The Image Of A Woman Scapegoat In The Golden Bowl

The Golden Bow has aroused much attention and received criticism in literary circle ever since its publication in 1904. Scholars have given a variety of reading to it by employing different critical approaches. This thesis concentrates on James's The Golden Bowl. From the perspective of mythological and archetypal criticism, the author of this thesis attempts to explore the female scapegoat motif by presenting the Scapegoat ritual and the writer's gender ideology.Generally, the thesis is structured in five parts. First provides a brief survey of James's literary career and the study of his works both at home and abroad and two typical kinds of responses to The Golden Bowl. The first pay attention to the Prince's researches into the complexities of the Verver's moral sense in the earlier half of the book, and devote themselves to figuring out the novel's formal questions. The other main approach focuses on Maggie's"act."Some see Maggie's act as heroic -– as the triumph of love over absolutism. Others regard Maggie's act as not so praiseworthy. The second part dates back to the origin of scapegoat and shows the practice of scapegoat motif in literary writing. As a common archetypal motif in literature, the theme and even ritual of the scapegoat can be found in many literary works around the world. And the"scapegoat"pattern has been recurring in American literature, such as Hawthorne's My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Young Goodman Brown, Melville's Billy Budd , William Faulkner's Dry September and A Rose For Emily and later Katherine Anne Porter's Pale Horse , Pale Ride. The third is a concrete analysis of The Golden Bowl. It will show how Adam exercises all sorts of ways of subordinating others to himself: through economic, sexual, and familial means. Adam's force derives from money and wealth, and his money is only the occasion for Verver's manifestation of power. The Prince and Charlotte are subject to Adam Verver's control and use. They are just a part of Adam's collection. Maggie thinks she can completely control the situation and"rewrite"the whole thing, but it is just her illusion. Maggie's hold on the Prince is dependent on her father's money, too. The Prince and Charlotte's affair imperils not only a powerful love but the power of money. The"justice"enacted by the plot has nothing to do with an external moral force exacting punishment for the misled; it is an instrument of the dominant power of structure. To bring an end to the crisis and restore the balance of the family, Charlotte is chosen as a scapegoat to bears the responsibility of all evildoing and expelled to American City forever. The fourth displays that both Maggie and Charlotte are victims. Maggie's life is arranged by her father's and her husband's patrilineal heritage. While Charlotte is looped by"a long silken halter"which is held in her husband's hand. Adam Verver, with his double-role of being a patriarchal father and a rich"commercial person", manipulates the two marriages and regards beautiful woman as a part of his art collection. And, it will point out that James chooses women as the sacrifice and victim in most of his works. The fifth part discusses the woman issue and Henry James's art. Influenced by the conceptualization of gender of his time and family life, especially his close relationship with two women-- Minny Temple and Constance Fenimore Woolson, Henry James demonstrated his complex sentiment towards woman in his literary works. On the one hand, he was concerned about and appreciated them. On the other hand, he put them on the margin of the patriarchal society where women are commercialized, sacrificed or idealized. In The Golden Bowl, James displays how women are bound by patriarchal cultures. They are reduced into commodities and sacrificed. The last part is the conclusion of this thesis. Henry James lived in the age when the conditions necessary for mythological invention are lost with the advent of railways, locomotive and electric telegraphs. While James's novel tells a horrible scapegoating story and exposes the elements of barbarism in modern culture, he satirizes the patriarchal system and shows strong sympathy on women's marginalized situation. It seems that James wants to tell us that in the"civilized"societies women are commercialized and sacrificed as in the"primitive"world.