Images of Chinese women in Pearl S. Buck's novels: A study of characterization in 'East Wind: West Wind', 'Pavilion of Woman', 'Peony', 'The Good Earth' and 'The Mother'.

摘要

This study is an analysis of images of Chinese women in five of Pearl S. Buck's novels: East Wind: West Wind, The Good Earth, The Mother, Pavilion of Women, and Peony. Buck's female characters, with their different degrees of individuality and typicality, form a realistic picture of Chinese women.In terms of thematic content, the study shows that all Buck's female characters use their limited power within the constraints of their society to achieve what they deserve, often employing different, covert ways, some manipulation, and even a little deception.The significance of this is that it reveals, in an artistic way, the social conditions under which Chinese women at Buck's times lived. Chinese women had been very much oppressed. In order to survive, they had to act in ways acceptable by their society. However, they had, just as their male counterparts, the desire to love, to be happy, to maintain dignity, and to be free. What is more important, they were intelligent, courageous, and capable of fighting to achieve their goals for themselves.Buck portrays her female characters both as typical of Chinese women in general and as strong individual figures, each facing different conflicts, in a variety of social, familial situations, with unique characteristics. In order for the Western readers to understand the cultural content in which the individuals function, Buck gives her Chinese characters enough typicality as a solid foundation for the Westerners to interpret their behaviors.It is not difficult for the reader to see how the Confucian doctrines and the social conditions concerning Chinese women are truthfully reflected in the novels herein analyzed. Therefore, different degrees of individualization of these characters result from differing themes of the novels in which they appear.