On The Female Images In John Updike's "Rabbit" Series

John Updike is a master of American realistic literature on contemporary. Many people had researched on the "Rabbit" Series separately, as his masterpiece, few people made overall study on them. For the female images, there was a number of commentators felt that Updike was a "misogyny" writer.This thesis based on "Rabbit" Series, takes them as a whole, combines with the background, analyses the female images, gender relations and the art of strategy to prove that John Updike had approved the women seriously, and his ultimate point is the gender balance. At the introduction of this thesis, it introduces Updike's life, writing and the research situation of "Rabbit" Series at home and abroad, points out the problems of the research on the "Rabbit" Series in the past and points out the critics of his "misogyny", the starting point and purpose of the study in this thesis. The first chapter discusses the non-career women in the family, their images were the result of the times, the writer expressed sympathy to them and given them a certain right to speak. The second chapter discusses the women's self-consciousness, opposition and pursuit. in the context of feminist movement. The third chapter focuses on the power represented by the women. They formed a relationship with the male and provided protection and salvation for men. The fourth chapter proves the author's affirmative attitude to women and the recognition of the concept of gender balance from three artistic strategy of the linear narrative, the model of "flee-return" and the principles of balance.The female characters occupied a significant part in the "Rabbit" Series. Their personality developed with the times to change. For the men, they represented the protection and the salvation force. They represented initiative and the power of balance in the gender relation. They can not be ignored in the works with the status and significance.