Exploration Of Female Identity :An Analysis Of The Crimson Petal And The White From The Perspective Of Feminist Narratology

Michel Faber was one of the most notable novelists in British literary circles in recent years,a writer comparable to Dickens.The Crimson Petal and the White was a full-length historical fiction that took him 20 years to accomplish.Faber had meticulously depicted various women from the male perspective,and created a grand and vast Victorian world.Up to now,current studies on this novel and its characters have tended to discuss its theme or artistic characteristics.Nevertheless,few of them probed into the female characters from the aspect of narrative voice.In view of this,on the basis of feminist narratology theory,this thesis combines narrative analysis with feminist criticism and applies Susan Lanser’s narrative voice theory,including authorial voice,personal voice,and communal voice to explore the process of construction,subversion,and awakening of female identity in the novel,through which to reveal the complexity and diversity of female identity in the novel layer-by-layer and Faber’s feminist standpoint.Through the analysis of multiple narrative voices,this thesis intends to unveil that The Crimson Petal and the White was essentially inundated with Faber’s considerations about the survival dilemma of modern females,and further bring to light Faber’s efforts to arouse public attention to the female issues,and to propel modern feminism.