Marginalized Woman

【Abstract】：To Room Nineteen is regarded as one of Doris Lessing’s best short stories. It begins with the “happy” marriage between Susan and her husband， but ended with Susan’s suicide in the Room nineteen， where she believes she could find her real freedom. This paper analyzes Susan’s emptiness and anxiety under the marginalization of family and patriarchal society， as well as her self-salvation from the perspective of feminism.

【Key words】：To Room Nineteen；marginalized；feminist analysis； self-salvation

1.Introduction

Doris Lessing is a British writer， a short story writer and novelist， essayist and critic as well， whose works enormously show solicitude for people in a tight spot of the social and political revolutions in different eras. Feminism is commonly believed to be the central theme in Lessing’s works， such as the loss of individuals， struggle in search of primitive desires， and the surviving crisis of the modern civilization.

To Room Nineteen deals with well-off people’s existential confusion. Although their life looks perfect on the surface， they feel empty and begin to rethink about the purpose of their position in the world.

2.Marginalized woman in the patriarchal society

Just as Simone de Beauvoir said in her classical work The Second Sex， “Women， for men， are the Other， the ‘Marginal Man’， not seen or observed as they are， but rather projected out of make needs and defined in subordinate relation to make norms”（Beauvoir， P97）. Females in patriarchal society who live with emptiness and anxiety have been created to cry for the freedom. They were not satisfied with their regular identities. Therefore， escaping and self-salvation logically became their attitude to life.

2.1. Susan’s emptiness and anxiety

As the foundations of economic system built up by men， women were confined in their life of housewife depending on men. Especially after marriage， women were withdrawing from the stage of history gradually. So Lessing created Susan to be an angel as a competent housewife in her family.

After marriage， traditional sense of value made Susan give up her beloved career and be willing to be a housewife， she devoted herself to caring about her whole family. From then on， she was disappeared from the social participation. Her family became the core and source of her life. Unfortunately， Susan’s sacrifice didn’t maintain the happy life for a long time. Matthew’s emotional disloyalty and derailment gave Susan a huge blow.On one hand， she found she was unneeded by her family with resentment and panic. On the other hand， she was so identified with her social roles that she despised her irrational feeling and desperately suppressed her inner emotions with her intelligence. Confused by these opposing pressures， Susan’s innermost was full of anxiety， pain and emptiness. Under enormous anxiety and repression while finding no way out， she began to suffer hallucinations.

Whether before Susan’s marriage or after it， it was obvious that Susan’s external reality and inner need could not get rid of the control of the patriarchal society， her anxiety and emptiness would accompany with her until death.

2.2. Susan’s escaping and self-salvation

Beauvoir demonstrated her thoughts about marriage that “to ask two spouses bound by practical， social and moral ties to satisfy each other sexually for their whole lives is pure absurdity.” So when Susan realized the absurdity of her marriage，she tried many different ways to pursue freedom. Firstly， family is the most dangerous trap in which Susan loses herself. Therefore， she must escape from the family life. So she takes refuge into “a spare room” at the top floor for contemporary freedom. But the “Mother’s room” soon was discovered by her families. But Susan hasn’t given up her dream of escaping. She is more eager to have a room or a place of her own. Consequently， she rents a shabby room for sitting alone one or two hours. But her silence is interfered by Miss Townsend. And “Fred’s Hotel” at Paddington is her last stop which can afford the freedom for its visitors. She rents the “Room 19” for almost one year， from three days to five days every week. In the room， Susan can get rid of her family’s restriction， and she enjoys a complete unity as an individual. “Room 19” is the imagine of Susan’s authentic self. But unfortunately the secret is discovered by her husband. The road to freedom is ended up with her suicide in Room 19. But she made her metamorphosis from a house angle to an independent womanand her escaping from her present life was her way of self-salvation.

3.Conclusion

From the analysis above， Susan is a woman with consciousness. At first， she is content to be an angel in the house， but when she realizes she is no longer important to her family， which means she is marginalized by her husband， she feels anxious and empty. In order to regain her power， she tried various ways to escape from the constraint both from her family and from the patriarchal society. After trying all kinds of ways， she chooses death to achieve her eternal freedom. Death is not the end of her life， rather， it’s the rebirth of Susan， by death she becomes totally free from the oppression of patriarchy.

Reference

[1] Doris Lessing. To Room Nineteen in Collected Stories Volume One[M]. Great Britain， Jonathan Cape Ltd， 1978.

[2] Pateman， Carole. The Sexual Contract [J].Stanford： Stanford University Press，1988.

[3] Ruth Robbins. Literary Feminisms [M]. Palgrave Macmillan， 2010.

[4] Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Sex. Trans. H.M. Parshley. Reprint. New York： Knopf， 1996.

[5] 李無忌.《走向十九號房間》——李無忌譯作選[M]. 延邊大學出版社，2012

[6] 岑亮娟.從女性主義解讀《到十九號房間》， 文史， 2011

[7] 獨處的渴求，本我的期盼——對《到十九號房間》的女性主義解讀，讀與寫 雜志，2012

[8] 杜鵑. 從《到十九號房間》看多麗絲·萊辛的女性意識，長春師范學院學報，2009

作者簡介：曹傳潔（1992-），女，漢族，籍貫：山東臨沂，單位：延邊大學外國語學院，研究生，研究方向：英語語言文學。