A Feminist Analysis of Esther’s Tragedy in The Bell Jar_英语论文

摘要

西尔维娅·普拉斯是美国二十世纪著名女诗人和作家。《钟形罩》是西尔维娅于1963年死前三周出版的自传体小说，也是她唯一的小说。本论文主要从女性主义角度分析造成埃斯特人生悲剧的因素。本论文由三部分组成：第一部分分析埃斯特所处的社会背景，介绍女性在男权社会下感受到的无可名状的困惑和地位普遍低下的社会现象以及人们对女性价值观的否定。第二部分分析埃斯特人生路上榜样的缺失对她造成的影响。没有得到父母正确引导的埃斯特试图从周围各式各样的人们中寻找榜样，但无论是传统型女性还是事业型女性，埃斯特都无法找到一个完美的角色并以之为榜样，这使她养成一个犹豫不决的性格并陷入一种迷茫绝望的状态。第三部分分析埃斯特内心女性意识的觉醒，表现在人物性格特点，对传统贞操观的反抗以及她对过去自我的摒弃。个人价值观与社会期待的冲突是造成悲剧的重要原因。

关键词：普拉斯 《钟形罩》 女性主义 悲剧 

Abstract

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) is a famous American female poet and writer in the twentieth century. The Bell Jar is an autobiographical book published three weeks before Sylvia’s death in February 1963 and it is her only novel. This paper mainly analyzes the factors that influence Esther’s tragedy from the angle of feminism. The paper is made up of three parts. The first part analyzes the unfavorable social background. It mainly introduces the phenomenon of females’ invisible confusion and low social status in patriarchal society and people’s denial of women’s value. The second part analyzes the effect of absence of role models in her life. Neither her parents nor the surrounding people can set her an example, which makes her a hesitant person and lost in depression. The third part mainly analyzes Esther’s awakening of feminist consciousness. It is mainly expressed by her personality, her resistance to traditional conception of chastity and her abandonment of the old-self. The conflict of the character’s personal values and social expectation is a significant cause of the tragedy.

Key Words: Plath; The Bell Jar；Feminism; Tragedy

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 A Deep Analysis of the Social Background 3

2.1 Shift of Women’s Situation in Patriarchal Society 3

2.2 People’s Denial of Women’s Value 5

2.3 Women’s Confusion 6

3 Absence of Role Models 9

3.1 Absence of Role Models in the Family 9

3.2 Absence of Role Models in the Community Group 11

4 Esther’s Awakening of Feminist Consciousness 13

4.1 An Analysis of Esther’s Personality 13

4.2 Defiance to Traditional Conception of Virginity 14

4.3 Growth on Her Old Self 15

5 Conclusion 17

Bibliography 19

Acknowledgments 20