A Repetition Of An Old Myth A Study Of Women Images In John Updike's Rabbit Tetralogy

John Updike is a famous, prolific writer in contemporary American literature In his almost forty-year hterary career, he has written a lot of literary works His Rabbit tetralogy, his representative work, is regarded as olie of the fniest writings in contemporary literary world. The male protagonist Rabbit that he created in the tetralogy is generally recognized by the critics a typical American middle-class man. But for the feminist critics, Rabbit tetralogy is absolutely a male-centered literary text. The patriarchal ideology permeates the whole tetralogy. The women characters in the novels are created according to the male author's imagination and wishes, and depicted according to the value standards of men and their relationships with the male protagonist. Updike's creation of these women characters is the continuation of the sentiment of the abomination of women in the male-centered literary tradition, revealing Updike's ingrained bias toward women This paper is to examine and analyze the women characters in the four novels from the feminist perspectives. By analysis of the four types of women characters who are close to Rabbit in his life, the paper endeavors to reveal the patriarchal ideology in Updike consciousness and its source This paper includes six chapters. The opening chapter is a bnef introduction to Rabbit tetralogy The problems that the paper is going to solve are put forward here The second chapter analyzes the images of the ~great? mothers: Rabbit mother and his mother-in-law. These two mothers, like The Great Mother in the ancient myth, are the source of life and meanwhile the root of destruction. The too big power that they exert over their children prevents them from maturity. The images of these two mothers are abnormal and harmful to their children growth The creation of such kind of mother images is the typical application of Freud Oedipus Complex. Thus we may conclude that Updike mother images are rooted in Freud doctrine and the old male-centered myth. The third chapter deals with the image of the dull, stupid, dependent, easy to forgive and less-morally conscientious wife. Throughout the novels, the male protagonist wife is endowed with these traits, which just coincide with Freud views of omen as passive.., masochistic and less morally conscientious than men? The wife with these traits is welcome V by Updike male protagonist Here Updike wives are expected to stay at home to live their long, unproductive life. The fourth chapter explores the images of licentious and lascivious mistresses. It aims to analyze the important characteristics of this type of women--not physically beautiful but sexually attractive. They live to comfort the male protagonist and prove his existence. The creation of these mistresses reflects Updike sex discrimination and his thought of the male supremacy. From the analysis we see that Updike patriarchal ideas come from Freud centrality of sex and Karl Barth theology The fifth chapter studies the images of new women. These women are the products of the new age. They possess a lot of new thoughts and bold behaviors, which frighten Updike male protagonist. This chapter tries to reveal the male author horror and resentment to these new...