The "Submerged" Other

Dubliners, a noteworthy collection of 15 short stories with more female characters than any other works of James Joyce, is a milestone in the history of English short stories. However, due to the limitation of historical environment of his time, Joyce inevitably presents Irish women as the Other, and he is accused of misogyny for this by many critics. Under the overwhelmingly powerful patriarchal system, men occupy the dominant position while women are forced to accept an unfavorable and inferior status as the Other. Adopting the theory of the Other proposed by Simone de Beauvoir, an extraordinary spokeswoman of the existential feminist criticism, this thesis favors her notion that women's subordinate situation is the result of the culture of their period rather than their physiological traits. Besides, the thesis analyzes systematically the oppressing social forces that place women in an inferior position and tries to present a clear picture of the"submerged population"that has long been neglected.To begin with, the introductory part of the thesis illustrates the influence of Joyce's life and his female family members on the creation of Dubliners, and provides a general survey of the feminist research on James Joyce and Dubliners conducted by foreign and Chinese scholars at different stages. Furthermore, a brief introduction to Simone de Beauvoir's theory of the Other is presented in this part.Chapterâ…¡attempts to demonstrate that the women in Dubliners as victims of ideology are bound by the myth created by men, and by the maternity and virginity advocated by the society. Misled by those doctrines and rules, women gradually lose their subjectivity and autonomy and are submitted to the control by men.Chapterâ…¢gives an analysis of the fate of the women in the stories as victims of patriarchy, who suffer miserably from men's alcoholism, sadism, loveless marriage and men's narcissistic complex and hypocrisy. Trapped in such an unfavorable dilemma, they have no way out but are forced to be the Other.Chapterâ…£introduces responses of the women in the stories in different phases of their life to their situation. Among all the female characters, there are docile and obedient young girls, manipulative and overbearing mothers, desperate married housewives, lonely and disillusioned spinsters and bluestockings with rebellious spirits. However, due to the unchanged situation where they live at that time, they fight but fail.The conclusion part summarizes Joyce's achievement as one of the most prominent writers in the 20th century. Through the depiction of the destiny of women in Dubliners, Joyce intends to tell the reader that passivity and femininity of women is the product of the patriarchal society. He detests the hypocritical and overpowering patriarchy and is sympathetic with women. He is not at all a misogynist as some critics allege. Finally, the thesis points out that Dubliners seems to hint at the two ways for the fundamental emancipation of women: financial independence and the concerted efforts from all women.