Contents
Acknowledgements……….………………….……………………….i
Abstract…………………………………..…………………………..ii
内容摘要…………………………………………………………….iii
Chapter One Miles Franklin and her My Brilliant Career 2
1.1 Miles Franklin and her major works. 2
1.2 My Brilliant Career, the author’s first novel 5
Chapter Two An Analysis of Sybylla’s Characters 8
2.1 An Independent and Rebellious Figure. 10
2.1.1 Her Rebellion against the Family. 10
2.1.2 Her Struggle Against the Environment 11
2.1.3 Her Rebellion against the Conventional Concept of Marriage. 15
2.2 A girl of distorted character. 17
3.1 Some general features of women characters in English Literature. 26
3.2 A comparison between Sybylla and Jane Eyre. 28
3.3 A comparison between Sybylla and Elizabeth. 32
Abstract
In the last two hundred years and more, western women writers have never ceased to fight for their own right, which has found its expression in such literary images as Jane Eyre, Elizabeth, Tess, to name but a few. Sybylla in Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career is totally different from the traditional women images in western literature. Her complicated character accounts for her behaviour of independence and rebellion, and also excites the deep compassion from readers. The unique features of the novel and the author’s interesting writing background have motivated me forwards further pursuit of the debated Australian writer and her well-received novel.
The first part of this thesis introduces the social background of the topic. It is followed by three chapters, the first one of which is about Miles Franklin and her major works, especially My Brilliant Career. The second chapter is an analysis of Sybylla’s character. And the third one is a comparison between Sybylla and some western classic women characters. The last part is the conclusion.
内容提要
女性主义的生成是现代社会的重大文化事件之一。自女性意识崛起,女权思想成为“主义”、成为“运动”以来,历史已过去了两百多年。其间,西方女性在文学中不懈地争取,拓展了自己的生存空间,她们生活,写作,成就了女性自己书写的历史。领略了简·爱、伊丽莎白、苔丝、嘉丽妹妹等女性形象后,再读到西比拉给人一种耳目一新的感觉。感叹于她的独立,她的反叛;也为她的悲哀,她的无奈而不能释怀。她的命运和遭遇所造成的双重性格,不禁使人感慨自己的人生,思考许多同龄人的命运。作者所处的文化背景和时代,西比拉在澳大利亚文学史上的特殊地位及其复杂的双重性格激发了人深入分析其形象的兴趣。本文旨在分析西比拉这一形象的特点,追其根源,并将其与其他典型西方女性形象作对比。
本文绪论部分将从总体上介绍女性主义及其发展、比较经典的女性形象,由此引出本文的主题“西比拉”这一形象。正文部分分为三章。第一章为迈尔斯·弗兰克林及其第一本小说。这一章分为两部分:首先大体介绍一下迈尔斯·弗兰克林生平及其主要作品,然后着重分析其第一部小说《我的光辉生涯》及其在澳大利亚文学史上的地位。第二章为西比拉性格的分析。这一章从两方面分析西比拉的性格:其独立反叛的个性和其被扭曲的性格;并从各方面分析形成此种双重性格的原因。第三章为西比拉的性格与西方文学史上典型女性形象简·爱和伊丽莎白的比较。最后为结论部分。