Abstract
The paper tries to analyze the main causes of the communicative barrier between men and women from three aspects: the awakening female consciousness, supreme patriarchy and unequal social classes. “A Woman on a Roof” is about reality and fantasy, which describes a story between a woman and three men. Lessing starts off the story with a description of three men at work on the roof under the burning sunshine. The scene is set at a place with buildings and roofs that symbolize hardness and indifference. Through the whole story, the heroine has few words but actually plays the main role and her character actually demonstrates a part of the topic. Lessing takes great considerations of the dilemma of communication between men and women.
Keywords: female consciousness; Doris Lessing; A Woman on a Roof; patriarchy
Contents
Abstract
摘 要
1. Introduction-1
1.1 Literature Review-1
1.2 Female Consciousness and Women’s literature-2
1.3 The Information about Doris Lessing and Her Works-2
1.4 The Relationship between Doris Lessing and Female Consciousness-2
2. Female Consciousness on “A Woman on a Roof”-4
2.1 The Naked Sunbathing-4
2.2 Indifference towards Men-5
2.3 A Mysterious Image of the Female-5
3. Supreme Patriarchy on “A Woman on a Roof”-7
3.1 Male voice-7
3.2 Male actions-7
4. Unequal Social Classes on “A Woman on a Roof”-9
4.1 The Workers and the Sunbather-9
4.2 Plot Setting-9
5. Conclusion-11
Works Cited-12
