Beijing: A Marginalized And One-dimensional Utopia In And The Bride Wore Red

Beijing, as the capital city of China, has attracted numerous people from foreign countries to set foot on since 13th century. Many of them record what they have seen and heard during their sojourn or write fictitious works inspired by their visit. Whether being truthful or imaginary, these works are one of the most significant medium to learn about Beijing for those people abroad who have never come to this city, especially during the period when the communication among countries and continents was very limited. While for Chinese scholars, these works which portray Beijing from an exotic perspective can serve as the profitable research material. Meanwhile, through analyzing the image of Beijing in the eyes of those westerners, one can in turn scrutinize these overseas observers and have a better understanding of the inevitable prejudice and miscomprehension in the cultural conversation between east and west. This thesis undertakes a detailed textual analysis of And the Bride Wore Red written by Lucy Gordon, a romance writer from Great Britain, to interpret the image of Beijing delineated in the story from three aspects:Beijing as a one-dimensional utopia for the female protagonist Olivia, Beijing as a marginalized city in this western romance on the story level and reasons for the author's description of Beijing in such manner.Introduction presents a brief history of the westerners'works depicting Beijing, information concerning the author, plot summary and literature review. Since the unique cityscape like quadrangle courtyard is perceived through Olivia's focalization and she personally encounters or experiences some conventional culture and custom of Beijing, the first chapter concentrates on the city as a single-faceted utopia in the eyes'of Olivia. On the one hand, Beijing appears to be an ahistorical place merely with its traditional dimension for this female protagonist who is enchanted by the age-old cultural elements such as the Chinese zodiac and dragon as a symbol of good fortune and festivity. On the other hand, the city is considerably idealized as a promised land where she can extricate herself from the anguish she has suffered back in London and where she marries Lang, love of her lifetime.Superficially, Beijing plays a significant role in that the two protagonists meet, fall in love and ultimately settle down in this city. If penetrating deeper, however, one would figure out this story is a western love story in essence and Beijing is a marginal backdrop. Thus, the second chapter elaborates on manifestations accounting for the novel as a western romance and Beijing as a peripheral background. Both Olivia and Lang come from London which is consistently referred to in the story and they are characterized with western dichotomous mentality - the female sentimental and the male reasonable. Few local residents are mentioned and Beijing only functions as a healing place where Olivia can recover from the depression inflicted by the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend and the insouciant parents back in London. Beijing can never compete with its western counterpart in term of significance in Olivia's consciousness. Therefore, Beijing is marginalized both on the story level and on the female protagonist's part.The third chapter touches upon reasons for presenting Beijing in this fashion from the author's perspective by deploying theory of comparative imagologie and the concept of "exteriority" advanced by Edward Said in Orientalism. Since Beijing is an other and external for the British author Lucy Gordon, she cannot get rid of the value and mode of thinking forged in her native country. Meanwhile, she would impose her desire on the city so as to achieve the anticipated intention. Therefore, in And the Bride Wore Red, Beijing, endowed with singularly traditional facet, is a projection of the author as as an idealized but marginalized backdrop to this western romantic story. The reader, especially a Chinese, can perceive no realistic sense of Beijing after he or she has finished reading this story.