Doris Lessing Literature Tragedy Consciousness

Doris Lessing (1919-) is a famous female writer in modern Britain,hailed as the greatest female writer after Woolf,known as the "The literary old grandmother" and " The literary evergreen tree".Because of "that epicist of the female experience,who with scepticism,fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny", on October11,2007, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Committee announced that this British authoress was awarded the2007Nobel Prize for Literature.Lessing’s fictional language is skilled in delicate characterization, deep thinking and sharp strokes, has a very deep feeling and understanding of the fate of human tragedy and spiritual crisis, has a remarkable artistic achievement.This paper’s statement is supported by theory of tragedy, centered on Lessing’s masterpiece "The Grass Is Singing" and "The Memoirs of a Survivor", on the level of text interpretation, will cut into from three aspects:sense of destiny,conflict and death, to give a complete survey to the tragic consciousness of Lessing in literature.This paper mainly includes three parts,to explore the tragic consciousness in Doris lessing literature.The first part, introduction, this is the basis of the full text. Mainly introduces the title reason, overseas and domestic research status, then proposes its thesis on this basis, and points out the innovation of this paper.The second part, this is the main part of the full text, consisted of chapter2and chapter3, to explore the strong tragedy consciousness in Lessing’s works.Chapter two,A song of colonial elegy:"The Grass Is Singing".This chapter specifically explores the tragic consciousness in "The Grass Is Singing",which is embodied in fate of rebirth,the conflict between spirit and flesh in human nature,Mary’s redemption.Section one, fate of rebirth, which is embodied in Mary’s and Dick’s character tragedy and the tragic fate of Mary and Dick under the patriarchal oppression, Mary followed her mother’s fate,and Dick is also doomed, beared the sorrow of the male groups under the patriarchy. Section two. the conflict between spirit and flesh in human nature, which is embodied in the conflict of spirit and flesh between Mary and Moses, Mary’s own inner conflict and the inner conflict of Moses,but derived from ethnic and cultural conflicts under the colonial system ultimately. Section three, Mary’s redemption. Mary struggled and pursuited in her short life, disillusioned in the conflict between spirit and flesh, experienced twists and turns in the course of her resistance: Instinct Resistance——Self-Salvation——Salvation from Death, ended in death for redemption.Chapter three, A human disaster:"The Memoirs of a Survivor". This chapter specifically explores the tragic consciousness in "The Memoirs of a Survivor", which is embodied in the salvation of the doomsday,the conflict between self-awareness and otherness, the struggle beyond despair. Section one, predestination:the salvation of the doomsday,through discussing the philosophy meaning of "the time" dispelled off in the novel, to see the insignificance and helplessness human in the presence of inescapable fate,and analysising the mysterious world ofter the "wall",to explore the importance of struggling with the fate and finding self.Second two, the conflict between self-awareness and otherness.To discuss from two aspects:the divided self and the forgotten individual,to expound the procedure that Emily integrating the divided self and looking for the missing true self from both subjective and objective point of view,to explore the paradox of tragedy. Simultaneously, to place a glimmer of hope of being saved that may exists:loyalty, love,and responsibility. Section three, the struggle beyond despair. Gerald’s behavior of saving children in desperation just as "shouting" in the "wilderness", His tragic behavior seems meaningless, but on the occasion of the destruction of the world,we can’t give up the most precious kindness of humanity,we should "Save the children!"Through the specific text analysis above,to emphasizes the profound connotation of the tragedy consciousness in Lessing literary.The third part,Lessing, progress in her thinking.Section one, the turnaround of Lessing’s creation of her tragedy consciousness,this section through contrast research of changes from "The Grass is singing" to "The Memoirs of a Survivor",and go through "The Golden Notebook",to reveal the creation process of Lessing,to explore the development of thought and the change of writing techniques of Lessing,then to see the development course of the tragedy consciousness in Lessing literary. There are both analysis of the similarities and interpretations of the changes. and points out the reasons for this change:Lessing’s mature writing skills, She has walked out of the mode of autobiography; Creatively absorbed the theories from Freud, Jung and Ryan’s theory of psychopathology, especially critically accepted the influence of Sufi which is a school of eastern mysticism.Section two, Why did the writers write tragedies? This section discusses the significance of Lessing’s literature creation of tragedy. Lessing’s tragic consciousness displaied the writer’s compassionate feelings and the concerns about human survival situation,to warn of modern that civilization is innocent,to alert people of the world through tragedy forces,human nature disaster is only temporary,we should be full of confidence to human civilization and the future.The last part is the conclusion. to sum up, to generalize views and the idea of this paper,to affirm the value and significance of the tragedy,and also to point out the significance of researching tragedy.