新女性_形象的实质——从女性主义的角度解读嘉莉妹妹

LITERATURE ZhaoYina／ThenatureofCarrie’simageof“newwoman’’—————————————————?—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————一～ TheNatureofCarrie’sImageof“newwoman" AFeministReadingofSisterCarrie oZhaoYina (CollegeofForeignLanguages，HebeiNormalUniversity，Shijiazhuang，Hebei050016) 【Abstract]IntheAmericanliteraryhistory。SisterCarriehasbeenacontroversialfigureallalong．Thecriticsre． gardCarrieeitherasa“fallenwoman’’orasa“newwoman”．ThisthesisaimstoexplorethenatureofCarrie，simageasa “newwoman”fromtheperspectiveoffeminisminordertoexposeheridentityasthe“other”inthepatriarchalsociety． Meanwhile，thenatureofCarrie’simagealsorevealsthatDreisercannotcompletelyexceedthedominantideologyofthatpe． riodandthatheshowsambivalentviewsofwomanhoodinthecontextoftheriseof“newwoman”inthe19”century． [Keywords]“newwoman”；other；subject；feminism [中图分类号]1106．4【文献标识码]A [文章编号】1672．8610(2007)08-0056-04 I．Introduction SisterCarrie，whichrelentlesslyandhonestly presentsthetruenatureofAmericanlife。isTheodore Dreiser，sfirstnaturalisticnovel．Asamilestoneinthe historyofAmericanliterature，ithasbecomethequin． tessentialmodernAmericannovel．However．when publishedin1900，SisterCarrieshockedthepublic．In fact．itwassocontroversialatthatperiodthatitwas suppressedbyitspublisher，whoprintedbutrefusedto promotethebook．Ontheonehand，thenoveltears themaskofgentilitytopiecesandwritesaboutthe helplessnessandtheinsignificanceofthemantore— storetherealisticfacetoflife；ontheotherhand，it depictsthesocialtransgressionsbycharactersthatfeel nomoreremorseandlargelyescapepunishment．The portrayaloftheheroine，Carrie，whocohabitswith DrouetandthenelopeswithHurstwoodandfinallybe— comesamostcelebratedstar．iscontrarytothecon。 ventionalmoralvaluesandthedominantideologyof thatperiod．What，sworse，Dreisermakesnomoral judgmentonhischaracter’saction，whichannounces hisconfusionandlossinmora】values． 56 Thisthesisisto’explorehowCarriebecomesthe so—called‘‘newwoman”stepbystep，andtooffera feministreadingtoanalyzethetruenatureofthe“new woman”inthepatriarchalsocietyinthe19-century America，andtostudyDreiser’sambivalentviewof womanhoodundertheinfluenceofthemainstreamide． ologyofthatperiod． Thedevelopmentintoa“newwoman” Inthenineteenthcentury，man’s“sphere’’wasin thepublicworld，particularlythemarketplace，where hiscompetitivetendenciescouldbechanneledtobene— fithisfamilyandsocietyasawhole，whereaswoman’s proper“sphere”wasathometodevelopherinnate nurturingtendencies．HistorianBarbaraWelterde— scribesthenineteenthcenturyidealforthewhitemid- dleclasses：“thetruewoman，wasexpectedtobepi． OUS，pure，domestic，andsubmissive．’’⋯However。 the“newwoman”madethedebutpushedbythefirst waveoffeministmovementbetweentheyear1880sand 1920s．The“newwoman”，typicallypossessingstrong self-consciousnessandrelativelyindependentpersonali- ty，hada careerandwaseconomicallyindependent． 【作者简介】赵一娜，女，河北师范大学外国语学院研究生，研究方向：英语语言文学。 万方数据 语文学刊(高教·外文版) 2007年第8期 Dreiser’sheroine，Carrie，acompetingmodelforfemi- ninity，isatransitionalfiguremovingfromtheVictori- anmodelof“truewoman”towardsrecognizablemod— ern“newwoman”． First，thethesisistoexplorehowCarriedevelops intoa“newwoman”underthecircumstancesofthat period．ItshouldbeadmittedthattheimageofCarrie， fromanordinarylow··paidwagerusticgirltoa high·· paidactress，virtuallyrewritestheconventional“femi— ninity”．AtthearrivalofChicago，Carriewantstode— pendonmantosatisfyhermaterialdesire，whichre- vealsherconventional“femininity”．Sowhenshefails inhuntingforajob，sheaccepts“thetwosoft，green， handsometen—dollarbills’’atlastthoughsheprotestsat thebeginning．Likemostoftheconventionalwomen， Carrieplacesherhopeonman(bothDrouetand Hurstwood)toshieldherselffromthetrouble．Withre— gardtothispoint，Dreisermakesthecomment： Shemighthavebeensaidtobeimaginingherselfin love，whenshewasnot．Womenfrequentlydothis．It ftowsfromthefuctthatineachexistsabiastoward驴 fection，acravingforthepleasureofbeingloved．The longingtobeshielded，bettered，sympathizedwith，is oueoftheattributesofthes麟．This．coupledwithsenti- mentandanaturaltendencytoemotion，oftenmakes refusingdiffwult．Itpersuadesthemthattheyarein ZD倪．[1] Possessingtheconceptoftheconventionalfemi- ninity，Carrieis preventedfromself-development． That’swhyshedoesn’ttrytomakeuseofherownabili— tytoearnherownlivingaftershediscovershertalent inperformancebyaccident．Ineffect，shehasbeen wonttolivewithoutworriesundertheprotectionof men． Itisnotuntilherhopestowardsmenarecrashed thatshebeginstobeself-dependent．Whenshediscov- orsthatHurstwooddeceivedherandsupposesthat Drouethaslefther，shemakesadecisiontogetaposi- tionoutside．Dreisersays： Shelooksfornothingsavewhatmightcomelegiti- matelyandwithouttheappearanceofspecialfavor．She wantedsomething，butnomanshouldbuyherbyfulse protestationorfavor．Sheproposedtoearnherliving honestly．[11 Herdecisiontoearnherownlivingindicatesher awakeningofself—consciousness．Furthermore，com— paredwiththejob-huntingforthefirsttime，sheis morecourageousandconfident，althoughshestillcon— frontsmanydifficulties． WhenHurstwoodistrappedinpoverty，Carriere— solvestogetapositiononthestageagain．However， Hurstwoodisopposedtoherdecisionandsays：“If1 wereyou1 wouldn’tthinkofit．It’snotmuchofapro- fessionforawoman．’’。1 1 Inspiteoftheoppositionof Hurstwood．Carrie“secretlyresolvedtotry”．“She wasnotgoingtobedraggedintopovertyandsomething worsetosuithim．Shecouldact．Shecouldgetsome— thingandworkup．Whatwouldhesaythen?’’。11Itis asdifficultasbeforeforCarrietoapplyforajobthis time，butwithcourageandperseverance，atlengthshe getsapositioninthechorus，andfromthenonshegets astart．Eventually．Carriebecomesanewstarandful- fillstheserf-realization．Dreisercommentsintheno． vel： T／m／dasCarriewas，shewasstrongincapability． Therelianceofothersmadeherfeelasifshemust，and whenshemustshedared．Experienceoftheworldand ofnecessitywasinherfavor．Nolongerhadthe坛htest wordofamanmadeherheadd叻．Shehadlearned thatmencouldchangeandfailed．Flatteryinitsmost palpablefomhadlostitsforcewithher．Itrequiredsu— periority·-kindlysuperiority-·tomoveher··thesuperiorityof ageniuslikeAmes．【1】 Gettingridofthemodelofstay·-at-·homewifeand mother，Carrieentersthepublicworld，becomeseco— nomicallyindependentandachievestheself-realiza— tion．Fromtheperspectiveof、themoralcanonatthat period，Dreiser’sviewofwomanhoodisvirtuallyrevo— lutionaryandexceedsthemainstreamideologyofthat periodtosomeextent．ItseemsthatCarriehasbecome a“newwoman”．However．behindtheimageof“new woman”．Carriestillexistsasthe“other”inthecon— temporarysociety． HI．Thenatureofthe“newwoman’’ ThebasicfeministviewisthatWesterncivilization ispervasivelypatriarchal，thatis，itismale-centered andcontrolled，andisorganizedandconductedinsuch awayastosubordinatewomentomeninallcultural domains．JustasSimonedeBeauvoirputsit，“One"is notborn。butratherbecomes。awoman．Itisciviliza． tionasawholethatproducesthiscreature．Onlythein． 57 万方数据 LITERATURE ZhaoYina／ThenatureofCarrie‘simageof“newwoman” terventionofsomeoneelsecanestablishanindividual asanother．”c2] NomatterhowsuccessfulCarrieis，sheisstill controlledanddefinedbymaninthepatriarchalsocie- ty．Inthenovel，Carrieisonlylikeanobjectfrom Drout’shandstoHurstwood’s．Andherjob-huntingis alwaysrelativetomen．WhenCarrieknowsthedeceit ofHurstwoodandquarrelswithDroeutbecauseofher relationwithHurstwood，shereallydecidestofinda jobtoearnherownlivingandshedoesdoit．Howev· er，theprocessisworthnoting： Anyhow，therewasonechangeforthebetter．She knewthatshehadimprovedinappearance．Herman— nerhadvastlychanged．Herclotheswerebecoming， andmen-well—dressedmen，someofthiskindwhobe． forehadgazedatherindifferentlyfrombehindtheir polishedrailingsandimposingofficepartitions-now gazedintoherfacewithasoftlightintheireyes．I ll Inthewholeprocess，sheisjudgedbythemen， andsheisconfidentandcourageousonlybecauseshe thinksthemenappreciateherelegantmannerand beautifulappearancenow．SimonedeBeauvoirsays： “Thushumanityismaleandmandefineswomannotin herselfbutasrelativetohim；sheisnotregardedasan autonomousbeing’’[4。．Atthebeginningofherarrival atChicago，Carrieisonly“prettywiththeinsipidpret— tinessoftheformativeperiod”，and“intheintuitive gracesshewasstillcrude．Shecouldscarcelytossher headgracefully．Herhandswerealmostineffectual． Thefeet，thoughsmall，weresetflatly．”[1】Atthat time，Carrieispure，innocent，prettybutnotelegant andconfidentintheeyesofmen，whichisattributedto herfailureingettinga position．Bycontrast，itis muchmoreevidentthatCarrieisalwaysbeingdecreed byman，andthewholesocietyjudgesCarriethrough theeyesofman． SimonedeBeauvoirsupposesthatwomanisrive- tedintoalop—sidedrelationshipwithmen，andthathe isthe“one”．shethe“other”．TheinstructionCarrie receivesfromDrouetindicatesthispoint．AfterCarrie cohabitswithDrouet，Drouetbeginstoeducateher． HewouldsaytoCarrie：“Didyouseethatwomanwho wentbyjustnow?Finestepper，wash’tshe?”Carrie would“observethegracecommended”．．andthen“i‘n— stinctively，shefeltadesiretoimitateit”．AndCarrie “tooktheinstructionaffably”．Carrie，theinnate 58 beauty，reallyhasthedesiretoimproveherappearance andmanner，butherconceptaboutbeautyisinstilled bymen．Asamatteroffact，Carrieisalwaysdomina- tedbymen．Beauvoirsays：“sheistheincidental，the inessentialasopposedtotheessential．Heisthesub— ject．heistheabsolute--sheistheother．’’⋯What，s worse，thewomenalsosurrenderthemselvestothe dominance．Asismentionedabove，Carrie“tookthe instructionaffably”．Itisbelievedthat“womenthem— selvesaretaught，intheprocessofbeingsocialized，to internalizethereigningpatriarchalideology，andsoare conditionedtoderogatetheirownsexandtocooperate intlIeirownsubordination．’’[4】 Atlength，althoughCarriegetsridofmenandbe- comeseconomicallyindependent，herspiritisstillcon— trolledbymen，andshealwaysexistsasthe“other”． TheappearanceofAmesinthelatterpartofthenovel representsthispointmetaphorically．Amesisanintel— leetualandthoughtfulman，andfacingmaterialism—ori— entedpeopleandworld，hehasanotherstandardof moralityandhestandsforthespiritualworld．When theygotothesplendidrestaurantatFifthAvenueto havedinner，Amescomments：“Isometimesthinkitis ashameforpeopletospendsomuchmoneythisway”， and“theypaysomuchmorethanthesethingsare worth．Theyputonsomuchshow．’’[1】Carriefeels surprisedathisremarksatfirst，andthenshethinks that“hewasbettereducatedthanshewas”andthat “hismindwasbetter”．Aftergettingherstart。Carrie beginstocomparethemenaroundherwithAmes：“It requiredsuperiority--kindlysuperiority--tomove her—tllesuperiorityofageniuslikeAmes．”If]What，s more，undertheinfluenceofAmes，Carrie，whohas nointerestinbooksatall，beginstoread．ItisAmes whotakesCarriefromthepurematerialworldtothe spiritualworld；whereasMrs．Vanceonlyincitesherto themateriallife．ThiscontrastindicatesthatCarrie，s spiritualworldisunderthedominanceofmenwhile womanseemshasnothingtodowithideasandintelli— gence· ThemodelofCarrie—aSuccessful“newwoman” subvertstheimageoftheconventionalwoman，andto someextentitindicatesthattheemergingofthe“new woman”greatlythreatenstheconventionalpatriarchal society，whichrepresentsDreiser’srevolutionaryas— pect．However，thenatureofCarrie’simagerevealshis 万方数据 语文学刊(高教·外文版) 2007耳第8期 ambivalentviewsofwomanhood．Thisalsoindicates thatDreisercouldn’tcompletelyexceedthedominant ideologyatthatperiod． 1V．Conclusion Dreisersuccessfullyportraysa transitionalfigure whotransf01T／ISfromtheconventionalimagetoa“new woman”attheturnofthecentury．However．nomat． terhowsuccessfulCarrieiS，shestillexistsasthe “other”inthepatriarchalsociety，andineffect，sheis alwaysunderthedominanceofmen．Ontheonehand。 Dreisercravesfortherevolutionintheculturerepre． sentedby“newwoman”；ontheotherhand，hefeels scaredwiththedestroyingeffeCtoftherevolution．And thisisthereasonwhyhegivesupthemoraljudgment atlast．Althoughthenovelwascontroversialbecauseof itsdeparturefromtheconventionalmoralvaluesofthat period，ithascometoberegardedasthequintessential modernAmericannovel．AndDreiser，thoughheis unabletoexceedthedominantideologythoroughly， makesanewstartforthelatergenerations． 【References】 [1]TheodoreDreiser．SisterCarrie[M]．兴界图书出版社， 2000． [2]RamanSelden，PeterWiddowson&PeterBrookcr．A Reader’sGuidetoContemporaryLiteraryTheory[M]．For— eiguLanguageTeachingandResearchPress，2005：127． [3]SimonedeBeauvoir．TheSecondSex[M]．1949． [4]M．H．Abrams．AGlossaryofLiteraryTerms[M]．Foreign LanguageTeachingandResearchPress，2005：89． “新女性"形象的实质 ——从女性主义的角度解读嘉莉妹妹 赵一娜 (河北师范大学外国语学院，河北石家庄050016) [摘 要] 在美国文学史上。嘉莉妹妹一直是颇具争议的人物形象，评论界对其一直毁誉参半。笔者试图 从女性主义的角度来分析嘉莉妹妹作为“新女性”的实质，从而来揭示在当时的男权社会中，嘉莉这个所谓的新女 性仍然是男性的他者，指出小说并没有超越社会文化根源。同时，这也体现了在新女性崛起的19世纪德莱塞并不 能完全超越当时的主流意识以及他的女性观的内在矛盾性。 [关键词] 新女性；他者；主体；女性主义 【英文校对】HartNing (上接第48页) 《珍妮姑娘》的女性主义分析 江悦 (北京交通大学人文与社会科学学院，北京100044) [摘 要] 《珍妮姑娘》是德莱塞作品中一部不常被人们提及的长篇小说。以往大部分文学评论家主要从现实主义的 角度对这篇小说进行了评析。本文将立意于一个新的角度——女性主义对《珍妮姑娘》重新审阅。笔者力图从父权主义和女 性形象两方面对这部小说进行阐释，试图揭示导致珍妮悲惨命运的真正原因。 [关键词】珍妮；父权主义；女性形象 【英文校对】HanNing 59 万方数据 "新女性"形象的实质——从女性主义的角度解读嘉莉妹妹 作者： 赵一娜， Zhao Yina 作者单位： 河北师范大学外国语学院,河北,石家庄,050016 刊名： 语文学刊 英文刊名： JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE STUDIES 年，卷(期)： 2007(8) 参考文献(4条) 1.M.H.Abrams A Glossary of Literary Terms 2005 2.Simone de Beauvoir The Second Sex 1949 3.Raman Selden;Peter Widdowson;Peter Brooker A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory 2005 4.Theodore Dreiser Sister Carrie 2000 本文链接：http://d.g.wanfangdata.com.cn/Periodical_ywxk200708018.aspx