Abstract：The female images play a decisive role in Chinese American literature. The females in Kingston’s The Woman Warrior lived under the oppression of patriarchy and racial discrimination but they strived for the liberation from traditional gender roles and tried to get rid of the oppression and discrimination. The paper mainly analyses The Woman Warrior’s six typical female images from the aspects of their characteristics of personality, behavior choices and different fates, and thus digs up female images who are brave to revolt against fates and seek spiritual independence and equal status. This paper reveals the great shock which the female images brought to the American society and the female images’ practical educational significance to social females who are under the oppression of both patriarchy and racial discrimination.

Keywords: female images; Chinese American literature; The Woman Warrior; patriarchy; revolt and independence

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Maxine Hong Kingston as A Female Chinese American Writer-1

2.2 Current Status about The Woman Warrior-2

3. Analysis of the Typical Female Images in The Woman Warriors-3

3.1 No Name Woman—A Defender for Liberalism at the Expense of Death-3

3.2 Moon Orchid—A Victim of the Patriarchal Society-4

3.3 Brave Orchid—A Survivor of  both Traditional Culture and Marginal Culture-5

3.4 Fa Mu Lan—A Changer of the Traditional Feudal Society-7

3.5 Ts’ai Yen—A Propagator of Eastern Culture-8

3.6 “I” —A Resister of Traditional Chinese Culture-9

4. The Significance of the Female Images in The Woman Warriors-11

4.1 The Great Shock of Chinese Female Images from The Woman Warrior-11

4.2 The Educational Significance to the Current Females-12

5. Conclusion-14

Works Cited-16