An Analysis of the Female Images in Theft from the
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Journal of Literature and Art Studies, January 2021, Vol. 11, No. 1, 21-25 doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2021.01.003
An Analysis of the Female Images in Theft
from the Perspective of Feminism
DU Yan Zhoukou Normal University, Henan, 466001, China In the field of vision of American Literature in the 20th century, Katherine Anne Porter is highly praised by many readers for her flexible artistic style, accurate and vivid description of characters, profound connotation of her works. As a female writer, Porter is good at creating female characters from a unique female perspective, and reveals the inner activities of female characters in self-development and the female individual consciousness and independent consciousness pursued by women through her works. Although she doesn’t consciously involve feminism, we can see that the heroine’s female consciousness is gradually awakening from her portrayal of female characters and her exploration of female inner world. This paper takes Porter’s short story Theft published in the 1990s as an example to analyze the feminist consciousness in her works from the perspective of feminism. Keywords: Theft, gender role, female image, feminist consciousness Introduction Katherine Ann Porter is an outstanding female novelist in the 20th century, and plays an important role in the history of modern American literature. Porter writes 26 short stories and one novel in her whole life. Although her works are few in number, they are all excellent works, and she wins many awards, including the Guggenheim Award, the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Award and the gold medal for outstanding novelists. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter, published in 1965, covers almost all her short and medium stories including Theft, which is published in 1929. Porter deeply explores the inner world of female characters who play different social roles through delicate strokes, and thus creates many lifelike female images. The background of the story of Theft happened in New York City during the Great Depression of 1930s. The artists or literati in New York Drama circle are the focus of Porter’s attention. The novel takes the loss of “wallet” as the clue, and the heroine launches a series of memory activities. The novel seems to describe a plain story about stealing the wallet, but with Porter’s careful carving of the works, readers can feel the deep confusion of people’s hearts and the profound philosophy contained in the works at that time from the simple stories. Traditional Female Gender Roles of Protagonists Traditional gender roles portray men as rational, strong, courageous, wise and courageous characters, while women as perceptual, weak, motherly and submissive characters. The ideology of patriarchy implies that women
DU Yan, M.A., lecturer, College of Foreign Languages, Zhoukou Normal University. DAVID PUBLISHING D
All Rights Reserved.AN ANALYSIS OF THE FEMALE IMAGES IN THEFT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FEMINISM 22 have only two kinds of status: good women and bad women. If she accepts the traditional gender roles and obeys the patriarchal norms, she is a good woman, otherwise she is a bad woman. In Porter’s Theft, the gender roles of the characters are obviously different, conflicting and reflecting each other. For example, the protagonist “she” is a good woman in the traditional sense of patriarchal society, gentle, obedient, considerate and self sacrificing. She understands that Camillo is almost as poor as she is, so when he insists on calling a taxi, he says firmly, “you know, that’s no way.” After seeing Camillo’s beautiful new light brown hat ruined by the rain, she can not help thinking: “this is really bad, how can he buy another one?” She knows how important Camillo’s whole set of quite authentic etiquette is to maintain Camillo’s dignity, so she can patiently and quietly watch him finish the etiquette he has decided to do. A good-natured female figure who thinks for others everywhere appears on the paper. She even feels guilty for seeing Camillo stop in the far corner to take off his hat and hide it in his coat. She believes that it is like breaking his secret and making him lose face. She is really a good woman with delicate and sensitive mind and good understanding. She also politely refuses the company of this elegant young man. For Roger, who has been a good friend for many years, their relationship seems to be closer. Roger puts his arms around her shoulders to show that they are old friends for many years. She sat back against him, perhaps seeking a sense of security or belonging. He sneers at the young people who are dressed in fashionable and dirty clothes, and he is extremely disgusted with the dialogue among the three young people about marriage, shouting at them. He speaks directly and says naturally when paying the fare, “if you add a dime, I’ll do it”. “She” naturally opened her wallet and gave her a corner without any hesitation. It’s not hard to see that she is generous and not fussy about money. Even a friend who meets her at the station can ask her to pay the fare. Moreover, she takes all this as usual, and even when they are separated, she says, “you should take aspirin and take a hot bath. You look like you have a cold.” She is always patient with Bill, whose hair is untidy and his eyes are red. although Bill is addicted to alcohol, full of complaints and narrow-minded and likes to take advantage of small things. Even though he has already got 700 yuan, he is still crying and playing tricks. He refuses to pay 50 yuan for all kinds of performances. She just says she should forget it when she is too poor to even keep up with the restaurant. Of course, it is a kind of autonomy that she can not control herself. This kind of involuntariness is the long-term unconditional obedience to others, which has never resisted or attempted to fight. She feels the inner voice clearly, and wants to hold on to it. But the result of their inner struggle is that they have another drink without a word and she goes upstairs to her own room. Another person, Eddie, who does not appear in the story, only appear in her memory, also makes her sad. All of the above descriptions are in line with the various positions of the traditional servile role in the patriarchal society at that time. In daily life, women are submissive and considerate to men and takes care of other people’s feelings everywhere. Even after their reasonable and legitimate interests are threatened, they still take the attitude of “let it go”. This is also in line with the male gender role of patriarchy in the positioning of women, so they can put up with asking for fares, complaining and so on. This is also the result of her unconscious connivance for a long time. All Rights Reserved.
