A Persistent Pursuit Of Utopia

As an enduring masterpiece of Doris Lessing, Martha Quest tells the story of Martha, an intelligent, sensitive and passionate British girl living in Africa. Trapped in a conservative family with stubborn parents, she is reluctant to be controlled by the patriarchal system and longs for equal opportunities for education and employment. For this reason, Martha strives for gender equality and aims to be a free and independent female rather than pin her destiny to others, which explicitly presents Lessing’s feminist tendency although she did not acknowledge herself as a feminist. The book also embodies the features of feminist utopian fiction since the protagonist engages in the pursuit of a Utopia not dominated by patriarchy. Martha is discontented with the plight of both the female and the colored, and resorts to disclosing the hypocrisy of the patriarchal society and colonial system in order to revolt against the unjustified suppression. Furthermore, eco-feminist perspective is a characteristic feature of this book; the protagonist sticks to the affinity with nature and endeavors to achieve a harmonious coexistence with nature.This paper is intended to provide a new interpretation of the book from the perspective of feminism, combined with utopian theory, Mitchel Foucault’s disciplinary theory, and Paul Sartre’s existentialist ideas, etc. Based on Thomas More’s utopian idea, Enlightenment thoughts and Utopian socialism, the concept of feminist utopia involves liberty, independence, equality and harmony, and emphasizes the elimination of patriarchal oppression, racial discrimination and the alienation within oneself, between one and others, as well as between one and nature.Due to her dissatisfaction with the inequities of the contemporary social reality, Martha pursues liberty, independence, equality and harmony so as to build an ideal society. First and foremost, the pursuit of liberty refers to the realization of both physical and spiritual freedom, thus extricating women from being an appendage to men. Then achieving independence means getting rid of financial dependence and attaining independent personality so as to reconstruct women’s subjectivity. Moreover, seeking equality involves the elimination of sexual and racial discrimination so that the female and the colored could enjoy equal opportunities and fair treatment. In addition, striving for harmony embodies the quest for self-harmony, harmony with others and harmony with nature, which contrasts sharply with the mechanical view of nature and dualism. In a word, the protagonist strives for a utopia free of gender discrimination, racial prejudice as well as the alienation between man and nature.Utilizing the concept of the Second Sex put forward by Simone de Beauvoir for reference, this paper aims to analyze the protagonist’s attempt to shake off the fetters of the patriarchal system and in the meantime to help the colonized cast off the yoke of colonialism. For one thing, discontented with women’s passive position as the Other in the patriarchal society, Martha determines to challenge the male superiority and fight for the power of discourse. For another thing, she is indignant with the white’s racial superiority so she strives to call on the colored to rise up and regain the initiative. With the aim of building an equal and harmonious society, she is determined to change the status quo that the female and the colored are reduced to be the other by the male and the white.All in all, this paper is intended to probe into Martha’s efforts in pursuit of a Utopia based on liberty, independence, equality and harmony. The protagonist is unwilling to suffer under the yoke of patriarchy so she resorts to fearless struggle with male authority. Furthermore, she sympathizes with the miserable experiences of the colored; therefore, she speaks out against racism. In addition, Martha appeals for getting close to nature so that man and nature can realize harmonious coexistence and sustainable development.