Women’s Views On Marriage In The House Of Earth Trilogy From The Perspective Of Feminism

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck,who was born in America but grew up in China,is a well-known American woman writer.In 1938,she became the first American woman writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"(Conn 1996:5).As a woman writer,Pearl S.Buck is an advocator of feminism.She has a special concern for women and their marriage life.In her works,she writes about those oppressed Chinese women with deep sympathy and compassion.And at the same time,she encourages them to resist to the patriarchal system and struggle for their own rights.In one of her masterpieces-The House of Earth Trilogy,she describes three female characters’views’ on marriage in the Wang family-O-lan,Wang the Tiger’s wife and Mei-ling.Among them,O-lan is the representative of traditional Chinese woman.Wang the Tiger’s wife’s views on marriage are contradictory,and Mei-ling goes after the modern marriage.These female protagonists’ various views on marriage can be regarded as the reflection of Pearl S.Buck’s own views on marriage which result from her experiences of her parents’unhappy marriage and her own initial unsuccessful marriage.This thesis consists of six parts.In the first chapter,the author introduces the life experiences of Pearl S.Buck and some background information about her masterpiece—The House of Earth Trilogy.In the second chapter,the author reviews the previous research on Pearl S.Buck and her works conducted by both Chinese and foreign scholars.In the third chapter,the author introduces the theoretical basis of the thesis-feminism,which is of great importance to the studies of feminine literature.In the fourth chapter,the author analyzes women’s views on marriage in The House of Earth Trilogy from the perspective of feminism respectively represented by O-lan,Wang the Tiger’s wife and Mei-ling.To be specific,O-lan’s traditional views on marriage,Wang the Tiger’s wife’s contradictory views on marriage and Mei-ling’s modern views on marriage.In the fifth chapter,the author elaborates the formation of Pearl S.Buck’s views on marriage and the reflection in The House of Earth Trilogy by her female protagonists.The last part of the thesis is the conclusion which summarizes women’s views on marriage in The House of Earth Trilogy from the perspective of feminism and the formation and reflection of Pearl S.Buck’s views on marriage.Due to Pearl S.Buck’s special bicultural background,many scholars both at home and abroad have already made a lot of research on Pearl S.Buck and her works from different perspectives.The thesis analyzes women’s views on marriage in The House of Earth Trilogy from the perspective of feminism.The author hopes that the thesis is possibly to make some contributions to the further studies of Pearl S.Buck and her works.