A Search For The Transcendence Of Female Immanence

The novel The Hours written by the contemporary American novelist Michael Cunningham tells the story of the lives of three women:Virginia Woolf, Laura Brown and Clarissa Vaughan. All of them are experiencing spiritual crisis due to their respective reasons.The major theme Cunningham tries to convey in the book is the significance of female existence, which in many ways resembles and can thus be best analyzed by the theory of existential feminism put forward by the French writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, who proposes in The Second Sex that the pain of women majorly comes from those so-called good virtues of women, which more deprive women of their hopes and dreams than truly define what a good woman should be like, therefore, Beauvoir calls for women to get rid of female immanence and seek transcendence. As for how to transcend, she advocates that the first thing women should do is to step out of the house and get themselves a job. Furthermore, she calls for women to maintain a rational attitude in relationship, leaving both sides some space of freedom. Besides, she emphasizes that it is also important for women to design a life for themselves and make free choices to bring that life into reality. On top of that, cooperation with their male counterparts serves as a key to the success of women’s transcendence.The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter is literature review and a general introduction of the novel and the writer. Chapter two is an introduction of Beauvoir’s Existential Feminist theory. Chapter three to chapter five is the respective analysis of the three female characters under the theoretical framework of Beauvoir’s Existential Feminism. Chapter Six is the last part in which conclusion has been drawn that the efforts taken to free women from all forms of oppressions could be tough and tortuous, but it is important for women to be determined, to be independent, to transcend and most importantly, to cooperate with their male counterparts. Only in this way will not only women but also the entire human race enjoy true harmony and freedom.