A Feminist Study Of Beloved By Tony Morrison

As far as I know, up to now, no essayist or critic at home and abroad has made a thorough and detailed analysis on Toni Morrison's Beloved from the feminist perspective. Their commentaries are either on racial resistance, artistic features or writing techniques of Beloved. What's more, even nowadays, deep inside human consciousness, the human society is still under the control of patriarchy. Women of different nations, countries, races or in any part of the world need to fight for their rights to work, rights of education and demand for sexual or marriage freedom, so women's problems are social problems and need social attention. That's why I would like to analyze Beloved from a new perspective, attempt to give it a feminist study and draw people's attention to the awakening of the women consciousness of the major and minor women characters in Beloved.My thesis falls into six chapters:Chapter one focuses on a brief account of feminism and the universal significance of the theme of feminism, and an introduction to the history of the women's liberation movement and the development of feminist literary theory.Chapter two gives a brief introduction to the commentaries on Beloved at home and abroad.Chapter three is a study of the women protagonist ?Sethe, from the feminist perspective. It is the focus of this thesis. A series of events and examples in the novel illustrate the awakening of the feminine consciousness of Sethe.Chapter four is an analytical study of the minor women characters ?Amy and Ella. Chapter five is the revelation of the function of the quilt as a storyteller in the novel.Chapter six is the conclusion, including the novel's influence it may produce on contemporary Americans, with women readers in particular, and the enlightenment of the novel it may bring to us Chinese readers.