Repression,Resistance And Discipline

Hilary Mantel is the only British writer who has been awarded Man Booker Prize twice.Her works cover a wide range of genres,among which historical fiction draws most concern.Mantel excels in reinterpreting history from marginalized groups’ perspective and underscoring the life of ordinary or non-hero people.Bring Up the Bodies(2012),one of the Man-Booker-Prize winning works,is a typical representative of this kind.On the basis of Foucault’s power and discourse theory,this thesis analyzes predicaments in women’s existence from three aspects,namely women’s repression,women’s resistance and their domestication under invisible operation of power mechanism,revealing Mantel’s strong concern for women’s survival condition and her appeal for harmonious gender relationship.In Bring Up the Bodies,women’s predicaments are first reflected in their role as the observer and imitator of patriarchal discourse under dual suppression of patriarchal and religious discourse,which results in their aphasia and loss of power.Second,although women attempt to expand living space,challenge domestic,religious and social routines and fight for speaking rights through discourse,their resistance is too weak to exert sustainable results due to intensive limitations.Finally,under the operation of disciplinary power,usually by means of hierarchal observation and normalization judgment,women are forced to accept physical and mental domestication and become the accomplice of oppressors.In this way,the patriarchal society achieves comprehensive control and domestication of women.In Bring Up the Bodies,Mantel exposes the marginalization and victimization of women in the specific historical period.Under the dual suppression of power and discourse,women have no choice but to bow down to be the silent subordinated victims and become the spokesperson of men’s will.Mantel stresses and criticizes the limited choices and rights available to women.Bring Up the Bodies adequately elaborates the significance of recognizing women’s values and enhancing women’s power in delivering their voice.