Women's Growth:New Women In Hardy's Three Novels

This thesis aims to reveal what makes up a new woman in Hardy's three Wessex novels.Hardy has shaped many classic characters,such as the pure Tess,the poor Jude,and the rebellious Eustacia.Out of all the people in Hardy's novels,women characters have drawn much attention from experts and scholars.Some experts argue that Hardy is a feminist.In his works,he shows sympathy towards those tragic women.Other experts believe that Hardy is a spokesman of patriarchy because of his sarcasm of women,such as Arabella.Actually,Hardy makes his women characters new by giving them self-awareness,discourse power and new marriage outlook.Such new women are exemplified by Bathsheba Everdene in Far,Eustacia Vye in Return,and Sue Bridehead in Jude.Self-awareness is the first feature which could distinguish new women from submissive Victorian women.To be precise,self-awareness includes new women's awakening and change in religion,personality,and family role.Firstly,Christianity puts women into the secondary position,which can be known from Bible and doctrines of Christianity.Aiming at escaping from the oppression,new women turn to pagans.Secondly,the patriarchy thinks that women should be weak and obedient.Masculine characteristics,such as bravery and decisiveness,do not belong to them.Therefore,women would be confined to private sphere willingly.Fortunately,new women realize the invisible oppression.Thus,they begin to exhibit masculine qualities as well as feminine characteristics.Thirdly,it is about the change in family role.In the three novels,Hardy avoids new women to be the Other through the absence of parents and children,and the spiritual or physical death of their husbands.The second trait is new marriage outlook.There are three key words concerning marriage outlook,namely mate-selection criterion,marriage pattern and sexual views.About mate-selection criterion,Hardy's heroines choose to follow their heart.And love tops other factors in new women's case.As for marriage pattern,civil marriage makes women invisible.As a consequence,many women suffer.Therefore,new women prefer to establish a natural relationship with men.Finally,it involves new women's sexual views.Compared with traditional women,new women's progress is that they could be master of their sexuality.Discourse power is the third attribute of new women.It also has three aspects,namely the right to name,to have knowledge,and speak out in the public.Firstly,it is the right to name others.New women give names to animals or human beings in order to show their power.Secondly,the right to control public opinion is mentioned.Public opinion is always at the control of the privileged.In the three novels,new women are the privileged.They could control both the topic and the direction of public opinion.Thirdly,it is about the right to knowledge.Different from ignorant Victorian women,Hardy's heroines are educated and their knowledge enables them to voice their thoughts louder.All in all,after the illustration of new women's positive changes,this paper aims to prove that the three heroines embody what Hardy understands to make up a new woman.