Quartet: A Narrative of Female Self-Victimization
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Jean Rhys has presented a sociological analysis of commodification of the female body in her first novel Voyage in the Dark, dealing with an underprivileged woman’s entry into prostitution by the impelling social forces such as gender, class and race. In her 1928 novel Quartet, however, Rhys takes a rather different angle in approaching the question. The abiding issue of woman-as-commodity remains central to making sense of the text but the focus seems to have shifted. Here, the emphasis is placed not so much on a consideration of the external determinants as on that of psychological factors within female subjects. In brief, Quartet is a novel about the ‘enemy within’ and the social vision it presents is dreary in that it reveals the ways in which the existing social order is sustained and consolidated through women’s own complicity with dominant gender politics within a patriarchal system. What is particularly problematic about the narrative of Quartet is that none of the female characters in the fiction make positive attempts to challenge or unsettle the existing power structure. Far from seeking to subvert the status quo, they are invariably portrayed as complying with and even colluding with the system. In conclusion, Quartet suggests that the prevailing social order is reproduced and reinforced through the collaboration of women themselves. Herein lies the fundamentally bleak vision of the novel.
Abstract
Jean Rhys has presented a sociological analysis of commodification of the female body in her first novel Voyage in the Dark, dealing with an underprivileged woman’s entry into prostitution by the impelling social forces such as gender, class and race. In her 1928 novel Quartet, however, Rhys takes a rather different angle in approaching the question. The abiding issue of woman-as-commodity remains central to making sense of the text but the focus seems to have shifted. Here, the emphasis is placed not so much on a consideration of the external determinants as on that of psychological factors within female subjects. In brief, Quartet is a novel about the ‘enemy within’ and the social vision it presents is dreary in that it reveals the ways in which the existing social order is sustained and consolidated through women’s own complicity with dominant gender politics within a patriarchal system. What is particularly problematic about the narrative of Quartet is that none of the female characters in the fiction make positive attempts to challenge or unsettle the existing power structure. Far from seeking to subvert the status quo, they are invariably portrayed as complying with and even colluding with the system. In conclusion, Quartet suggests that the prevailing social order is reproduced and reinforced through the collaboration of women themselves. Herein lies the fundamentally bleak vision of the novel.
참고문헌 (21)
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