From The Female Images Of Les Misérables To Analyze Hugo's Ideology Of The Female

This article intends to interpret Hugo's Les Miserables from the view of the feminism. It's noticed by the author that the traditional study of Hugo and his masterpiece Les Miserables was focused on the analysis of his humanitarianism, his contrastive principle, and on that of the hero Jean Valjean, but no attention were paid to Fantine and Cosette. Thus, the author's desire is stimulated to analyze Hugo's ideology of art and to analyze the female by the female images in this novel. This article illustrates the issue from three levels. First of all, classify the female images into four groups according to Hugo's contrastive principle, and analyze the similarities and differences in each group separately, then identify the peculiar features of each leading figure. Secondly, based on the first part, the author summarizes Hugo's main standards when characterizing female images: beauty, purity and modesty. Then point out that it is these standards that attribute to the forming of traditional male superiority and female inferiority according to the theory of the feminism. After that analyze these standards in detail. Thirdly, from the female images in this novel, identify Hugo's literature thought?thecontrastive principle--which is, in fact, the continuation and deformation ofdualism that existed long ago. The dual opposition of "men" and "women" within the contrastive principle is the foundation of male power system that is strongly criticized by the feminism. It is obvious that women be placed in inferiority in this opposition. Meanwhile the Les Miserables disguised the unjust inferiority of women in a skillful way. Finally, the conclusion is reached that Hugo who sympathize the female subjectively improved the alienation of the female identity and role objectively; and that the "human" of his "humanitarianism" refers to the "male"; that the female, therefore, should recognize the essence of the problem and fight against it.