《一千英亩》毕业论文.docx

1、一千英亩毕业论文摘要一千英亩中所塑造的人物吉妮,是一个生活在父权制家庭的农妇。本文通过对吉妮的自我意识发展过程的分析，揭示出作品的深刻意义是：保守懦弱的观念正是女性内在的敌人，女性的独立已不仅是人身上、经济上的独立，更重要的是心理上的独立。本论文从女性主义的角度，分析了女主人公吉妮在父权制家庭中长期遭受压迫凌辱，并且不断觉醒，寻找自我的过程。本论文简要介绍了作者、一千英亩的创作背景及自我意识的概念。阐述了女主角吉妮的自我苏醒过程以及她最终得到重生的意义,从而对一千英亩作出了新的诠释。关键词：吉妮; 女性自我意识; 女性主义AbstractThe essay analyzes A Thousan

2、d Acres from a feminism approach. Ginny, the heroine of the story, lives in a typical patriarchal family. By analyzing the course of the awakening of her self-consciousness, the author points out the significance of the characterization of Ginny that conservative and cowardly ideas are the inner ene

3、my of women. A woman should have personal, economic, and most important of all, mental independence. From the feminism perspective, this paper analyzes the heroine Ginny who has been under long oppression in a patriarchy family, and the process of her self-awakening. This paper introduces the author

4、, the creation background and the concept of “female self-consciousness” in A Thousand Acres. It expresses the self-consciousness process of the heroine Ginny and the significance of her rebirth in the end, thus giving a new perspective to A Thousand Acres. Key words: Ginny; female self consciousnes

5、s; feminismContents摘要 iAbstract iiContents iiiChapter 1 Introduction ivChapter 2 An Introduction to Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres and Self-Awareness vi2.1 An Introduction to Jane Smiley vi2.2 An Introduction to A Thousand Acres vi2.3 An Introduction to Self-awareness viiChapter 3 The Heroines Awaken

6、ing Process viii3.1 The Main Character Relationship in A Thousand Acres viii3.1.1 The Heroines Social Roles at the Beginning x3.1.2 Her Role in the Family and Marriage Life x3.2 The Influential Factors on Her Awakening xi3.2.1 The Influence of Her Family Life xii3.2.2 The Influence of Her Friends xi

7、ii3.2.3 The Influence of the Environment xiv3.3 The Process of the Heroine Awakening xv3.3.1 Her Awakening of Spiritual Thought xv3.3.2 Her Awakening of Sexual Consciousness xvi3.3.3 Her Awakening of Social Consciousness xvii3.3.4 The Heroines Rebirth xviiiChapter4 Conclusion xixBibliography xxiAckn

8、owledgement xxiiAn Analysis of the Heroines Self-Awareness in A Thousand AcresChapter 1 Introduction A Thousand Acres is a novel written by American author Jane Smiley. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and was adapted to a film of the same nam

9、e. A Thousand Acres is Jane Smileys masterpiece. It mainly talks about a married womans awakening of spiritual thought, sexual and social consciousness and show how the heroine turns to a self-spiritual, modern-minded woman from a traditional woman without self-consciousness. The publishing of A Tho

10、usand Acres aroused a big wave in the quite society. Many critic words came towards her and her work, because she broke the traditional value and bravely expressed her idea for women to be independent and pursue self-awareness. All of this was not allowed in her world at that time. But now, many peo

11、ple show great concern over the significance of womens independent and self-realization. If women wanted to gain self-being and self-independence they should abandon family and social responsibilities. This thought is too extreme. Womens real freedom and independence could not be gained out of famil

12、y and social responsibilities. And family responsibilities should not be seen as the fetter to womens pursuit of self-being and self-independence or it will cause a few problems in marriage and hurt themselves and other persons. Womens real awakening is that there are no conflicts between family and

13、 womens self-being. Only based on social harmony and family responsibilities, women could gain real self-being and that is womens real awakening. This paper tries to analyze the heroines psychological growth process from the heroines awakening. The awakening of her self-consciousness is influenced b

14、y people around her. Ginnys real awakening happens through three aspects: spiritual thought, sexual consciousness and social consciousness. Ginny realizes the importance of individualism as a single person. She hears her own voice and thus realizes the meaning in her life.Chapter 2 An Introduction t

15、o Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres and Self-Awareness2.1 An Introduction to Jane Smiley Jane Smiley was born in 1949. She completed several graduate degrees at the University of Iowa. She taught at Iowa State University from 1981, but recently retired as Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Scie

16、nces to devote full attention to writing. She has had published critically acclaimed short stories, novellas, and novels. Common to her ction has been detailed character studies that explore complex relationships among family members, friends and lovers. Often a family setting that appears rather se

17、rene on the surface is revealed as actually much different. Barn Blind(1980) focuses on Kate Karlson and her strained relationship with 4 children. In At Paradise Gate (1981) the death of elderly Anna Robinsons cold violent husband induces the arrival of three daughters. With that reunion old rivalr

18、ies and tensions are resumed. The novella and the stories of the Age of Grief (1987) have marriage and family as central issues. The Greenlanders (1988) is a historical novel set in 14th century Greenland. It traces relations amongst the Gunnarson Family through several generations. Moo (1995) follo

19、wed A Thousand Acres. It takes a satirical look at a Midwestern agricultural university. The authors skepticism about aspects of conventional agriculture is evident in both of these novels.2.2 An Introduction to A Thousand Acres As the novel begins we enter the world of a four generation family farm

20、 in Zebulon County, Iowa. The patriarch of this farm is Larry Cook, who is proud and demanding and in control of 1000 acres. Larry abruptly decides to retire. He wishes to give the farm to his three daughters: Ginny and Rose, who with their husbands Ty and Pete have been participating in the farming

21、 operation; and Caroline, an attorney residing in Des Moines. When Caroline conveys to her father that she considers the idea precipitous, he reacts in anger by cutting her out of the land transfer. The plot proceeds. Ginny and Rose and their husbands take possession and carry out expansion ideas. L

22、arry steps into retirement. The situation, however, is not stable. Larrys behavior becomes erratic. The two daughters reactions, inuenced by an extremely complicated past and a power shift, are mixed and increasingly less charitable. Larry, in a steadily declining mental state, and regarding himself

23、 banished from farm and daughters, he is reunited with Caroline. A ght to regain the farm by Caroline for her father in court is lost. That, however, is avail for Ginny and Rose. By the end of the novel, Pete had died in an accident, Ginny leaves Ty and the farm to start over again in another state,

24、 Ty loses his share of the farm, and Rose has a second and fatal bout with cancer.2.3 An Introduction to Self-awareness In the 20th century, women are responsible for taking care of the children, do the domestic duties, and ensure the happiness of their husbands. They have no opportunity to voice th

25、eir own opinions, but they should to repeat the ideas the society voiced to them. The novel sets a time in 1991; and at that time, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning. And so did the feminist movement. Women begun to be independent and they had the self-awareness as well. Chapter 3 The Hero

26、ines Awakening Process In the novel, the heroine Ginny is described in this way: “Eyes were quick and bright; they were yellowish brown, about the color of her hair. She had a way of turning them swiftly upon an object and holding them there as if lost in some inward maze of contemplation or thought

27、. Her eyebrows were a shade darker than her hair. They were thick and almost horizontal, emphasizing the depth of her eyes. She was rather handsome than beautiful. Her face was captivating by reason of a certain frankness of expression and a contradictory subtle play of features. Her manner was enga

28、ging”. (Jane Smiley 40) It is a long and tough way for the heroine to turns into a self-spiritual, modern-minded woman from a traditional woman without self-awareness. However, she awakened at last after a holiday by the mixed influences of so many aspects, such as her family, her friends and the en

29、vironment. 3.1 The Main Character Relationship in A Thousand Acres The father in the story, Larry Cook, has profoundly dominated his family. His domination has differing effects upon several of the family members. Ginny Ginnys relationship to her father is a central theme in her life. Fear is a comm

30、on emotion. It is not even clear that she has been permitted to establish her own identity. One clue is that she addresses him as “Daddy.” She notes that she and her sister are generally rather careful to speak of themselves as daughters rather than women (Jane Smiley 21). She mentions her habitual

31、relief when he is in a good mood （Jane Smiley 39). She describes how a question of right and wrong can get translated into what Daddy wants (Jane Smiley 35), how she and her sister nd themselves talking of him compulsively (Jane Smiley 103). She discloses how she cannot drive with him or be in a roo

32、m with him without a “looming sense of his presence,” (Jane Smiley 170) and how his “. . . presence in any scene had the effect of dimming the surroundings,” (Jane Smiley 48) a passage that can be taken both literally and metaphorically. This tragic situation is conveyed well in the following passage: Perhaps there is a distance that is the optimum distance for seeing ones father, . . . Well, that is a distance I never found. He was never dwarfed by the landscape the elds, the buildings, the white pine windbreak were as much my fat