Abstract

The thesis is mainly about the study of British novelist A. S. Byatt’s work Possession from the perspective of feminism. In the first part, it pays close attention on the examination of the relationship between the feminism theories and the novel of Possession. In the second part, the analyses of female characters in the novel will be central points. And in the third, the thesis focuses on the exploration of the tendency of femininity in the description of LaMotte and Maud’s romances. On the basis of the above discussion, a conclusion should be drawn that the theory of feminism can be employed in the analysis of Possession.

Key Words: the perspective of feminism  femininity  romance

摘 要

本论文从女性主义角度研究英国小说家A. S.拜厄特的作品《占有》。在第一部分中，论文着重于验证女性主义理论和小说《占有》之间的关系。第二部分的中心论点是分析小说中女性人物。在第三部分中，论文意在探寻《占有》里的罗蒙特和莫德的罗曼史描写中的女性倾向。基于以上讨论，得出的结论是女性主义可以用来分析《占有》。

关键词：女性主义角度 女性 罗曼史

1 Introduction
Possession is written by A. S. Byatt and regarded as a successful novel that is published in 1990 which wins the Booker Prize in the same year. “Possession moves Byatt into the category of eminent British novelists.”Possession begins with the exploration into a literary mystery. Its structure interweaves two narratives: one is Victorian narratives and the other is the 20th century’s romance. Roland Michell, a research assistant on Randolph Henry Ash finds two drafts of Ash to an unknown woman. And they attract his curiosity to study more about Ash’s private life. Roland begins to search for the owner of these drafts which belongs to a woman called Christabel LaMotte. He goes to ask for Maud’s help. Maud does her research on Christabel LaMotte who is a Victorian poet, too. LaMotte is viewed by contemporary scholars as a feminist. This exploration influences Roland and Maud’s opinions about both Victorian poets and themselves.
Possession has attracted academic attention all over the world. They use various views to analyze it. For example, they regard Possession as a historical novel, a neo-Victorian fiction, or a material textual analysis, writing style, feminist theme, etc. And Frederick M. Holmes points out, “The Historical Imagination and the Victorian Past: A. S. Byatt’s Possession...”Dana Shiller believes Possession is the subgenre of Neo-Victorian fiction. In China, some studies are carried out from the perspectives of writing style, feminist theme and mythological study.