《母亲的反抗》女性主义解读

【Abstract】The Revolt of “Mother” is one of Mary E. Wilkins Freemans most popular short stories which presents us with a new woman— the rebellious mother. Through analyzing the traditional gender relationship in Penns， and Sarahs successful revolt， this thesis aims to study the feminist ideas Freeman presented in the story.

【Key words】The Revolt of “Mother”； Patriarchy； subversion

Mary E. Freeman is recognized by readers as a writer of excellent short stories of New England village life. She is best known for the “local color”， such as realistic details， true-to-life characters and dialect. These elements are also present in The Revolt of “Mother”. In this story， a mother， Sarah has been waiting forty years for a new house her husband Adoniram promised her. However， when he got enough money， he preferred to construct a new barn instead of a new house. Sarah tried in vain to make her husband change his mind. Ultimately， while Adoniram went out for horses， Sarah took advantage of this opportunity and moved all the household belongings into the new barn ，thus got the family a new house. When Adoniram came back， he had no choice but to accept the situation. According to Rena Korb， “this short story reached such fame that it is reported that Theodore Roosevelt， who at the time was the governor of New York， recommended that mothers read it ‘for irs strong moral lesson” （Rena Korb 2002）.

“On the surface， this domestic drama may seem comic， and some critics have called it funny. Behind this folksy humor， however， there is a serious subtext” （Marth J. Cutter， 2002）. Indeed， many early critics and readers label the story as “comic fantasy”. But many later critics， particularly women， claim that these earlier and primarily masculine readers did it to deny that a woman dares to defy gender roles and eventually succeed in subverting her husbands status. As a matter of fact， “the wife's revolt against the will of her husband and the will of her entire town and region touches on very serious issues of female identity and the relationship between the sexes”（Rena Korb 2002）. Lots of feminists call the story a declaration of independence if traditional woman. Similarly， from the angle of feminist， this paper is trying to study how the author depicted traditional patriarchy， and also how she deconstructed this patriarchy by the description of the revolt of mother.

The Depiction of Patriarchy

Patriarchy， feminists argue， “privileges power. What is meant by this is that patriarchy regards being masculine and possessing a penis as the norm and builds the social order around masculine sexually”（quoted in 鄭红艳2005： 8）. Consequently， the labor division of “outdoor-oriented man and domestic-oriented woman” came into being. Men became the key roles of social activities， thus there is male-dominated culture and male-dominated value system.. Therefore， the whole society share the same view： “Humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him； she is not regarded as autonomous being” （quoted in 郑红艳2005： 8）.

Throughout the story， we can see that the Penns is a model of patriarchal family. At the start， Freeman presents us with a typical female image： “She was a small woman… in her brown cotton gown. Her forehead was mild and benevolent between the smooth curves of gray hair； there were meek downward lines about her nose and mouth.” （Freeman）. And the daughter Nanny with “a pretty girls face， pink and delicate as a flower” （Freeman）. displays the female temperaments vividly. On the contrary， father is rude in action： “He hurried the horse into the farm wagon， and clattered out of the yard， jouncing as sturdily on his seat as a boy” （Freeman）. And Sammy also shows the nature of a male： he is reluctant to stay at home to help his father and always want to do out playing with his peers. Whats more， it is clear that Adoniram and Sarah closely adhere to their gender roles. Adoniram has complete charge of the farm and any business dealings， while Sarah's domain is the home and “she was a masterly keeper of her box of house.”（Freeman）. This division also finds full express in the duties of the next generation. Sammy， their son， often helps the father with those tough works such as unload the wood. As a male he has the right to go to school and receive education. On the contrary， Nanny， her sister， could only stay at home and do some washing， cleaning and sewing.

As Simone de Beauvoir says， “He is the Subject， he is the Absolute—she is the other.” Males are in the dominant positions. Females have to depend on their husbands for living and are diminished to “second sex”. As objective beings， women do not have their own will and discourse rights. “patriarchal discourse systematically excludes women as speakers” （Marth J. Cutter， 2002）. Again， we can see this point clearly in the story， in the marriage relationship. mother is surely in the inferior status. At the beginning of the story， Sarah asks several times what the men are digging in the field for. But Adoniram either “shut his mouth tight” or “his speech was almost as inarticulate as a growl” （Freeman）. He “carefully guard access to the citadel of power and knowledge： language” （Marth J. Cutter， 2002）. By this means， men denies womens right to subjectivity so as to prove their patriarchal status. Whats worse， he even taught his son to behave in the way. Sammy has known about Fathers plan for three months， but he kept this secret from his mother since he “didnt think ‘t would do good” to tell her. Maybe both the father and the son dont think its womens business. Then， when Sarah speaks with Adoniram about building the family a house instead of a new barn， she has no recourse because Adoniram refuses to utter any words on the subject. “I aint got nothin to say”， this sentence is repeated throughout the story.

Although mother is locked out of language and power， as Freeman states out in the story： “However deep a resentment she might be forced to hold against her husband， she would never fail in sedulous attention to his wants.” （Freeman）. Actually， She has long accustomed to obeying her husband and accepting the capricious nature of men. For forty years Adoniram has promised to build Sarah a new house with no fulfillment. Sarah never complains. Being oppressed by the patriarchal culture for a long time， women seemed to get used to the injustice and tended to act obediently. However， is that the story Freeman wanted to tell us？ No， definitely not. As a matter of fact， in spite of the difficulty of changing her status， mother does try to empower herself.

The Subversion of Patriarchy

The unfair patriarchy leads to an unbridgeable gap between the two genders. So they are noncommunicative. Mother might be silent for forty years， but she reaches her limit when her husband builds a new， spacious barn on the very spot where he had promised to build her a new house. Sarah couldnt bear that anymore， so she tries to take active measures to fight against male-dominated culture.

In convincing Adoniram to allow the Penn family to keep the new barn as their new house instead， Sarah must learn and make known a new way of communication. She utters her demand eloquently. “Im goin to talk real plain to you； I never have sence I married you， but Im goin to now. I aint never complained， an I aint goin to complain now， but Im goin to talk plain” （Freeman）. Then she listed the reasons why father had to build a new house rather than a stupid barn. Firstly， He made the promise forty years ago， Secondly， the old house is not in a good condition now. Then， too much housework made Nannys unhealthy. To build a new house is necessary and absolutely right. She criticized him for “lodgin [his] dumb beasts better than [his] own flesh an blood.” （Freeman）. Sarah has made her sound heard， which can be regarded as a challenge to the centrality of male voice. Miserably， throughout the course， Adoniram still holds on to his silence， He is indifferent to Sarahs plea. It seems that all of Sarahs eloquence is silent. Woman is shut out of the door to equality again. Mothers remarks prove her powerless status. Her first fight encountered a defeat.

Under such oppression women only have two choices—keep silence or rise up. Mother chose the latter way. Since the conflict has completely exposed， a solution must be needed. The chance then comes—father has to go away for a horse， which is the turning point of the whole story. One day in July， Sarah takes an action which shocks not only her family members， but also the neighbors， and the village minister. She moves the house into the barn. She moves “all their little household goods into the new barn.” （Freeman）. Actions speak louder than words. Mother “created a ‘language –a system of signs—based on interpretable actions， actions which can function as words， actions which speak” （ Marth J. Cutter， 2002）. Sarah preferred a radical way to express her determination.

However， things dont go as easily as we think. Since “Any deviation from the ordinary course of life in this quiet town was enough to stop all progress in it.” （Freeman）. People think of Sarah to be insane， lawless or rebellious. As a traditional housewife in a small town， Sarah is faced with great pressure from all around. The coming of the minister symbolizes the intervention and suppression to the open challenge of woman. Sarah， however， does not flinch. She defends her position with forceful words： “…I believe Im doin whats right… its betwixt me an the Lord an Adoniram. There aint no call for nobody else to worry about it.” （Freeman）. Faced with such a determined woman， the minister， representing male-centered culture， is helpless and finally decides to retreat. Sarah has achieved further success.

At the end of the story， when father comes back and see the new house， he is speechless. “his lips moved； he was saying something， but they could not hear what it was” （Freeman）. He has lost his voice as well as the superior status totally. “Adonirams own amazed reaction to Sarah actions testifies to the undermining of his authority mother has achieved”

（Marth J. Cutter， 2002）. Sarah successfully revolts against and liberates herself from a male-dominated situation. By now， Freeman completed her deconstruction of male voice and the construction of female voice， showing us the subversion of patriarchy.

Interestingly， theres a detail about prayer that worth mentioning. In the story， we learn that before dinner， father would ask a bless， then the whole family could eat. Here， male voice as well as male dominance is clearly expressed. Whereas， when they have moved into the new house/ barn， there is a sharp contrast. It is mother who reminds father to say prayers： “Aint you goin to ask a belssin， father？ （Freeman）”. It indicates the change of their discourse right. “Sarah has got control of language from her husband and placed it in her own hands （Marth J. Cutter， 2002）”.The apparent gender mismatch blurs the traditional gender confrontation， thus deconstructs the gender dichotomy in patriarchal society.

Conclusion

With thousands of years history， the models of the traditional gender roles have ingrained in peoples minds. They not only accept such prescriptions but also employ it as criterion to assess the opposite sex. Therefore， the subversion of gender dichotomy is by no means an easy case. As a distinguished woman writer， Freeman create vivid characters in New England at the end of 19th century in the short story. She first depicts a picture of traditional bipolarity of gender role models and then describe how the intelligent mother—Sarah managed to get the house she deserved to get long time ago. Women not only disclose their repression of feelings， but successfully subvert the male-dominated value about the inferiority of women. Through Sarahs rebellious action， Freeman made the declaration of independence of women.

References：

[1]Cutter，Martha.Frontiers of Language：Engendering Discourse in “The Revolt of Mother”[J].Short Story Criticism.2002.Vol.47.

http：//go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do？sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=huazhong&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CH1420038500&&docId=GALE|H1420038500&docType=GALE&role=LitRC

[2]Korb，Rena：One Womans Independence[J].Short Stories for Students.2002.

http：//go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do？sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=huazhong&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=5&contentSet=GALE%7CH1420006761&&docId=GALE|H1420006761&docType=GALE&role=LitRC

[3]Wilkins Mary：The Revolt of “Mother”[Z].http：//www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/freemanrevolt.html.

[4]鄭红艳.奥斯丁小说中的双重声音——奥斯丁的女性主义解读[D].华中师范大学，2005.

作者简介：谢婷婷，湖北中医药大学外国语学院讲师，华中师范大学文学院比较文学与世界文学专业访问学者。