On The Artistic Techniques And Themes Of The Works Of Margaret Atwood

As a "queen" of Canadian literature, Margaret Eleanor Atwood enjoys high international prestige for her remarkable contribution to Canadian literature in novels, poetry, short stories and literary review. Her works have been very popular with the readers all over the world and won many awards, such as "Governor General's Award" and "Booker Prize", etc. The writer and her works have come to be the focus to which the researchers home and abroad have paid much attention.Atwood spent her childhood both in the forests in the north of Canada and the big cities, such as Ottawa and Toronto. The changes between the rural and urban life provided her with a lot of materials for her later writing. During this period, she also read a lot of books with the instruction of her mother. In her twenties, Atwood received the professional training in the University of Toronto given by many prestigious professors, such as Northrop Frye. Later, she studied in Massachusetts of the United States of America. With the acknowledgement of the literature, she realized the significance of Canadian literature and determined to be a real Canadian writer.Atwood experienced the time full of social changes in the 1960s and 1970s. From then on, she has been concerned about the fate of the women who struggle for the independence and liberty vigorously. She revealed the unfairness and harm to the women in the male-centred society in her works. In addition, she tried to awaken the ecological consciousness of humans by means of her writing and active participation in the social affairs.In expressing the significantly profound themes, such as the feminine consciousness and the ecological consciousness, Atwood superbly makes use of various artistic techniques, such as the Gothic elements, the underground/underwater journey, the metaphorical language and paradoxical structure, and the duality in her works.The thesis aims at analyzing the various artistic techniques frequently employed and the significant themes expressed in the works of Atwood. In completing it, the author utilizes various ways, such as narration, explanation by citing examples, comparing the works in different periods of time to justify and document her understanding of Atwood's artistic techniques and the themes frequently expressed in the works.