An Analysis of Sybil’s Characters in Downton Abbey from the perspective of Feminism

1、2015届毕业生毕业论文题 目:an analysis of sybils characters in downton abbey from the perspective of feminism 院系名称： 外语学院 专业班级： 英语f1101班 学生姓名： 王雪芳 学 号： 201119010211 指导教师： 成 汹 涌 教师职称： 副 教 授 2015年5月24日an analysis of sybils characters in downton abbey from the perspective of feminismwang xuefangschool of foreign l

2、anguagesofhenan university of technologysupervisor: cheng xiongyongmay 24, 2015acknowledgements first of all, i am deeply indebted to my supervisor, dr. cheng xiongyong. without his help, it would be difficult for me to successfully complete this thesis. from the selected topic, thesis proposal, con

3、struction of the framework to the final thesis, i got the teachers careful guidance. i would like to appreciate dr.chengs guidance when i was confused at where the problem was. secondly, i want to show my gratitude to my roommates. in the whole process of the writing and editing at the thesis, they

4、were always enthusiastic offering me kind help out of obstacles. finally, my thanks would like to go to my beloved parents for their considerations and great confidence in me all through four college years. without their understanding and mutual support, i do not think i could enjoy the four-year un

5、iversity life. in study, they can not help me, but in life, they care for me meticulously, leaving me without fear of an attack from the rear. i love them forever. i also want to extend my thanks to all the writers whose works are cited to in this thesis. abstract downton abbey is a popular tv serie

6、s. it is not only just a love drama, but also a show of feminist development and evolution. in the play, women demonstrate more talent and sensation than men. there are many excellent women in downton abbey. sybil is the representative of them. unlike previous traditional women, on the one hand, she

7、 sticks to her choice, pursuing freedom and trying to be distinctive. on the other hand, she appeals women to fight for political rights, advocating equality and actively participation in voting activities. from her reaction against towards mainstream values and fighting for her rights and status as

8、 a woman, it is obvious that she has possessed early feminist consciousness and strived to make it come true. from the feminist perspective, this thesis combines the background of downton abbey with the authors creative intent and content depth together to analyze sybil struggling for the status of

9、women before marriage, outstanding performance in the war, choice of herself marriage and assistance towards her husband after marriage. all of what she has done affirms her otherworldly female charm. the thesis finally reaches the conclusion that women should maintain independent personality in var

10、ious relationships to achieve equal status in society and family.key words: dowton abbey; feminism; sybil 摘要 唐顿庄园是一部广受欢迎的电视连续剧。它不仅仅是一部爱情剧，更是一部展现女性主义发展和演变的作品。在剧中，女性所表现出的才能和理性丝毫不亚于男性。 在唐顿庄园中有许多优秀的女性，西柏尔是其中的一个。她不同于以往的传统女性：一方面，她追求自由，个性鲜明，她能够坚持自己的选择。另一方面，主张平等，积极参与，希望女性获得政治权利。从她反抗主流价值观，争取自己作为女性应该有的权利和地位来看

11、，她已具有早期的女性主义意识并要努力将它实现。 本文从女性主义的角度出发，结合唐顿庄园中的时代背景，作者的创作意图以及故事内容等方面深入地剖析了西柏尔在婚前对女性地位的抗争，在战争中出色表现，对婚姻的选择，以及婚后对丈夫事业的支持与帮助所表现出来的女性主义特征，肯定了其与众不同的女性魅力，从中得出有着独立人格的女性才能获得社会的尊重和家庭中的平等地位。关键词：唐顿庄园；女性主义；西柏尔contentsacknowledgementsiabstract(english)iiabstract(chinese)iii1. introduction12. literature review22.1 d

12、ownton abbey and the writer22.2 feminism33.methodology33.1 sybils characters and styles33.2 analysis of sybils feminism44. findings and discussion44.1 findings54.1.1 analysis of sybils struggling for womens political rights54.1.2 analysis of sybils outstanding performance64.1.3 analysis of sybils ma

13、rriage64.1.4 analysis of sybils assistance towards her husband84.2 discussion95. conclusion9works cited111. introduction the story begins with a morning in april 1912, the earl of grantham, was informed of his successor in the titanic shipwreck had died. because of the law of succession was limited,

14、 and his three daughters, mary, edith and sybil can not be legally glass as heir, so he forced to contact a distant cousin matthew to do a new successor. the home of the woman does not agree with this approach, in order not to be seized possessions outsiders, they thought of many ways to solve probl

15、ems, and thus triggered a series of things. in the downton abbey, the majority of women, although more or less has its own personality, but are still conservative comply with the patriarchal system, think that man is the gods, women only rely on men to survive. only sybil clearly shows female consci

16、ousness thinking. female consciousness has begun to slowly awakening, she begin to awareness until she was no longer a mans accessory, but has its own dignity and status, no longer content to stay at home, she is eager to achieve self-worth, asking for equal rights of women and men. she was actively

17、 involved in the feminist movement, for unequal treatment and anger, for suppression of old ideas, new womens dress to prove their actions, humbly ask culinary servant, this action series to the people left a deep impression. sybil represents the young progressives in the early 20th century, and the

18、refore the old aristocratic family and played a lot of conflict. she is the three sisters of the most dare to resist a traditional patriarchal. so far downton abbey broadcast just four years, people for its research is not too much, but in these few studies, most researchers noticed the works of fem

19、inism. but most people just pay attention to feminism this general orientation, or the perspective of mary-the heroine, rarely research the secondary in the play. for example, liujingkun from marys personality characteristics research feminism (11). zhang yun, think sybils feminism encountered stron

20、g conservative forces in the play (156). xiao shengyang from sybils limitations to analyze, but has not yet been her independence (67). this paper from the perspective of feminism, following these questions: a. how does sybils female consciousness sprout？ b. how does sybils female consciousness refl

21、ect in behavior? c. how does sybils female consciousness reflect in thoughts? d. is sybils female consciousness beneficial her families? in conclusion, this thesis reveals that female consciousness has great influence in female self-improvement, and enlightens modern females that remaining independe

22、nt are a better way to gain social respect and equal status in family. 2. literature review in this chapter, the writer will introduce the background of the novel and the writer julian fellows, then presentation of feminism and analyze sybils significance by feminist studies.2.1 downton abbey and th

23、e writer the story happened in the early 20th century england, when it was still in edwards, the uks last strictly caste era. under strict social requirements, women are only male appendages, no inheritance rights, and they can get a small part of the dowry only they get married. so when earls heir

24、died, he can only choose from relatives to find a male heir to inherit his property. and then the female consciousness has begun to sprout, so women are no longer contented to stay at home. they hope to enjoy the same rights as men and then tireless struggle began. and julian doesnt live in that era

25、, but he is a perfect embodiment of that time. although at that time everyone is in comply with the strict hierarchy, the emerging ethos gradually root the peoples heart, people no longer just a simple thought, begin to desire to equality, desire for freedom. this play once broadcast, it is very pop

26、ular, people can find their favorite characters in it, can also feel the noble luxurious living. sybil is one of my favorite role, she doesnt as radiant as mary, also doesnt like edith so tireless seeking sense of presence. she is a very easy to understand woman, maybe now not many know her , but as

27、 time goes on, she will get more and more peoples approval. julian fellows was born on august 1949 in cairo, before becoming a scriptwriter; he has had 30 years of failure career. until 2002, when he rely on gosford park obtained the 74th academy awards get the best original screenplay, he started t

28、o become famous, and in the few films such as from time to time young victoria have gained widespread high praise. in 2011, because of downton abbey, julian was obtained the 63rd emmy best screenplay; he really became a master playwright. downton abbey was successfully set up the distinctive feminis

29、t image sybil. the origin of downton abbey was because the story took place in a castle called downton abbey. although simple, but it can may people caused numerous guess: what happened in the manor? even the first lady of the united states was attracted by it. costume drama in the eyes of ordinary

30、people are boring, uninteresting, but it is not the case, downton abbey attracted people form all ages in the start. it is no longer limited to the era, but beyond the era.2.2 feminism broadly speaking, feminism means promoting womens rights on the basis of equality with men, which is said that wome

31、n deserve all the human beings rights (xiao shengyang67). the narrow sense refers to the social theory and political movement that launched by women aimed at fighting for political, economic and other legal rights, in order to realize the womens liberation under the common inequality phenomenon in t

32、hat society. from human civilization beginning to thousands of years oppression under male-centered society, women are only males appendage, no equality, freedom or human dignity. when women started to wake up, they began to request breaking the male-centered situation. women with advanced conscious

33、ness have an independent personality and pursuit of freedom. they doubt social mainstream, refusing oppression and enslavement brought by men and revolted. hereby feminism emerged. the outbreak of the first industrial revolution caused great social change in structure. the development of science and

34、 technology promotes economic prosperity as well as the diversification of the social ideological, providing a relaxed political environment of the trade union movement. during this period, with the activities of appealing gender equality, women voting rights and male changing role, budding feminist

35、 ideas sprouts and develops rapidly. that is exactly downton abbey historical background in the first three seasons and why there is a feminist like sybil. feminist pursuit is to create a society of equality between men and women, expecting truly equality, freedom and independence to enjoying life v

36、alue. with the development of society, the feminists are doing tireless struggle to achieve these goals. 3. methodology3.1 sybils characters and styles sybil has unique qualities of women, for example, she was kind, cheerful, beautiful, caring everyone around. she did not look down on others because

37、 of the difference in status. she does her best to help what she can. and she has her unique charm which other women do not have. and she has a strong political consciousness, very concerned about vulnerable groups while other family members are different. she showed great interest in political and

38、civil rights, and she is particularly concerned about womens right to vote. in the treatment of individual marriage, she does not need perfect match but someone that can understand her.3.2 analysis of sybils feminism the start of the story clearly suggests that sybil tries to affect women by her eme

39、rging independent thoughts, and she firmly believes that they would succeed through their own efforts. such as gwen dawson, a maid in crowley home, her dream is to become a secretary, for which she took part in the typing and shorthand correspondence courses. however, in the early 20th century engla

40、nd, many women prefer to be a maid in the house, they do not want to be in a narrow office from morning to night. other people think gwen choice is ridiculous, only sybil understood, supported and told her latest job information and voluntarily wrote a letter of recommendation for her, encouraged he

41、r to live her own life. after suffering many failures, she wanted to give up, but sybil kept encouraging her, supporting her with actions. finally gwen found a suitable job. at a dinner party shortly after the outbreak of world war i, when sybil announced that she wanted to study nursing course and

42、went to the hospital to take care of wounded soldiers, everyone is stunned. she wanted to become a useful person in the war. and this is when the first wave of feminism advocated. after adequate training, she realized her value for the first time and she would never want to return to life before the

43、 war. without enough beds in the hospital, she put forward their own home empty place to get it out, so that the injured soldier could get better medical treatment. finally her father compromised to get things done smoothly. and after this incident, women who made castles through exchange with other

44、s, better understood the outside world and had their own awareness. 4. findings and discussion from sybil demeanor we can be seen: although she is not the protagonist in the drama, she is also a role which can not be ignored, for that she has an extremely important role in the development of the sto

45、ry. we can see her feminism from her words and actions in the play.4.1 findings4.1.1 analysis of sybils struggling for womens political rights sybil was born in a wealthy family. as a daughter in the home, the burden of life is not on her shoulder. so at the beginning, she is just a naive, romantic

46、woman. this can be easily seen from the play: when sisters discussed that bates a leg inconvenience in the room, anna say “oh, he was lord granthams batman when he was fighting the boers.” sybil answers i think its romantic. but she has a mind of her own. she is very interested in womens suffrage, a

47、nd actively participates in feminism activities. although suffering from her fathers opposition, sybil still argued that：“i want to do some canvassing. the by-election isnt far off.” “oh, its quite safe. youre in a group and you knock on doors.” “i knew you wouldnt approve（fellowes267）.” although th

48、is quarrel did not calm fathers anger, she did not give up. a few days later, she wanted to go to ripon, to have a conversation with her father. the following dialogues show her position: “why are all your causes so steeped in gloom?” “because its the gloomy things that need our help. if everything

49、in the gardens sunny, whymeddle (fellowes273) ?” finally, father allowed her to go to ripon. in the activities of the votes, sybil met a violent attack, unfortunately hurt herself. but when she returned home, the father flew into a rage, he felt that sybil is too bold, unexpectedly dare to hide from

50、 him secretly go to canvassing. sybil dont think so, she felt very sorry she lied to her father, but she has her own right, has her own opinions. father could not reject her. father didnt much entangled on this issue, turned to her driver, he thought it must be branson bring bad her, he felt since b

51、ranson has come, have no peace in the home, he wanted to get rid of branson. sybil doesnt agree with this idea, she knows its not bransons fault. and she was maintenance branson has two aspects, on the one hand, she cheated branson, he did not know she going to see a vote; on the other hand because

52、of the arrival of branson, let her know more about the outside world, also can more clearly understand how to do to really improve womens status. she knows now the society is a patriarchal society, so away from home, accompanied by a male is more secure. and men in the manor are all male supremacy.

53、so when branson come to manor that learned marxism, she met with like-minded people. they can discuss current events and political, and they can communicate with each other. through this a series of things, and let her know that branson is a man to understand her, know her, so she doesnt want to bec

54、ause of her make branson lose work. finally because of her persistence, father doesnt resign branson. after the injury, let she take a hit, but she still go ahead to continue for herself, struggling for most women. sybil actively pursued life with freedom and equality, and this kind of life is let s

55、he has the right to speak in the public occasion , like men have her rights to participate in political activities, become a right to independence, and become independent in thought.4.1.2 analysis of sybils outstanding performance after the outbreak of war, noble women can only stay at home, waiting

56、 for news for that time. but sybil didnt. she wanted to make her own contribution to the war. with mrs. crawleys help, she went to school to learn systematic nursing knowledge. she went to help, through this work after the completion of the hospital study. she found her value through this work, so s

57、he made her determination to change herself completely, no longer to be a noble lady who only knew how to enjoy. the hospital space is limited, so mrs. crowley suggested converting downton abbey into a nursing home. sybiltotally agreed with her suggestion and actively persuaded her father. during th

58、e war, her behavior had set an example for other women, they were all willing to follow sybil to do their utmost to help their country, such as edith helped injured military people read the letter and cook for the soldier everyday. although these behaviors are small, but it is also a step for the feminism independence, and then in