老舍 <月牙兒>에 나타난 여성의 비극적 운명에 관한 小考

Abstract

Yueya‘er(月牙兒) is a representative novel by Lao-ser(老舍) written in 1935. This work shows the tragic journey of life that a woman and her daughter had to walk to survive in a male-centered feudal society. After the Opium War, China demanded political transformation due to imperialist invasions and Qing incompetence, and intellectuals at that time constantly attempted to awaken the public in order to eliminate social enlightenment and feudal dreaminess prevalent in China. In particular, the May 4 New Culture Movement criticized all feudal ideas and cultures based on science and democracy. This movement reflected the spirit of the times to give new values to ‘human beings’. However, even at a time when modern consciousness was established, the improvement of women’s social status was extremely limited in a male-centered patriarchal society where feudal values were still deeply rooted. In particular, it was the same in the capitalist society of the city, which accepted modern consciousness earlier that poor women had to suffer a tragic fate without being able to escape from poverty. Lao-ser points out the structural problems of a society in which mothers and daughters view women inhumanely by vividly portraying the painful and disgraceful lives of prostitutes through the first-person perspective of “I.”