A Feminist Reading Of Colleen McCullough’s The Touch

Colleen McCullough is one of the most influential women writers in modern Australia, who has also won an international reputation since the publishing of The Thorn Birds. The Touch is another successful love story and saga novel by McCullough after The Thorn Birds, published in2003. The writer has created various interesting characters in the novel, driving the moving plot of the story. Alexander, Sung and Lee are three major male characters, who are persevering heroes fighting against their fate. However, there are even more attractive women characters, Elizabeth, Ruby and Nell, moving the readers so much that most readers hold great sympathy for their life experiences. These women have also tried so much in their own ways to fight against their fate determined by a patriarchal society. It is the creation of these women characters that helps to determine the profound themes of this book. Accordingly, this thesis will try to research the women characters in The Touch, so as to explore the feminist meaning of the book.The thesis consists of five parts. The first part is the Introduction. It first introduces some background knowledge on Colleen McCullough and reviews the related comments and researches on the novel. Then relevant theories applied and the structure of the thesis are discussed. The second part which is Chapter Two analyzes one major female figure——Ruby Costevan’s struggle from a victim to an independent woman, revealing the theme of female consciousness awakening. Part Three (Chapter Two) focuses on another heroine——Elizabeth Drummond. By analyzing how Elizabeth rids herself of the constraint of the decayed traditions and pursues the true love, this chapter reveals the theme of female resistance and rebirth. Part Four which is Chapter Three analyzes a third heroine in the novel——Nell Kinross. Nell, as a new woman, is quite different from the traditional women. Through an analysis of her experience of growing up and emotional life, this chapter uncovers the theme of female subjectivity construction. The fifth part is the conclusion, summarizing the content of the entire thesis. It finally concludes that The Touch is not only an excellent saga, but also a successful feminist novel. It reflects the real experience of women of the nineteenth century Australia pursuing Self and true love. which has a realistic meaning on the contemporary women’s liberation movement.