A Comparison of the Feminist Thoughts in Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing

史晴

Abstract：Both Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing are outstanding representatives of female writers in the first half of 20th century and their feminist thoughts have immortal values.Aiming at understanding the two female writers feminist thoughts deeply and providing enlightenment for present literature，this paper focuses on the similarities and differences in the feminist thoughts of the two writers，and concludes the causes for the differences.The authors work contributes to better understand the two writers feminist thoughts as well as British and Chinese culture.

Key words：Virginia Woolf；Zhang Ailing；feminism；similarities；differences；causes

1 Similarities in Feminist Thoughts in Woolf and Zhang

1.1 Denial of patriarchy

The first similarity in feminist ideas in Woolf and Zhang is that both of the two female writers deny the authority of patriarchy.

According to Hook（2004），an American feminist，patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that male are inherently dominating，superior to everything and everyone deemed weak，especially females，and endowed with the right to dominant and rule over the weak （Hook 19）.Both of the two writers have the oppressive patriarchy as the background and use their own narrative strategy to destruct such unequal system.

In her article “A Room of Ones Own”，Virginia Woolf stresses that the female inferiority is the result of the male control the society，because men have the political，economic，and social power and they intend to keep women as secondary citizens（Zhang & Wu 356）.In the essay，Woolf imagines that Shakespeare has a sister，who is just as talented as Shakespeare.But as a woman，she has no chance to go to school and cannot find a job.She dies alone and nobody is aware of her personal genius as a writer.Woolf uses this strategy to accuse patriarchy of limiting womens opportunities for a meaning life.

1.2 Attack on female alienation

The second important similarity in the feminist thoughts in Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing is that both of they attack female alienation in the patriarchal society.

Female alienation refers to the servility and ailing conscious of female themselves who regard male as the God，which is the internal cause preventing female development （Huang Wei 55）.Both of the two writers have created alienated female characters in their novels to criticize this unhealthy phenomenon in the patriarchal society.

Mrs Ramsay is a typical collective symbol of the“displaced”women in Victorian era portrayed by Woolf in her novel To the Lighthouse.Mr Ramsay is kind，gracious，and nurturing，who always dedicates herself to the happiness of the family and is ultimately killed by her drive to sacrifice herself as natural.The sad thing is Mrs Ramsay is unconscious of her self-sacrifice and even finds a sense of being from her husbands endless exploitation and slavery.The tragic ending of Mrs Ramsay has shown Woolfs indignation at the female alienation resulted from the male society.endprint

2 Differences in Feminist Thoughts in Woolf and Zhang

2.1 View of female destiny

The first difference in feminist thoughts in Woolf and Zhang is their view of female destiny.From this perspective，Woolf are positive about female fate while Zhang is negative about female fate.

Woolf has a positive visioning of womens future.Although the female characters in her works suffer oppression at the hands of men more or less，Woolf have created some female characters on whom she pins her hopes that women can make greater progress gradually.In Woolfs Elizabeth from The Years，one can see the hopeful future，who is positioned by Woolf as a new women in the new era，no longer constrained by the traditional convention.Although she lives in a very superior family，Elizabeth learns the independence and lives her life through her own efforts in accordance with her own ideal，breaking away from the ideological shackles.The novel in the end describes Elizabeth standing side by side with her father，a good indicator of a harmony between men and women.This is an optimistic sign that women will be completely free from the shackles of men，and living out their own value（Shi Jiao 35）.

2.2 View of women s pursuit of career

Another distinctive difference in the feminist thoughts in Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing is the view of women s career pursuit.In this respect，Woolf emphasizes women should pursue the career they like while Zhang hold that women should have a job that can support themselves.

Virginia Woolf thinks women usually get locked into their traditional social roles，and they must shake off their bonds for a pursuit of their career.Women s career choices，in her opinion，should be based on their personal interests.In “Profession for Women ”，Woolf points out that women should kill the “angel in the house”，which means women should struggle for their freedom including their free choice of professions.The female character Lily Briscoe in To the Lighthouse，is such a self-seeking person who pursues her painting career with determination.Lily begins the novel as a young，uncertain painter attempting a portrait of Mrs Ramsay and James，but a guest of her family Charles Tansley asserts that women can neither paint nor write.However，after yeas of struggle，she finally completes the painting she has held in her mind since the start of the novel.Its believed that Lily is an image of Woolfs private self and her artistic identities.Woolf herself becomes a writer after she kills the“angel”in her house.endprint

3 Conclusion

To conclude，both Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing have contributed a lot to the development of feminist thoughts of their country.The two writersbothenjoy a high reputation as the prominent female writers in the early 20th century and their feminist thoughts impress people even today.To be specific，the feminist thoughts are similar on denial of patriarchy，attack on female alienation，and advocacy of female independence.Meanwhile，they are different from view of female destiny，women s pursuit of career，and the relationship between man and woman.To research the causes，it can be found that different social context，family background and the writers personal experience contribute to these differences.There is certainly no superiority of one over the other，and the feminist thoughts of both Virginia Woolf and Zhang Ailing are eternal treasures of human history，influencing later development of feminism perpetually.

Bibliography：

[1]Chen，Lei.“Ambivalence in Woolfs androgyny.” Retrieved from.

[2]http：//m.book118.com/html/2015/0919/25782506.shtm.

[3]Li，Meiyun.“Woolfs feminist consciousness in a room of ones own.” Retrieved from.endprint