Tension Between Nature And Culture

The Cleft by Doris Lessing is an allegory about human origin. The principal idea ofThe Cleft taking women rather than men as the primal human stock raises greatcontroversy and labels this fiction as a radical feminist story in the critical world. However,the return of the males and the forgiveness of the females in the end of the story alsotrigger a belief that the main theme of The Cleft is to advocate a harmonious coexistenceof the sexes against radical feminism. In Lessing’s writing, the first page of humanbisexual coexistence is full of pain and murder. However, though hatred tortures them,there is also a subtle attraction between the female and the male. Conflict and cohabitationbetween women and men manifest an invisible tension between nature and culture. From afeminist perspective, this thesis intends to reveal Lessing’s deeper assumption for futuresexual relationship by discussing the thematic symbolism of the fiction.The main body of this thesis is composed of three parts, which are women in myth,women in culture, and women in nature, exploring how a tension between culture andnature is deeply involved in the coexistence of women and men. On the basis of a closereading and a devoted understanding of The Cleft, the thesis explores the psychologicaland physiological reason for the current patriarchal society by interpreting the origin ofsexes from the perspective of feminist psychoanalysis. It also analyzes the cultural reasonsfor the sexual marginalization and discrimination in the approaches of feminist culturalcriticism, reinforcing the idea that the inferior position of women is not caused by sexdifference in physiology, but in psychology, culture and history imposed by the male.Under the male hegemony, the realization of the sexual equality and harmoniouscoexistence are impractical. Thus, in The Cleft, Lessing implies a radical thinking ofcastration. Only when the males stop maintaining their own status and interests byoppressing and depreciating women, and only when the phallic desires are abandoned, thatcan the two sexes obtain the real equality rather than another phase of mutual hurt andhatred.