Abstract

Feminist consciousness refers to women’s valuable experiences and self awareness in the patriarchal society. Its performance is that women reject the traditional definition of female from male-dominant society and doubt the rights of male. At the same time, women pay more attention to their own living conditions, examine their psychology and emotion, and express their comprehension of the life experience. Desperate Housewives is a popular American TV series which narrates the different life stories of several classic American middle-class housewives. The feminist consciousness in this TV series, including the pursuit of equality, female freedom and true love is obvious. By interpreting some plots and dialogues in Desperate Housewives, we can have a better understanding of Western feminist consciousness.
This thesis consists of three parts. The first part introduces the rise of Western feminism, the meaning of feminism, its characteristics, and the main ideas of different schools. Besides, it also introduces the synopsis and four main characters of Desperate Housewives. The second part focuses on the characteristics of Western feminist consciousness, including the pursuit of equality, female freedom and true love by means of analyzing some relevant plots and dialogues in Desperate Housewives. The third part explores the limitations of Western feminist consciousness in Desperate Housewives.

Key words: feminist consciousness; equality; freedom; true love

摘  要

女性意识是指女性在男权社会中，关于自身价值的体验和自我觉醒，表现为拒绝接受男权社会对女性的传统定义以及对男性权利的质疑。同时,女性更加关注自身的生活状态，审视自我心理状态及探索生命体验。《绝望的主妇》是一部受欢迎的美国电视剧，围绕几位典型的美国中产阶级主妇，讲述了她们不同的人生故事及生活状态。在该剧中，女性主义意识关于对男女平等、女性自由、真爱的追求，表现得极为明显。通过对剧中部分情节和人物对白的分析，有利于更好的了解本文的研究主题——西方女性主义意识。
本论文共有三个部分。第一部分详细介绍西方女性主义的起源﹑含义、主要特征和女性主义的主要流派及主张，同时介绍《绝望的主妇》的剧情梗概以及剧中四位主要角色的形象；第二部分通过分析《绝望的主妇》中的相关情节和人物对白，来研究西方女性主义意识在女性追求平等﹑自由和真爱这三个方面的体现；第三部分主要分析了《绝望的主妇》中所体现的西方女性主义意识的局限性。

关键词：女性意识；平等；自由；真爱