Abstract:

Washington Irving, known as the father of American literature, is one of the most famous American writers in the 19th century. As a well-known novel in American literature, Rip Van Wrinkle has been regarded as a classic of short novels. A number of literary scholars have done much research and made many comments on this novel, whereas few have done that in terms of feminism. The story is very interesting and bizarre; meanwhile, many female readers have also been deeply impressed by the unfortunate life of Wrinkle’s wife. Therefore, the thesis tries to make a study on Dame Van Wrinkle from the perspective of feminism, aiming to analyze her unfair treatment and misfortune, to cry out her grievance and to show her new image as an angel --a hardworking, capable, independent, and responsible woman who had the courage to challenge the patriarchal society and stood out to fight against it .This thesis consists of seven parts. Part one introduces the background of Rip Van Wrinkle and its author as well as the make-up and purpose of the paper. Part two focuses on feminism and the patriarchal ideology as well as its unconscious maintenance. Part three explores the traditional image of Dame Van Wrinkle being a shrew as described in the story. Part four analyzes Dame's real image from the perspective of feminism, hoping to reveal Dame Van Wrinkle’s awakening of feminism to the world. Part five clarifies the factors causing the above two conflicting images of Dame. Part six summarizes Dame Van Wrinkle’s inspiration for modern people. Part Seven is the conclusion of the thesis.

Keywords: Rip Van Wrinkle；Feminism；patriarchal ideology；rebellion；a termagant wife；angel

摘  要：

华盛顿•欧文是19世纪美国最著名的作家之一，有“美国文学之父”的称号。他创作的《瑞普•凡•温克尔》在美国文坛上一直享有盛誉，是美国文学中的经典短篇小说。文学界的很多学者也对这篇小说作过大量的评论和研究。但很少有人从女性主义的角度对这篇小说进行评析。小说的故事情节离奇而有趣，同时故事中温克尔太太的不幸遭遇也给广大女性读者留下了深刻的印象。本论文拟从女性主义角度分析温克尔太太的形象，分析她所遭受的不公正待遇和不幸命运，为她喊冤鸣不平，还她勤劳、实干、勇于反抗的"天使"形象。论文由七个部分组成，第一部分介绍《瑞普•凡•温克尔》这部文学作品及其作者所处的时代和社会。第二部分重点介绍当时社会根深蒂固的男权意识的现象。第三部分详细说明小说中描述的温克尔太太的形象。第四部分从女性角度阐述温克尔太太的实际形象以及勇于反抗的精神，并通过分析温克尔太太来说明女性主义的觉醒。第五部分分析了造成温克尔太太两种不同形象的原因。第六部分总结温克尔太太的遭遇对现代社会的启示。第七部分是对全文的总结。

关键词：《瑞普•凡•温克尔》；女性主义；男权意识；反抗；泼妇；天使