From Silence To Resistance—A Greimassian Analysis On Cat’s Eye

Crowned as "the Queen of Canadian Literature", Margaret Atwood is a remarkable Canadian poet and novelist. Ever since its publication, Cat’s Eye has won a lot of reputation and attention. Cat’s Eye vividly depicts the growth of Elaine and presents a female character of self-independence and self-reliance. Although she suffers tremendously the hardships in life, she finally forgives those people who hurt her. Transformed from a victim to a mutineer, Elaine completes a evolution of female independence under male-dominated society.The theme, narrative technique and realistic significance of Cat’s Eye have been analyzed from various perspectives, such as Feminism. As an approach of literary criticism, the Greimassian theory is an effective way to analyze the surface and deep structure of the text. Under the guidance of Greimassian theory, the thesis explores an independent female character in terms of the surface and the deep structure. In the surface structure, with the reference of Actantial Model, based on the analysis on the intricate inter personal relationships in the story, it reveals the difficulties and frustrations of women who struggle for independence. In the deep structure, applying the Greimas Semiotic Square, it reveals the self-awareness of the females. As the victims in a patriarchal society, women suffer dual oppression from both the male and the female. Although oppressed in a patriarchal society, women can obtain dignity and independence with persistent endeavors as it is revealed in Elaine’s story.