The Thorn Birds tells how Meggie tries to pursue her rights, reveals the awakening of her self-consciousness。 It is a typical female work in Australia。 Few scholars have studies Meggie’s character from the perspective of feminism。 Thus, there is a vast room to research from this viewpoint。 As a result, this thesis can arouse scholars’ attention to Australian literature and let them have a further understanding about this novel and Meggie。文献综述

    There are mainly five parts in the thesis。 Chapter one is the brief introduction of thesis。 Chapter two is the introduction of the novel。 Chapter three is about feminism and the previous related research。 The next chapter is about the development of Meggie’s character。 Last, the thesis draws the conclusion that as long as women are brave enough to pursue love and challenge the destinies, they can gain happiness and realize self-value。 Moreover, true love and beauty can be attained with incredible pain and unimaginable cost。

II。 The Thorn Birds

2。1The Author Colleen McCullough 

    Colleen McCullough (1937-2015) is a famous Australian writer。 When she was young, she loved writing and tried to write stories in her spare time。 In 1974, Tim, her first work was published。 And in the following several years, a number of novels were published one by one, such as The Thorn Birds, The Ladies of Missalohghi, The First Man in Rome, Caesar's Women etc。 Among them, The Thorn Birds has been a acclaimed internationally and became the bestseller around the world。 

    During her whole life, she totally wrote about 25 novels。 Besides novels, she also wrote prose, biography, and even melodrama。 Unfortunately on January 29th 2015, she died of renal failure at the age of 77。论文网

2。2 The Introduction of The Thorn Birds

    After publication, The Thorn Birds caused a sensation worldwide。 It is regarded as “Gone With The Wind of Australia”。 Even now, the artistic charm of this novel is still shinning。

    It takes Colleen McCullough several years to complete The Thorn Birds。 The main plot of this novel is the poignant love story between Meggie and Father Ralph。 It describes three generations of an Australian family, the Clearys from 1915 to 1965。 It reveals three female generations' fate under the special background of Australia。

2。2。1 The Meaning of the Thorn   

    “Thorn”and “thorn birds”both have their symbolic meaning in this novel。 The story mainly tells how the three Cleary women pursue their own thorns throughout their lives。 All of them are thorn birds。 Each of them pursues their love at the cost of great pain and their lives。

    According to Wikipedia, “thorn” refers to a sharp pointed growth on the stem of a plant。 In this novel, the life is not always uplifting。 To the Clearys, most of their lives are depressing。 Therefore, the thorn to them means the hardest and most dangerous things in their life, which can cause great pain as it is put in one's heart。 Although the Clearys live a hard life, they still face life with great courage and patience。 The thorn, to some extent, means an attitude towards life, that is, to struggle against one's fate。 For the Clearys, they never deny what are within them even though those make them scream aloud to die。 来.自^优+尔-论,文:网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766-

2。2。2 The Meaning of The Thorn Birds

    To some extent, the thorn bird is similar to the nightingale as it also puts its breast against the thorn and sings among the savage branches so as to leave the sweetest song on the earth。 It is the best wish to the world, and a kind of desire at the cost of its life。 The thorn bird symbolizes a view on happiness and misery (Lu Qiong, 2007)。