【導(dǎo)讀】凱特·肖邦和夏洛特·伯金斯·吉爾曼是19世紀(jì)女性主義文學(xué)創(chuàng)作的先驅(qū)。在人物設(shè)計(jì)上，兩篇小說的主人公同在父權(quán)制和婚姻的束縛下失去。本文通過對作品的創(chuàng)作背景、主要內(nèi)容、主題思想、表達(dá)技巧以及。性的困境與自我救贖。

　　

【正文】 and brother symbolizes the authority, irreversibly and immutably. In the household, if the males hold the discourse, their volition can take control of all intention of females. “The madwoman” is deprived of the right to narrate her true emotion and is doomed to be abused in the malecentered family. As a result, the exciting activities (such as writing, strolling, and social intercourse) are prohibited, even if “the madwoman” believes they are beneficial to physical and psychological health. Compulsory treatment and restricted activities symbolize the deficiency of female discourse. Fettered by male discourse, “the madwoman” can only “creep” menially and silently. It seems that to escape from the sharply fortified patriarchy is impossible to achieve. In marital status, within John’s vision, “the madwoman” is a little baby. “Little girl”, “my darling” and “l(fā)ittle heart” are the frequentlyused nickname. On one hand, judged by appearance, she is a cherished wife enjoying the goodtoexcellent care. Actually, she has no freedom, for her entire requirements, such as changing wallpaper, writing and social interaction, are totally ignored. She is suffering from the suppression in every way: husband is the nucleus of patriarchal family and “the madwoman” is reared to be “obedient, selfsacrificing, modest, nurturant, hardworking and home loving” (qtd. in Hu 34). When it es to love, the husband never truly entered her inner heart. “Then he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose”. Without effective munication, even the fundamental psychological needs may not be understood. So the concern offered by John is of no importance. In short, the absence of the discourse power signifies the loss of the right to pursue love. “I” (we entitle her “the madwoman”) as the nameless narrator of the whole story, shows us an actual state of females in a maledominated society. The authority of husband conforming to the trend of age, as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, draws support from marriage and exaggerates the tender affection to deprive the females of rights. The Artistic Expression Adopted in the Description of Oppression The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour have a lot in mon in writing 河北工程大學(xué)學(xué)士論文 12 techniques. For instance, the contrast and decoration make the description more vivid。 the irony and symbolism successfully point at one but abuse another. By the use of artistic expression, the dissatisfaction with the shackles of patriarchy is presented among the words and between the lines. The Contrast with the “Victoria” The women in the Victorian age, with considerate husband and harmonious family, are typical examples. They unwillingly act as the “angel in the house”, a character designed by society. “She is instructed, then pleasing other。 she makes herself an object, then being fond of” (Jiang 34). Therefore, she has to give up spontaneous acts, and be treated as a lively “doll” without freedom. “Josephine” and “Jane” both are typical models in Victorian age. Voluntarily and deferentially, they bee the acplice of male authority. “Louise, open the door! I beg。 open the door—you will make yourself ill” “Go away. I am not making myself ill” (Chopin 43). Description of dialogue in The Story of an Hour makes the difference between each other prominent: Josephine, “the angel in the house”, takes the responsibility of family and shows solicitude for her sister. Josephine is a docile little sheep liv ing with the prescribed route. In her consciousness, the selfawareness never occurs. In contrast, bees the “monster”: she is immersing herself in the fantasy of freedom to escape from traditional engagement. “Jane” in The Yellow Wallpaper shows a lot consideration to “the madwoman”: “She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession” (Gilman 70). Such a gentle and virtuous woman happens to be an assistant to male discourse—the more attention she pays to “the madwoman”, the more psychological harm she brings. What’s worse, the inquiry about wellbeing is redundant, whereas the significant emotional need is ignored. “Jane” acts as an “angel” the entire time. She is plying with convention while “the madwoman” is challenging the tradition。 she is virtuous while “the madwoman” is unruly。 she is selfsacrificing while “the madwoman” is standing aloof from trifles. By contract, two authors describe the inconsistency between the characters to 河北工程大學(xué)學(xué)士論文 13 highlight the female consciousness and protrude the tragedy of traditional women. Above all, the distinctive performance of the heroines is direct revolt against patriarchy. The Irony of Patriarchal Snobbery “Irony is a figure of speech that achieves the emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense” (Feng 213). Both of the short novels have applied irony in the process of narration. The first irony in The Story of an Hour is the attitude of “Mrs. Mallard” towards the death of her husband. From the beginning, the author has greatly paved for the “angel”. However, contrary to the breakdown, she just cries instinctively and quickly calms down. The strong difference between the social expectation and the performance of “Mrs. Mallard” is a strong irony of social morality. Besides, the ending of the short story employs dramatic irony, skillfully and artfully. When Mr. Brently es back safe and sound, “Mrs. Mallard” died from “the outbreak of heart disease caused by the plex changes of feelings of gaining and losing” (Ni 192) in the viewpoint of doctors. Obviously, it is the disappearance of liberation and hope that contributes to the death. It is not only a kind of irony to the selfrighteous masculine words, but also makes a plaint against the matrimony. In addition