摘要

美国现代女作家伊迪丝•华顿是19世纪末20世纪初现实主义文学的代表人物之一，其作品以鲜明的背景、幽默的讽刺、犀利的笔锋以及深刻的含义闻名于世。她擅于刻画社会对个人性格和命运的影响以及在她生活的那个时代背景-“老纽约”上流社会里不同人物的日常生活和他们所反映出来的社会问题。同时，做为一个女作家，华顿对女性的命运和地位也有着深入的了解。为她赢得普利策奖的小说《纯真年代》就是一部刻画个人与社会之间的矛盾的代表作。她突出强调了女性受男权社会的压迫和束缚的悲惨命运。妇女永远都处于被控制、被奴役的地位，无论是在经济上还是精神上都是男人的附属品。女人在这样的环境下，无论是妥协或是反抗都是徒劳的，命运终究是掌握在男人或是家族的手中。
本文以女权主义作为理论依据，以内容分析以及对比论证作为研究方法，致力于研究《纯真年代》中二位性格截然不同的女主人公爱情都终究是悲剧的原因。文章首先阐述有关女权主义的相关背景，其次研究在小说中的时代背景下，女性所受的压迫和束缚，再次重点对小说二位女主人公进行对比分析和归纳，并结合中西方学者的研究成果，然后结合伊迪丝•华顿个人生平的一些相关资料，从而论证在当时的时代背景下，女性无论是妥协还是反抗，都逃不出一切被家族、被男性主宰的命运、结果都是不得不屈服于这个社会。最后对全文进行总结概括，指出其不足之处以及对今后研究的启发。
本文不仅是对《纯真年代》这部小说研究的必要补充，使读者能更加深入了解了女性在那个时代中的角色，同时也对当今社会男女平等这一观念的实施与执行有着一定程度的现实意义。

关键词：女权主义，老纽约， 女主人公， 爱情悲剧

Abstract

As an American modern woman writer, Edith Wharton(1862-1937) occupies an important position in realism literature of the late 19th and early 20th century, which is best known for her stories and ironic novels about upper class people in the “Old New York”. Meanwhile, as a woman writer, she has a deep understanding of the status and role of woman at that time. The Pulitzer-Winning The Age of Innocence is a novel which concentrates on women’s tragedy fates in the strictly restrain of the “Old New York’’ society. She emphasizes the miserable fate of woman in the control of man and patriarchy. Woman are just the accessories of man not only in economy but also in mental. Therefore, the fate of woman can never be dominated by themselves no matter they choose to compromise or resist.
This thesis employs feminist theory as theoretical foundation and adopts content analysis and comparison and contrast as the research methods. It first gives a brief introduction to the background of feminism; then it deals with the oppression of woman in the Old New York society. After that, it mainly makes a comparative analysis of two female protagonists, so as to prove the oppression of woman and the limitation of their self-development at that time. No matter what they choose, comprise or resistance, they have to submit to the society eventually. In addition, it also points out the limitations of the present thesis and brings up some suggestions for further studies in the future.
The result of this thesis will be a supplement of the research on The Age of Innocence and make the readers have a deeper understanding of the female destiny in “Old New York” society. Meanwhile, this thesis will be a guard for the implement of sex equality in the present society.

Key words: feminist, Old New York, female protagonists, love tragedy