On Pearl S. Buck's Misreading Of Chinese Women Characters

Pearl S. Buck is controversial figure in the American literary history. She also exerted great impact on the Chinese literary circles with her novels of Chinese settings and characters. As a woman writer, she is much more interested in the life and mentality of Chinese women and has dedicated to presenting various and vivid Chinese women characters.Pearl S. Buck has her own specialty in shaping Chinese women. Her description of those women characters has gained her both praise and criticism. The present thesis aims to examine Pearl S. Buck's uniqueness in presenting her Chinese women characters.This thesis analyses several Chinese women characters who belong to different social class, and attempts to study Pearl's contribution in enriching Chinese women characters against the cross-cultural background.Based on a comprehensive investigation into Chinese women's position in the Chinese family and their relationship with men, this thesis further maintains that Pearl S. Buck has largely misread Chinese women characters. The reasons that lie behind the misreading are to be explained in the light of feministic and Orientalistic approaches.