The Ressentiment Of The Characters In Oates' Novels

Joyce Carol Oates, born on June 16,1938, is a versatile and prolific American authoress. Oates published her first short story collections By the North Gate in 1963. Since then her creation enthusiasm has upsurged continuously. With the rising status in the literary circles, Oates has become one of the most respectable and prestigious authors in America. Her prolificacy has become one of her best-known attributes. However, the most impressive achievement of Oates is not the large quantity but the high quality of her works. She has written some of the most enduring fictions of our times.Oates focuses on characterizing the real life of the underprivileged Americans, with the subjects in her works suffering various hardships, catastrophes and attacks, both physically and mentally. Oates's peculiar genius is her ability to describe the emergence, development, evolution and mutation of the ressentiment in an attractive and emotional way. The thesis dedicates to the analysis and elaboration of the ressentiment displayed in her representative works in different periods. The 5 representative novels chosen are Them(1969), Wonderland(1971), Angel of light(1981), Foxfire:Confessions of a Girl Gang(1993), The Fall(2004).Although there are many other angles to read Oates, this thesis chooses to analyze the ressentimen in such a way:regarding the ressentiment as a kind of psychological sentiments, tracking the causes of its origin, then depicting the lifestyle and behaviors dominated by such a sentiment, and analyzing the consequences before investigating the routes of its mutation and transformation. The key is to reveal the author's ideas, stands and her value orientation.The ressentiment in the representative novels is actually an implication of the popular mentality of a special community at a special times, thus lending a method to have a glimpse of the dilemma and persistent ailment of the whole society. It's also an effective way to better understand the theme and main ideas of the authoress from the angle of ressentiment. After deep analysis of the ressentiment of these characters and their consequent behaviors and value orientation, it's clear to readers that much attention has been paid by the authoress in the life dilemma and mental crisis facing those under the social suppression.