Analysis On Existentialist Feminism In The Robber Bride

As a penetrating female writer, Canadian “Queen of Literature”,Margaret Atwood, keeps a watchful eye on the living conditions anddestiny of modern women and her full-length novel-The robber bride isan emblematic work which reflects women’s living conditions infamily and in society, women’s revolts of patriarchy and overturns ofother’s fate. This thesis researches and analyzes the existentialfeminism represented in Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride withthe theoretical framework of existentialism and related feministliterary criticism methods.This thesis analyzes the female existential state and itsdevelopment direction, and discusses the problems and solutionsthat female encountered, which will trigger people to think the idealexistential state of women and how to build an ideal bisexual-equalharmonious society.It divides into six chapters, emphatically analyzes the femaleexistence state and the development direction. It explores theproblems faced by women and the solution, caused people to think about the existence of the female ideal state and how to constructthe ideal harmonious society equality between men and women.The chapter one, the introduction part mainly introduces thedomestic and foreign research on Atwood and The robber bride.The chapter two, it explains in detail some academic conceptsabout the existence, survival and female existence, which include theviews between the scholars and the author to have a simplegeneralization on the female existence embodied in the novel.The chapter three, the thesis analyzes the duality dilemma ofexistentialist feminism in Atwood’s The Robber Bride. In the novel,the three heroines all embody existent duality from the perspective ofpsychology and this kind of duple split leads to their anxious sense ofnonexistence and their contradictoriness of duple existencerepresented in the society.The chapter four, the women in the novel undertake somedisruptive behavior with the surrounding of duality dilemma. Womenare no longer “the other” under the eyes of men and they discard thestandard of “femininity” that defined by the patriarchal society.However, what this series of overturns bring to women is thebreakdown of their family and women therefore are hit and damaged.Thus it can be seen that overturn is not the best way for existentialistfeminism. The chapter five, after experiencing a failing marriage, womenachieve rebirth with sisterhood and reselect the new existing state ofthemselves as well. They track out the free and harmoniousdevelopment road and eventually build up a ideal existing state ofwomen, i.e., a harmonious wonderful world with men and womenharmony in diversity.The chapter six, the conclusion part has carried on the summaryto discuss about the Atwood’s works, explores the female existencequestion and the solution, and considers how to build the harmoniousand free of ideal state.Atwood is a women writer actively involving in life and she paysclose attention to ecological environment and post-colonial culture,especially the living state of contemporary women and particularlythe living state of educated female youths. Her works are full ofthinking of existentialist feminism and Atwood blend her ownthoughts into her works. The relationships of female and ego, femaleand female, female and male, female and children represented inAtwood’s The Rrobber Bride provide the train of thought for exploringhow women achieve freedom and build a harmonious unisex society.