论空间叙事视角下《钟形罩》女主人公的自我分裂

An Analysis of the Heroine's Separative Selfhood in The Bell Jar from the Perspective of the Spatial Narrative

美国作家西尔维亚·普拉斯的小说《钟形罩》可以被看作女性版的《麦田里的守望者》。主人公埃斯特·格林伍德与美国主流社会格格不入,在纽约、家乡小镇和精神病院这些地理空间里,她的自我形象不断被异化:初到纽约时"自己都不敢认",返回家乡后"失去灵魂的空壳",精神病院时"半人半鬼"。埃斯特在不同地理空间的外表变化反映了她在男权社会空间的边缘地位和心理空间逐渐封闭、失去自我的变化过程。移步换景的地理空间、所处边缘地位的社会空间和日渐封闭的心理空间相辅相成。空间的叙事和小说主人公埃斯特自我身份异化不但有对应关系,埃斯特在追寻自我的过程中更经历了心理空间从憧憬到逐步崩溃的过程。

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, an American writer, can be considered a feminist version of The Catcher in the Rye. The heroine, Esther Greenwood can＇ t get accustomed to the American mainstream society. Her image has been alienated continuously in New York, her hometown and the asylum. In New York, her selfhood began to be alienated to the degree that she dared not recognize herself. When she returned to her hometown she seemed like an empty shell without soul. Finally she was hospitalized in the asylum, half - man and half - ghost. These alienation in different spaces highlight the gradual closure of her psychological space and the loss of self. The transition of the physical spaces and the gradual closure of the heroine＇ s psychology compose two threads, one of which is seen clearly and the other goes beneath. The thesis probes into the corresponding relationship between the spatial narra- tive and Esther＇ s separative selfhood. But the focus is on the process of self separation from being hopeful to break- down in search of her true self. The purpose of the thesis is expected to warn today＇ s women.