A-Room-of-Ones-Own英文-介绍及赏析

ARoomofOne’sOwnVIRGINIAWOOLFContextVirginiaWoolfwasbornVirginiaStephenin1882intoaprominentandintellectuallywell-connectedfamily.Herformaleducationwaslimited,butshegrewupreadingvoraciouslyfromthevastlibraryofherfather,thecriticLeslieStephen.Heryouthwasatraumaticone,includingtheearlydeathsofhermotherandbrother,ahistoryofsexualabuse,andthebeginningsofadepressivementalillnessthatplaguedherintermittentlythroughoutherlifeandeventuallyledtohersuicidein1941.Afterherfather'sdeathin1904,Virginiaandhersister(thepainterVanessaBell)setupresidenceinaneighborhoodofLondoncalledBloomsbury,wheretheyfellintoassociationwithacircleofintellectualsthatincludedsuchfiguresasLyttonStrachey,CliveBell,RogerFry,andlaterE.M.Forster.In1912,VirginiamarriedLeonardWoolf,withwhomsheranasmallbutinfluentialprintingpress.Thehighlyexperimentalcharacterofhernovels,andtheirbrilliantformalinnovations,establishedWoolfasamajorfigureofBritishmodernism.Hernovels,whichincludeTotheLighthouse,Mrs.Dalloway,andTheWaves,areparticularlyconcernedwiththelivesandexperiencesofwomen.InOctober1928,VirginiaWoolfwasinvitedtodeliverlecturesatNewnhamCollegeandGirtonCollege,whichatthattimeweretheonlywomen'scollegesatCambridge.Thesetalks,onthetopicofWomenandFiction,wereexpandedandrevisedintoARoomofOne'sOwn,whichwasprintedin1929.Thetitlehasbecomeavirtualclichéinourculture,afactthattestifiestothebook'simportanceanditsenduringinfluence.Perhapsthesinglemostimportantworkoffeministliterarycriticism,ARoomofOne'sOwnexploresthehistoricalandcontextualcontingenciesofliteraryachievement.SummaryThedramaticsettingofARoomofOne'sOwnisthatWoolfhasbeeninvitedtolectureonthetopicofWomenandFiction.Sheadvancesthethesisthatawomanmusthavemoneyandaroomofherownifsheistowritefiction.Heressayisconstructedasapartly-fictionalizednarrativeofthethinkingthatledhertoadoptthisthesis.Shedramatizesthatmentalprocessinthecharacterofanimaginarynarrator(callmeMaryBeton,MarySeton,MaryCarmichaelorbyanynameyouplease—itisnotamatterofanyimportance)whoisinhersameposition,wrestlingwiththesametopic.ThenarratorbeginsherinvestigationatOxbridgeCollege,whereshereflectsonthedifferenteducationalexperiencesavailabletomenandwomenaswellasonmorematerialdifferencesintheirlives.ShethenspendsadayintheBritishLibraryperusingthescholarshiponwomen,allofwhichhaswrittenbymenandallofwhichhasbeenwritteninanger.Turningtohistory,shefindssolittledataabouttheeverydaylivesofwomenthatshedecidestoreconstructtheirexistenceimaginatively.ThefigureofJudithShakespeareisgeneratedasanexampleofthetragicfateahighlyintelligentwomanwouldhavemetwithunderthosecircumstances.Inlightofthisbackground,sheconsiderstheachievementsofthemajorwomennovelistsofthenineteenthcenturyandreflectsontheimportanceoftraditiontoanaspiringwriter.Asurveyofthecurrentstateofliteraturefollows,conductedthroughareadingthefirstnovelofoneofthenarrator'scontemporaries.Woolfclosestheessaywithanexhortationtoheraudienceofwomentotakeupthetraditionthathasbeensohardlybequeathedtothem,andtoincreasetheendowmentfortheirowndaughters.CharacterListI-Thefictionalizedauthor-surrogate(callmeMaryBeton,MarySeton,MaryCarmichaelorbyanynameyouplease—itisnotamatterofanyimportance)whoseprocessofreflectiononthetopicwomenandfictionformsthesubstanceoftheessay.TheNarrator(In-DepthAnalysis)TheBeadle-AnOxbridgesecurityofficialwhoremindsthenarratorthatonlyFellowsandScholarsarepermittedonthegrass;womenmustremainonthegravelpath.MarySeton-StudentatFernhamCollegeandfriendofthenarrator.MaryBeton-Thenarrator'saunt,whoselegacyoffivehundredpoundsayearsecuresherniece'sfinancialindependence.(MaryBetonisalsooneofthenamesWoolfassignstohernarrator,whoseidentity,shesays,isirrelevant.)JudithShakespeare-TheimaginedsisterofWilliamShakespeare,whosuffersgreatlyandeventuallycommitssuicidebecauseshecanfindnosociallyacceptableoutletsforhergenius.MaryCarmichael-Afictitiousnovelist,contemporarywiththenarratorofWoolf'sessay.Inherfirstnovel,shehasbrokenthesentence,brokenthesequenceandforeverchangedthecourseofwomen'swriting.Mr.A-Animaginedmaleauthor,whoseworkisovershadowedbyaloomingself-consciousnessandpetulantself-assertiveness.AnalysisofMajorCharacterTheNarratorTheunnamedfemalenarratoristheonlymajorcharacterinARoomofOne’sOwn.Shereferstoherselfonlyas“I”;inchapteroneofthetext,shetellsthereadertocallher“MaryBeton,MarySeton,MaryCarmichaeloranyothernameyouplease...”Thenarratorassumeseachofthesenamesatvariouspointsthroughoutthetext.Theconstantlyshiftingnatureofheridentitycomplicateshernarrativeevenmore,sincewemustconsidercarefullywhosheisatanygivenmoment.However,hershiftingidentityalsogivesheramoreuniversalvoice:bytakingondifferentnamesandidentities,thenarratoremphasizesthatherwordsapplytoallwomen,notjustherself.ThedramaticsettingforARoomofOne’sOwnisWoolf’sthoughtprocessinpreparationforgivingalectureonthetopic“womenandfiction.”ButthefictionalizednarratorisdistinctfromtheauthorWoolf.Thenarratorlendsastorylikequalitytothetext,andsheoftenblendsfactandfictiontoproveherpoints.Herlibertywithfactualitysuggeststhatnoirrefutabletruthexistsintheworld—alltruth