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.53679

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

摘要女性形象在美国华裔文学中扮演着重要角色。汤亭亭的《女勇士》中的女性虽生存在男权和种族歧视的压抑下但仍努力争取从传统的习惯依附于男性的性别角色中解放，试图摆脱压迫和歧视。本文主要分析了《女勇士》中六个典型女性形象，从她们的性格特点，行为选择和不同命运等方面挖掘出勇于反抗命运,追求精神独立和地位平等的女性形象。本文还将阐述这些女性形象给美国社会带来的强烈震撼和对处于男权和种族歧视双重压迫下的社会女性的现实教育意义。

毕业论文关键词：女性形象；美国华裔文学；《女勇士》；男权；反抗与独立

Contents

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

1. Introduction 

Chinese American literature is one of the literature genres and is usually defined as the literature works written by Chinese Americans. Due to their different life experiences, complex backgrounds and special social status, the Chinese Americans were marginalized by both China and America. Chinese American Literature is often the reflection of Chinese Americans’ lives and the burden of their dual ethnic identities as well as culture backgrounds. So Chinese American literature is a product of collision and hybridization of both Chinese and American culture. But it also represents distinctive personalities and characteristics. Chinese American literature not only records Chinese Americans’ hardships but also expresses their hope of harmony of Chinese and American culture.