本文研究了兩部女性主義小說:凱特·蕭邦的《覺醒》與夏洛特·帕金斯·吉爾曼的《黃色壁紙》來研究十九世紀婦女在家庭和婚姻中的地位。本文分析了女性在傳統社會中處於劣勢和弱勢地位的原因，並指出父權體制剝奪婦女權利和主體性是導致女性傾向於瘋狂和自殺的主要原因。
第一章討論教育以及具有偏見的社會制度導致女性在父權制下的自卑和屈從。幾個世紀以來，婦女被迫接受較次等的教育，因而造成婦女的能力與智慧薄弱，遠遠不如男性。然而婦女所受的不合理對待正是因為父權社會想壟斷權力，並且避免女性擁有太多自我意識(subjectivity)，以維持父權統治的穩定及正當性。
第二章探討《覺醒》中的女鬥士艾德娜·龐德里耶如何挑戰權威來追求女性的自由和慾望。她意識到女性在父權統治下的從屬地位(subordination)，拒絕實踐社會強加於女性的責任與角色，她甚至犯下通姦罪(adultery)來挑戰父權權威。儘管凱特·蕭邦寫作此通姦的議題極具爭議，但艾德娜跳脫性別限制的框架，證明女性需要被尊重，即使不靠男性也能實現自己的夢想。
第三章探究夏洛特·帕金斯·吉爾曼的《黃色壁紙》中女性的掙扎，並指出父權制剝奪了女性的發言權(speaking right)和自我意識。本章檢視男性醫師與女性病患之間的權力關係，並且研究語言和教育如何造成兩性在社會階級與思想發展的差異，進而說明這本小說中的女性敘述者如何被男性權威壓迫，導致她之後的瘋狂行徑。

This thesis studies two feminist novels, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper (1892), to examine women’s subordinated positions in domesticity and marriage in the nineteenth century. It observes the reasons that result in women’s inferior status and weakness in the traditional society and also argues that patriarchal deprivation of women’s rights and subjectivity is the main cause of women’s madness and suicidal tendency.  
In Chapter One, I argue that education as well as the biased social systems lead to women’s inferiority and subordination in patriarchy. Discouraged from working, women follow the notion of “true women” by entering marriage to rear children and to take care of households for men. For centuries, patriarchy has accused women of being irrational and emotional, but I doubt that it is patriarchal education that turns women into fragile beings with less capabilities and knowledge, and therefore, patriarchy can prevent women from competing for power and authority with men.
Chapter Two examines Edna Pontellier, a woman fighter in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, who revolts in pursuit of her freedom and sexual desire. She is awakened to learn women’s subordination under male’s domination and thus, she develops her own subjectivity and refuses to practice women’s imposed domestic duties. In addition to Edna’s rejection of women’s roles, she even violates social taboos by committing adultery. Even though it is sensitive for Chopin to bring about extramarital issues in her novel, Edna’s sexual transgression is a symbol that reflects her desire to enjoy freedom and sexual pleasure, which is traditionally designated as masculine privileges.
  
Chapter Three points out how patriarchy deprives women of their speaking rights and subjectivity by examining the female narrator’s suffering in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper. Forbidden to work and think, the narrator can only keep a secret journal because women are usually expected to remain silent and submissive to male authority. This chapter examines the power relation between male physician v.s. female patient and husband v.s. wife in the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it indicates that language plays an important role in male domination since men can strengthen their power by forbidding women to express their thoughts, which is the reason for women’s mad revolt to strive for more rights and freedom.

Introduction	1 
Chapter One: Women’s Role and Subordination in Patriarchal Society and Domesticity	13 
Chapter Two: Death and Solitude: Anti-Womanhood and Female Subjectivity in The Awakening	29
Chapter Three: Women’s Madness and Revolt: Gender Oppression and Medical Mistreatment in The Yellow Wall-Paper	52
Conclusion	70
Works Cited	75

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