精神困惑和身份危机--女权主义视角下莱辛部分作品中女性人物的分析.pdfVIP

Supervisor: Associate Professor Cai Yuhui Spiritual Confusion and Identity Crisis ——An Analytical Study on Some of Doris Lessing’s Female Characters in Feminist Perspectives Shen Jieyu Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the English Department, Foreign Language College Anhui Normal University April 2005 Abstract Doris Lessing (1919— ), one of the most prominent and energetic writers in contemporary English literature, appeals to a large reading public all over the world with her prolific writing of various thematic exploration, distinctive perspectives and creative experiments in narration. Her masterpiece, The Golden Notebook , is generally considered a “bible” for feminism. Lessing claims never to have embraced feminism, yet, as a writer with realistic inclination, most of her works concentrate on women’s lives and fortunes -- one of the fundamental motifs in literature. In her works, women’s spiritual confusion and identity crisis, particularly their anxiety, depression, frustration, fear and despair, are well displayed in general and in detail. For her extensive coverage of women’s problems, Lessing is regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of feminist writers. The present thesis concentrates on some of Lessing’s works, such as The Grass Is Singing, Martha Quest, A Proper Marriage , The Summer Before the Dark , and the short story “To Room Nineteen”, for a thematic study. The heroines