An Analysis Of Elizabeth Hunter’s Embodiment Of Patrick White’s Gender Identity And Religious Faith (Experts)

Patrick White is remembered as the only Australian who won the Nobel Prize for literature, meanwhile, he is a rare writer to generate controversies in Australian literary criticism. In China, his novel The Eye of the Storm raises great interest in criticism. They interpret the novel from the content by the means of comparative literature and from the form from the angle of the stream of consciousness.My thesis attempts to discuss why White chose to write this kind of novel. His early experience makes him form his own attitudes, like his attitude towards his mother, religious faith, etc. First, White’s mother Ruth has a significant influence on him. The contrast of all-powerful mother and feeble father forms White’s attitude towards gender identity different from other writers, which demonstrates the motivate of writing The Eye of the Storm that comes from a visit to White’s sick mother in bed in London. The protagonist Mrs. Hunter not only reflects the features of Ruth, but the combination of masculine and feminine on White himself also is expressed on Mrs. Hunter. Second, White traveled a lot in Europe and started to learn different schools of talents including traditional European cultures, Judaism, mysticism, Greek Eastern Orthodox Church even showed great interest in Oriental Philosophy, Hinduism and Buddhism. White had no specific religious faith but he believed that the only way to obtain the spiritual sublimation was suffering misery and self-reflection, what’s more, God always falls upon those who are plain, simple and modest. The way his attitudes and viewpoints embodied in The Eye of the Storm is different from that in his other novels. First, the dying Mrs. Hunter who gains spiritual redemption is neither plain nor simple but even greedy and vain. Second, after surviving a cyclone, the protagonist Mrs. Hunter begins to reflect on herself and hopes to achieve spiritual redemption and reach Elysium. The reason for her being chosen by White to see the eye of God is that she has an acute insight and strong will to live and she’s willing to face the truth of herself honestly.My thesis is the analysis of the embodiment of Patrick White’s attitudes on Elizabeth Hunter including his attitude towards gender identity and his religious faith. The thesis is made up by five chapters, namely an introduction, three main chapters and a conclusion.Chapter one offers an overview of criticisms home and abroad on The Eye of the Storm and the viewpoint of this writer. Chapter two attempts to perceive the background information in which White’s attitudes are formed from different phases of his life:childhood and adolescence, traveling the world and settling in Australia. Chapter three explains White’s attitude towards the unity of feminine and masculine embodied in this novel through the analysis of the protagonist Mrs. Hunter. Chapter four deals with the reasons why White chooses imperfect Mrs. Hunter to realize his religious faith--spiritual redemption and soul’s sublimation. Chapter five is the conclusion.