美国文学论文格式.docx

1、美国文学论文格式 本科生期末论文设计范文( 2011届 )题 目： 19世纪美国男权社会下女性的成长解读觉醒中艾德娜的觉醒过程和原因 学 院： 外 国 语 学 院 专 业： 英 语 学生姓名： 廖晓珍 学号： 06240108 指导教师： 江玉娇 职称： 教授 合作导师： 职称： 完成时间： 2010 年 4 月 成 绩： 浙江师范大学本科毕业设计(论文)正文目 录Abstract. 1摘要 11. Introduction 22. The process of Ednas awakening 32.1 The subject-unawareness 32.2 The subject-awar

2、eness 42.2.1 Sexual awakening 42.2.2 Spiritual awakening 53. The reasons of Ednas awakening 63.1 Social backdrop 63.2 Ednas social circles 73.3 Ednas characters 84. Conclusion 9Works Cited 10Female Growth in the Male-Centered World in 19th Century AmericaAnalysis of Ednas Awakening Process and Reaso

3、ns in The AwakeningLiao XiaozhenAbstract: Kate Chopin is one of the few women writers who bravely attack the male-centered society of nineteenth century America. The protagonist Edna, depicted in her masterpiece The Awakening, goes through a hardship from subject-unawareness to subject-awareness in

4、protest against the social constraints enforced on nineteenth century women. Ednas growth does not come from thin air. This paper also explores the reasons behind the awakening process from three perspectives, namely her character, her surroundings, and social backdrop.Key words: growth, awakening,

5、process, reason19世纪美国男权社会下女性的成长解读觉醒中埃德娜的觉醒过程和原因廖晓珍摘 要：凯特肖邦是勇于对十九世纪男权社会进行大胆批评的少数女作家之一。其巅峰之作觉醒的女主人公艾德娜, 希望摆脱十九世纪社会强加给女性的种种枷锁，经历了从主体无意识到主体有意识的艰苦历程。艾德娜的成长过程并非空穴来风。本文同时也从艾德娜的性格因素，社会的宏观因素和生活环境的微观因素探讨了女主人公觉醒过程的三个原因。关键词：成长；觉醒；过程；原因 Female Growth in the Male-Centered World in 19th Century AmericaAnalysis of

6、Ednas Awakening Process and Reasons in The AwakeningFLC 2006（05）（English）Liao XiaozhenTutor: Jiang Yujiao1. IntroductionKate Chopin was an American author of novels and short stories in the 19th century, best known for her charming Louisiana stories. Today she is well-known in the literary world for

7、 her unique and unmatched voices she created in her works as early as the late nineteenth century, which gave an important view of female role in society and paved way for the later feminist movement. So she is now considered to be a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century. Many of her wo

8、rks come to subjects such as divorce, affairs, and homosexuality which usually draw lots of critics from the literary world. Chopins major works include two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899), and two collections of short stories: Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Of thes

9、e, The Awakening is regarded as the most influential and widely read masterpiece of Kate Chopin. The Awakening was published in 1899, later described as “a sensuous woman who follows her inclinations” (Anthology of American Literature, volAAL,224). It is Chopins masterpiece, but its theme of infidel

10、ity and the passions of its heroine brought condemnation. The Awakening was judged “too strong drink for moral babes” that it was banished from sight and from print for decades afterward (AAL224), and its author and her reputation were carried into an oblivion. As Wendy Martin mentioned in his book,

11、 New Essays on The Awakening, “the reviewers in the period immediately following publication of the novel condemned Chopins protagonist as weak, selfish, and immoral” (7). Frances Porcher announced in the May 4, 1899, issue of the Mirror that Edna has “awakened to know the shifting, treacherous, fic

12、kle deeps of her own soul in which lies, alert and strong and cruel, the fiend called Passion, that is all animal and all of earth, earthy” (7). A reviewer in Public Opinion announced “we are all satisfied when Mrs. Pontellier deliberately swims out to her death in the waters of the gulf.” Another r

13、eview that appeared at the same time in Literature describes the novel as an “essentially vulgar” story. The reviewer of the Providence Sunday Journal announced, “Miss Kate Chopin is another clever woman, but she has put her cleverness to a very bad use in writing The Awakening. The purport of the s

14、tory can hardly be described in a language fit for publication” (7). Many critics have felt that Edna Pontellier was no more than “a Creole Bovarya New World revision of Gustave Flauberts foolishly sentimental Madame BovaryThe Awakening seems to elaborate a shadowy story about female erotic freedom

15、and even about feminist emotional independence” (Gilbert and Gubar 993). In a word, The Awakening was dubbed morbid, essentially vulgar and unhealthy. With the emerging of feminist movement in the late-20th century, the importance of the novel was recovered, so did Chopins reputation as one of the f

16、eminist forerunners. Kenneth Eble, Larzar Ziff, Per Seyersted, and Lewis Leary all observed that The Awakening is noteworthy for its unusual candor about female sexuality (Wendy 13). A wide range of studies are conducted on the novel from diversified perspectives such as psychoanalysis, feminism, mo

17、dernism, and structuralism. Yet though The Awakening is now widely read and admired, the critical issues discussed for the book are still confined. Marilynne Robinson mentioned: “For most critics the issues still seem to be whether Edna Pontellier is justified in withdrawing from her marriage and he

18、r place in society, and whether her suicide should be read as failure, tragedy, or triumph” (Chopin 7). To explore alienation and self-destructiveness is not to set about making converts to them. There is plenty of both in the world, and in every individual experience, to reward a writers attention

19、to them, however. The appropriate question to ask about Edna Pontellier is not whether her behavior is justified, but what is revealed in it (Chopin 8).So what do her behaviors reveal to us? How does she awaken to self-realization and autonomy? What motivates her to take those steps? To answer those

20、 questions, let us first have a better understanding of the second question: whats the process of Edna Pontelliers awakening.2. The process of Ednas awakeningBased on womens object-awareness mentioned in psychoanalytic feminism (Madsen 94-119), the process of Ednas awakening can be divided into two

21、main parts: one is subject-unawareness; the other is subject-awareness. To be clear, the subject- unawareness is going to deal with the heroines unawareness as an independent and free individual, while the subject-awareness will elaborate on the process to be a free individual with three parts, name

22、ly biological awakening, spiritual awakening, and the ultimate awakening.2.1 The subject-unawarenessThe Awakening begins at Grand Isle, a fashionable summer holiday resort of wealthy Creoles from New Orleans. The protagonist Edna Pontellier and her family settle in a big mansion near the sea. Edna i

23、s, at the beginning, a traditional bourgeois housewife, assuming a conventional role as a wife and a mother. Her husband is a successful businessman, who provides her with a comfortable home and a decent life. At the beginning of the story, “a green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside th

24、e door, keeps repeating over and over” (Chopin 1). It indicates Edna Pontelliers confined life. Though she has this seeming good life, she is all the time subordinated to her husband, with no personal freedom at all. In spite of this, she is satisfied with the life, and though her husband looks at h

25、er “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property” (Chopin 3), she takes it with ease. It is true that Edna is living an admiring life with everything at hand, but her social circle is so confined, and sadly she never perceives the fact that she has no self-value and never lives as a complet

26、e individual. As other women, confined in social expectation of purity, piety, submissiveness, and compassion in womanhood, the protagonist Edna is also trying to be a good wife. In Chapter, there is a scene where Robert is praising Ednas painting, and during his oblivious attention, he lays his hea

27、d upon her arm, but she repulses him gently. With his second offense, she repulses it firmly, thinking there is no reason that she should submit to it (Chopin15). The social claims for women in Victorian time prison their sexual desires in marriage. Sexual freedom, which is acceptable in male world,

28、 yet, without the recognition of the social morals, becomes an unforgivable sin for women (Simone 160).There is another perceivable factor explaining Ednas efforts to be a good wifeAdle Ratignolle, an embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. She is one of the women who “idolize their children, w

29、orship their husbands and esteem it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angles” (Chopin 10). She prepares winter outfits for her kids in early summer time and plays piano only to entertain them. None of what she does is for herself. Of course, her great

30、 sacrifice is also heavily rewarded. Adle is admired by all her acquaintances, so is Edna. Influenced by Adle, Edna is also struggling to be a good wife, remaining self-unaware.2.2 The subject-awarenessAs the story goes, the protagonist Edna gradually comes to subject-awareness, from physical to spi

31、ritual. Though in the end she chooses death, she gets her real freedom in other world. For her, it is still a victory in the male-centered society.2.2.1 Sexual awakeningThough Edna is careful about her traditional mother and wife role, her little restlessness has come to disturb her from the beginni

32、ng. In chapter , when Robert is asking Edna to go swimming, Edna hesitates, answering “no” with “a tone of indecision” (Chopin 16). As Robert insists, Edna goes with him. Swimming in the sea, she is bewildered, not knowing why she didnt decline it in the first place. In fact, the desire for sexual freedom is emerging from her heart. She “was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being” (Chopin17). “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its