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从女性主义角度分析《名利场》 中的两位女性形象

摘要

《名利场》是英国19世纪批判现实主义作家萨克雷的代表作，通过描述两位性格迥异的女性形象及其各自不同的命运，揭露了当时英国上层社会的道德危机和腐败堕落，进而批判了资本主义社会金钱至上的观念。大部分人对名利场中的两位女性形象持否定态度，人们普遍认为利蓓佳·夏泼自私、贪婪、虚伪，艾米利亚懦弱、缺乏主见，然而本文认为这两位女性都具有女性主义独立，智慧和坚强的特质，综合分析认为作者萨克雷实际上对这两位男权社会压迫下的女性持同情与赞扬的态度，而非批判。

本文主要在介绍作者的女性主义思想发展的基础上，从女性主义角度对小说中两位女性形象进行分析。通过作者对笔下两位女性生动的描写，读者可以看到萨克雷对这两位女斗士的态度与波伏娃的女性主义理论不谋而合。

关键词：女性形象；女性主义；男权社会；赞扬

Abstract

Vanity Fairis the masterpiece of Thackeray, a critical realism writer in the 19^thcentury in Great Britain. By describing two typical female images with completely different characters and fates, it reveals the moral crisis and corruption of British upper society and then criticizes the money-orientated concept of capitalist society. Most people hold a negative attitude towards the female images inVanity Fairand they generally consider that Rebecca Sharp is selfish greedy and hypocritical and Amelia is cowardly, stubborn, and weak-minded. However, this paper thinks these two females both have the feminism features, such as independence, wisdom, and braveness, and believes Thackeray actually sympathized and praised these two women rather than criticized them.

This paper mainly analyzes the two female images inVanity Fairfrom the perspective of feminism based on the author’s thought development of feminism. Through Thackeray’s vivid description of the two females in a male-oriented society, we can see the author’s attitude towards the two women coincides with Beauvoir’s feminist theories.

Key words:female image; feminism; male-oriented society; praise

1. Introduction

This part makes a brief introduction to the author Thackeray, his novelVanity Fair, and feminism, and introduces the heroines in the novelVanity Fairfrom the perspective of feminism. Compared with other literature reviews, this paper has a different idea.

1.1 Thackeray’ s life and his“Vanity Fair”

Thackeray(1811-1863) was an representative of critical realism in the 19^thcentury England. He was born in India in the family of an English official. In his early life, Thackeray wrote all kinds of articles, mainly short pieces for journals and relatively slim books. Up to 1847, a series of his satirical sketches were collected inThe Book of Snobs. But it was not until the publication ofVanity Fairthat the world recognized the appearance of a new novelist of the first rank.

Vanity Fairas Thackeray’s masterpiece gives a comprehensive view of English society in the early 19^thcentury. By the title which is derived from Bunyan’sPilgrim’s Progressmeaning “a fair, wherein are sold all sorts vanity”, the author intended to paint a vivid picture of the egoistic, hypocritical and money-grabbing world of his age. The subtitle of the book is “A Novel without a Hero”. From this it can possibly mean firstly that there are no exactly positive characters in a world full of bad and faulty people. Secondly it may imply that this is a novel about women instead of men. Although the subtitle may mean that there is no real hero in the novel, Rebecca and Amelia can be the real heroines of the novel in a way.

1.2 Feminism and the purpose of this paper

“In a simple way, feminism is a belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes, and a movement organized around the conviction that biological sex should not be the pre-determinant factor shaping a person's social identity or socio-political or economic rights. Many feminists are especially concerned with social, political and economic inequalities between the sexes which favour men at women's expense; some have also argued that gendered and sexed identities, such as "man" and "woman", are socially constructed. Feminists may disagree over the sources of inequality, how to attain equality, and the extent to which gender and gender-based identities should be questioned and critiqued; some of this disagreement may stem from continuing pressure to conform to masculine norms”^[1].

The goal of feminist history is to explore and illuminate the female viewpoint of history through the rediscovery of female writers, artists, philosophers, etc, in order to recover and demonstrate the significance of women's voices and choices in the past. Two particular problems which feminist history attempts to address are the exclusion of women from the historical and philosophical tradition, and the negative characterization of women or the feminine in it; however, feminist history is not solely concerned with issues of gender per se, but rather with the reinterpretation of history in a more holistic and balanced manner.

This thesis is to discuss the two main female characters’ images from the feminism perspective, which can make readers know more about the novel and the main themes as well as the social background. What’s more, this thesis can make them know the author’s writing intention. Readers will have a deep understanding of the novel and the characters in the novel. At the same time, these discussions can give some implications for the modern readers and the modern women.

1.3 Literature Review

Since the publication ofVanity Fair, a lot of scholars domestic and overseas have studied it from different viewing angles such as the heroines’ characteristics and reflected realistic problems.

The research ofVanity Fairin China booms in recent years but most of them are scanty in depth or extension. Most researchers agree that the main characters in the book are lifelike. Some researchers focus on special characters to explore the humanity of the Victorian Age. The life of the heroines is a metaphor of human being’s desire.

The research of the foreign critics mainly divides into several aspects. Some critics consider that Thackeray is a sentimental novelist. These researchers consider thatVanity Fairis the strong support to the view that Thackeray is a cynic in heart and soul. Other researchers regardVanity Fairas a realistic novel. In this novel, Thackeray has portrayed the living manners of his own age and they bear a true and deep resemblance to their prototypes of the 18^thcentury. In addition, some researchers take Thackeray’sVanity Fairas a master piece of satire. Gao (2002) surveys the position and role of women in a money-oriented and status-conscious male world. Wu (2003) exposes situation of corrupted and hypocritical society which advocates the Victorian Virtues of marriage and family. Charlotte commented: “The more I read Thackeray’s works the more certain I am that he stands alone-alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his feeling … Thackeray is a Titan”^[2].

Critics shift their attention to almost every aspect of the novel as time goes on. Some are by the ethnical content; some are interested in the polysemy of the theme; some try to interpret the major characters; some pay attention to its psychological dimensions. This research mainly discusses the heroines’ vanity and snobbishness and its reflection in real society, with a purpose to make readers better understand the theme of the novel and thought of the author.

Taking these literatures as reference, this paper decide to discuss the heroines’ feminism characteristics in realistic society and their feminism female images from their different characters and their behaviors. By discussing the topic, this paper aims to find out the theme of the novel and thought of the author on women.

2.The Sources of Thackeray’s Feminism

According to a lot of literature about Thackeray, we can easily discover that his feminism can be traced back to the social circumstances and his family life in Thackeray’s day.

2.1 The social sources

In the author’s living time, Ancient Great Britain, after experiencing the 17^thcentury’s bourgeois revolution and 18^thcentury’s industrial revolution, until 19^thcentury, finally finished the primitive accumulation of capital based on the large scale colonial plunder. At that moment, the British commerce was prosperous and the monopoly position of British industry was more stable than before. In that time, with the fast development of the s