Abstract: Toni Morrison is considered to be one of the most famous and excellent writers in the world. She is one of the most representative writers in contemporary African American literature. Her masterpiece—Beloved has shocked the whole world, which helps her win the Pulitzer Prize. At the same time Beloved is recognized as an eternal classic in contemporary literature. This book is adapted from real events in the 19th century: Nineteen-year-old Sethe is a pregnant slave mother. She tried her best to escape from Sweet Home. Shocking but true she slashed the throat of the two- year-old baby girl –her daughter. After the slave owner captured her a few days later, she was put in prison because of her evil behavior. Eighteen years later, Beloved as a baby ghost come back and to take revenge and obtain love from her mother. This paper is intended to analyze the maternal love, its different developing stages and its different performances. On the basis of revealing the mother-daughter relationship, the paper aims to analyze the causes of the deformed motherhood in Beloved. They are Sethe’s traumatic memory about her mother, Sethe’s experience in “sweet home”, and the influence of the black’s trauma on motherhood.

Key words: Beloved; Maternal love; complexity

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction3

1.1 Introduction to Toni Morrison

1.2 Introduction to Beloved

1.3Introduction to project

2. The different performances of Seths.4

2.1 The performance before Beloved appears

2.2 The performance when Beloved appears 

2.3 The performance after Beloved disappears

3. The reasons for mother’s special “love” .7

3.1 Seth’s traumatic memory about her mother

3.2 Seth’s experience in “sweet home” 

3.3 Afro-Americans’ trauma 

4. Conclusion9

Bibliography

Acknowledgments