On The Paradoxical Metaphors Of Virginia Woolf's "House/Room"

It's undeniable that"house/room"is an important image in Virginia Woolf's works and she imparts abundant connotations to"house/room"which has drawn many scholars'attention. In recent years, some essays concerning about the metaphors of"house/room"in Woolf's works come out and that makes my research possible, for my research is based on the preceding achievements made by Woolfian scholars. According to these scholars'opinions, Virginia's"house/room"is the metaphors of cage/prison, soul, female identity and so on. In my thesis, these views are undoubtedly affirmed; in the meantime, the thesis explores the metaphors from a different point of view—its paradoxical nature. Namely, the thesis endeavors to pin down the paradoxical metaphors of Virginia Woolf's"house/room"—prison/cage and fortress/sanctuary, and tries to find out the causes of such a paradoxical nature. In the part of Introduction, the thesis puts forward the issue that"house/room"in Virginia Woolf's works has many connotations. Meanwhile, the thesis points out that it's a new attempt to explore the paradoxical metaphors of Virginia Woolf's"house/room".In Chapter 1, the thesis mainly deals with the prison/cage metaphor of"house/room"in Virginia Woolf's works. Through a thorough analysis of her major works, especially To the Lighthouse, The Voyage Out, Mrs Dalloway, and The Years, the thesis displays the important heroines'lives and affirms that the authoress looks on the"house/room"as a prison/cage that imprisons women. In the patriarchal society, women are just men's slaves, who must take care of their husbands, their children and do all kinds of domestic duties, or birds in cages in the mercy of men, so in Virginia Woolf's opinion,"house/room"is no better than a prison/cage for women. On the other hand, the thesis analyzes the"house/room"in some of her works and makes the argument even clearer that"house/room"is really not a happy place for women to live in.In Chapter 2, the thesis deals with another important metaphor of Virginia Woolf's"house/room"—fortress/sanctuary. In order to expound the issue, the thesis comes to the conclusion that"house/room"in Virginia Woolf's works is a place where women can find their self-identity, safety and where their soul can rely on for consolation. In this chapter,...