A Feminist Analysis on the Theme in The Girl On The Train开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

Thispaper analyzes the female self-consciousness aroused in The Girl on theTrain by Paula Hawkins from two aspects: men’s manipulation and theawakening of feminist consciousness. In the novel, the physical andpsychological control cause the mental illness of female characters. Men''scontrol over women reflects the neglected submissive status of women within andoutside of marriage. Rachel is cheated by Tom and then becomes an alcoholic. Annais the reason why Tom left Rachel. Though Tom and Anne are now married with ababy, Rachel still hasn''t moved on. She lost her job as a result of herdrinking. Anne is a housewife. She knows that her husband is cheating on her butshe keeps silent for the sake of her baby. After Megan lost her child, shebecomes sensitive and starting to have affairs with other men outside of hermarriage. Megan''s disappearance made Rachel seek the truth. On the way to thetruth, she finds out the lies Tom has made. Finally, Rachel and Anne kills Tomwho has manipulated them for a long time. The whole story reflects therebellious spirit of female characters. The process from submission toresistance shows the awakening of feminist consciousness.

In today''s society, thereare lots of news reported that men abuse women, but cases which have been exposedare only the tip of the iceberg. More and more women are afraid of standing outfor themselves. Paula Hawkins creates a story of men''s oppression on women. Thefinal bright ending is brought by heroines'' struggle. Therefore, the novel is aimed as revealing the importance of resistance to women, andas awakening the consciousness of women.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

thispaper is going to find out the deep reasons why female characters in this novelsuffer from men''s manipulation, and also to analyze the ways to the awakening offeminist consciousness.

the paper is divided into 5parts. chapter one is mainly about what feminist is and a brief introduction ofthe novel. chapter two is about the literature review and current studies ofthe novel and feminism. chapter three is the major part of the paper. itanalyzes the men''s manipulation in the name of'love' on female characters. thischapter discusses physical and social control to megan, psychological control to rachel,and tom''s deception to anne. chapter four analyzes the process of the awakeningof feminist consciousness. firstly, megan''s disappearance triggers theawakening of rachel. then, rachel finds out tom''s lies and confront tomindependently. finally, anne sees through tom''s lies and kills him with rachel.chapter five makes a summary of the paper and calls for women fighting for theirrights.

3. 国内外研究现状

thereare many papers focus on feminism, feminist consciousness in many perspectivesand novels, but only a few of them analyze feminism in the girl on the train.

1. at abroad

bellhooks (1984), an american black feminist, puts forward a simplified definitionof feminism: 'feminism is a movement to end sexual exploitation and patriarchaloppression.' (pp.1) although different kinds of feminism put forwarddifferent programs, they have one goal that is to eliminate discriminationagainst women.

4. 计划与进度安排

1. before november 1, 2022 (week 9 of this semester), the topicselection has to be completed.

2. before november 29, 2022 (week 13 of this semester), the openingwork must be finished.

5. 参考文献

hooks, b. (1984). feminist theory:from margin to center. new york: routledge.

maslin, j. (2015). another girlgone in a tale of betrayal. the new york times, 32(3), 1.

venessa, g. (2003). bookreview: why women kill: homicide and gender equality. criminal justicereview, 28(2), 427-429.