Female Images In Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories

With her unique craftsmanship and creativity, Katherine Mansfield revolutionizedthe20th century English short story. As a female writer Mansfield showed muchconcern for women’s issues and was keenly aware of their external and internal worldwith a female vision.This thesis attempts to reveal Mansfield’s feminist views through careful analysisof the female images chosen from her short stories in different writing stages. Indepiction of women characters of different ages, from innocent girl-children,adolescent girls to middle-aged women and aged women, Mansfield exposes thatwomen at different life stages are all trapped by the patriarchal values and sufferenslavement and humiliation both in families and society. Little girls are socializedinto submission and docility. Adolescent girls are struggling in the cruel society.Middle-aged women, trapped in household, are perceived as servants, providers ofsexual pleasure and breading machines. Self-reliant aged women are belittled andmarginalized in the society.The analysis of these female images also helps to reveal the gradual developmentof Mansfield’s feminist ideas. Her depiction of female characters in the early stagereflects her cynical, bitter and satirical feeling and her feminist views are somewhatovert and radical. With her maturity both in skill and thought, Mansfield’s feministviews turn to be moderate and mature. She tends to choose a more skillful and hiddenway to demonstrate her ideas and propose an ideal family in which men and womenshould enjoy a harmonious and equal relationship.