Oppression,Rebellion And Growth:A Thematic Study On Martha Quest From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

Doris Lessing is a British-Zimbabwean writer who is the eleventh and the oldest woman who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature so far.As the first novel in Doris Lessing’s"Children of Violence"series,Martha Quest tells the story of the heroine Martha who struggles for equality and freedom in an African patriarchal society.This thesis combines the theory of spatial criticism with the topic of female bildungsroman,trying to analyze the theme of growth in the novel from the perspectives of physical space,social space and psychological space,so as to reveal a widespread and significant creative idea in Doris Lessing’s novels that females can only achieve their growth through rebellion in an oppressive space dominated by patriarchy.The thesis is divided into five parts.The first chapter is the introduction that studies Doris Lessing’s creative career and literary achievements,and introduces elaborately the novel Martha Quest,sorts out the studies of scholars at home and abroad on Doris Lessing and the novel from different perspectives and the research results so far,and then reviews and summarizes theory of spatial criticism.The second chapter discusses the oppression on Martha in physical space,social space and psychological space.Martha suffers from two kinds of plight in her physical space:one is isolation in rural space and the other is narrowness in urban space.Suppression in social space mainly comes from the regulations on women in family and public places.For Martha oppression in psychological space refers to a sense of suppression coming from Martha’s loss of self-value and hatred towards the real world in conscious and unconscious psychological activities.Chapter three discusses Martha’s resistance against oppression in three spaces.In physical space Martha pursues more open rural space and wider urban space.In social space Martha never surrenders and fights bravely confronted with regulations in family and public.And in psychological space Martha constructs hope for herself and the surrounding,rebuilds meaning of herself and fits into the society through daydreaming.Chapter four studies that Martha achieves growth through rebellion against oppression in three spaces.Rebellion in the physical space wins Martha the openness and connection of living space in the countryside and enlarges habitable space in the city.In social space,Martha grows up as an independent individual in family and public places,deconstructs the labeling definition of women in patriarchal society,and achieves the transformation of her social role by pursuing free and equal love and marriage.And in psychological space,Martha builds a peaceful inner world and finds hope toward realistic world.Chapter five summarizes the experience of Martha Quest’s pursuit of freedom and equality,interprets Doris Lessing’s concern about females’destiny implied in her works,and clarifies the line of“oppression-rebellion-growth”set in the novel,and emphasizes again the theme of "subversion under oppression,and "growth through rebellion" in the novel.