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초록

영어

In Louisa May Alcott’s (1832-1888) sensational fiction Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power, Jean Muir, the heroine, wears a mask of feminity and acts like an ideal woman of the period to survive economically. She works as a governess for the Coventry family where three unmarried men reside. She understands that she needs to play the role of ‘a little woman’ perfectly to get married to one of these men in the upper class family, which is her only means of economic and social mobility. From the beginning, Jean deliberately uses her ‘womanhood’ to her advantage and achieves her goal by marrying Sir John and becoming Mrs. Coventry. It means that she secures her social status and wealth through marriage. When Edward reads Jean’s letters, disclosing her identity in the conclusion, he discovers that she has treated them, Gerald and Sir John, precisely as they have treated her as commodities to be used for her own ends. Jean is revealed as the culture’s ultimate monster as she has treated men like women. Thus, reading the text from a feminist perspective, the portrayal of Jean as a monster is a social construct. Also, this work illustrates Alcott’s progressive spirit.

목차

I. 서론
 II. 가면 뒤의 여성의 힘
 III. 결론
 Works Cited
 Abstract

키워드

루이자 메이 올컷 『가면 뒤에서』 19세기 미국사회 가부장 사회 여성성 결혼 괴물 Louisa May Alcott Behind a Mask or A Woman’s Power the 19th Century American Society Patriarchal Society Feminity Marriage Monster

저자

• 양윤정 [ YunJeong Yang | 건국대학교 ]

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