1.1.1 A brief introduction of The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds is an attractive novel. Its charm comes first from its theme: love and fate. The book describes a legendary history about Cleary family. The story began in the early twentieth century, and ended in late 60s and early 70s half a century later, and the story started from the call of childless noble woman Mary Carson, she invited her younger brother Paddy to come to her sheep farm in Australia and brought his seven children, and it ended up with Paddy’s only survived grandchild Justine—— the brilliant actress decided her way of life and love in a distant foreign land. The story took the love between heroine Meggie and Ralph as the main line, and described the complicated emotional journey and life experience of the Cleary family’s three generations——Fiona, Meggie and Justine, and shaped three women who dare to fight against the fate and social customs, dare to pursue the ideal love. It showed the spiritual beauty and the beauty of human nature of self awakening, growth and surpass the fate in suffering under the circumstance of partriarchal pepression.

1.1.2 The significance of this topic
1.1.2.1 Significance as a literary work
    As a study of the novel’s content, the emotions and core value of the characters’ and especially the heroines’ ideas of love, this thesis can help readers understand the interaction of the heroines’ value and life choices, and thus made it possible to explain the three heroines’ behavior and how did the story develop and the logic behind it, so I can reveal the splendid masterpiece’s glamour as a literary work. The full-length novel, is called Australian Gone with the wind, and makes a sensation throughout the world. Why? I think the reason must be that the novel composes a melancholy and miserable but also solemn and stirring symphony by three female images that were very brave to challenge the fate. In addition, it tells such a truth: the true love and beauty should be attained with unimaginable cost.  从《荆棘鸟》中三位女性人生选择剖析其爱情观(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_22741.html