The Other Women: A Feminist Study Of Dubliners By James Joyce

This preliminary feminist study of Dubliners by James Joyce, a creative Irish writer, focuses on four feminine characters in the four short stories by applying Simone de Beauvoir's notion of "the Other" to explore the Other feminine manners which challenge and disrupt the conventional masculine cultural system.This thesis, following Simone de Beauvoir's conception of "the Other", holds that the woman's subjectivity can be constructed because woman's subordinate post is the result of the male-dominated culture rather than of the biological difference. Women can be the subjects in the human society who can have their own voice and manner as men. Accordingly, this paper, adopting the existentialist feminist criticism—Simone de Beauvoir's notion of the Other, explores and interprets the existence of the four female characters' peculiar manners that differ from the male tradition and in the meantime challenge the masculine system. These Other manners are namely Eveline's fluid mode of thinking, Mrs. Mooney's discourse right, Maria's narcissism and Mrs. Sinico's spiritual life. First, in Eveline's soliloquy, she represents her fluid thinking that exhibits the female true existence. With her sensitivity to the background sounds and her double-minded thought, her thinking breaks through the bounds of time. Second, in dealing cautiously with the relationship with her husband, her decisive conduct in the family and in the process of her negotiation with Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney's superior position is manifested. Therefore, she acquires her own voice. Third, from the process of forming Maria's narcissism, the trait of female narcissism is embodied—woman constructs her narcissism by means of her own image in the mirror. Finally, from Mrs. Sinico's somewhat radical behaviors, she builds up her subjectivity in the communicating with Mr. Duffy. In the darkness and with the liquor, she sets up a spiritual world where she could fancy freely.This analysis of the four female characters with the portrayal of their characteristics spotlights the Other feminine manners that construct their subjectivity.