摘要

凯特•肖邦是美国著名的小说家，她一生创作了一百多篇短篇小说和两篇长篇小说。她的作品基本上都是以女性自我意识的觉醒为主题，这在她当时生活的时代背景下是非常大胆的。因为在19世纪末的美国，男人统治着社会，女性被看成是其丈夫的一种财产。而描写女性觉醒的作品自然就会遭到社会的否定。不过肖邦并没有被传统吓倒，她继续着她的创作，留给后人许多具有独特风格和写作视角的作品。
本篇论文分成四部分：第一部分阐明肖邦作品主题的重大意义；第二部分作者解读她《觉醒》、《一小时的故事》和《暴风雨》三部作品中女主人公不同程度、不同角度的觉醒，深入了解这些作品中的主题是如何体现的；第三部分是分析女性觉醒这一主题对新女权主义运动的影响；最后一部分得出结论，就是肖邦的作品主题意义深远，它不仅影响了一代人，而是对新女性主义者为妇女争取平等权利的运动有着积极的影响。

关键词：个人自主权，性自由，平等权利，经济独立

ABSTRACT

American southern writer Kate Chopin lived in a time when male dominance was prevailing while women were considered to be a kind of property to men. The theme in Kate Chopin’s works is mostly about the awakening of women, which is not accepted by traditional conventions. With this respect, Kate is an early pioneer in exploring this socially sensitive issue. Among all Chopin’s works, The Awakening, a short novel, and two short stories: “The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour” are representative in reflecting women’s awakening. In this paper, the author argues that the theme of Chopin’s works is significant and it has a profound influence on the feminist movements which becomes popular in the first half of the 20th century. After a brief review of previous studies on The Awakening, “The Story of an Hour”, and “The Storm”, the paper moves on to the thematic analysis of these three works. Through a close analysis of three heroines’ awakening, how the theme is revealed in these works is found out. It will then focus on the impact of women’s awakening on new feminism. The paper concludes that the theme of Chopin’s works is of great significance, and it has a far-reaching impact on the later feminist movements.

Key words： individual autonomy, sexual freedom, equal rights, economic independence
 
1. Introduction
Kate Chopin is a prominent American female writer. She is considered to be “a writer ahead of times”, due to the fact that the universal theme of her works is women’s awakening. Given the times she lived in, Chopin was extraordinary brave to write about this forbidden issue. In the late 19th century, the society in general was dominated by men, and women were considered to be a kind of property of their husbands. The roles women were supposed to play were to be housewives, taking care of the children and their husbands, and doing the chores in the kitchen. Chopin’s works encourage women readers to think about their selfhood and freedom. Therefore, the theme in her works has a far-reaching influence on the feminist movement that is to become a vogue in the 20th century. Chopin’s works help those feminists to find what a position they should take in society.