摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Need for the Study 1

2. Literature Review 3

2.1 Different themes 3

2.2 Psychoanalysis 4

3. Twisted Self -consciousness 5

3.2 Sethe As A Lost Woman 5

3.3 Sethe be An Extreme Mother 7

3.4 Sethe be A Docile Daughter-in law 8

3.5 Sethe in The Black Community 9

4. Healthy Self-consciousness 11

4.1 Sethe’s Healthy Self-consciousness 11

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Zhu Li, a respectable and responsible teacher who has given me much useful guidance in the process of finishing the paper. Without her patient instructions, I couldn’t have completed this thesis efficiently. Her keen and vigorous academic observation enlightens me not only in this thesis but also in my future study.

Meanwhile, I want to thank my mother school, Nanjing Tech University. In the college, I can write my paper and acquire lots of precious literature materials in the quiet Yifu Library. I would like to extend my thanks to all the teachers in the College of Foreign Languages, who helped me to correct the mistakes in my paper.

I shall also express my gratitude to my friends and classmates who gave me suggestions and help in writing this thesis.

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the image of Sethe in Beloved. By means of some psychological knowledge, many plots and psychological descriptions about Sethe in this novel, the image of Sethe will be discussed around the topic of self-consciousness.

The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part is involved with a brief introduction of Morrison’s life and main works. The second part is about literature review. Since the publication of Beloved, many scholars have studied this novel from various perspectives, but the image of Sethe in Beloved from the aspect of self-consciousness hasn’t been discussed in details. The third part makes a introduction of self-consciousness. Self-consciousness consists of three parts-self-knowledge, self-experience and self-control. Then, from the aspects of Sethe being a woman, Sethe being a mother, Sethe being a daughter-in-law and a member of the community, the image of Sethe will be analyzed in details. The third part is about the conditions of Sethe’s self-consciousness in the end of the fiction. The last part deals with conclusion of the thesis and personal opinions

Key Words: self-consciousness; a woman; a mother; a daughter-in-law; a member of the community

中文摘要

我的论文将对托尼.莫里森的著作《宠儿》中赛斯的艺术形象进行分析，借助于相关的心理学知识，书中关于赛斯一系列的情节和心理描写，从赛斯自我意识的角度分析其人物形象。

本文大致分为四个部分。第一部分简要的介绍了 托尼.莫里森的生平和相关作品。第二部分是关于文献综述的。自《宠儿》发布以，许多学者从各个反面研究了这本小说，但从自我意识方面分析《宠儿》中赛斯的形象还没有详细地分析。来第三部分介绍了有关自我意识的理论知识，自我意识分为自我评价，自我体验和自我控制。再从从赛斯作为一个女人，母亲，儿媳，黑人社区一员的角度分析赛斯人物形象。第四部分，介绍了赛斯在书中结尾的自我意识发展状况。最后，总结全文，表明个人观点。

关键词：自我意识 女人 母亲 儿媳 社区一员

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

Toni Morrison is an American novelist, editor and professor. She was born in a working-class family in Ohio. In her childhood, she read a lot. Her favorite writers were Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. She graduated from Howard University with a B. A in English and also achieved a Master of Arts from Cornell University. In 1958, she was married to a Jamaican architect. After the six-year marriage, she got divorced and began to work as an editor.

Her fictions are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue and richly detailed characters. While supporting two children alone, she published her first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970). Followed by the second novel Sula (1973) and the third Song of Solomon (1977) , Beloved was a big hit in the world. Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize. Her name is known worldwide. Later, this novel was also adapted into film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. Her novels like Home (2012) , A Mercy (2008) , Love (2003), Jazz (1992) and Paradise (1997) also won the international fame.

1.2 Need for the Study

The former researchers have done a great job and offer readers various perspectives to know Beloved. However, the image of Sethe hasn’t been discussed in details from the perspective of self-consciousness.

Self-consciousness is of great significance during human’s growth. People of good self-consciousness have right judgments of themselves and are ware of their advantages and disadvantages. Confronted with difficulties, people tend to adjust their emotion to face it. People of bad self-consciousness tend to be shy, inferior, guilty etc. They are not good at pursuing their dreams and even explaining themselves.

Through discussing Sethe’s self-consciousness, we may discover a root reason for her tragedy and know the significance of a healthy self-consciousness. For the children, parents should attach importance to the development of self-consciousness. For the adults, it’s necessary to “check your heart” from time to time.

1. Literature Review

Beloved by Toni Morrison is one of the most well-known books around the world. Since its’ first publication in September, 1987, this fiction has attracted worldwide attention. Numerous researches are conducted from various angles. After looking through the available literature, I realize that the majority of researchers discuss around the topic of different themes of the novel and adopt classic psychoanalysis theories to analyze the main character, Sethe in this novel.

2.1 Different themes

Plenty of scholars take advantage of the complicated and controversial themes in this fiction to have a glimpse of the underlying characteristics of the black slave, Sethe. The theme of maternal love plays a dominant role among all those resources. Li Xuefeng discusses Sethe’s infanticide, Denver misunderstanding and Baby Sugg’s guidance to black community in details. (2009)He draws a conclusion that maternal love which includes both the upbringing of biological mother and love among the large black community should be put on the context of that dark era to understand. Similarly, Zhou Yan holds that the image of mother changes with the shifting society. (2008)Seth’s infanticide was forced to occur under the pressure of personal experiences, black culture and racism and was out of the protection of children. Jing Yuchai gets a more comprehensive result after the analysis of the twisted maternal love and mother-daughter relationship.（2010）He puts forward ways to mend the unhealthy maternal love. Firstly, friendship among females should be emphasized. Secondly, the relationship between mother and community is of great importance too. Thirdly, individuals also should be on good terms with community. In the end, males have significant roles in current lives.

The theme of racism reveals an international problem. Hu Wei and Hu Jiaying concludes that the infanticide of Sethe shows the embarrassing situation of black people in modern society and reveals the problem of black traditional culture’s development under the impact of the dominant white culture. (2014)Feminism is also a part and parcel of Beloved. Sethe received help from a white woman and a black man on her way to fight for freedom and released from the past with the assistance of the black community. Therefore, Li Xing thinks that only with the united power of black people can the black people get a happy life. (2014)