The Triple Tragedies Of Mayella Ewell

The famous female writer Harper Lee is very influential in the 20 th century of American literary domain. In 1960, she is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird; as a result, Harper Lee becomes the world-renowned writer. TKM depicts a small town in the American South during the period of the Great Depression, and from the perspective of a child to reveal a series of problems at that time, such as racial discrimination, social class, trod on the innocent and the evil aspect of human nature, etc. However, it also makes readers believe that kindness and justice still exist in the mind of human beings.The novel has been translated into several languages since its publication, and not only has it been welcomed by the international readers but also it has become the focus that the literary critics in the world pay close attention to. Some scholars have researched on this novel from the perspective of the novel’s basic elements such as social background, writing technique, the structure of the novel and themes. While at the same time, there are also some studies applying the branches of feminist theory, for instance, androgynous theory and existential feminism.This thesis will try to have a feminist analysis of an unvalued character named Mayella Ewell. The essay catches up the nature of feminism, which is from the perspective of politics, economics, and ideology to systematically apply this theory for the analysis of the character. Through the exploration of the reasons triggering the miserable fate of Mayella, the thesis will give more attention and compassions to this neglected female image. In spite of being the cause of Tom’s death, Mayella is also the victim of social ignorance and prejudice. Accordingly, the paper will further analyze the underlying reasons that induce tragic fate of Mayella so as to expose the inevitability of this phenomenon. The tragedy of females like Mayella, by its nature, stems from the patriarchal system of the society where they live, dependent economic conditions, the deprived educational rights, and the idea of passive compliance with males as such a series of elements. In short, admittedly, the tragedy of Mayella is tightly bounded up with her own weakness; however, the major reason lies in the time where she lives. Or rather, she is the sacrificial lamb of a specific time.