A Comparative Study Of Gone With The Wind And Love In A Fallen City From A Feminist Perspective

In the1930s and1940s, the Western society had experienced the first wave offeminist movement. With female consciousness gradually awoke, women started toscream for their equal rights with men to vote, to be educated and to get a job.Meanwhile, at the other end of the earth, Chinese women were also increasinglyaware of their no ego status for long and joined in the cause of women’s liberation. Inthe academic world, feminist critics took up the pen as their weapon to accuse thepatriarchal society of its torment and oppression on women both in their mind andbody. Besides, they tried to restore the status of women writers and their works,rehabilitate women images distorted by male writers and create literary workscombining their own female experience.The American woman writer Margaret Mitchell and Chinese Zhang Ailing wererepresentatives of female literary creation during this period. Their masterpieces Gonewith the Wind and Love in a Fallen City have received readers’ high praise andgenerated extensive and far-reaching impact in their respective countries. Despite thatthe lengths of the two works are different and the authors grew up in differentcountries, female consciousness can be discovered throughout both works. As the twofemale protagonists, Scarlett and Bai Liusu manage to rid themselves of traditionalwomen images characterized by gentleness, tolerance and obedience. Unwilling toyield to the male authority and unfair fate, they make every endeavor to live throughthe living dilemma and strive for their happiness. However, due to different traditionalvirtues and cultural backgrounds of the West and China, there must be disparitiesbetween their personalities and destiny. Traditional Western culture provides MargaretMitchell with radical feminist thoughts to shape Scarlett into a rebellious new woman.By contrast, although Zhang Ailing assimilates various trends of Western thoughts,thousands of years of Chinese culture decide that Bai Liusu’s female consciousness isnot thorough enough.This thesis makes a comparative study of female consciousness under differentsocial and cultural backgrounds from the feminist perspective, aiming to offer some enlightenment on the local construction of feminist criticism and female writing inChina: while absorbing and drawing lessons from Western feminist theories to exploretheir own ways, Chinese feminist critics should fully consider the different culturalbackgrounds and realistic environments of the two types of societies.