摘要

本文主要从女性主义的角度研究《华伦夫人的职业》中的女性形象。1894年，萧伯纳创作他的代表作《华伦夫人的职业》,与《鳏夫的房产》，《好逑者》共同收入《不愉快的戏剧集》。这是一部地道的社会问题剧，涉及到一些现实而严肃的话题，诸如贫困的生活及卖淫等。在这部剧中，萧伯纳成功地塑造了两个女性形象——薇薇和她的母亲，华伦夫人。本文将以女性主义的相关理论作为指导和依据，分析该剧中的相关人物以及内容和背景，从而探讨这些女性的出路。

关键词： 女性主义,父权制,新女性,堕落女性,《华伦夫人的职业》

Abstract

This thesis is a study on female images in Mrs. Warren’s Profession from the perspective of feminism. In 1894, Bernard Shaw wrote his masterpiece——Mrs. Warren’s Profession which was included in Plays Unpleasant, along with Widower’s Houses and The Philanderer. It is an authentic social problem play, involving some practical and serious issues, such as impoverishment, prostitution and so on. In this play, two kinds of women, Vivie and Mrs. Warren are shaped successfully by Shaw. Based on related theories of feminism, this thesis will analyze figures, contents and background of the play and then explore the way-out for these females.

Key words: Feminism, patriarchy, New Women, Fallen Women, Mrs. Warren’s Profession

1.    Introduction
Bernard Shaw is a great playwright after Shakespeare, whose excellent dramas have far-reaching social significance and unique values for study. A large number of scholars at home and abroad have carried a series of researches on his dramas from different perspectives. There are dozens of biographies of Bernard Shaw, among which, Frank Harris’s Biography of Bernard Shaw is very famous. In the academic fields, the systematic study on Shaw’s plays has been done comprehensively and objectively. Of course, at present, many more people are doing their research from the perspective of the social and contemporary literature. Moreover, some high schools and colleges offer special courses on the research of Shaw.
Shaw has been introduced to China since 1920s. For half a century, more than 30 plays of Shaw have been translated into Chinese and published in China. According to some statistics of Henan University, there are as many as 88 published books and articles which concentrated on the research of Shaw. What’s more, in China, Shaw is spoken highly of, such as Lu Xun and Mao Dun. For Mao Dun, he spoke highly of George Bernard Shaw who was not only a thinker, but also a universal philosopher. In China, Mr. Huang Jiade’s research is very representative. His book, The Study on George Bernard Shaw, published in 1989, in which Mr. Huang gave an introduction of Shaw’s life and art, especially his main works, such as Major Barbara.