FeminisminTheScarletLetterandTheThornBirds

毕业论文（设计）1.IntroductionAccording to Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary,feminism is "belief in the principle that women should have the same right andopportunities (legal,political,social,and economic,etc)as men."(AS,Hornby2002:535)Traditionally,women were tied by bonds of love and dependence on men(and subsequently to their children).Also the traditional belief was that womenwere inferior to men not only in physical part but also in psychological aspect.Theywere considered lacking in consciousness of leading their own lives.Feminismcontradicts these traditional beliefs and emphasizes individual character and thefemale consciousness."Feminist writers have argued that our culture and the socialstructures built around it force keeping women tied into the traditional gender roleand subordinate to men."(Guoying Fu,2002:75)This thesis is to explore howfeminism implied is in The Scarlet Letter and The Thorn Birds.Regarding to thefeminism that shows in the two novels,we can study the significance of feminismin modern literature and fiction,which influence on women that will be good for usto search a more high value position for women in this modern society.From thetwo heroines,we figure out that women also can make every effort to search fortheir want and drive their own dreams.In addition,we female should not be scaredby the male dominated society,but try to protect our liberty and rights as the twoheroines did.2