Abstract

The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck in 1939 during the great depression. It was regarded as an epic about American’s history of the 1930s. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck described the miserable encounter of a large number of peasants who suffered bankruptcy and flight. It is easy to find the theme of the novel is to praise women represented by Ma Joad and Rosasharn. Ma is one of the most important persons in the novel, and she plays an important role in the family when facing the great depression. She leads the family through the difficulty with her brave and tough spirit. Rosasharn is another woman who gets pregnant during the hardest time, but she, together with Ma Joad, help the family flee to the West. Steinbeck expressed the feminist idea through the description of the main characters and the environment. As for the symbolic representations of the grapes in The Grapes of Wrath, there are many different explanations from different learners. In the opinion of the author, the grapes are also one of the methods for Steinbeck to show the feminist ideas.
   This paper consists of five parts. The first chapter gives a brief introduction to the author and The Grapes of Wrath. The second chapter introduces briefly the feminism in history. The third chapter, based on the understanding of the characters, analyses elaborately feminism represented by Ma Joad, Rosasharn, Tom and Casy. The fourth chapter gives the reasons of the feminist ideas in The Grapes of Wrath. The last chapter gives a summary of the feminism of this novel.

Key words:  The Grapes of Wrath; feminism; the great depression; spirit

摘  要

  《愤怒的葡萄》是1939年约翰 斯坦贝克在经济萧条时期写的。它被视为十九世纪三十年代美国历史上的史诗。纵观《愤怒的葡萄》，斯坦贝克描述了大量的农民破产和出逃的悲惨遭遇。小说中的人物主要是汤姆和他的家人，以及凯西、柯利和他的妻子等等。小说的主题是赞美乔德妈和罗莎夏为代表的妇女。在整个小说中，乔德妈是最重要的一个人物，在大萧条时期她在整个家庭中扮演着非常重要的角色，她坚强勇敢的精神领导全家度过困难。罗莎夏是在最困难的时期怀孕的女人，但她与乔德妈帮助家人逃往西方。斯坦贝克正确表达女性主义的想法，在小说中通过对环境的描写来表达女权主义。在《愤怒的葡萄》中葡萄所象征的意义对不同的学者来说也有不同的意义。在笔者看来葡萄也是斯坦贝克用来表达女性主义的想法。
   本文主要由五个部分组成。第一部分简要介绍了作者和原著《愤怒的葡萄》。第二部分对历史上女性主义思想作了简单的介绍。第三部分，基于对原著中人物角色的理解，对乔德妈，罗莎夏，汤姆和凯西所代表的女性主义思想作了详细的分析。第四部分分析了女性主义思想在原著中产生的原因。最后一部分总结了在这本小说中所传递的女性主义思想。

关键词：《愤怒的葡萄》； 女性主义；大萧条；精神