The cult of Chastity: A Feministic Study of the Pearl S. Buck’s The Mother
Abstract
Pearl S. Buck’s novel The Mother provides a glimpse of pre-revolutionary China and status of women in that society. She through her novels brings into light that how society influenced the minds of the women turning them into mere slaves and restricting or denying them the freedom and the fulfillment of their desires. The sexual morality of a woman was a main concern or issue that the Confucius society of China imposed upon on them. It proposed certain codes and conduct of behavior which were to be strictly followed by all women that included the virtues of silence, patience, humility, obedience and chastity. In a male dominated society like China, women were deprived of all social, political and legal rights and were often rendered as weak, inferior and worthless creatures. The present research paper undertakes the study of this novel which deals with the feminine oppression and marginalization in a feudal society and the deep rooted cult of feminine chastity among the Chinese through the story of her nameless protagonist ‘the mother.’ The chastity of women was a prime focus in Chinese culture and whatever the circumstances were she had to live up to that. Buck through this novel gives the universal portrait of the eternal mother who lives through her loneliness, despair and frustration.
References
Moyer Bell, 2009.
---. The Mother. Kingston: Moyer Bell, 2008.
Chatterjee, Mohini. “Chinese Women.†Oppapers.com. 2001. Accessed on 25th of April, 2019.
www.oppapers.com/essays/chinese-women/31328.
Croll, Elisabeth. Feminism and Socialism in China. New York: Schocken Books, 1980.
de Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. Translated by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-
Chevallier. New York: Vintage Books, 2011.
Kristeva, Julia. About Chinese Women. Trans.Barrows. New York: Marion Boyars, 1977.
Ruoxin, Song and Song Ruozhao. “The Analects for Women.†Images of Chinese Thought and
Culture: Writing from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty. Ed. Robin R.
Wang. United States: Hackett P. p 321-340, 2003.
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher. The Editors reserve the right to edit or otherwise alter all contributions, but authors will receive proofs for approval before publication.
Copyrights for articles published in International Journal of Innovative Knowledge Concepts are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.
