| Joyce Carol Oates is a versatile and prolific American author. She has been labeled by many as a "writer of psychological realism" for her interest in the exploration of the realities of contemporary American society and culture on many levels. Her works cover many aspects and various fields in the society, especially well known for her preoccupation with violence and darkness of her age. Her works expose many grave social problems which evoke profound introspection on American society and people.Her novel "Middle Age:A Romance", issued at the dawn of twenty-first century gives readers a vivid delineation of a panorama of contemporary American society and people. The novel portrays a group of affluent middle-aged Americans in Salthill-on-Hudson, a New York City suburb for the wealthy and middle-aged. These wealthy residents suffer spiritual crises and ethic crises hidden behind the fake affluent lives. This thesis will focus on four characters (Marina Troy, Abigail Des Pres and the Hoffmanns) in the novel that respectively represent the never-married, the divorced and the married middle-aged groups.Marina Troy represents the never-married middle-aged Americans who have freedom, career opportunity, enjoy economic self-sufficiency, friendships, high standard of living, personal development, psychological and social autonomy. However, due to the deviant marital status in the marriage-oriented society, she suffers considerable difficulties of being single and gossips from the public. She thereby develops some undesirable personality traits and negative, pessimistic and low emotions that greatly affect her normal lives.Abigail Des Pres, another suburban, typifies the divorced middle-aged Americans. She suffers marriage disruption at her middle age. Though she finally flings off the chains of marriage, acquires a relief from tension, regains freedom and a chance to find a more suitable partner, she hardly gets rid of loneliness, confusion, the feeling of loss, emptiness, desperation and hurt brought by the divorce. Her normal life is affected greatly. Even worse is the bad relationship she has with her son. In such a case, she gradually loses confidence, hope of life and even goes to despair. The Hoffmanns, Camille and Lionel, are the representatives of the middle-aged married couples who suffer the inevitable midlife crises and are trapped painfully in the long and difficult marriage. Besides the empty nest syndrome caused by the migration of their children out of family into their own community, this couple encounter unprecedented family crisis, especially Lionel's infidelity to the family for his extramarital affairs. The family is thereby on the edge of collapse.This thesis will interpret the lives of these four middle-aged Americans who belong to the three different marital status groups from sociological and psychological perspectives, with the intention to further study the current situation of the middle-aged Americans and to explore the source of all the problems and crises. |
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