摘 要

威廉·福克纳和凯特·肖邦是美国近现代文学史上两位著名的作家。福克纳的《献给艾米丽的一朵玫瑰》和凯特·肖邦的《一小时的故事》都反映出当时社会对女性的压迫与束缚，体现了女性主义的思想。《献给艾米丽的玫瑰》讲述了美国南方贵族小姐艾米丽的悲剧。艾米丽的一言一行都被舆论束缚着，在她努力捍卫自己“打破传统”的爱情时，爱人荷默抛弃了她。最后，她选择毒杀爱人，与尸为伴。《一小时的故事》讲述了美国年轻已婚女士路易斯的悲剧。在路易斯得知丈夫死亡后的一小时内，她对自由的渴望逐渐压过了一切世俗观念的束缚。最后她准备过自由的生活，却由于看到丈夫活着回来了而猝死。本文将从女性主义的角度着重比较分析艾米丽和路易斯的悲剧和她们悲剧的成因，进一步探索当时西方父权制社会对女性的压迫与精神束缚。

关键词：威廉·福克纳；凯特·肖邦；《献给艾米丽的一朵玫瑰》；《一小时的故事》；女性主义

Contents

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

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

2.1 A brief introduction to Feminism.............................................................................3

2.2 A comparative analysis of Emily’s and Louise’s tragedies......................................5

2.2.1 Emily’s tragedy........................................................................……………...…...5

2.2.2 Louise’s tragedy........................................…………………………………..…...7

2.2.3 Similarities between Emily’s and Louise’s tragedies............................................8

2.2.4 Differences between Emily’s and Louise’s tragedies............................................9

2.2.5 The causes of Emily’s and Louise’s tragedies.....................................................10

2.2.5.1 Different causes................................................................................................10

2.2.5.2 Similar cause....................................................................................................12

1. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...........13

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………..............15

Bibliography………………………………………………………………….............16

A Comparative Study of Emily and Louise from the Feminist Perspective

1. Introduction

William Faulkner (1897-1962), born in Mississippi, is one of the most influential writers in the history of American literature in the 20th century. He is also a representative of American Southern Literature. In 1949, he became a Nobel Prize winner for his great contribution to contemporary American fiction. Faulkner wrote a large number of novels in his life, in which many novels such as The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932) and Absalom, Absalom! (1936) are very famous. It is also worth mentioning that Faulkner’s unique “Yoknapatawpha genealogy” has caused a sensation throughout the literary world and has a profound influence on the history of world literature. Kate Chopin (1851-1904) , an outstanding American feminist writer in the middle and late 19th century, is known as “one of the pioneers of American feminist literary creation”. She wrote more than a hundred novels throughout her life. In addition to her main representative work The Awakening (1899), The Story of an Hour (1894) has enjoyed a high reputation of “the most astounding declaration of women”.

William Faulkner and Kate Chopin are both renowned writers in the history of modern American literature. Although their main research fields are not the same, they are very concerned about the unfair treatment and spiritual restraint of women in society. Feminist ideas are revealed in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour. A Rose for Emily is mainly about the tragedy of Emily, a declining aristocratic lady in the south of the United States. Emily’s words and deeds were bound by public opinion, and her relationship with the foreman Homer Barron was also severely obstructed. When she tried to defend her love of “breaking the tradition”, her sweetheart Homer deserted her. Finally, she chose to poison Homer and accompanied his corpse. In this distorted and silent way, she rebelled against the injustice and oppression of society. And The Story of an Hour is mainly about the tragedy of Louise, a young married American lady. Within an hour after Louise learned that her husband had died in a railroad accident, her desire for freedom gradually overwhelmed the shackles of all traditional ideas. However, when she was ready to pursue freedom wholeheartedly, she suddenly died because she saw her husband come back alive. Louise’s silent rebellion was not understood by society and she was still regarded as a good and meek Mrs. Mallard.