Integration of Male Thinking and Feminist Consciousness.doc

1、1Integration of Male Thinking and Feminist ConsciousnessAbstract. Analysis of male cultural mentality reflected by images of women under the male writers is an important category of feminist literary criticism. The paper applies theories and methods of feminist literary criticism and analyses the br

2、ight and paradoxically dual personality to these female images. Hardy can be seen both traditional male thinking， and distinctive feminist consciousness. This is the writer spirit conflict performance； what is more， it is the reflection of all kinds of peoples spiritual and ideology turbulence and c

3、risis of the entire western society in Britain since nineteenth century. Keywords： Hardy； Female Images； Feminist Literary Criticism； Male Thinking； Feminism 1. Introduction People generally think thatThomas Hardy is an outstanding naturalism and realism writer in the turn of nineteenth and the twen

4、tieth century. He set up a series of female images in his works. Through the description of their fate， he criticized 2the hypocrisyethics in capitalist society andsufferings to the womenat that time， exhibiting a unique concept of women. Analysis of these works from the perspective of feminist lite

5、rary criticism， Hardy can be seen both men thinking， and feminist consciousness. Hardys ideology is contradictory， which is the integration of male thinking and feminist consciousness. In his works， Hardy naturally became the owner of gender power. By carefully examining the creation of Hardys ideol

6、ogy， it can be seen that on one hand， Hardy failed to get rid of male consciousness of the female characters in 19th century literature. He took the mens perspective， the male narrative mode， mens words and characters of the binary opposition between the two languagesto describea woman as the good i

7、mage of womens virtueaccorded with the patriarchal tradition.He let them to passively endure all kinds of hardships， to embody the ideal model of women in the male literature， which reflects Hardys men thinking； on the other hand， Hardy also gave their rebellion consciousness， making it stand on one

8、s own personality， and created a group deviates from the traditional value orientation and moral standards of the new image of women. Women in the new era are 3yearning for the free life， pursuing of independent personality， against the traditional custom and have rebellious spirit. From this point

9、of view， these rebellious women who are full of female self-consciousness are a manifestation of Hardys feminist thought. In his men thought and feminist consciousness blending， Hardys women images inevitably show distinct， even the dual personality in front of the readers. 2. The traditional women

10、shaped under the patriarchal male thinking In the Vitoria times， women who were always in a passive position used to be traditionally classified as fragile and lack of rational. Treating marriage， they always try to find a good husband. Taking care of the husband and educating the children became th

11、e bounden duty of their marriage. They will never be able to get an equal， because they are fragile. The perfect woman is very beautiful， delicate feelings， pure docile， religious belief， psychological dependence on men， and absolute obedience to the fate of marriage. Woman completely lost self， int

12、o which exists for the others in the status of others， naturally became the second attachment to men. As the creator of shaping these women - Hardy， think that 4women are always in accordance with the needs and wishes of men. Men and women are the true creator， so Hardys female images give their bur

13、den of life or death only with men. In fact， there is a natural complementary relationship between men and women， but history has violated an equal and harmonious relationship， the women interpreted as a pure appendages； and the influence in patriarchal society of women， also used in the husbands gu

14、ardianship life， abandoning the subject to change yourself， willingly and gladly live object， unknown to the public， finally disappeared from the scene. Thus we can see， a male writer could not outmoded consciousness beyond a human collective formed in the patriarchal culture background to the femal

15、e. As in seventeenth Century the feminist Bailey said： “Everything a man writes about women， is suspect. Because the mans identity， such as in the case， both parties to the action， and judge.“At the same time， we can also see， Hardy in the process of description also reflects his emotional an anxiet

16、y and distress， to ease the shortage of emotional， finally， to satisfy my desire， the sustenance of the ideal of marriage. In his male thinking stubborn， he let them each persons 5face is branded with the “weak“， “as they generate the female body punishment； in this case， as long as the implacable n

17、atural law， as it now exists， then no matter how much they wish， how high skills， willing to try， cant make them become strong.“ When love setbacks， they will be in great pain， and finally to death. Tess is one of them. She is a typical traditional woman in male dominated culture under the influence

18、. Her disposition gentle， tolerant， and sacrifice oneself spirit. This is in the patriarchal culture of male to female standards and requirements. Tess from being cheated， struggle， desperate to destroy the tragedy destiny， in addition to the reasons of society and times， more important is she due t

19、o their lack of base on the “self“ consciousness， lack the ability to value their personality value， this is the psychological structure of her unconsciously formed in the patriarchal culture. When belonged to Alec， she often asks： a womans chastity， really， once lost， is lost forever？ She is in a m

20、ood of chaos， weak. In fact， chastity is reflected in the male dominated society in the male to female a look， even the male to female a possessive （here Hardy naturally or half unconsciously to make the story to cater to the traditional 6patriarchal culture awareness and interest）. And when he knew

21、 of her past and realize that she is not what he expected of women， he flatly said to Tess： “I love that woman is not you“. In the face of such a kind of inevitable in male dominated culture arrangement， Tess was kneeling on the clay feet， lying on the ground， huddled， struggling to beg his forgiven

22、ess， like a poor and wretched slaves， absolute obedience to him， that she fell to the ground can not afford， sacrifice. Dont go against him. These might seem sincere and moving， can arouse people to the heroines compassion， but Tess did not become a self-awareness， self-decision and self-action capa

23、city of women. She could not save himself， instead only made Clay more indulgence， sadly she put the blame on himself for this outcome， even after Clay was abandoned， or refuse to realize ones error， eventually engulfed in male culture. In Hardys novels， women became the possession of man trample an

24、d even could be abandoned anytime. Women in such an ancient cultural background become ignorant， numb， and willingly and gladly to regard themselves as a part of the mans property， completely succumbed to the patriarchal domination， quietly enduring his unfortunate fate. Wolf （Woolf） noted that， Har

25、dy has a basic classification of the 7male characters are described and female characters，“whether female characters are lovely， charming， she is always relatively weak； no matter how stubborn male characters are， not the path， he is always relatively strong. This is a basic Hardy perspective： part，

26、 female characters often more delicate， she is dependent on men strong， so blurred vision.“ To sum up， in Hardys novels， women were shaped as specificationof male consciousness： they are lovely， naive， receptive， self sacrifice， no independent personality， but a man life ornament， if we want to figh

27、t and the traditional， and supreme men fight， they wait for the only death， the female images in Hardys novels and the end. 3. Women in the new era spawned by the strong feminist consciousness No matter whether Hardy describes the reality of women， or whether he knows them， loves them， or whether th

28、ey are just to them， Owen Ho said confidently in 1966 that Hardy took “with tips intuition feeling women love life“ and “he likes women“. Other commentators often agree with Howes point of view， many early researchers regard Hardy as an“open“and just person to the female principle called by Ho. In 1

29、976 AnneZ. Mickelson said that Hardy “expected men and women in the 70s， 8especially the views on women“. Moreover， his method on “the role of women in society， often exploring type， sometimes thought state， often insightful， and always full of passion.“ Hardy in order to create active， determined，

30、since the main women beyond the stereotype of his time， his character is considered to be representative of all historical periods of all men and women. The new image of women under the pen of Hardy did not fall “angel“ and “temptress“ stereotypes， writer observed for women andcharacterizations are

31、beyond the fixed pattern. They are the new women with modern ideas， distinct personality. Specifically， manifested in three aspects： one is the new women are active， rich sense of self. They have the knowledge， has ones ability and cleverness， have their own independent views on life， on various soc

32、ial phenomena also have in-depth thinking， such as “far from the madding crowd“ of Bathsheba； two is in the case of men and women face， unwilling to Hardy in humble， passive position. They stubborn personality， dare to struggle， with a new era of rebellious spirit. For their ideal goal and love， the

33、y will adopt a proactive attitude， brave， bold pursuit， such as “Custer“ in the mayor of Caster bridge Lu Said； Hardy is the three new 9female is different from old traditional woman one of the most prominent， in the different attitude toward love and marriage problems they the. Traditional ideas us

34、ually end marriage as women， women only means of getting happiness. And the new women dare to traditional religious ethics and feudal ethics questioned and rebel strongly condemned the marriage discrimination and limit womens “double standard“， “forest people“ involved in the theme of marriage divor

35、ce fully reveals the existence within the “double standard“. Under the pen of Hardy who is experienced to recognize the change of female self-consciousness， complete denial of their traditional ideas previously held the patriarchal society of women know， to confirm its existence value. Hardy is the

36、female arrangement is entirely from the female body set out to meet women， get rid of the female purely for aesthetic awareness of the status of object， and to realize the double value - the main object fusion characteristics， from the idea and method to negate the male centered patriarchal society

37、of women and the definition， from this point again， these novels deeply laid a feminist consciousness. 4. Conclusion Review and analysis of the above on the creation of Hardy 10ideology， it can be seen that on one hand， Hardy failed to get rid of male consciousness of the female characters in litera

38、ture in the nineteenth century.He took the mens perspective， the male narrative mode， mens words and characters of the binary opposition between the two languagesto describea woman as the good image of womens virtueaccorded with the patriarchal tradition.He let them to passively endure all kinds of

39、hardships， to embody the ideal model of women in the male literature， which reflects Hardys men thinking； on the other hand， Hardy also gave their rebellion consciousness， making it stand on ones own personality， and created a group deviates from the traditional value orientation and moral standards

40、 of the new image of women. Women in the new era are yearning for the free life， pursuing of independent personality， against the traditional custom and have rebellious spirit.It is self-evident that female images in Hardys novels are presented so distinct， sometimes are even with double personality， which is not only the reflection of spirit conflict of strata British people in Vitoria era，but also the writer Hardys spirit conflict. Therefore， the author thinks that in the eyes of realists these novels arethemost abundant and the most complex source of patriarchy