澳大利亚独特的文化背景中，该书以爱情和命运的主题，展现了克里利家族三代女性的坎坷的人生经历与丰富而复杂情感历程。本文首先对这部小说和作者及荆棘鸟的含义做了介绍，然后对小说中四位女性：玛丽卡森、菲奥娜、梅吉及朱丝婷的人生历程进行剖析，探讨她们不懈地追求各自的爱情和对传统女性命运勇敢反抗的精神，以及在特定的时代中女性自我意识的觉醒。由此通过分析得出结论：女性只有树立正确的爱情观，勇于追求爱，挑战命运，坚持不懈，才能获得幸福，实现自我价值。关键词:荆棘鸟;女性角色;爱情观

6、;命运;自我意识 ABSTRACT The Thorn Birds written by Australian famous woman writer Colleen McCullough has caused tremendous sensation throughout the world since it was published in1977 and is called Australian Gone with the Wind. Based on the unique background of Australian culture, the novel unfolds life

7、experiences and emotional journey of the females of three generations in the Cleary family. First，this thesis includs a brief introduction to the writer, the novel and the symbolism of the thorn and the thorn birds. Afterwards it makes a deep analysis of the life course of the four female characters

8、 of three generations- Mary Carson, Fiona, Meggie, Justin, and explores the spirit of their untiring pursuit for love and brave resistance of traditional female fate, as well as the awakening of females self-consciousness in a certain period. A conclusion is drawn that women can gain happiness and r

9、ealize self-value, as long as they establish correct love views and are brave enough to pursue love and challenge the destinies.Key words: The Thorn Birds; Women images; Love view; Self-consciousnessCONTENTSAcknowledgements iAbstract in Chinese iiAbstract in English ii1. Introduction 11.1 Introducti

10、on to the novel 11.2 Introduction to the author and her works 12. Analysis of major characters in the novel 22.1 Fiona silenced, constraining, obedient 22.1.1Fionas Subversive Love for Pakeha 22.1.2 Fionas Submits to the Fate 22.2 Mary Carsonsubversive, scheming, unsympathetic 32.2.1 Mary Carsons cr

11、azy and selfish love for Ralph 32.2.2 Mary Carsons Fight against the Fate 42.3 Meggie brave, persistent, stubborn 42.3.1 Meggies forbidden love for Ralph 52.3.2 Meggies resistance to Catholism and fate 52.4 Justine rebellious, independent, passionate 62.4.1 Justines harmonious love with Rainer 63. T

12、he causes of their different fate 73.1 The causes of Mary Carson, Fiona and Meggies tragic fate 73.2 The reasons of Justines success in resisting fate 74. Conclusion 8Bibliography 9 The Analysis of Female Characters in The Thorn Birds1. Introduction1.1 Introduction to the novelThe Thorn Birds is a s

13、aga novel about three generations of an Australian family-the Clearys from 1915 to 1965, and is also a beautiful love story that takes place in the outback of Australia with a tale of a strong bond that turns into the strongest love. Hate, pain, love, and happiness all involved in this beautiful tal

14、e of Meggie Cleary and Ralph de Bricassart. The epic begins with Meggie Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early 1920s. Meggie lives together with her father Paddy, an Irish farm laborer, and Fee, her harassed but aristocratic mother, and three elder brothers in New Zealand. T

15、he large, poor family lived a hard life until one day when Paddys sister, Mary Carson, one of the richest women in Australia, who lives on an enormous sheep station called Drogheda mail a letter in which she promises to offer Paddy a job on her estate. Paddy accepts the invitation with delight. Then

16、 the whole family moves to the Drogheda.Here Meggie meets Ralph de Bricassart, a good friend of Mary Carson, picked up the Clearys from the station. He is a young, intelligence. and ambitious priest who as punishment for insulting a bishop, has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillan

17、bone, near Drogheda. Then Ralph and the family become good friends, while he and the ten-year-old Cleary daughter Meggie become very close. Ralph takes Meggie to school at the convent next to the church he works at and gives her a pretty room in the rectory so that she can stay with him. Gradually,

18、Meggie grows up to be a stunning young lady and falls in love with the handsome and considerate priest. Ralph loves Meggie, too. However, he is far too self-absorbed and ambitious to show some humanity and admit his love to Meggie, so he is torn between his love for Meggie, his love for God and his

19、ambition to rise in the Catholic hierarchy. The Thorn Birds composes a melancholy and miserable but also solemn and stirring symphony by four characters (the Cleary women: Mary Carson, Fiona, her daughter, Meggie, and Meggies daughter, Justine) who are very brave to fight against their fate and soci

20、al custom for their faith. The enchantment of this book first lies in its subjectlove and destiny, and its symbolthe thorn bird. It shows profoundly the impermanence and the weird twist of the fate. By describing the Clearys penetrative, frustrating love journey, the author tries to show a truth tha

21、t the true love and the beauty should be attained with incredible pain and unimaginable cost. This thesis will discuss the differences among the three women and analyze the women spirits toward their love and fate.1.2 Introduction to the author and her works Colleen McCullough was born on June 1st,

22、1937, in a Catholic family in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia and married Ric Robinson, on April 13, 1984. She graduated from University of Sydney and University of South Wales, B.S.(With honors)and got her M.S. from Institute of Child Health of London University. From 1958 to 1963, she was a

23、 founder of and worker at the Department of Neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital of Sydney. And then from 1967 to 1977 she worked at Yale University, School of Internal Medicine,in New Haven, CT, associate in research neurology department. Since 1976, she has also worked as a teacher, a

24、 library worker, a bus driver in Australias Outback, and in journalism.His working experiences constitute the major background of several of her fictions. McCullough has strong interests in reading since she was a little girl and she was said to be “the only bookish person in an athletic family”. Th

25、e books she read covered from romances to science fictions that helped her to get very well prepared for her later literary career. Nowadays she is well-known for her fictions .She is the author of several extraordinary novels such as : Tim(1974), An Indecent Obsession(1982), A Creed for the Third M

26、illennium(1985), Fortunes Favorites(1993), Caesars Women(1995), The Song of Troy(1998), Morgans Run(2000), The October Horse(2002), The Touch(2003), and Antony and Cleopatra(2007). The books she read covered from romances to science fictions that helped her to get very well prepared for her later li

27、terary career. Besides novels, she also writes prose, biography, and even melodrama. As far as her writing of fiction is concerned, she writes a variety of sorts of fiction, consisting of historical novel, love story, so on and so forth, and above all, the worldwide bestseller, saga novelThe Thorn B

28、irds, soon after its publication, it became an international bestseller in over 20 languages. Time Magazine equals it to The God Father, Love Story and seven other stories, all of which are famed as modern ten classics. Musical, films and TV series adapted from it also have everlasting charm to the

29、audience.Colleen McCullough is familiar with Australia. In The Thorn Birds she gives a vivid description of it. The picturesque settings of the story enable readers to enjoy the unique Australia scenery. With this novel, readers can visit the far corners of the Australia outback and feel the love an

30、d yearning that Meggie and Ralph experienced. 2. Analysis of major characters in the novel2.1 Fiona silenced, constraining, obedient As the first generation of Clearys, Fiona is a very beautiful, graceful but taciturn lady from a noble family. However, her fate is an undoubted tragic because she fal

31、ls in love with an impossible man-Pakeha. But she forced to marry someone unknown because of familys reputation. After marriage, she resigns herself to the unfair fate and regards it as predestinate. She pained for retrospection and could not step out of the circle of waiting for someone in nowhere.

32、 As a woman, her value is stipulated by the patriarchal society.2.1.1Fionas Subversive Love for Pakeha Fiona lives in the 19th century, and she is graceful lady and the only daughter in a noble family of Newlands. In such a traditional family, her fate has already been determined since she has no independent position or economic incomes. She has no freedom to choose her own life, what she can do is to follow her fathers idea-a trip to the old country, a debut at court, the right husband. However,