An Existentialist Feministanalysis On "Free Women" In Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook

In2007, the Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to Doris Lessing for heroutstanding literary achievements, which is also a commendation to the preciousvalue of The Golden Notebook. The novel has aroused a wide discussion andnumerous researches for over fifty years on its unique perspective, innovative style,fragmented structure and its deep concern on the female freedom and emancipation.In the book, Lessing depicts the predicaments three female characters haveencountered in different aspects in their daily life and discusses the endeavors theyhave made to pursue freedom. Through such exploration, the novel exposes women·ssubordinate status under the current social circumstances and their identity of beingthe otherμ as well as their buried self-consciousness. It also reflects to some extentthat Free Womenμ are not free in essence.The thesis tries to excavate the fundamental causes hidden behind the femalepredicaments and to explore the feasibility as well as the progressiveness of women·spursuit to real freedom through analyses on the text combined with Simone deBeauvoir·s existentialist feminist theory. The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapterone makes a brief introduction to Doris Lessing·s life and literary creations, to TheGolden Notebook, to the literature review and to the thesis structure and itssignificance. Chapter two is a discussion on Simone de Beauvoir·s existentialistfeminist theory and points out that the effective way for women to change their otherμidentity and to obtain freedom and emancipation is to arouse self-consciousness andto realize their transcendence. Chapter three focuses on the predicaments the threefemale characters encounter in different aspects and proves the fact of women·ssubordinate status in the male-dominated society and the incompleteness of theirfreedom. In chapter four, the author clarifies how Anna, Molly and Marion realizetheir freedom and emphasizes their returning to family represents a harmonious andbalanced mode between two genders rather than their compromises. In chapter five,the author continues to make a deep interpretation of real freedomμ and tries toexplore the essence, limitations as well as the progressiveness of their searching forfreedom. The last chapter comes up with a conclusion that women·s great endeavorsand ceaseless exploration in pursuit of real freedomμ are not only largely advanced,but also enrich and deepen our human civilization.