An Analysis of Three Female Characters in The Great Gatsby from the Perspective of Feminism 从女性主义视角分析《了不起的盖茨比》中的三位女性人物形象文献综述

 2023-04-27 17:45:08

文献综述

文 献 综 述1. Introduction1.1 Research Background Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is an American writer in the 20th century, who rose to prominence with the publication of his novel, This Side of Paradise (1920). The publication of The Great Gatsby (1925) cemented his place in modern American literature, making him a spokesman for the Jazz Age of the 1920s and one of the representatives of the Lost Generation. Fitzgerald was good at writing short stories as well as novels, and apart from the two works mentioned above, his major works are Tender is the Night (1934) and The Love of the Last Tycoon (1941). Fitzgeralds novels vividly reproduced the disillusionment of the American Dream in the 1920s and the spirit of the Wasteland Era of the American upper class during the Great Depression.1.2 Scott Fitzgerald and The Great GatsbyQin Junyuan (2007) holds the view that Fitzgerald always habitually takes his own life experience as the blueprint in his novel creation. As a result, in order to better understand Fitzgeralds works, detailed research of his life experiences should be made.Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. He tried his hand at writing plays when he was young, and after high school, he went to Princeton University. At school, he organized his own theatrical troupe and wrote for the school literary journal, but later, due to poor health, he chose to drop out of school. Joining the army in 1917, he kept busy with military training, but he never went abroad to fight. Fitzgerald insisted on amateur writing after he left the army, and married Zelda in 1920. After marriage, he lived in Paris with his wife and met many American writers, for example, Anderson and Hemingway. After Fitzgerald became famous, he continued to write diligently, but after marriage, his wife was fastidious about ostentation, and later he was insane and extravagant, which brought him great pain. He could not make ends meet financially and for a time went to Hollywood to write screenplays to make a living. In 1936, he fell ill with lung disease and his wife also fell ill, so that he could hardly write. He was on the verge of mental breakdown and drank too much. At last, he died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on December 21, 1940, at the age of forty-four.The Great Gatsby is a novella by Fitzgerald set in New York City and Long Island in the 1920s. At the end of the 20th century, the American academic authority selected the 100 best novels in the hundred years of English literature, among which The Great Gatsby ranked the second place, and was acted on the screen and stage many times.James Gatz, the protagonist, was a poor boy who dreamed of becoming a big shot, so he worked his way up through the ranks and changed his name to Jay Gatsby. While serving as a lieutenant in an army training camp, he fell in love with Daisy, a southern heiress. However, after the war when he returned from overseas with a military medal, Daisy had married Tom Buchanan, a strong, rich but rude young man from Chicago. Gatsby, who was obsessed with love and dreams, worked hard and became a millionaire from a poor officer. He bought a luxury villa on the west end of Long Island, across the bay from the Buchanans which was on the east end. His house was brightly lit every night, and throngs of guests reveled in wine. For Gatsby, his only wish was to see his lover, Daisy. When they met again, Gatsby thought he could relive the dream before, but as time went by, he found Daisy was no longer the person he had imagined. However, this awakening did not last long. Daisy ran over and killed her husbands mistress with her car, and Tom laid blame on Gatsby. While Nick, the narrator, saw through the cruelty and malice of the rich in the upper class, left New York and returned to his hometown.Zhang Xiaohua (2008) holds the view that as a part of society, women cannot be detached from the times. The three heroines, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle are the representatives of the flappers of the time. The attractive women with various characters come from different status, but none escape the miserable destiny. Many critics have hard remarks on their images, but few have made a thorough analysis on the reasons of their negative images. Therefore, this thesis aims to analyze the causes of the distortion of the three female characters from the perspective of Feminism, and to improve the readers prejudice against them to some extent.1.3 The Theory of FeminismThis paper is to interpret The Great Gatsby from the perspective of Feminism. The word Feminism was accepted by the mass in the 1890s. At that time, feminist movements formed its own important and ever-lasting features, especially in political field. Feminism usually means movements for recognition of the claims of women for rights in legal, political, familial, fields, etc. equal to those possessed by men (Ardis, 1990: 35). The ultimate aim of Feminism is to achieve the liberation of women, to get rid of discrimination, to obtain equal rights, to change womens oppressed status, and to realize self-identity, which undoubtedly helps to change the modes of thought and life of women. The development of Feminism in Western countries can be divided into three stages, and The Great Gatsby was written during the second stage. The second stage was called modern Feminism from 1960s, which was a vital stage. One is not born, but rather becomes a woman. (Beauvoir, 1997: 265) Feminists found that though women had made remarkable achievements in acquiring rights in some fields, the inequality was not eradicated. Wang Enming (2002) holds the view that some women became conscious of their oppressed position in the patriarchal society. For instances, women were still in subordinate position in voting, and their prospect of occupation development remained poor in spite of getting the same job and same position with males. As a result, the key purpose of the second stage was still to eliminate gender differences and ask for equal rights. After the First World War, the patriarchal culture society in America began to collapse because of womens practice of social activity and the collapse of traditional moral concept and value system. The First World War devastated men and gave women a chance to recover their deprived status. (Lin, 2004: 8) During this wave, Feminism formed into different schools, such as Liberal Feminism, Marxist Feminism, and Socialist Feminism.2. Literature Review2.1 Studies AbroadSince 1945, studies on Fitzgerald and his works have been in full swing abroad. His early death and the tragic circumstances of his final years aroused peoples admiration and remembrance for him. People found that Fitzgeralds works could satisfy their nostalgia for the culture and flavor of life in the 1920s, because his works deeply reflected the social form and cultural characteristics of the United States during the specific historical period of the 1920s. Therefore, the United States embarked on a grand Fitzgerald Revival. These studies are mainly divided into the following aspects.Firstly, Fitzgeralds life has been studied in depth and many influential biographies have been written. A famous Fitzgerald scholar Matthew. J. Broccolis Some Sort of Epic Grandeur (2002) is hailed as one of the best biographies of Fitzgerald. Mary Jo Tates F. Scott. Fitzgerald A to Z (1998) is a detailed, informative, concise and useful reference book. Jackson. R. Bryer (2002) called it the most valuable reference book published in the 1990s.Secondly, Fitzgeralds classic novels have been studied in depth, such as The Great Gatsby (1925), Tender is the Night (1934) and so on. In The Great Gatsby and Fitzgeralds World of Ideas (1997), Ronald Berman analyzes the theological concept in Gatsbys thought, and discusses the process of the capitalist consumer culture and the material world influencing novel creation, language and image. Jackson. R. Bryer (2003) praised the book as insightful and original.Subsequently, the focus shifted to short stories that had been neglected in the past. Jackson. R. Bryers F. Scott. Fitzgerald: New Perspectives (2000) is a collection of papers on novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and other perspectives. These articles feature commentaries on previously overlooked works, such as The Offshore Pirate (1920), Head and Shoulders (1920) and so on.Later, some old research methods and ideas were broken. Instead, there are innovative and in-depth research ideas. Virgil Mihaius Between the Jazz Age and Postmodernism: F. Scott. Fitzgerald (2004) analyzes the relationship between Fitzgerald and postmodernism from the perspective of musical aesthetics by using jazz terms such as syncopation and pronunciation. Rena Sandersons Women in Fitzgeralds Fiction (2002) analyzes the female characters in Fitzgeralds works from the perspective of women.In addition, some scholars have revised and supplemented the previously published research literature. A. Robert. Lee writes in the preface of his published collection of essays The Promise of Life (1999), This collection of essays provides a new round of Fitzgerald research. (Lee, 1999: 40)2.2 Studies in ChinaFitzgeralds works have experienced a long process from total denial to acceptance and then to affirmation in China. In the late 1980s, with the fundamental improvement of Chinas politics, economy and culture, the research on Fitzgerald and his works gradually began through the efforts of experts and scholars. In 1983, Wu Ningkun first translated Fitzgeralds masterpiece The Great Gatsby (1925) into Chinese. He affirmed Fitzgeralds historical status and creative characteristics with his concise and cautious writing style. Dong Hengxuns A Survey of American Literature (1986) gave a comprehensive overview of Fitzgeralds life, historical status, characteristics of works, creative thoughts and artistic style, which made Chinese readers begin to have a correct understanding of Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald Studies (2002) written by Wu Jianguo gave a more comprehensive introduction to Fitzgeralds life experience and creation process. Since then, Chinese scholars have gradually carried out the research on Fitzgerald, and their enthusiasm for research has also increased.Generally speaking, the research on Fitzgerald mainly focuses on the American dream, the art of narration, the characters and so on. In the aspect of American dream, Chinese scholars have conducted in-depth discussion of Fitzgeralds works. They explored the origin of American dream, interpreted the implication of American dream, and thought about the evolution and variation of American dream. In terms of narrative art, Chinese scholars discussed the narrative structure, function, techniques and so on in Fitzgeralds works, and fully affirmed his various breakthroughs and extraordinary achievements in narrative art. In the aspect of characters, Chinese scholars have made a detailed analysis of different characters in Fitzgeralds works. Different scholars also hold different views on the same novel character. Some hold a positive attitude, while others hold a negative attitude.2.3 Need of the StudyThe need of analyzing The Great Gatsby based on the feminism theory is discussed as follows: First of all, this thesis explores the prejudice on women in a male-dominated society and further demonstrates feminist theories by analyzing three female characters from a new perspective, and emphasizes the significance of improving womens self-awareness through live cases in The Great Gatsby, which can provide a convincing research example for the feminism theory.Second, the study is of some practical importance. On the one hand, it helps to shock the patriarchal culture. Nowadays, there are still quite a few men who regard women as subordinates to meet their needs. Ruan Fang (2015) argues that Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle are of no exception. This study, to some degree, can help some women have self-reliant mind and shock the patriarchal ideology. On the other hand, it contributes to improve womens self-awareness and help them get equal rights. Some women can become independent and do not rely on the traditional pattern of marriage any more. They do not think of the role of family as their only field, and can widen their knowledge, fulfill their potential and go out to work to be independent in economy.References:Ardis, A. L. (1990). Feminism and early modernism. London: Rutgers University Press.Beauvoir, D. S. (1997). The second sex. London: Vintage.Berman, R. (1997). The Great Gatsby and Fitzgeralds World of Ideas. Tuscaloosa: Alabama University Press.Bryer, J. R. (2002). The critical reputation of F. Scott. Fitzgerald. New York: Cambridge University Press.Bryer, J. R. (2003). F. Scott. Fitzgerald in the twenty-first century. Tuscaloosa: Alabama University Press.Fitzgerald, F. S. (1993). The great Gatsby. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited.Lee, A. R. (1999). F. Scott. Fitzgerald: The promise of life. New York: St. Martins Press.Mihaiu, V. (2004). Between the Jazz Age and postmodernism: F. Scott. Fitzgerald. Timisoara: Editura University Press.Sanderson, R. (2002). Women in Fitzgeralds fiction. New York: Cambridge University Press.董衡巽 (1986)，《美国文学简史》。

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