啊，拓荒者！的女性主義人物對比研究

1、杭州電子科技大學碩士學位論文《啊，拓荒者！》的女性主義人物對比研究姓名：李海利申請學位級別：碩士專業(yè)：英語語言文學指導教師：陳許20091101II Abstract Willa Cather is one of the most famous American women writers in the twentieth century. She is keen on describing the life of the immigr

2、ants and pioneers in Middle Western America and has created a series of remarkable and moving women images that differ greatly from the weak and dependent women characters in the past traditional literature. O Pioneers!

3、is regarded as Cather’s first novel of Frontier and her first successful novel as well. This thesis attempts to make a comparative analysis of the two female characters in O Pioneers! in light of feminist theory. It arg

4、ues that Alexandra Bergson, the protagonist of this novel, succeeds in establishing her female identity and achieving a sense of self fulfillment and wholeness through transforming the wild land and struggling for her ri

5、ghts as an independent individual. And Marie, presented as a typical female figure, is in striking contrast to the Amazon image of Alexandra. Her independence and subordinate role contributes to her final destruction. Ca

6、ther, by shaping these two female characters, illustrates her feminist ideas. The thesis is composed of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction of Willa Cather and her major literary achievements, pointing o

7、ut that her feminist thinking tendency plays a very important part in her final success. The second chapter, made of three sections, is one of the two major parts in this thesis, making a systematic analysis of Alexandra

8、’s rebel against the traditional concept of females. The first section is a detailed description of Alexandra’s pursue of economical independence and spiritual independence. The second section, from the aspects of Alexan

9、dra’s love and marriage, proves that Alexandra is not a male in disguise as many critics argue. Actually she has female characteristics deep in her heart and consciousness. The third section discusses the heroine’s searc

10、h for potential wholeness. After many sufferings Alexandra overcomes the limitations in her personality and appears sound and whole at the end of the novel. The third chapter, also consisting of three sections, is anothe

11、r main part of this thesis, which analyzes the characteristics and destiny of Marie—the independent traditional female. The first section points out that Marie fails to get independence both in economy and spirit. The se