the-analysis-of-female-characters-in-the-thorn-birds荆棘鸟中女性人物分析.doc

XX大学

本科生毕业论文(设计)

题目: The Analysis of Female Characters in
The Thorn Birds
荆棘鸟中女性人物分析

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have given me much help in my pursuit of the bachelor’s degree and in my thesis writing.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs. Li, who has offered me her insightful comments and enlightening suggestions in the whole course of my thesis writing. Without her patient instructions, I could hardly have completed my thesis.
Second, I wish to express my sincere thanks to professors and teachers at the Department of English, who have instructed and helped me a lot in my English learning. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my roommates and my fellow classmates who gave me their help and times in listening to me and helping me work out my problems in these four years.
Last but not least, my thanks would go to my beloved family for their understanding and support which have relieved me of a lot of anxieties and tensions that have accompanied my studies all through these years.

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摘 要

《荆棘鸟》为澳大利亚著名女作家考琳·麦卡洛所作，它于1977年问世后便在全球范围内引起极大的轰动，被誉为澳大利亚的《飘》。在澳大利亚独特的文化背景中，该书以爱情和命运的主题，展现了克里利家族三代女性的坎坷的人生经历与丰富而复杂情感历程。本文首先对这部小说和作者及荆棘鸟的含义做了介绍，然后对小说中四位女性：玛丽·卡森、菲奥娜、梅吉及朱丝婷的人生历程进行剖析，探讨她们不懈地追求各自的爱情和对传统女性命运勇敢反抗的精神，以及在特定的时代中女性自我意识的觉醒。由此通过分析得出结论：女性只有树立正确的爱情观，勇于追求爱，挑战命运，坚持不懈，才能获得幸福，实现自我价值。
关键词:荆棘鸟;女性角色;爱情观;命运;自我意识

ABSTRACT

The Thorn Birds written by Australian famous woman writer Colleen McCullough has caused tremendous sensation throughout the world since it was published in1977 and is called Australian Gone with the Wind Based on the unique background of Australian culture, the novel unfolds life experiences and emotional journey of the females of three generations in the Cleary family. First，this thesis includs a brief introduction to the writer, the novel and the symbolism of the thorn and the thorn birds. Afterwards it makes a deep analysis of the life course of the four female characters of three generations- Mary Carson, Fiona, Meggie, Justin, and explores the spirit of their untiring pursuit for love and brave resistance of traditional female fate, as well as the awakening of female’s self-consciousness in a certain period. A conclusion is drawn that women can gain happiness and realize self-value, as long as they establish correct love views and are brave enough to pursue love and challenge the destinies.
Key words: The Thorn Birds; Women images; Love view; Self-consciousness

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements i
Abstract in Chinese ii
Abstract in English ii
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction to the novel 1
1.2 Introduction to the author and her works 1
2. Analysis of major characters in the novel 2
2.1 Fiona— silenced, constraining, obedient 2
2.1.1Fiona’s Subversive Love for Pakeha 2
2.1.2 Fiona’s Submits to the Fate 2
2.2 Mary Carson—subversive, scheming, unsympathetic 3
2.2.1 Mary Carson’s crazy and selfish love for Ralph 3
2.2.2 Mary Carson’s Fight against the Fate 4
2.3 Meggie— brave, persistent, stubborn 4
2.3.1 Meggie’s forbidden love for Ralph 5
2.3.2 Meggie’s resistance to Catholism and fate 5
2.4 Justine— rebellious, independent, passionate 6
2.4.1 Justine’s harmonious love with Rainer 6
3. The causes of their different fate 7
3.1 The causes of Mary Carson, Fiona and Meggie’s tragic fate 7
3.2 The reasons of Justine’s success in resisting fate 7
4. Conclusion 8
Bibliography 9

The Analysis of Female Characters in The Thorn Birds

1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the novel
The Thorn Birds is a saga novel about three generations of an Australian family—-the Clearys from 1915 to 1965, and is also a beautiful love story that takes place in the outback of Australia with a tale of a strong bond that turns into the strongest love. Hate, pain, love, and happiness all involved in this beautiful tale of Meggie Cleary and Ralph de Bricassart.
The epic begins with "Meggie" Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early 1920s. Meggie lives together with her father Paddy, an Irish farm laborer, and Fee, her harassed but aristocratic mother, and three elder brothers in New Zealand. The large, poor family lived a hard life until one day when Paddy’s sister, Mary Carson, one of the richest women in Australia, who lives on an enormous sheep station called Drogheda mail a letter in which she promises to offer Paddy a job on her estate. Paddy accepts the invitation with delight. Then the whole family moves to the Drogheda.
Here Meggie meets Ralph de Bricassart, a good friend of Mary Carson, picked up the Clearys from the station. He is a young, intelligence. and ambitious priest who as punishment for insulting a bishop, has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillanbone, near Drogheda. Then Ralph and the family become good friends, while he and the ten-year-old Cleary daughter Meggie become very close. Ralph takes Meggie to school at the convent next to the church he works at and gives her a pretty room in the rectory so that she can stay with him. Gradually, Meggie grows up to be a stunning young lady and falls in love with the handsome and considerate priest. Ralph loves Meggie, too. However, he is far too self-absorbed and ambitious to show some humanity and admit his love to Meggie, so he is torn between his love for Meggie, his love for God and his ambition to rise in the Catholic hierarchy.
The Thorn Birds composes a melancholy and miserable but also solemn and stirring symphony by four characters (the Cleary women: Mary Carson, Fiona, her daughter, Meggie, and Meggie’s daughter, Justine) who are very brave to fight against their fate and social custom for their faith. The enchantment of this book first lies in its subject—love and destiny, and its symbol—the thorn bird. It shows profoundly the impermanence and the weird twist of the fate. By describing the Clearys’ penetrative, frustrating love journey, the author tries to show a truth that the true love and the beauty should be attained with incredible pain and unimaginable cost. This thesis will discuss the differences among the three women and analyze the women spirits toward their love and fate.
1.2 Introduction to the author and her works
Colleen McCullough was born on June 1st, 1937, in a Catholic family in Wellington, New South Wales, Australia and married Ric Robinson, on April 13, 1984. She graduated from University of Sydney and University of South Wales, B.S.(With honors)and got her M.S. from Institute of Child Health of London University. From 1958 to 1963, she was a founder of and worker at the Department of Neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital of Sydney. And then from 1967 to 1977 she worked at Yale University, School of Internal Medicine,in New Haven, CT, associate in research neurology department. Since 1976, she has also worked as a teacher, a library worker, a bus driver in Australia’s Outback, and in journalism.
His working experiences constitute the major background of several of her fictions. McCullough has strong interests in reading since she was a little girl and she was said to be “the only bookish person in an athletic family”. The books she read covered from romances to science fictions that helped her to get very well prepared for her later literary career.
Nowadays she is well-known for her fictions .She is the author of several extraordinary novels such as : Tim(1974), An Indecent Obsession(1982), A Creed for the Third Millennium(1985), Fortunes Favorites(1993), Caesar’s Women(1995), The Song of Troy(1998), Morgan’s Run(2000), The October Horse(2002), The Touch(2003), and Antony and Cleopatra(2007). The books she read covered from romances to science fictions that helped her to get very well prepared for her later literary career. Besides novels, she also writes prose, biography, and even melodrama. As far as her writing of fiction is concerned, she writes a variety of sorts of fiction, consisting of historical novel, love story, so on and so forth, and above all, the worldwide bestseller, saga novel—The Thorn Birds, soon after its publication, it became an international bestseller in over 20 languages. Time Magazine equals it to The God Father, Love Story and seven other stories, all of which are famed as modern ten classics. Musical, films and TV series adapted from it also have everlasting charm to the audience.
Colleen McCullough is familiar with Australia. In The Thorn Birds she gives a vivid description of it. The picturesque settings of the story enable readers to enjoy the unique Australia scenery. With this novel, readers can visit the far corners of the Australia outback and feel the love and yearning that Meggie and Ralph experienced.

2. Analysis of major characters in the novel
2.1 Fiona— silenced, constraining, obedient
As the first generation of Clearys, Fiona is a very beautiful, graceful but taciturn lady from a noble family. However, her fate is an undoubted tragic because she falls in love with an impossible man-Pakeha. But she forced to marry someone unknown because of family’s reputation. After marriage, she resigns herself to the unfair fate and regards it as predestinate. She pained for retrospection and could not step out of the circle of waiting for someone in nowhere. As a woman, her value is stipulated by the patriarchal society.
2.1.1Fiona’s Subversive Love for Pakeha
Fiona lives in the 19th century, and she is graceful lady and the only daughter in a noble family of Newlands. In such a traditional family, her fate has already been determined since she has no independent position or economic incomes. She has no freedom to choose her own life, what she can do is to follow her father’s idea-a trip to the old country, a debut at court, the right husband. However, her father’s plan goes broke because Fee falls in love with Pakeha, a politician who has already got married. In The Thorn Birds, Fiona’s love for Pakeha is described in the following way: “I love that man! Perhaps it was the call of our blood, I don’t know. He was handsome, a big man with a mop of black hair and the most brilliant, laughing black eyes. He was everything Paddy wasn’t cultured, sophisticated, very charming. I loved him to the point of madness. And I thought I’d never love anyone else”. (P243, 18) After the marriage, she becomes indifference to anyone or anything, all her enthusiasm is put on her first son, Frank. The child stole from her beloved man and becomes her spiritual existence. When Frank left home, Padddy ever said to Father Ralph: “I’ve always known she loved Frank more than the rest of us put together, she must love his father” (p256,8). In the rest of Fee’s life, she never has forgotten Pakeha.
In a patriarchal society, only a good marriage can prove women’s existence in the world, and reflect their value in society. It is an unbearable thing for women to strive for their love on their own will, as women are subordinated to men. As a result, when Fiona gives birth to Pakeha’s son, she was thrown away by her family and Pakeha.
2.1.2 Fiona’s Submits to the Fate
It is said that women are blind before love. To Fiona, it is true. At the age of sixteen, Fee falls in love with Pakeha who has already got married and much older than her. Fee thinks he will divorce for her, but Pakeha is an important politician, who has a big influence on that area, if he choose fee, he has to give up career and fame. Finally the man chooses his career and leaves Fee .Fee is brave in the times when virginity was regarded as women’s greatest treasure. After pregnancy, she is immediately abandoned by her family and force to marry Paddy-a man from underclass for the family reputation. When facing all theses situation, she never tried to struggle with her fate.
After marriage, in others eyes, Fee is a perfect wife. She is beautiful, hard-working and submissive. In her mind “The house was women’s work. No male member of the family was to put his hand to a female task”. To be a housewife, she has submitted to the rule imposed upon women and think female is inferior to male. On the other hand, she becomes indifferent to anyone or anything except the eldest son-Frank. She always follows her husband’s idea without a word and never shows her true feelings and emotions. After Frank’s leaving, “There had not a flicker of emotion in those soft grey eyes, not hardening nor accusation, hate or sorrow”,(P98,13 ) as if she had simply been waiting for the blow to fall like a condemned dog for the killing bullet, knowing her fate and powerless to avoid it.” Although she loves Frank more than others all together she accepts his leaving with quietness. She resigns herself to the unfair fate and don’t want to revolt it. Just like she once said: “I can never be free, and I don’t want to be free.”(P289, 14) No matter to man or to fate, she has become a totally obedient woman.
2.2 Mary Carson—subversive, scheming, unsympathetic
In The Thorn Birds, Mary Carson is another women character who is embodied with female subjectivity. She is a very sophisticated character. From a man’s point of view in a patriarchy society, she is a devil. But from a feminist’s point of view, she is a respectable rebel, an unfortunate woman. When first appeared in the novel, Marry Carson was already 65 years old. A lady at such an age was supposed to be kind, tolerant and sometimes slow in thinking. But she was harsh and very quick-witted. People around her hate her; calling her “a bid spider”, meanwhile, they admired her as she was so capable of scheming. She chose to marry a man she doesn’t love in order to make a fortune, but she fell in love with a priest in her sixties and left all her property to him, to the church. Her action and choice were very subversive.
2.2.1 Mary Carson’s crazy and selfish love for Ralph
Mary Carson takes possession of a large amount of property and lives in Drogheda, a great pasture. She has been a widow for so many years, but she refuses to marry again. She was not born into money or is not so charming, but besides her genius, the great effort makes her lead a fruitful life. When she meets Ralph, she was at her sixties, but she crazily falls in love with this remarkable appearance. Once Mary realized he love for Ralph, she began to take actions. She provided Ralph with all the luxurious living conditions and created a lot of time for their togethering. She even frankly told Ralph: “I have loved you. God, how much! Do you think my years automatically preclude it? Well, Father de Bricassart, let me tell you something. Inside this stupid body, I’m still young, I still feel, I still want, I still dream…” (P324, 7) What Mary Carson said and what she did break the ster