从女性主义角度看斯嘉丽与命运的抗争

论文总字数：30352字

摘 要

《乱世佳人》是美国著名的女作家玛格丽特·米歇尔的代表作品。无论是文学评论家，还是广大读者，都对小说中坚强，独立，非同一般的女主人公斯嘉丽很感兴趣。同时，斯嘉丽这个人物形象也因其性格中所具有的强烈反抗意识而特别地引人注目。她坚持自己的原则去不断改变看似注定的人生。本论文主要集中笔墨于从女性主义角度看斯嘉丽对命运的抗争，其中包括其对封建礼教的抗争和对恶劣的自然环境的抗争。再者，通过简要介绍斯嘉丽的反抗精神对现代女性的影响，使人们从中获得启示，并再次突显出斯嘉丽逐渐成为有思想、有远见的南方新女性。

关键词：女权; 反叛; 斯嘉丽; 影响

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Feminist Ideas on Scarlett’s Fight against the Fate 3

3.1 The Fight against the Feudal Ethics 4

3.2 The Fight against the Nature for Survival 6

3.3 The Comparison between Scarlett’s Fight and Other Heroines’ Fight 7

4. The Influence of Scarlett’s Fighting Spirit on Modern Women 8

4.1 The Influence of Scarlett’s Anti-feudal spirit 9

4.2 The Influence of Scarlett’s Rebellious Spirit against the Nature. 10

5. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

Gone with the Wind is not only a famous human romantic masterpiece, but also a demonstration of the great and profound changes in the historical period, and meanwhile it is the declaration of the feminism. And Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. This famous novel occupies an important place in the history of twentieth-century American literature, however, it has been dismissed by most academic literary critics for being uneven, flawed, and conventionally written in an age marked by literary experimentation, and attacked by some cultural commentators as promulgating racist myths and undermining the very foundations of its basically feminist paradigm. Fortunately, this novel, as the best-seller of the twentieth century, stands the test of the time and continues to withstand its detractors.

It is generally recognized that the sense of rebellion against the predetermined destiny is one of the most valued qualities in human beings, which shows the courage and the will to change when facing difficulties and challenges. Feminism is a main character of this masterpiece, which is a series of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women"s rights. Feminism mainly focuses on women"s issues, but due to the pursuit for gender equality, some feminists argue that women"s liberation is a necessary part of feminism. Feminists are people whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism.

Feminist theory exists in a variety of disciplines, emerging from these feminist movements and including general theories and theories about the origins of inequality, and, in some cases, about the social construction of sex and gender. Feminist activists have campaigned for women"s rights—such as their rights in contract, property, and voting — while also promoting women"s rights to bodily integrity and autonomy and reproductive rights. They have opposed domestic violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. In economy, they have advocated for workplace rights, including equal pay and opportunities for careers and to start business.

This paper focuses on the feminist ideas by a simple analysis of Scarlett’s refusing to bow to the fate. It also tries to give a brief introduction of the influence of Scarlett’s fighting spirit on modern women, which will greatly benefit people in everyday life.

2. Literature Review

Recent years have witnessed a steady increase in the popularity of feminism, which is a main character of the Gone with the wind and many people have done research on it before. The consciousness of feminism can be concluded in a sentence, that is: Women demand independence and equality, and dare to challenge the idea of macho culture. Moreover, feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. It mainly shows the following several aspects and from which, we can gain further insight into the nature of the feminism:

1. The investigation of the women"s situation. Women are usually deprived of power and ability to some extent. And this social unevenness causes plenty of women to live miserably and they are often regarded as the appendix to the men. As such, feminism is a forceful trend to drive women to struggle.

2. The endurance of female power. It includes economic rights, political rights, legal rights and so on. Among these rights, the equality of rights between men and women should be set in the first priority. But in fact, the rights of women are excluded and trodden down.

3. The awakening of women"s self consciousness. It brings the liberation of the women"s subjectivity and free development. Therefore, the feminist theory not only involves the social question, but also concerns women themselves. Self awareness or consciousness is the key towards development. Women themselves constantly strive to become strong in self struggle and social movement, and if females can be united as one, the possibility of success will be increased dramatically.

4. The humanitarian justice for women who suffer from discrimination. Feminism reveals the human real justice, freedom and humanity"s responsibility, including the human culture and national culture, to the whole of the individual.

5. The establishment of female identity and their status in society. It is indispensable in building up this theory. The liberation of women is reflected in the identity and social status and thus in getting the right position in society, women"s liberation, freedom and development are the main points of feminism , which will be likely to help to put an end to women"s tragedy and help them to get rid of the woeful predicament.

The main character Scarlett in Gone with the Wind is a vivid image of the women who pursue the feminism. Her action of independence and no yielding to the macho culture has enabled the novel to reach an unprecedented level of writing. Some researchers have investigated feminist ideas of Scarlett and they have found that Scarlett has some personalities, such as bravery, individualism, and ability. These previous achievements undoubtedly contribute a lot to the study of the field of feminism in Gone with the Wind. However, little attention has been paid to examining the heroine’s feminist ideas through the analysis of her fight against the fate.

In the light of few relevant researches, recently people come to realize there is something significant behind the big work so that more and more people are addressing themselves to study it from many perspectives, among which the study of feminist ideas on Scarlett’s Fight against the Fate has attracted the most attention.

For example, Jiang Xiaohong (2012) in Scarlett’s feminist charm viewed Scarlett as a woman hero because she could strive to win women"s liberation from the bondage of old domestic life and manage to be independent economically. Luo Minyu (2005) in Analysis of Scarlett’s consciousness of tomorrow considered Scarlett’s consciousness of tomorrow as a kind of expectation: expecting the equality between men and women, a peaceful world and happy homeland and a true love. Moreover, there are some scholars giving their unique understanding of Scarlett’s rebellious character showed in the process of fighting against the seemingly predetermined fate.

3. Feminist Ideas on Scarlett’s Fights against the Fate

Scarlett’s awakening female consciousness is showed during the process of her fight against the fate. When confronted with the outdated regulations and irrational practices, she plucks up the courage to challenge and firmly defend her own rights. Likewise, when faced with the terrible natural environment, she refuses to yield to the poor soil and works hard in the field. Whether in front of the feudal ethics or in the presence of the wretched natural environment, what Scarlett does expresses feminist sentiments. “Scarlett is a brilliant image with feminist color whom Michel Margaret creates in Gone with the wind. She dares to go against the tradition and the treatment of females as inferior to males, and she dares to go out of the family and enter into the patriarchal world in order to obtain the female’s independence in economy and personality.”(Deng Yufen, 2005: 189).

3.1 Scarlett’s Fight against the Feudal Ethics

In this novel, Scarlett was portrayed as a rebel against the feudal ethics with distinct feminism. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Scarlett was taught to learn traditional protocol knowledge at a very young age to behave herself decently like an elegant lady. At that time, ladies and gentlemen’s demeanor formed the atmosphere of the traditional society. However, Scarlett hated doing that and was disgusted with the hypocritical decorum. In this way, she pretended to be a lady in front of her parents, but she went her own way at other times. In her inner world, she wanted an unrestricted and free life.

Before the civil war, America was a semi-feudal and semi-slavery country. Under such context, female’s social position is comparatively low and woman is a mere appendix to the man. For example, Scarlett’s mom Ellen is content with things as they are. Her life is neither easy nor delightful, but she never expects it to go smoothly. From her perspective, men manipulate the destiny of the world because males own the industry while females are only responsible for running it well. Besides, men are entitled to be curt and rude, even sometimes they can be outspoken in their remarks. However, women must be always elegant and required to be meek and submissive. Not only Scarlett’s mom, but also Mammy, the housekeeper, thinks that a lady should eat and know little and remain quiet and shy in the face of gentlemen, for no man is willing to get married with a girl who is cleverer than himself and women are naturally inferior to men in society. What girls can do to live a better life is to find an excellent husband and try to achieve the formidable level of the wifehood. Different from her two younger sisters who always follow others’ advice, Scarlett is impossible to tame and hard to control. She hates to obey unnecessary and trivial formalities. She identifies herself with boys in Tara and becomes rebellious and confident like them.

In the old South, arranged marriages were widespread. A girl was expected to find a marriageable man and she had to accept the husband chosen by her parents. Gerald O’Hara (father) insisted that “the best marriages are what the parents choose for the girl” (Mitchell 39) and that she should marry one of the Tarleton twins. However from the outset, Scarlett challenged the conventions of her society. Instead of being a passive recipient of old-styled marriage, She took initiative in pursuing love by baring her heart to Ashley. Although she was refused, she still persisted in loving Ashley, even after getting married, Scarlett was intended to go off with Ashley.

From this, we can see that she is in reality rebellious and sets a good model of feminism for her courage to make her own choices in the bondage of feudal marriage. Furthermore, when she hears of the news that Ashley announces his engagement with Melanie, she feels astonished and distressed like all common girls. But she does not give in to the unfair arrangements of the fate, instead, she makes every attempt to attract Ashley’s attention and take every means to make a profession of her deep love to Ashley. Scarlett’s stubborn conviction of love shows her fighting spirit, which is a characteristic feature of feminism.

Another rebellion against the feudal ethics is shown in her disregard for religion, which is an indispensable element in Southerners’ life. Scarlett preferred to believe in herself rather than God. This behavior not only shows the feminist self-reliance, but also becomes a sign of the progress in man’s knowledge about the unknown world--- substitution of human rights for a divine right. At prayer time in the evening before the ball, while all the other family members and the blacks are praying piously and asking Holy Mary to forgive their sins. Scarlett is so absent-minded that she neglects to make any responses, causing her mother to look at her reprovingly. Ever since childhood, prayer time was a moment for adoration of her mother Ellen, rather than Holy Mary. To the pious people, it was sacrilegious to show any indication of irreligion, but she dared to make a stand against superstitious feudal ideas.

Also, Scarlett dares to break away from commercial conventions, which means that she is the first woman in Atlanta after the war to go into business. As we all know, it is men that have an unerring instinct for a good business deal traditionally. However, faced with the poverty, Scarlett forsakes her bad habits of arrogance and conceit, and even completely disregards old conventions. By purchasing a factory, she would rather show her face in public without hesitation and does everything herself, which, at the same time, brings the blame of others on herself and causes her to be mocked. Nevertheless, Scarlett does not choose to retreat despite of sneers, contempt and suspicion. She sticks to her own principle and refuse to bow to these prejudices. In order to obtain more profits, Scarlett employs criminals to do manual work, so she can cut costs on the basis of non-monopoly capitalism.

Due to her unyieldingness, Scarlett is likely to go through difficulties and seems impervious to conventional pressure, which enables her to fight against the feudal ethics and becomes one of the representatives of feminists.

3.2 Scarlett’s Fight against the Nature for Survival

After four years of the civil war, the Confederacy drains the country of men and resources, and it ends with a heavy defeat in 1865. During the war, the slave-owning economy is destroyed and in this money-oriented society, only the strongest survive and competition between people is increasingly fierce. At this time, Tara is Scarlett’s spiritual home and from fighting against with the terrible natural environment, she shows good qualities of strong determination and the sense of responsibility, which are also the features of feminism.

In order to survive, Scarlett learns to work hard on the poor soil. The course of the contending with the barren soil and severe natural conditions greatly generated the image of a woman with a strong mind to earn her living through her utmost diligence and encouragement. What demonstrates here has aroused the main part of the feminism, that is, the independence and the autonomy of the women. In other words, females are able to take the place of men in work to survive in that period of tough time.

For example, Arriving home at Tara, Scarlett found the house ruined, the food gone, the crops burned, most of the slaves run off, her mother dead, her father with dementia, and her two sisters sick with typhoid. Everyone was looking to her to lead them and help them. She walked outside and went into the garden. For a long, long time she stood there, staring at the quiet, burned land around her. Ashley had been right when he had said, “The South that you and I grew up in is gone forever”. But Scarlett did not succumb to this terrible conditions, she promised the God that she was going to survive, which reflected her fighting spirit of triumph over adversity.

Desperate for food, she walked to Twelve Oaks only to find it burned to the ground. Hunting around, she found some vegetables in the gardens of the slave quarters, but became ill when she tried to eat them. Nevertheless, she had managed the plantation without man’ help. She believed that women could manage everything in the world without men’s help. The next eight months after the war were unlike anything Scarlett had ever known. They were full of toil and drudgery

But with such a strong conviction, she planted cotton seeds in person and worked in the field like slaves, though she once was the princess of Tara and lived an elegant life. She and her younger sisters had to planted vegetables, and cook and clean with other servants. During that period, Scarlett grew very thin, and her skin and hands became red and rough from working outside. It was just at this time that Scarlett had changed. She became a woman who knew what pain, fear, hatred, and suffering were. Moreover, she began to have a strong sense of responsibility because she was concerned with the interest of the whole family and from time to time was terrified of the family going hungry. In chapter twenty-four, it wrote that “Her burdens were her own and burdens were for shoulders strong enough to bear. She thought without surprise, looking down from her height, that her shoulders were strong enough to bear everything, having borne the worst that could ever happen to her. Tara was her fate, her fight, and she must conquer it” (Mitchell, 2008: 153). All of these descriptions reflect Scarlett’s strength and masculinity which she gathered from the process of fight against the wretched nature conditions.

3.3 The Comparison between Scarlett’s Fight and Other Heroines’ Fight

In Margaret Mitchell’s writing, Scarlett is depicted as a heroine with an indomitable spirit to pluck up the courage to face the adversity and refuse to bow to fate. Whenever difficulties occur, she always bears an important motto in mind that tomorrow is another day. Scarlett is an optimist and life can always bring fresh hope to her. Faced with the unjust feudal ethics, she does not succumb and lose the motivation to go ahead. By taking positive actions, she learns to change herself from a capricious girl to a mature new lady with the sense of responsibility. Scarlett is a positive rebel in that she makes no attempt to hide her determination to challenge the old social rules and conventions.

Different from Scarlett, Melanie, another heroine in this novel, maybe the most traditional women who obey to the principles, conforms to all the requirements for women: kind, gracious and forgiving, trust, respect and love. Melanie’s life goal is more likely to be a wife, bring up children and manage a family. She has less sense of career or business than that of Scarlett. In her point of view, husband and child are all she has. Confronted with difficulties in feudal ethics, especially with her husband’s betrayal, she chooses to tolerate and forgive, and even does everything she can do for helping her husband to get rid of the predicament. She is faithful to the social conventions. Melanie has no sense of running her own business, for her family is all she engaged in. She seems never have self-needs but live for others: her husband, her family and refugees. She is great for her selflessness and tolerance which are different from Scarlett. She loves the man she was asked to love, believes in the woman who desires for her husband’s love, and helps to soldiers wounded in the war. Compared with Scarlett, Melanie chooses to make a promise to the unjust world but her gentle response in a sense can be considered as another way to resist the feudal ethics.

Rebecca, a leading lady in Dame Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca , is a smart and noble woman but also the victim of the society at that time. Through this character Daphne wants to call for feminism and criticize the women in the patriarchal society of unfair treatment and shows sympathy for Rebecca’s generation. By taking negative measures such as pursuing to enjoy life, regarding men as prey to mock and ridicule, Rebecca, Actually, considers it as the resistance and revenge of male social injustice. Rebecca’s the corruption of dissolute life, though it is a blatant challenge to the patriarchal social structure, it brings her to ruin. Her death is the cleverest tarp she has ever done. She is doomed to death in several months, but she infuriates her husband Maxim and makes him kill her with a purpose to destroy his life. Rebecca hates the unjust world in which women are looked down on and traditionally considered as an appendix to the man, but she takes a negative attitude towards the feudal ethics and goes to extremes.

4. The Influence of Scarlett’s Fighting Spirit on Modern Women

Scarlett’s fighting spirit has exerted a great influence on modern women. Therefore, for today’s women, they’d better learn from Scarlett to live in the present and forget about the past because there is nothing folks can do to change it. Also, people should not be concerned for the future, as one builds it with each present moment. Modern females are supposed to become brave feminists like Scarlett to create their colorful life.

4.1 The Influence of Scarlett’s Anti-feudal Spirit

Scarlett is a typical feminist because when in the face of feudal ethics, she does her utmost to struggle and pursues personal independence, dignity, love and shows a spirit of being positive and optimistic. As a small middle class woman, she experienced a series of difficulty and setback of feudal ethics, such as the abandonment of a great deal of red tape, the fight against arranged marriages and the courage to break traditional commercial rule. All of these experiences are unbearable for a woman, but she never bows her head to the destiny. She is courageous enough to regain the initiative in life time and time again. In this case, Scarlett’s anti-feudal spirit has encouraged modern women greatly.

There is no doubt that it is an era in which men are no longer superior to women. Accompanied by the rising of female consciousness, modern women, especially office ladies spring up like mushrooms, which admittedly is influenced by Scarlett’s anti-feudal spirit and her pursuit of economic independence. She breaks through the social prejudices against women and dares to strive for her cause. In a very unequal society between men and women, Scarlett doubts about the ability of men and affirms her own ability. It is her confidence that deeply affects modern woman to pursue the realization of self-worth. Even while pregnant, Scarlett still shuttles back and forth between factories and cities regardless of the others’ blame and contempt.

Females in today’s society have seen that the career success can maximize women’s individual value and bring their potential to the full because by doing a job, women are likely to save themselves from depending on men for support. What’s more, plenty of excellent women are provided with a chance to climb the career ladder. For example, Magaret Thatcher, Britain"s first female prime minister, is one of the major representatives of modern women who are bold to extricate themselves to be fettered by stereotypes and outdated views by being rebels of cause after the Conservatives regained power from the Labor Party. In power, she was best known for her destruction of Britain’s traditional industries, through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner’s union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport.

Like Scarlett, modern women seldom think about the traditional principals and the social restrictions but often choose to stick to their own ideals, do what they want to do. Her spirit of being an independent woman rather than an incapable housewife inspires more and more women to defend their rights.

4.2The Influence of Scarlett’s Rebellious Spirit against the Nature

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