Abstract
Doris Lessing is one of the greatest female writers since Virginia Woolf. In 2007, She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her works emphasize women’s social position and situation. In her works, women’s awareness of themselves usually grows from confusion to awakening, from their passive acceptance of fate to construction of their own identity. When Lessing was at her middle age, her attention was shifted to the living situation and spiritual crisis of middle-aged females, describing their inner world and confusion in marriage, family, self and age.
The Summer Before the Dark is a novel concerning women’s self-understanding. With the description of the heroine’s experience and inner activities, Lessing has shown us the hard process of women’s self-understanding, from spiritual crisis to self-examination and finally self-understanding. This essay analyzes the process of women’s road to self-understanding from the perspective of feminist literary theory. As feminists claimed, women should find the identity of themselves throughout their own experiences and feelings. The essay tracks the story from the destruction of Kate Brown’s angel image under patriarchy to the rebuilding of her identity. The author manages to convey the information from Lessing to readers, especially those who have troubles in dealing with the relationship with marriage, family, self or age.
This essay is composed of four chapters. The first chapter is the introduction to Doris Lessing and The Summer Before the Dark, along with the introduction to feminist literary criticism. Besides, reviews of other scholars’ work are also included in this part. Chapter Two focuses on the destruction of Kate’s image under the patriarchy, and the third chapter deals with the rebuilding of Kate’s image in the summer journey. The last chapter, a conclusion, summarizes the analysis of The Summer Before the Dark. The thesis manages to explore Lessing’s opinions about female self-understanding, which was of great significance in Doris Lessing’s time.
Key words: The Summer Before the Dark, Doris Lessing, patriarchy, self-understanding
Contents
Abstract
中文摘要
Chapter One Introduction1
1.1 Doris Lessing and The Summer Before the Dark1
1.2 Major feminist literary theories at Lessing’s time2
1.3 Literature review4
1.4 Significance and format of the thesis7
Chapter Two The Destruction of Kate’s Image8
2.1 Kate as an angel in the house8
2.2 Destruction of the angel image10
Chapter Three Finding the Road to Self-Understanding14
3.1 Dreaming as the process of self-understanding14
3.2 Returning home: A rebuilding attempt16
3.3 The achievement of self-understanding17
Chapter Four Conclusion19
References20
文献综述报告22
