Feminist Study of the Three Female Characters in the Thorn Birds

Abstract：The Thorn Birds， the master piece of contemporary Australian writer Colleen McCullough， is a plangent love story with the theme of love and fate. This thesis aims to analyze this hard journey reflected in the novel on the basis of feminist theories. The Thorn Birds shows us the true experiences of women's pursuit of equality and liberation.

Key words：The Thorn Birds； Feminism； Womens growth

1. Part One Introduction

Colleen McCullough is a well-known contemporary Australian writer. The success of The Thorn Birds is due too many reasons. First， its its theme： love and fate. Second， it is the vivid description of the characters in the novel. Third， it is the description of the landscape. The most reason is that， through the novel we can see the deeper meanings. The whole novel reflects feminisms development at that time， especially through the characters description we can know the writers concept of women， from her views we can learn more about feminism. Based on the researches of the previous studies of The Thorn Birds， this thesis discovers that it is feasible to apply feminist theory.

2. Part Two A Brief Summary of the Female Characters

（1）in The Thorn Birds

Seen from the theme of literature， the three female characters Fee， Meggie， Justine all belong to one motif， brave and rebellious female who pursue their own happiness. Fee has a very brief love story， compared with her daughter Meggie， whose love story just like a long distance running， and has not ended until the death of Ralph. Justine is the most fortunate one， and she finally acquires a happy marriage that builds up on the loving foundation after walking through an abnormal emotion road. Though their attitudes towards love are different， their performance generally embodies a kind of constant love view. First， they all possess stronger self-consciousness， and quite value their own affection. Second， they expect independent personality. Finally， they show a strong rebellious spirit. To pursue happiness in the world， they courageously resist social norms or morals. To sum up， they are brave female images of the time， though their happiness is based on great pain. Just as the title of the novel implies one gets any profound happy experience will be at the price of great pain and fortitude. The more painful， the stronger happiness one feels. Painfulness is the source of happiness.

（2）Part Three The Social Significance of the Study on Female Consciousness

①Female Consciousness——A Mirror of the Times

An exploration of several female characters in the story and of the author Colleen McCullough herself reveals a certain interrelationship between women and their time. Fee is such a woman： the family for her is primarily the men's family into which she marries and so she is a temporary resident. Hopefully， her daughter Meggie develops the realization that the perception can be manipulated， she boldly breaks out of marriage upon realizing the gulf between her and her husband. In Justine's time， the social change makes her urban， educated， and aspiringly professional. In this character， the author focuses on her psychology， subjective feeling， and opportunity to engage in public， defining her completely from a woman's viewpoint. This is the progress of the times. The Thorn Bards actually displays an immigrant nation's struggling history， their fighting against the bad natural environment， their existence with society developing， their changing life style impacted by the exterior world. The female consciousness of the time from losing the self， to seeking for the self， and thence to finding one's self is just a mirror of the social development.

②Female Consciousness——Advances with the Times

With the time going on， the definition of female consciousness is also changing. From the family saga， the three female's consciousness has already completed much progress， from the personal narrow emotion to the wide human realm， and from the personal narrow and small world to the vast economic and political stage.

So we can see that the contents of female consciousness are not fixed. Actually they advance with the times. With the time going on， social changes have already brought about multiple different roles to both men and women， which decrease the gender difference. Women have never stopped their pursuit of acquiring the equal right as men in economic position， political position， educational position， and the law position. Although women's balance of career， household work and child-care may produce stress， situations may encourage society to adopt a more flexible living style for both women and men. In a sense， the contents of female consciousness are not irrevocable. On a societal level， the studies of female consciousness will definitely enter into a more widespread realm in the near future.

3. Conclusion

The Thorn Birds can be seen as a history of womens hard journey of growth. At the end of the novel， McCullough says that the age of Drogheda is going to stop. But for women， this does not mean the end of their journey. In a new age， they will continue to find their values and positions both at home and in society. And they will go on building the equal， harmonious relationship with men. In the future， women will play a much more important role in a broader world.

【Work Cited】

[1] Kolmar， Wendy. Feminist Theory： A Reader， ed. London： Mayfield Publishing Company， 2000. Print.

[2] McCullough， Colleen. The Thorn Birds [M]. New York： Harper Collins Publishers， 2005.

[3] 方曉梅. 覺醒與抗爭：解讀《荊棘鳥》中的女權主義思想[J]. 文藝評論，2006年（2）：175-176.

【作者簡介】

謝婧（1990—），女，回族，甘肅省蘭州市人，現就讀于西安外國語大學英文學院2014級英語語言文學專業，主要研究方向：美國文學。