The Body In The Passion Of New Eve:Discipline And Resistance

Angela Carter(1940-1992)is one of the most prominent British writers in the 20 th century.Most of her novels focus on the relationship between men and women in the patriarchal society.As the seventh fiction,The Passion of New Eve(1977)about the radical femininity and masculinity whose representatives are respectively Mother and Zero attracts the belated attention.The novel unveils a story that male Evelyn who is on behalf of patriarchy takes a trip from England to New York and California desert where he is forced to undergo the plastic surgery so as to transform himself into a female Eve physically and spiritually.The previous research abroad and at home on The Passion of New Eve mainly explores from the perspective of feminism,narratology,and space theory,etc.This thesis attempts to interpret what power is exerted on the body and how individuals take body as a weapon to resist against the disciplinary power with the help of the disciplinary power of Foucault and feminism.According to Foucault,power is omnipresent.The disciplinary power aims to produce the docile body through the disciplinary techniques which is inclusive of hierarchical observation,normalizing judgment,and examination.However,“where there is power,there is resistance”.Feminism is a series of political and social movements that women call for the equality in politics,economy,and society with men.For Foucault and feminists,body has become a place where the patriarchal power operates and the resistant power takes place.By analyzing the disciplinary techniques in the kingdom of Zero as well as Mother,and the resistance with body to the disciplinary power of both in The Passion of New Eve,this thesis illustrates that the disciplinary power pervades in the society of Zero and Mother,which produces the submissiveness and obedience of characters.However,characters are not completely disciplined.They take initiative in fighting against the disciplinary power executed by Zero and Mother.As a result,this thesis reveals that female suffers in patriarchy and matriarchy where males also live in the abyss of suffering.As a feminist,besides the description of male and female suffering,Carter empowers characters to resist the patriarchal and matriarchal power.She calls for the reconciliation between men and women.The relationship between the sexes lies in equality and interdependence.What characters experience enlightens people in modern society.Facing the oppression and exploitation,they can resist in a reasonable manner so as not to be reduced to the status of submission and obedience.This thesis consists of four parts: introduction,literature review and theoretical basis,the main body,and conclusion.Chapter three and chapter four are the main body of this thesis.Chapter one presents the introduction inclusive of the life experience and works of Angela Carter,the objectives and significance of the study,research questions and research methods.Chapter two is specified to literature review on The Passion of New Eve abroad and at home,and the theoretical basis.Chapter three explores how the techniques of the disciplinary power operate in patriarchy and matriarchy for the purpose of producing the docile body.This chapter consists of three parts according to the techniques of the disciplinary power.It is discussed that characters in this novel are disciplined in the network of power.Chapter four analyzes how characters resist to the disciplinary power.In The Passion of New Eve,characters are not completely disciplined by norms of patriarchy and matriarchy.They resist in many ways.By making fun of the patriarchal gender norms and deconstructing the womb,they challenge the patriarchy and matriarchy respectively.Free from the atmosphere of patriarchy and matriarchy,they pay attention to construct their subjectivity through the recognition of sexual desire and the realization of interdependence of men and women.Chapter five comes into conclusion.On the grounds of the delineation of the previous chapters,this chapter makes the summary of the main viewpoints and indicates the value and limitations of this thesis.