Rebirth, Ambivalence And Destruction: Female Living Status In A Room With A View

The early 20th century English novelist E. M Forster depicts many middle-class women's living status in his novel A Room with a View (1908), among whom the most representative ones are Lucy, Lavish and Charlotte. By analyzing these three women's living status, this thesis endeavors to reveal the English middle-class women's overall living status during the Edwardian Period-rebirth, ambivalence and destruction.In reality, the rational but sheepish Lucy encounters the conflict between advanced ideas and traditional ethics. Her self-consciousness is severely suppressed and she turns to the relief of her inner self. Playing the piano is an illusionary way for her to search for her female self. Under the influences of the vigorous Italy and the Emersons standing for the authentic feelings, Lucy gets her self-awareness gradually and begins to break down the male-dominated discourse. She fights for her own right of discourse and dissolves the "respectable engagement" in the traditional sense. And finally, she follows her inner call and realizes the harmonious connection with a lower-class man.Likewise, Miss Lavish would not like to be restricted by the traditional moral standards. She chooses writing occupation, which has been dominating by men, to keep her independence in economy and personality. By this special way of living-writing, Miss Lavish breaks women's state of aphasia, and realizes her pursuit for right of discourse. However, Miss Lavish's female consciousness is ambivalent. On the one hand, she endeavors to fight against the middle-class patriarchal ideology, and places men and women in the position of binary opposition; on the other hand, she is often proud of her middle-class cultural identity. This ambivalent self-consciousness pushes her to be wandering on the edge of the patriarchy.Miss Charlotte, who is imbued with the middle-class patriarchal ideology, accompanies Lucy to travel in Italy. In the heterogeneous culture, Miss Charlotte sets herself up as Lucy's "protector", regulating Lucy's behaviors according to man's standards at times. Gradually, she reduces to a female guard of the male-chauvinism. She could not conquer the strong notions of male superiority to women, and at last, she is assimilated by male's subject consciousness. Her living status to be a guard of the patriarchy indicates the destruction of her female self.These three women's different living status indicates that women should not only abandon the thinking model of binary oppositions but also throw away the idea of men's superiority to women in the process of fighting against the patriarchy. Only when women achieve the unification of their inner selves and external selves on the basis of cooperation with men can they realize their self value and change their oppressed living status completely. However, Forster's views on women are ambivalent. For one thing, Forster advocates women's casting away the shackles of the patriarchal discourse and change their own oppressed living status; for the other, Forster believes that only with men's aids can women realize their self-acceptance. Forster's ambivalent female consciousness shows the inextricable male-chauvinism deep in his heart.