在绝望中寻求解放——夏洛蒂·珀金斯·吉尔曼《黄色墙纸》中意象的象征意义及其作用

New Breath in Desperation——On the Symbokism in The Yellow wallpaper

美国女作家夏洛蒂.珀金斯.吉尔曼的《黄色墙纸》是一部体现女权主义思想的早期作品,它是19世纪末美国社会新秩序下文化发展的产物。作者在作品中直接表露出这种新的社会秩序对女性的精神和实际生活带来的冲击,公开倡导女性的权利和价值,抗议以男性为中心的主流社会模式。该作品是部半自传体小说,书中的很多类似情节人物源于作者的真实生活。小说描绘了女主人公简从一位被丈夫控制、压迫的家庭妇女成长为关注自我精神生活,具有现代意识的女性的主要过程。本文分析了小说中极富象征意义的诸多意象,探讨了它们在女主人公的女性意识的觉醒和发展的不同阶段所表现出来的具体象征含义,并从中得出结论,认为这些意象为表现女主人公追求自我意识的抽象主题做出很好的诠释。

The Yellow Wallpaper is an early feminist literary work written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and it was born as a product of American literature development in late 19th century during which the new social order was on the way of being built up. In the novel, the author directly reveals the blast of the new order on female spiritual and material life, and openly declared female rights and values as well as objected the man centered social mode. Since this work is a semi - autobiography of the author＇ s life, some characters and resources settled in the novel originated from that. It is about how the heroine, Jane, grows out of the traditional sex role and social code as a submissive wife into a sensible woman. The author uses Symbolism as an important skill in The Yellow Wallpaper. There are many symbolic images used in the novel. By examining these images in the novel, we have explored how they, though in different forms, are used to represent the abstract theme -- the whole process of the awakening of the feminine consciousness. It concludes that these symbols provide a better explanation on the theme of female awakening.