An Analysis of Meggie's Personality in The Thorn Birds From the Perspective of Feminism

Abstract    The Thorn Birds is a saga novel written by Colleen McCullough, a famous Australian female author。 The novel tells the persistent pursuit of love and the rebellion to the fate of the leading character, Meggie。 The poignant love story between Meggie and Father Ralph is the main plot of the novel。 The Thorn Birds describes the story of three generations of the Clearys。

    The thesis mainly analyses Meggie's characters through feminism and makes a thorough inquiry of her spirits of challenging the traditional female fates bravely in different ways。 It also describes that Meggie bravely challenges the traditional female fates so as to pursue love and achieve self-worth。 The Thorn Birds also shows the awakening of female self-consciousness at the specific time。 

Key words: The Thorn Birds; Meggie; feminism; character; self-consciousness

女性主义视角下《荆棘鸟》中梅吉人物性格解读

摘要《荆棘鸟》是由澳大利亚著名女作家考琳·麦卡洛历经多年，呕心沥血创作的一部家世小说。小说生动地描述了女主人公梅吉对爱的执着追求以及对命运的无奈与反抗。以女主人公梅吉与神父拉尔夫的凄美爱情为主线，讲述了克里利一家三代的故事。

本论文主要从女性主义视角分析女主人公梅吉的性格特点。论述她以不同的方式勇敢地和传统的女性命运抗争的精神，通过与传统命运的抗争从而追求美好爱情和实现自我价值。《荆棘鸟》以不同的方式勇敢地和传统的女性命运抗争的精神。小说展现了在特定的时代里女性自我意识的觉醒。

关键词：荆棘鸟，梅吉，女性意识，性格，自我意识

Contents

Abastract in English I

Abstract in Chinese II

I。 Introduction 1

II。 The Thorn Birds 2

2。1The Author Colleen McCullough 2

2。2 The Introduction of The Thorn Birds 2

2。2。1 The Meaning of the Thorn 2

2。2。2 The Meaning of the Thorn Birds 3

III。 Feminist Criticism Theory 4

3。1 Introduction to Feminist Criticism Theory 4

3。2 The Development of Australian Feminism 4

3。3 Research at Home and Aboard 5

IV。The Development of Meggie’s Character 7

4。1 A Pure Little Girl 7

4。2 A Rebellious Young Girl 9

4。3 A Persistent Young Woman 11

V。Conclusion 15

5。1 Findings 15

5。2 Limitations 16

Bibliography 17

An Analysis of Meggie's Personality in The Thorn Birds From the Perspective of Feminism

I。 Introduction 

    The thesis mainly studies Meggie’s character through the perspective of feminism。 At the same time, it briefly introduces the novel and the author as well as some relevant researches about feminism。

    Based on feminism research methods, using the thought of feminist criticism, this paper attempts to dig out Meggie’s characters by analyzing The Thorn Birds from the perspective of feminism。