论《觉醒》中的意象与女性意识的觉醒Word格式文档下载.docx

论《觉醒》中的意象与女性意识的觉醒Word格式文档下载.docx

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摘要

19世纪的美国著名女作家凯特肖邦的《觉醒》，讲述了勇敢并且具有女性意识的女主人公埃德娜的自我意识的觉醒的故事。

肖邦在此篇小说中巧妙地运用了各种意象来突出小说女性意识逐渐觉醒的过程，觉醒后的一系列遭遇，以及女主人公埃德娜因觉醒所带来的凄惨结局。

通过意象的衬托，她让主人公把自己的情感意识寄托于广阔无垠的大海，自由翱翔的鸟儿，愉悦的音乐，埃德娜憧憬着如鸟儿一般，拥有觉醒的翅膀，在浩瀚的大海以及美妙的音乐找寻自我，自由飞翔。

关键词:

肖邦；

意象；

女性意识；

《觉醒》

Imagesandthe“Awakening”oftheFeministConsciousnessinTheAwakening

Abstract

TheAwakeningisoneoftherepresentativenovelsofKateChopin,anotedAmericanfemalewriterinthe19thcentury.Ittellsthestoryoftheself-consciousawakeningofthebraveandfeminineheroine—Edna.VariousimagesareusedskillfullybyChopintohighlighttheprocessoffemaleconsciousnessofindependenceandfreedomgraduallyawakening,aseriesofencountersafterawakening,andthetragicendingofEdnainthenovel.

Throughthedescriptionoftheseimages,Chopinlettheheroinegiveheremotionalconsciousnesstothevastsea,thefree-flyingbirds,thebeautifulmusic.Ednalookedforwardtobeingabird,withwingsofawakeningandlookingforherselfinthevastseaandwonderfulmusic,flyingfreely.

Keywords:

Chopin;

image;

theconsciousnessoffeminism;

TheAwakening

1.Introduction

1.1KateChopinandHerWritings

KateChopin’sTheAwakening,afeministnovelundertherealmofnaturalismandrealism,wasaheadoftimebyusingimageryofmultiplevisions,naturalelementsassymbols.Bymeansofimagerywriting,allsymbolscanbereadaskindsofmetaphor.Therefore,imageryhasaspecificandspecialrelationtosymbolism.

KateChopinwasoneoftheimagismmovementin19thcentury,sheadmiredthosestrong-minded,talentedandindependentwomenwhotranslatedmanyGuydeMaupassant’snovelsintoEnglish.Besidesthemelancholic,pessimisticundertoneofhumanlivesanddestiniesinhiswritings,whatimpressedChopinmostwasMaupassant’swritingskillsandtheindividualconsciousnesshealwaysemphasized:

Chopinclaimedtohavefeltthathespoketoherdirectlyandintimately（Toth,1985）.Sheadmiredhimmostforthethingsthatmadehimthewriterthathewas.Shewasintriguedbyhisescapefromtraditionandauthorityandforhavingenteredintohimselfandlookedoutuponlifethroughhisownbeingandwithhisowneyes（Skaggs,1974）.EventuallyMaupassantreplacedotherwritersasherprimaryinfluenceandliterarymodel（Toth,1985）.ChopinhadsuchaninterestinMaupassantthatsheherselfalsotranslatedmanyofhisstoriesfromFrenchtoEnglish（Toth,1985）.Becauseofthecontenttheirstories,thesestorieswereneverpublished.Maupassant’sideaswerelookedasimmoralandimmature,dealingwithideassuchassex,loneliness,anddepression.Hewasregardedbymanypeopleasanimmoralperson,becausehequestionedthestandardsoftheday.Ofcourse,KateChopinwasinfluencedverymuchbytheliterarytrendofthisperiod.HernovelTheAwakeningwaswrittenattheendofthenineteenthcentury,whichisstillamale-dominatedVictorianera.Atthattime,societyadvocatedsexualinhibition,especiallyamongmiddleandupper-classwomen.Asaresult,criticslashedoutatTheAwakening,causingagreatdisturbanceatthetime.

KateChopin’s1899masterpiece,TheAwakening,facedthesamefateasMaupassantandwasconsideredscandalousatthetimeofitsinitialpublication,withitsthemesoffemaleindividualityandliberationvirtuallyendingChopin’swritingcareer.Now,morethan100yearsafteritsfirstappearance,Chopin’snoveliswidelyesteemedasoneofthefirstfeministliterature.“Itwasn’tuntilthe1950sand1960sthatwiththevigorousdevelopmentoftheAmericanfeministmovement,thebookTheAwakeningreceivedafairevaluationfromcritics,believingittobeagoodbookwithexcellentideologicalskillsandartisticmethods.Araremasterpieceinliterature”（金莉，秦亚青,1998：

100）.ThebookisalsoknownasapioneeringworkofAmericanliteraryclassicsandfeministmovements,aswellasafirst-ratenovel（梁亚平，2004）.

1.2The 

Awakening

InTheAwakening,Chopincritiquedthesocietyinwhichwomen,whostrayfromtheirdutyasmothersortheexpectedmarriedfemalebehavior,aresubjecttoharshjudgmentandfurtherdisapprovalfromtheirhusbands.Inthenovel,Edna,herhusband,andherfamilywentonavacationtothebeautifulislandbythesea.Attheseaside,withthehelpofRobert,Ednalearnedtoswim,whichshealwayswantedtolearneversinceshewasachildandshealsoswamtoaplacethatshehasnevervisitedbefore.Robertcouldn’tbearthepressureofsocialjudgement;

hechosetoflee.So,therelationshipbetweenRobertandEdnawasinconclusive.

However,thedepartureofRobertdidnotstoptheconsciousnessoffeministawakeninginEdna’smind.ShewouldneverbethesameEdnawhousedtoobeyherhusband.Shestartedtolovelifeandexpressherfeelingsboldly.Throughlearningtoswimduringtheholidays,Ednabegantosearchfortheirindependenceandfreedom,whichisthebeginningofthetransformationofEdnainTheAwakening.TheheroineEdnainTheAwakening,amotheroftwochildren,hasverylittlepersonalfreespaceinherlifeaswellasothertraditionalAmericanwomenofherage.However,Ednahasabandonedherresponsibilitiesasawifeandmotherinpursuitofextramaritalsensorysatisfaction.

OnceTheAwakeningpublished,thenovelcouldn’tavoidharshcriticismfromsociety,aspeoplecouldn’thandlesuchradicalandsubversivefeministwriting.

1.3CommentsonThe 

Awakening‘

TheAwakening,publishedin1899,isthesecondnovelbyAmericanfemalewriterKateChopinandisafeministnovelundertherealmofnaturalismandrealism,wasaheadoftimebyusingimageryofmultiplevisions,naturalelementsassymbols.Bymeansofimagerywriting,allsymbolscanbereadasakindofmetaphor.Therefore,imageryhasaspecificandspecialrelationtosymbolism.Thenoveldescribestheself-consciousawakeningprocessofmarriedwomanEdna.Thework’santi-traditionalconceptalsobroughtnegativecommentstoitsauthor.EventhepostofSt.LouiswrotethatitwasnotsuitableforwomenwhoabidebyMoralityandstronglysuggestedthatthenovelshouldbelabeledasapoison（Killeen,2003）.Chopinalsolosthisoriginalreputation.Itwasn’tuntilmorethanhalfacenturylaterthatthevictoryofthesecondwaveofwomen’sliberationmovementmadeTheAwakeninganewfavoriteofliterarycriticsandaclassicfeministworkinthenationalliteraryworld.

Today,TheAwakeninghasbeenrecognizedasaclassicofAmericanliterature.Frombannedbookstoclassics,ithastakenalongandtortuousroad.Thiscomplexexperiencealsoillustrateshowsocialchangesandtheimpactofsocialthoughtshaveaffectedpeople’sacceptanceandjudgmentofaliterarywork.TheAwakening,astheauthoress’lastmasterpiece,alsosharingonefatewithHardy’slastone,wasfinallyrecognizedandevenpraisedas“beautifullywritten”byEdmundWilson,and“exquisite”and“sensitive”byWillaCather.However,thepraiseddidn’tliveaslongasHardy,whofinallyoutlivedthethrustsandcuts.

2.ImagesinTheAwakening

2.1TheDefinitionofImage

Theso-calledimageryisanartisticimagecreatedbytheuniqueemotionalactivitiesofthecreativesubject.Thewordimageryiscommonlyusedinliterarycriticism,andthemeaningofimageisroughlyasfollows:

oftenreferstoindividualimage,ratherthanthewholepicture.Artorliteratureworksuseimagestoexpressmeaning,whoseprimarygoalistoformaconcreteandperceptibleimage,sothatreaderscanproduceaestheticassociationbyvirtueofthepicturesdepictedinwords,andlettheaestheticexperienceorimpressivethingsreappearitsimagelusterinourmind.

2.2TheFunctionofImage

ImagewasapoeticvoguethatflourishedinEngland,andevenmorevigorouslyinAmerica,betweentheyears1912and1917.Asapartofthemodernistmovement,awayfromthesentimentalityandmoralizingtoneof19th-centuryVictorianpoetry,imagistpoetslookedtomanysourcestohelpthemcreateanewpoeticexpression.Atypicalimagistpoemiswritteninfreeverse,aformthatuseacadencethatmimicnaturalspeechratherthantheaccustomedrhythmofmetricalfeetorlines.Rulesofrhymingwerealsoconsiderednonessential.Butrather,ithighlightstheimpressionofavisualobjectorsceneandtheterm“image”shouldnotbetakentoimplyonlyavisualreproductionoftheobjectwhichisreferredto:

“Imageryinliteratureusageincludenotonlyvisualsensequalities,butalsoqualitiesthatareauditory,technic（touch）,thermal（heatandcold）,olfactory（smell）,gustatory（taste）,andkinesthetic（sensationsofmovement）”（Abrams,1999:

121）.

Asthefirstleaderoftheimagismmovement,AmericanwriterEzraPondismostfamousforhistwo-linepoemInaStationoftheMetro:

“Theapparitionofthesefacesinthecrowd:

Petalsonawet,blackbough”（Pound,1913

（2）:

12）.Itisoftencitedasoneofthepurestofhisimagistpoems.Pounddescribeswatchingfacesappearinametrostationasa“crowd”,meaningthestationisquitebusy.Hecomparesthesefacesto“petalsonawet,blackbough”,suggestingthatonthedarksubwayplatform,peoplelooklikeflowerpetalsstuckonatreebranchafterarainynight.Thoughshort,thispoemisverysensoryinnature;

itallowsthereadertoimagineascenewhilereadingthelines.ThroughPound’seconomicaldescriptionofthesefacesas“petalsonawet,blackbough”,heisabletoinvokeatransienttone.

KateChopin’sTheAwakening,afeministnovelundertherealmofnaturalismandrealism,wasaheadoftimebyusingimageryofmultiplevisions,naturalelementsassymbols.Bymeansofimagerywriting,allsymbolscanbereadasakindofmetaphor.Therefore,imageryhasaspecificandspecia