摘 要

《到十九号房间》是英国女作家多丽丝·莱辛的代表性短篇小说之一。该作品讲述了女主人公苏珊以幸福婚姻的建立为开端和以自杀身亡而结束的家庭悲剧故事。本文旨在从个人因素，家庭因素和社会因素等三个不同方面分析造成苏珊悲剧的具体成因, 进而揭示男权社会对女性的压迫以及女性自我意识的觉醒。

关键词：《到十九号房间》；悲剧成因；女性主义；男权社会

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………. ..1

2. Demonstration……………………………………………………….. …………….2

2.1 Individual factors causing Susan’s tragedy ……………………………………….2

2.1.1 Susan’s self-denial ……………………………………………….. …………….3

2.1.2 Susan’s contradictory character…………………………............... …………….4

2.1.3 Susan’s inability to realize her self-worth………………………… ……………5

2.2. Family factors causing Susan’s tragedy…………………………. ………………6

2.2.1.The obstacles between Susan and Mathew……………………………………..7

2.2.2.The incomprehension between Susan and her children…………………………8

2.3. Social factors causing Susan’s tragedy………………………….. .. ……………9

2.3.1 The lack of communication between people………… …………......................9

2.3.2. The restriction of women’s freedom in the patriarchal society………………..10

3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………... ……………11

Works Cited…………………………………………………………......................... 11

Bibliography…………………………………………………………… ……………12

Cause Analysis of Susan’s Tragedy in To Room Nineteen

1. Introduction

Doris Lessing (1919 –2013) was a British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer. Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Kermanshah, Iran, on 22 October 1919, to Captain Alfred Tayler and Emily Maude Tayler. Her career as a writer began with the publication of her first novel The Grass Is Singing. Lessing was one of the representative writers of feminist novels. She was said to be “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.” (Swedish Academy) Lessing was especially famous for her novels, essays and short stories. Her representative short stories are: Particularly Cats, Five Short Stories, and To Room Nineteen, etc.

To Room Nineteen was written in 1963 after The Golden Notebook which was her most popular novel. To Room Nineteen tells the story of a modern woman, Susan, who loses herself in the seemingly sane and perfect marriage, struggling against the reality and for the freedom of the heart, and finally chooses to commit suicide in the cheap Room Nineteen. Susan, the protagonist, is a well-educated woman and she has stayed at home for 12 years. Her heart is full of contradictions and emptiness because she wants to go out and find her own room and freedom. However, in fact, her life revolves around her children, her husband and a large garden house. The whole family will fall apart in less than a week without her. In the beautiful white house, Susan, who has a variety of roles and a variety of functional status, cannot even find a living space for herself (Quawas 107). And at that time, she finds her husband Matthew has fallen in love with a young girl. At first, she feels betrayed. Then, she feels it is acceptable because Matthew is such a perfect man and it is reasonable for him to be loved by the young girl. Meanwhile, she still needs a room to release her emotions and depression. She even comforts herself that when the children grow up, she can get back to work again. In fact, she has lost the ability to adapt to the society again because she has been a housewife for such a long time. As a result, she becomes confused and lost. Matthew is considered a perfect husband in other people’s eyes but actually he does not understand his wife at all. Her children also do not understand their mother and even their maid looks down upon her. As a result, she goes to a hotel, finds a room called the nineteen and commits suicide.

To Room Nineteen has received wide critical attentions and been studied from different perspectives. The overseas study of this short story can be classified into the following aspects: the researches into the images of the story, narrative techniques, and the aesthetic implication in the story. There are fewer studies of To Room Nineteen in China compared with the foreign countries and 71 articles can be discovered in CNKI. Most of these Chinese researches concentrate on the factors causing Susan’s death, the narrative techniques, analysis of the characters in the story, etc. Based on the research papers on factors causing Susan’s death, this thesis will focus on the deep causes of Susan’s tragedy.