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On the Development of Feminine Consciousness in The Thorn Birds论《荆棘鸟》女性意识的发展1.IntroductionColleen McCullough was born on June 1, 1937, in Wellington, a large city in the Australian state of New South Wales. Her father was an Irish Immigrant to the continent, while her mother came from neighboring New Zealand. As a child, McCullough lived with her family for a time in the Outback, Australias rough, arid region, but spent most of her formative years in the large city of Sydney.Colleen McCullough attended Holy Cross College and the University of Sydney. She excelled in Science, and pinned her hopes upon becoming a doctor. But unfortunately, she discovered she suffered from ail allergic reaction to soap, which destroyed her dream. She had to leave to work in the outback. As a young lady, she worked as a teacher, librarian, bus driver and journalist, but finally settled into a career as a medical technician specializing in neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore of Sydney. In 1967, she was hired by Yale University School of Internal Medicine for similar work. From 1967 to 1977, she lived in the state of Connecticut of the United States of America.Referring to her writing style, McCullough said at an interview with a journalist from Publishers Weekly that she didnt like writing about boy meeting girl, boy losing girl, boy getting girl and something like that. What she really engaged in was to write books with peculiar themes. The plots of her novels are intricate, the description of the characters is vivid, which cart be seen in most of her works. Because of that, many people expressed their admiration for McCulloughs vivid characterizations. They said that McCullough did make her characters and their concerns come alive. Eliot Fremont-Smith had ever said, She gives the character intelligence and complexity and dimension. Even the minor characters are not dull. She was regarded as a good, natural story-teller.The Thorn Birds is a saga novel about three generations of an Australian family--the Clearys from 1915 to 1965, and is also a beautiful love story that takes place in the outback of Australia. Hate, pain, love and happiness are all involved in the beautiful tale.The story begins in early 1920s, when the heroine of the novel, Meggie is only four years old. Meggie lives together with her father, mother and three elder brothers in New Zealand. This is a large but poor family. The father, Paddy, is a penniless immigrant from Ireland. The mother, Fiona, is from an aristocratic family. She is forced to marry Paddy when her cultured but married lover refused to consider divorce. The family lives a hard life until one day when Meggie is ten years old, they receive a letter from Mary Carson, Paddys elder sister in Australia．Mary comes to Australia in her twenties. With her beauty and intelligence, Mary marries Michael Carson, a wealthy man. After her husbands death, Mary manages the farm, factories and enterprises, and becomes one of the richest women in Australia. As she has no daughter or son, she sends for her brother and his family to come to work for her on Drogheda, her vast sheep station．Paddy accepts the invitation with delight and the whole family moves to Drogheda. Here, Meggie meets Ralph de Bricassart, a young, capable and ambitious priest. Ralph becomes a close friend to Meggie and the family. With his care, Meggie grows up to be a stunning young lady. Gradually, Meggie falls in love with the handsome and considerate priest. Ralph loves Meggie, too. However, he is far too self-absorbed and ambitious to show some humanity and admit his love to Meggie, so he is torn between his love for Meggie and his ambition to rise in the Catholic hierarchy．There is another woman who is attracted to Ralph. Thats Meggies aunt Mary Carson, an old woman in her seventies. Realizing that she cannot gain love from Ralph, Mary leaves most of her money to the church in care of Father Ralph in her new will. Of course, Ralph may refuse the money that should have been given to Marys brother Paddy, but his ambition makes him accept the money and flees from Drogheda, from Meggie, knowing that the church will reward him. As he rises quickly through the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, desperate Meggie marries a shearer named Luke ONeil who looks very much like Ralph and wants to begin her new life. Luke takes Meggie to Queensland where Meggie is placed to live and work for the Mullers as a maid while Luke roams about working as a cane cutter. During their two-year marriage, Meggie gives birth to Lukes daughter Justine, and at last understands that life with Luke is not what she wants. She decides to 1eave for her home Drogheda. Before her leave, the Mullers, her kind employers, send her to a quiet island for a holiday, where Ralph arrives to join her and they spend the happiest days in their lives.Ralph leaves again and Meggie returns to Drogheda where Meggie gives birth to Ralphs son Dane, who becomes a priest before dying in a drowning accident. In Drogheda, Meggies two children grow up. Justine is a rebellious girl, she chooses to be all actress and live a free life in England, while Dane ironically shows great interest in being a priest. Unfortunately, Dane dies in a drowning accident. After Danes death, Justine becomes the only person of the third generation of the Clearys. With Fiona and Meggies help, she struggles for several years to recover herself from Danes death and at last she leaves for England, where she marries Rainer, the man who has loved Justine for many years, and lives a happy and peaceful life there. 2. Literature ReviewThe significant achievement of The Thorn Birds brings world-wide reputation to Colleen McCullough. Since the first edition of the novel came off the press in 1977, it has engaged a mass of readers by vivid figures and absorbing plots. With its rapid prevalence, the novel has already been researched from various aspects and gained multitudinous critical evaluations. These studies mostly include the theme of love and fate, religious theme, feminism, psychoanalysis, symbolism and so on. Through the reviews of these studies about The Thorn Birds, it expects to provide an all-sided elaboration about Colleen McCulloughs novel.The characteristic female figures of The Thorn Birds have been the emphasis of foreign researches. Herrmann (1989) makes use of feminist approach to analyze female characters of Cleary family, especially Meggies feminist consciousness. Through the analysis of Meggies pursuit of love and personal happiness, Herrmann claims that Meggies growth reveals the awakening of feminist consciousness. Wearne (1992) further discusses about the re- establishment of sex relationships in Cleary family and stresses that female figures in the novel are portrayed as obedient beings and they are compelled to put up with various sufferings and suppressions of men. Grant (1993) also focuses on Meggies feminist characteristic. Despite Meggies revolt against male-dominated society is brave, her futile fighting ineluctably results in her miserable fate by the end of the novel. Therefore, Grant expects Meggies female consciousness is limited by social and family environment she lives in and her revolt is not possible to succeed. DeMarr (1996:86) highlights feminist color of The Thorn Birds and expects the novel demonstrates the relentless effects of womens exclusion from mens world and of the harm done by relegating women to subordinate roles and to suffering. Sood and Mythily (2017) carry on an exploration on the metamorphosis of Meggie Cleary from a helpless girl to an independent woman. They probe into the authorization of women by enhancing their status putting down to familial, social and economic independence. Meggies life experiences from unawareness to rebellion show the tough journey of female growth.As a female writer, Colleen McCulloughs works are awash with her concern for the situation of the suffering women, so both the foreign and domestic studies of The Thorn Birds take notice of the feminist elements of the novel. The bulk of their studies display the female characters situation under the environment of male dominance in order to explore the root reason of female tragedies in the novel.Lu (2006) firstly gives an all-sided discussion on female figures of Cleary family. Fiona, Meggie and Justines pursuit of love and their fight against fate are the key point of her analysis. Through comparing female figures status in family and society, she reveals that the environment dominated by male values makes it tough for women to set up their self-consciousness and achieve self-worth. Through the close exploration on female characters growth and symbolism in The Thorn Birds, she expects the novel displays authors attitude towards love, gender and human inner world. Fang (2007) analyses feminism in the novel ground on two key words: awareness and rebellion. Her exploration starts with the historical background of feminist movement and she demonstrates the process of female figures fight against male domination in Cleary family from four aspects: female role, female status, female love consciousness and female independent personality. At length, she puts forward that only when women realize economic and self-personality independence can they obtain real equal status and dominate their own fate.The aim of this thesis is to further demonstrate The Thorn Birds from the feminine consciousness. Despite former researches have touched upon this view, few of them have analyzed those female figures as a whole to study womens growth in history. Besides, the ultimate social and cultural causes of womens tragedies and fights are deserving of further study. This thesis considers the growth of the three female figuresFiona, Meggie and Justin as the epitome of Australian womens liberation and growth. It will explore them in detail to show the fact that, from awakening to growth and then to liberation, women have gone through a tough journey in which they suffer a lot. While with great sacrifice, they have eventually realized the mission of womens growth, and thus acquired an equal, harmonious relationship with males. During the elaboration, Australian feminist theories and Australian social features will be mentioned.3. Methods and Procedures of the Study Firstly, I had to read the original novel written by Colleen McCullough. In order to have a better understanding of the novel, I first read the Chinese version, to have a general idea of the book. Then, I turned to the English version, trying to learn the emotions Colleen McCullough has put into. Intended to have a deep impression, I have searched online for adopted films and TV series because visualized works could give the audience direct and strong visual impact. I chose the TV series to watch, getting a clear mind of the main plots of the novel, as well as a primary impression of the main characters. Secondly, I had to search online for previous studies. Finding related papers on website like CNKI, looking into school online library and E-library, I have collected quite more information about the book, which was helpful to my thesis writing. With the information I had, I started to figure out the thesis structure. Finally, I came up with the primary outline of my paper. The first chapter of my thesis will be the introduction to the author, the novel The Thorn Birds. The second chapter of my thesis will be the literature review. The elaboration of theoretical basis consists of the third chapter, and then follows the development of feminine consciousness. Chapter five is about conclusion.4.ConclusionColleen McCulloughs masterpiece The Thorn Birds is a huge family saga, mainly talking about the stories of the love and tragedies of the Cleary family. McCullough is not a typical feminist writer, but The Thorn Birds objectively shows womens gains and loss in their way to independence and growth.In The Thorn Birds, McCullough has created three major female charactersFee, Meggie and Justine. Fees life is an embryonic form of womens pursuit of liberation. She breaks the patriarchal bonds of womens virginity at an early age, but finally puts the blame on herself and silently accepts the punishment of fate. Meggies life is a transformation from ignorance to rebellion. She is the first woman in Cleary family who is able to get rid of the marital bond upon women. Compared with her ancestors, she has made great progress. But the loss of her beloved son Dane seemingly tells us that at this moment, women are still unable to overcome their tragic fate. The task of fulfilling the ultimate goal of womens freedom and equality then falls on Justine. At first, Justines attitudes towards men are much too radical. Luckily, with the help of her lover Rainer, she becomes aware of the importance of a happy marriage, and the significance of a harmonious relationship with men. The realization of the harmony between genders eventually proves womens real growth.The rise and falls of their life provide us with some inspirations. From the silent obedience to the extreme fighting, then to the harmony between genders, women have experienced a hard journey in history. The stories of the three women make up an epitome of Australian womens pursuit of equality and liberation. This epitome shows us the bitterness, mistakes, difficulties, misfortunes, as well as happiness and final achievements on womens way to growth. Some of them have submitted to fates, ascribing the consequences to themselves; and some have distorted the human nature and have gone to extremes. With the development of feminist movement, and the maturation of feminist ideologies, women are gradually growing up. Finally, they become capable of chasing womens real happiness, and realizing the ultimate aim of feminism, that is the harmony between genders. In this process, women have made great sacrifices. Just as the thorn birds in the novel, they impale themselves upon the longest, sharpest spine, but they are still singing the sweetest song in the world. This is just womens strong will for happiness, which is much significant for women all around the world.The Thorn Birds can be seen as a history of womens hard journey of growth. At the end of the novel, McCullough says that the age of Drogheda is going to stop. But for women, this does not mean the end of their journey. In a new age, they will continue to find their values and positions both at home and in society. And they will go on building the equal, harmonious relationship with men. In the future, women will play a much more important role in a broader world.ReferencesArneil, B. (1999). Politics Feminism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Bressler, C. E. (2004). Literary criticism. Beijing: Higher Education Press.Bridgewood, C. (Eds.) (1986). The progress of romance: The politics of popular fiction. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.Bulbeck, C. (1994). Hybrid feminisms: The Australian case. Journal of womens history, 16, 12-13.De Beauvoir, S. (1987).The Second sex. New York: Penguin Books.DeMarr, M. J. (1996). Colleen McCullough: A critical companion. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Gallop, J. (1982). The daughters deduction: Feminism and psychoanalysis. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Herrmann, A. (1968). The dialogic and difference: A/other woman Virginia Woolf and Christia Woolf. 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Outline1.Introduction1.1 Life and experience of Colleen McCullough1.2 Introduction to the book2. Literature review3. Theoretical basis: Feminism3.1 Feminism in Australia3.1.1 Womens situation in Australia3.1.2 Development of Australian Feminism3.2 Related theories of feminist criticism4. The development of feminine consciousness4.1 The portrait of Fiona: Womens awakening in the bud4.1.1 The oppressed other4.1.2 The vague female consciousness4.2 The portrait of Meggie: Womens transformation in hardships4.2.1 A life full of miseries4.2.2 The oppression in marriage4.2.3 The transition and struggles4.3 The portrait of Justine: womens growth in harmony4.3.1 The anti-traditional woman4.3.2 The realization of harmony between males and females5.Conclusion