Madness and Sexual Politics in Margret Atwood's Surfacing

• Main Authors: Hsieh, Shu-nu, 謝淑女
• Other Authors: F.W. Stevenson
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1997
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19107401211321002579

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 西洋語文研究所 === 85 === Of all Margret Atwood's works, ~u;Surfacing~u; is an extrodinary novel which perfectly represents Atwood's own critical view of female identity.~u;Surfacing~u; deals with many basic concerns of female life:marriage, divorce, birth and abortion. The nameless protagonist, representing the feminine conscience, is a distraught young woman who is insearch of her father in the wilderness of Northern Quebec. At the outset the protagonist would have us believe that her distraught condition is due to the possibility of her father's death coupled with her estrangement from her parents. But as the narrative proceeds, we learn about a more personal reason for her disturbed state. The text is interwoven by different subtexts. As a matter of fact, the protagonist experiences a spiritual journey in seaaarch of her oppressed identity and power in the male dominant society. These subtexts tell more about the truth. In these subtext, Atwood protrays the women situation, in which being "normal" or "mad" is no longer a simple choice. In the last scene, the protagonist poclaims to herself and to the nature that she refuses to be a victim. In this thesis, I explore how a woman quest differs from a man's and how sexual politics funtions in both quests. In view of the ambigious narrative, my following concern is to explore the subtext in the novel and how it relates to women's writing. The protagonist finally in this novel has experienced a "metamorphosis" or "madness". My last arguement is to discuss how madness relates to women's mind.