Female Construction Of Space:A Lefebvrian Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

This thesis maps spatial analyses of Sylvia Plath's semi-biographic novel The Bell Jar on Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad theory;it on the one hand reveals the 1950s American patriarchal society's male-centered spatial manipulation over women;on the other hand examines women's subjective spatial construction,taken that of Esther Greenwood as an example,to deconstruct the stereotypical impasse of female identity's being defined by patriarchal spatial configuration,thus obtaining the reconstruction of female agency.Through analysis,this thesis points out that under Plath's depiction,various space configurations against the societal background in effect embody the spatial production forged out of interrelations between the domineering male power and the deprioritized female discourse;vice versa,an active construction of space also acts upon the rebuilding of power relations in a spatial sense in that Esther's autonomous female construction of space proffers a powerful resistance against the stagnancy of traditional dichotomy between male control and female submission.This thesis consists of three parts.Chapter one elaborates on spatial practices of domestic sphere,working site and asylum.This aspect focuses on the imparity between women's and men's spatial behavior.This perspective of spatialisation is stressed with individual's social participations.Compared with the autonomy and freedom of men's spatial behavior,women's spatial behavior appears with suspended animation.For women,there are sparsely distributed dots being circled beforehand on the map,connecting the regular route between domestic houses,limited working sites.Women have to shuffle back and forth on this route.Any deorbiting tendency will be alienated as violating the rules,thus leading to women's spatial behavior to this special spot of confinement embodying disciplinary surveillance and regulation:the asylums.Chapter two analyses representations of space through intensive reading of textual evidences.The spatial configurations featuring the aforementioned domestic sphere,working sphere as well as asylum are infused with undercurrent meaning of patriarchal discourse's fetters and oppressions casted upon women.It surfaces the arbitrary hegemony and hypocrisy embedded in the oppressive male force's control of various spaces.Chapter three is focused upon Esther's active and autonomous construction of her own lived space;in other words,the reconstruction of female agency and subjectivity under male-centered power control is weaved into Esther's constructive spatial appropriations in breaking the traditional spatial configuration schema.To be more specific,Esther's transformation and reconfiguration of the surrounding spatial elements is articulated through three methods,which are manifested accordingly in the constructions of space of protection,space of vengeance,space of rebellion.Lastly,the conclusion part states that Esther's being incompatible with and constant sense of alienation from the taken-for-granted male-ruling system of spatial establishment actually embodies the awakening sense of female subjectivity;Esther's construction of female lived space dissolves the stagnant biased dichotomy of male superiority and female inferiority,demonstrating that reciprocal social relations are featured with fluidity and openness.Although Esther's fighting against women's being defined and dominated by patriarchal space hegemony is far from enough to smash the whole looming bell jar into pieces,there actually comes into being a crack in the stifling darkness.This in effect attests to the potentiality of women's warding off the manipulation wielded through patriarchal milieu and the reconstruction of female subjectivity and agency through space construction.