Women’s Struggle Against Alienation In Saul Bellow’s Mid-period Novels

Saul Bellow(1915-2005)is a famous Jewish writer in contemporary America.In 1976,he won the Nobel Prize.Henderson the Ring King(1959),Herzog(1964),and Humboldt’s Gift(1975)are three mid-period Bellow novels,which are deeply loved by readers and favorably reviewed and researched by critics due to its superb narrative skills,unique artistic style and the characters" revealing of complex emotions.The thesis is intended to analyze the alienated women and women’s struggle against alienation through applying branches in the western Marx theory,especially feminist theories.Through detailed analysis of the texts,the thesis analyzes alienated women and women’s struggle against alienation in three aspects,namely:women’s struggle against traditional family values,women who pursued sexual freedom and women’s pursuit of social identity.With regard to traditional alienated women,due to the Jewish domestic ethics,they are obliged to be the Other and to sacrifice for the family,yet they still cannot escape the fate of being betrayed,abandoned by husband,and being troubled by poverty or household affairs.While the modern women are brave and well educated,who not only dare to fight against the patriarchal thoughts and ideologies,but also pursue equal rights and status in society.The conflict between men and them highlights their unique characteristics.This thesis concludes that,as there are no thorough researches on the female images in Bellow’s novels and most of the female characters were not as satisf-actory as male characters,people misunderstood these female images and thought they were flat characters with no prominent characteristics.With the improvement of women’s status and with the increasing critical study of female images,the female images that Bellow created will be paid sustained attention.Therefore,through applying branches in the western Marx theory into analyzing women characters who struggled against alienation in Bellow’s mid-period novels,the thesis tries to prove that those women in Bellow’s novels are not merely round characters,but they bear important social significance.This research will make certain contribution to people’s recognition of Bellow’s female characters,as well as to the study of female characters in other contemporary American novels.