An Analysis Of The Pursuit And Establishment Of Women's Identity In Drabble's Novels

Margaret Drabble (1939—) has established herself as one of the most important novelists in presenting the realities of women's lives and thereby creating a particular feminist poetics. The pursuit and establishment of women's identity is one of the important themes in Margaret Drabble's early novels. They reflect the theme of women's questing for their identity along with their struggle to conforming to the roles that are imposed on them. Her novels reflect a unique perception and focus on the contemporary women's predicament and by exposing women's everyday experience to reflect the common problem she has revealed their inner conflict and confusion and has offered alternatives for middle-class women.The quest for identity is a fundamental question which has been the focus of all great literature. Though identity often appears as a key word either academically or literally, it is still necessary to give a clear definition or explanation. The woman's identity has been discussed in many critical works, but the special features of a woman's identity will be interpreted in a new way in this thesis. From the perspective of feminism, by analyzing three Drabble's early novels—A Summer Bird Cage (1963), The Millstone (1965), and Jerusalem the Golden (1967), this thesis first explains the reasons for women's pursuing their identity, then undertakes a general analysis of the process and different means of women pursuing and establishing their identity and finally presents a detailed interpretation of the special features of women's identity.The dissertation consists of five parts: the first part offers an introduction to Margaret Drabble and her early novels, a general survey on feminism and a brief explanation of the key concept—identity; Chapter One gives the reasons for women pursuing their identity and discusses the moral concern of Margaret Drabble revealed in her works; Chapter Two makes an analysis of the process and means of women pursuing and establishing their identity by taking three of Drabble's early novels as main subjects; Chapter Three presents a detailed interpretation of the special features of women's identity and the ultimate goal of women to achieve a sense of integrated identity; and the Conclusion briefly summarizes Margaret Drabble's feminist theme of women's pursuing and establishing a sense of integrated identity.