摘 要

《晚安，妈妈》是美国当代著名的妇女剧作家玛莎·诺曼的女性戏剧之一。本剧通过舞台，展示了女主人公杰西和妈妈的生存现状以及她选择自杀的原因，塑造了在男权社会中受压迫的女性形象，表达了她对男权社会的不满和对女性独立自我的诉求。本论文主要从场景设置、人物设置和情节构建这三个方面，对该剧所表现的女性意识进行了深入的分析。

关键词：玛莎·诺曼；《晚安，妈妈》；女性意识

Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration............................................................................................................3

2.1 The oppressive settings.......................................................................................... 3

2.1.1 The cluttering living room.....................................................................................3

2.1.2 The dark and quiet homely atmosphere................................................................4

2.2. The subversive characterization..............................................................................5

2.2.1 Characterization of the heroines............................................................................5

2.2.2 Absence of male characters...................................................................................6

2.3 The anti-traditional construction of plot..................................................................7

2.3.1 The mother-daughter relationship.........................................................................7

2.3.2 The tragic ending...................................................................................................8

3.Conclusion...................................................................................................................9

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

Bibliography.................................................................................................................13

On the Feminine Consciousness Represented in Marsha Norman’s ’Night Mother

1. Introduction

Marsha Norman(1974- ) is an American contemporary female dramatist and novelist. She was born in a strict religious family in Louisville, Kentucky on September 21, 1947. She received her bachelor degree in philosophy from Agnes Scott College in 1969 and master degree in education from the University of Louisville in 1971. Norman’s writing career began in 1976 as a freelancer for the Louisville Times and created a Sunday supplement for children called The Jellybean Journal. Her first play Getting Out was written in 1977 and won a high praise. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983 for ’Night Mother. Besides, she won several other awards and four Tony Awards nominations. In her plays, she always describes the miserable life of women and tries to give voice to them. Her works are powerful weapons to reveal the truth of women’s lives. Chen says: “American female dramatist achieved a great success in 1980s, especially Norman’s realistic writing technique in her works, reflecting the spiritual outlook and living state of American women.” (1) Her representative works are: Third and Oak (1978), The Holdup (1980), ‘Night Mother (1982), Sisters (1999), and Last Dance (2003).

Written in 1982, ’Night Mother was one of the most famous feminist plays in American literature. There are only two characters in this play: Jessie and her mother Thelma. This play takes place in a plain house on a country road. Jessie is a middle-aged woman who has a failure marriage and a disappointing son and she can’t find a job. Early in the evening she tells her mother that she is going to commit suicide tonight. Jessie’s explanations to her mother of the reasons why she wants to kill herself run through the whole dialogues. At the end of the play, Jessie says “Night, mother” and vanishes into her bedroom and shoots herself with her father’s gun.