Manon’s Journey Into The Patriarchy

Valerie Martin (1948--), a contemporary novelist and a short story writer, is one of the most influential novelists of America. Her masterpiece, Property, earns her great fame and arouses widespread concern from critics. Applying the theory of feminism, this thesis aims to analyze the female character in this novel, thus to enrich the research of Martin at home and abroad.This thesis, from the feminist perspective, especially uses the main theory of Beauvoir in The Second Sex, explores and discusses the feminist ideology represents in this novel through the close reading. It aims at analyzing the resistance, submission and support of the female slave owner Manon in this novel, and discusses the inner journey of Manon under the patriarchal slavery and reproduces a history of women seeking independence and liberation. In the novel, Martin showcases women’s living condition in America in19th century. It not only reveals her concern about racial issues, but also expresses her sympathy and concern for women’s fate and situation. Moreover, this novel also shows Martin’s deep thinking for modern women who are still subservient of the patriarchal culture and uncertain of identity.This thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter one is a general introduction to Valerie Martin, the basic information related to the novel Property, the research significance and the structural framework of this thesis. Moreover, this chapter also introduces the theoretical framework, which mainly summarizes the main ideas of the feminism, the development of the feminism and the main views of three waves and three most representative theorists of feminism.Chapter two focuses on the analysis of female character Manon’s resistance to patriarchy. The plot of Property happens in a typical patriarchal slavery society. Manon suffers from her husband’s suppression greatly. She has no status and no power in family and society, so she has to silently resist against the patriarchy.Chapter three analyses the process of Manon’s submission to patriarchy. Manon gets rid of her husband’s suppression and has to submit to patriarchal ideology. This process of submission shows through the change of the interpersonal relationships between people. Chapter four is about Manon’s support to patriarchy. Although Manon has achieved a little victory during the rebelling patriarchy, she is colonized by the deep-rooted patriarchal ideology and plays the role of her husband, so she has to accept, support and speak for the benefits for the patriarchy.Chapter five is the conclusion part. Manon tries to search for the value and the significance of self-existence in family and society, but the oppression from the deeply-rooted patriarchy makes the process of women’s resistance more difficult. Hence, we should take more consideration and exploration the female problem in this novel.