An Analysis Of The Female Characters In The Good Soldier From Reader-Response Theory

Ford Madox Ford is one of the precursors among English Modernist novelists,his impressionistic writing technique has made a great contribution to the development of narrative art of English Modernist novels. His two most famous reviews The English Review and The Transatlantic Review also contributed greatly to modern literature. However, despite Ford’s various contributions to the literary society, he had not received the credit he deserved, this could be contributed to his lack of discretion in his private life. Although scholars abroad have increasingly studied Ford and his work from multiply angles, the domestic study on him is still lukewarm. Ford’s masterpiece The Good Soldier is considered one of the greatest works of English modern novels, and the novel is told by a male narrator Dowell about the affairs of the titular male soldier Ashburnham, thus the female characters are more or less on the fringe of discussion, not to mention the default reader of traditional conception being a male also limited readers’ active thinking about the meaning of the novel and the attitude towards the characters in the novel. Besides, the impressionistic techniques of this novel made the text open to interpretations and multiple meanings. Therefore, this essay will try to analyze the marginal female characters from reader-response theory, subvert the passive acceptance of readers by reading the female characters from the fringe to the center, counter the default male perspective and offer the readers a new perspective.The organization of the paper and the major contents are planned as follows:Chapter one will first introduce the life of the author Ford Madox Ford in more details and give a perspective of the background of the novel as well as its basic plot.Then a review of the previous essays both foreign and domestic will be provided. At last, the purpose of this essay and the reason for choosing it will be listed along with the methods and theories applied in analyzing this novel.Chapter two will be using close reading, and dissect the four female characters in this novel from reader-response theory, analyze the two stereotypes that they represent: the madwomen and the angel figure, in order to see how actual readermight subvert the passive acceptance of the narrative, resist to see the female characters from the implied reader who will accept a default of all readers being male,and subsequently propose to see the madwomen beyond the Victorian horizon of expectations and give the characters a background from the “gaps” in the text to enrich their image; also normative angel figures will be restored to their complex human form. This chapter also relates them with other characters in Ford’s other novels as well as real people in Ford’s life to help readers better understand these characters and form their own opinions instead of lapping up whatever the unreliable narrator offered. By opening up the narrow view of the male narrator from which the readers see these female characters through, this essay will offer diverse and different interpretations of the novel.Chapter three is devoted to the biography of the author Ford Madox Ford in order to provide the background for the formation of the female characters. By pointing out female’s lack of discourse power and analyzing Ford’s view on women and its formation, we will understand the effect of his narration, his personal experience and that of a historical era has on the text.Chapter four is the conclusion of the research that The Good Soldier is a novel open for discussion and interpretation, and it invites the reader’s collaboration in the production of meaning.