性别角色与两性关系——《荆棘鸟》中的玛丽·卡森解读

Gender Role and Male-female Relationship——On Mary Carson in The Thorn Birds

《荆棘鸟》中的玛丽.卡森是传统父权制文本中常见的"妖妇"角色。她追求自主自立和两性平等,具有积极的意义。然而,她争取和保持其权力时采取了让人难以接受的方式和手段,从而导致了其性别角色的失落。通过该人物形象的塑造,作家表明两性关系应是平等的、互相补充的,女性追求的应当是男女的真正平等,是包括男性在内的人的价值的全部实现,而不是要以女性至上代替男性至上。

Mary Carson in The Thorn Birds can be regarded as a "witch" under traditional patriarchy. She was in pursuit of independence and gender equality, which has a positive significance. However, in order to get and maintain power, she adopted some measures hard to be accepted by the readers, which leads to the loss of her gender role. Through the character, the author means to show that women and men are equal and can mutually complement each other. What women should pursue is the real equality between men and women, and the complete realization of human value including men, not the replacement of patriarchy by matriarchy.