Female Consciousness and Marriage Views in The House on Mango Street

Abstract

As one of the outstanding masterpieces of Chicana’ s literature, Sandra Cisneros has presented many vivid characters of Mexican immigrant women in The House on Mango Street. The novel strongly expresses the author’s desire for freedom and equality through what the protagonist Esperanza sees, thinks and feels on the Mango Street. This thesis focuses on analyzing female consciousness and marriage views in The House on Mango Street. The author describes the Mango Street and Esperanza’s life through poetic language. In the novel, the protagonist Esperanza is constantly rebelling against the male-dominated society. The pursuit of self and freedom fully reflects female consciousness.

This thesis consists of four parts. The first part gives a brief introduction of writer’s career and her works The House on Mango Street. The second part discusses the female consciousness in The House on Mango Street. The third part analyzes marriage views in The House on Mango Street. The fourth part analyzes the relationship between female consciousness and marriage views in The House on Mango Street. Female consciousness revealed by different female characters in the novel is an important breakthrough. The awakening of female consciousness influences the establishment of their marriage views to a certain extent, and the formation of marriage views has promoted their female consciousness into maturity.

Key words: Female consciousness; Marriage views; Sandra Cisneros; The House on Mango Street.