Female Alienation Theme In Consumer Society :Analysis On The Edible Woman

“Alienation”,a word originating from Plato's Republic,refers to people's religious prayer services.Alienation did not have its philosophical connotation until the appearance of German classical philosophy represented by Hegel and Feuerbach.With the emergence of division of labor,exchange and private ownership,Marx put forward the alienated labor theory on the basis of previous thoughts.Subsequently,Marx's alienated labor theory received attentions from Marxist feminists such as Alison Jagger.Jagger revised and extended the traditional Marxist alienation thought.Jagger raised the concept of “gender alienation”,that is to say,women's condition is contrary to their own consciousness and nature.In the consumer society,the phenomenon of female alienation was endowed with the connotation of times,namely,women,suffering from oppressions of both consumerism and androcentrism,were marginalized in the mainstream society.As a well-known Canadian feminist writer,Margaret Atwood was keenly aware of that phenomenon.To evoke people to think about women's social status,ideology and body,Atwood revealed female alienation in the consumer society in her work The Edible Woman,showing the “cannibalism” between consumption and women,men and women.It has triggered people's reflections about the dilemma of women being completely alienated,exploring ways to abandon alienation and realize women's liberation.This paper is divided into four parts.The first chapter introduces the topic and its significance,the research status at home and abroad,research methods and innovations.Chapter two summarizes the background of Marx's alienated labor theory,gender alienation theory,consumer society and alienation,Atwood and The Edible Woman.Chapter three analyzes the theme of female alienation in the consumer society from three aspects which are the causes,the forms of female alienation and the struggle of women against alienation.The reasons are analyzed from four aspects which are patriarchal ideology,economic dependence,consumerism culture and ecological crisis.Manifestations of female alienation are analyzed from the aspects of consumption alienation,body alienation,mental intelligence alienation,labor alienation in work and family,and motherhood alienation.The ways to abandon the alienation have been analyzed from the freedom of the body,the awakening of consciousness,the reshaping of oneself,the harmony of the two sexes and the harmony between human beings and nature.Chapter four discusses the theoretical value,practical value and historical limitations of the research.Finally,the conclusion part summarizes the whole paper.Combining Marx's alienated labor theory,gender alienation theory with characteristics of the consumer society,this paper analyzes the phenomenon of female alienation reflected in the novel through methods of theoretical analysis and textual reading.Aiming to deepen the understanding of Marx's alienated labor theory and female alienation theory,and enrich the Marxist theory of women's liberation,this paper is of great significance in practice for the elimination of female alienation and the realization of women's liberation in China.