The Study Of The Shrew Images In Salman Rushdie’s Novels

Salman Rushdie is a famous Indian-born English writer in the twentieth century. Heportrayed many shrew images who have destructive and rebellious spirit. These shrews aredifferent from marginalized shrews in traditional texts. Rushdie affirmed the power of theshrews, and expressed his political views through these images. This paper makes asystematic interpretation and explanation about the shrews and their cultural implications bythe method of cultural criticism. It will have a certain value to understand Rushdie’s writingintentions and grasp his literary ideas.This paper consists of five parts:The introduction consists of tow parts: Rushdie’s biography and creation profiles, theresearch results of domestic and foreign about Rushdie. This part tries to point out the valueand significance of the shrews images.Chapter one combining with Feminist theories, analyses the standard female images andthe marginalized shrews images in traditional works. In order to meet male looking forward,female images in traditional works are standardized and typed. And those women who did notconform to the men’s expect, and had specific characters are be called shrew, witch, and devil.They are excluded from the mainstream. Shrews are denied and condemned object intraditional texts.Chapter two researches the characteristics of the different shrews images in the texts.They get rid of the images of wife and mother, and are no longer gentle, kind, tolerant, andvotive. While they present as a kind of strong, selfish, indifference, and rebel images. Theyfight against the patriarchal society, and challenge the traditional relationship, including thehusband-wife relationship and the mother-child relationship. Someone became the hellcatsand someone became bad-tempered mothers. In the process of the pursuit of freedom, somethoroughly get rid of the male world, have became women of abstinence, and someone havebecame strong women, who can control the fate of the men.Chapter three analyzes the cultural implications of the shrews images. They are differentfrom traditional female images. They overset the weakness of the traditional women, andshow the female power. This power of women is a breakthrough to the patriarchy, and a trial to construct the new sexual relations. Rushdie challenges the patriarchal culture through theshrews. He realizes that the patriarchal culture not only existed in the past, but also exists in"new India", which is hyped advocating the women’s liberation. Rushdie realized that thenationalists just took advantage of the slogan of liberating women enhancing their power andtheir democratic politics.The conclusion part points out the writing intention of these shrews images. I think that itis Rushdie’s writing strategy. Using the shrews, he expressed his political views. It fullyembodies Rushdie’s reflection to the patriarchal culture and politics in South Asia continent.