research essay based on a literature
Abstract
Parallel research is the theory of comparative literature which is the theory and method emphasized by the American school. it's a comparative study if the authors, their works of no connection with facts, to discuss their similarities and differences, and summarize the regularity of literature development. Firstly, the professor of the University of Illinois, Aldridge, A. Owen clearly put forward the idea of "parallel research" in Comparative Literature: matter and method. In his opinion, the comparative study which has no direct contact of literary works is called "pure research" and it's divided into "analogy" and "inverse". The way of parallel study proposed by American School not only widen the methodology of comparative literature, but also has a sort of richness in comparability. So similarity and integrity became to the comparability of comparative literature.
Although Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen are two female writers of different times and different countries, they both create numerous female characters of distinct image and personality, and they both tell the story of marriage and love. In this dissertation, I will take "Cinderella" as the archetype and use the method of parallel research to analyze Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen's living background and life experience, to comparing analysis the reappearance of the Cinderella story between Love in a Fallen City and Pride and Prejudice. Although they both apply Cinderella story as archetype, the Cinderella Complex between Bai Liusu and Elizabeth is not a simple imitation of the archetype of Cinderella but made a breakthrough and surpassing and rich in characteristic of the time. On the other hand, there are also differences in their "Cinderella Complex". Elizabeth pursued equality between men and women in love and desired to have real freedom, so Elizabeth's "Cinderella Complex" is a revision of the Cinderella archetype. Bai Liusu's romantic and passionate is a subversion of the Cinderella archetype.
Key words: parallel research; Cinderella Complex; Jane Austen; Zhang Ailing
I. Introduction
The story of Cinderella is adapted by different writers in different countries in different times. It's an interesting and a worth discussing topic. In the ancient and modern times, love always to be the subject of the writer's personal feelings. And female writers are an indispensable of the writers. They writing with exquisite writing skill to express their true identities and real thoughts.
American famous critic Edmund Wilson said that, "Since one hundred years ago, Britain has happened several revolutions. The renovation of literary taste affected almost all the popularity of writers. But only Shakespeare and Jane Austen are enduring". And Chinese famous literary critic Xia Zhiqing think Zhang Ailing "She is one of the most important writers in China". In his The History of Novel, he writing about Zhang Ailing in 42 pages, it serves to show his attention and recommend to Zhang.
1.1Research Background
The psychology of creation about "Cinderella Complex" has a long history, from the Grimm Brothers fairy tales Cinderella, the Cinderella story has become a kind of template of literary creation, which has been widely used in different version of the story to be spread around the world.
Although the two female writers of different time in different countries, they have same evaluation and position within people. There're many scholars have been analysis the literature of these two people in detail, but its short of the Cinderella Complex contrast study between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen's works.
Parallel research always has been used to contrast different two works and analysis to find some differences and meanings. This dissertation research the Cinderella Complex between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen's works to analyze the deep implicature of the works performance.
1.2Significance of the Study
This dissertation aims to analyze the different Cinderella Complex between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen in their works, and express the special fate of authors in different social background, reveal the different social and cultural background between Chinese and western counties. This dissertation is to express a new perspective of Cinderella Complex and provide a certain reference for women in the principle of love, we should look upon the Cinderella story and the real love in life rationally and to pursue happiness bravely.
1.3 Research Questions
This dissertation mainly concentrates on comparing the Cinderella Complex between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen's works from the parallel research. The following questions, to some extent, as a guide to do the research:
(1)From the perspective of feminist theory, to research the reason of Cinderella Complex between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen from social factors, literary factors and personal factors and to draw conclusion.
(2)Based on the theoretical foundation of parallel research, what's the difference between the theme of the works and what makes such difference?
1.4 Organization of the Study
This dissertation is composed of six parts. First, its begins with a general statement of the current research. It includes the research background of the dissertation, significance of the study, the research questions and the organization of the thesis. The second part is a review of literature, and the third part is about the theories and the systemic framework, informing readers of the basic knowledge to understand this dissertation better. The fourth part is the most important one that focus on analyzing the Cinderella Complex between Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen in different areas, then the next part is comparison in a case study: Bai Liusu's and Elizabeth's Cinderella Complex. The sixth part is a conclusion given to make a brief summary on the basis of the whole dissertation, including the main findings, implications, and limitations of the thesis.
II. Literature Review
There is no doubt that Zhang Ailing and Jane Austen has been an actively promotion in the development history of national literature. There are many scholars from abroad research the works from Jane Austen and they spoke highly for her, and the famous British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay first put Jane Austen compare with Shakespeare in 1843, "Shakespeare has neither equal nor second. But among the writers who, in the point which we have noticed, have approached nearest to the manner of the great master, we have no hesitation in placing Jane Austen, a woman of whom England is justly proud" (Thomas Babington Macaulay,1843). D. W. Harding early put forward that Jane Austen is infatuated with Cinderella's theme in Regulated hatred: an aspect of the work of Jane Austen (D. W. Harding, 1939). In the 20th century, William Somerset Maugham used to put Jane Austen ranked among the top ten novelists in the world. In modern and contemporary times, more commentators and scholars have been analyzed Jane Austen's works from different views about the meaning. They research the social thought of Jane and the languages of novels to analyze the character image in novels and the skills and methods of shaping the character image. In 2006, Charles H. Hinnant divided Jane Austen's novels into seven plot models in Jane Austen's 'Wild Imagination': Romance and the Courtship Plot in the Six Canonical Novels, the Cinderella plot, the rescue plot, the model of involving a drama of prior commitment, the plot described as a narrative of lost and rediscovered love, the story line presuppose an atmosphere of bitter animosity, the contrasting model: from friends to lovers and the plot of calculated seduction and betrayal.
And in domestic research, Zhu Hong made a detailed research of Jane Austen in Austen Research, and the research about Jane Austen's Cinderella Complex roughly arose at the end of last century, many scholars mainly compile foreign literature, at the present time, He Xiao has been published an article "The Same Community of Cinderella Story" (2003), but their research most focus on the works or analysis the character image, it's less about comparing with other works.
Zhang Ailing is an outstanding writer in China's modern literature history, but the attention of the readers and scholars at her mainly after she moved to United States in 1956. In his A History of Modern Chinese Fiction (1961), the professor of Columbia University Xia Zhiqing make further research about Zhang Ailing's works and comparing her with Lu Xun and Shen Congwen. At the same time, he contrasted Zhang Ailing's creative direction with other contemporary authors to make her status in writing history outstanding.
In domestic, experts and scholars also made a large number of research on Zhang Ailing, Fu Lei played a positive role in his On-Zhang Ailing's Novels. After that, many scholars have commented on Zhang Ailing and they made an objective evaluation. Liu Chuan'e think that Legend and Zhang Ailing's works of the same period are not only the window for understanding the society in the 1940s, but also the witness of the decline of Chinese feudal society. It's a portrayal of Chinese and foreign cultures on the special scene. By the end of last century, the research craze of Zhang Ailing has been come back again, Jing Shi Cai Nv Zhang Ailing, Tian Cai Shao Nv Zhang Ailing, Luan Shi Cai Nv Zhang Ailing and Zhang Ailing Zhuan are probably a preliminary summary of Zhang Ailing and her works. Although there're many research articles, it's not exhaustive, most of them explore culture and value of humanity, and seldom compare with others.
III. Theoretical Framework
In this part, we will first introduce the basic knowledge about the corresponding theories and linguistic system which can provide a profound understanding of the dissertation. The information about comparative literature and parallel study, two connotations will be mentioned, including their definition and development.
3.1 Comparative Literature and Parallel Research
Comparative literature includes two aspects: one is literary research breakthrough national boundaries; the other is the study of the relationships between literature and other disciplines. Here American scholars emphasize parallel research that transcend factual method, whereas French scholars emphasize the influence research that they rely on factual evidence to solve the problem and exclude literary criticism from the field of comparative literature. The American scholar Remark believes that the literature should be linked with human knowledge and other human activities to take an "interdisciplinary research", but also attaches importance to comprehensive research. People know that comparative literature is both to find the same and differences, in particular, the influence research is seeking the same origin, and parallel research is seeking for the analogy.
As a symbol and embodiment of culture, literature also has its own problems of universality and particularity. Some general laws of literature have drawn more and more attention from people and macroscopic comprehensive literary studies have become a kind of regular way of research. The commonality of literature is prominently manifested in "all literary creation and experience are unified" (René Wellek). From a macro level, it is similar to human nature and literary. Because this common emotional experience and similarities in forms of expression that provide a basis for comparability that makes it possible for us to break through the common characteristics and laws of the limited research literature of linguistic and local cultural traditions from an international perspective. However, these forms of experience and creation of literature are realized in particular cultural psychology and historical tradition.
In short, the basis of parallel research lies in the universality and diversity of culture and literature. Because of the universality and diversity of culture and literature that makes parallel research feasible. Of course, the manifestations of comparability are explicit and invisible, while the invisible comparability requires awareness and comparison within a certain range and specific standards.
3.2 Analogy and Inverse
Parallel study is one of the research methods of comparative literature, it will compare with two or more literary works in the theme, characters, plots, styles and other aspects to draw a conclusion. In parallel study, there are two basic types of functions, analogy study and inverse study. Parallel research has broadened the researcher's view of literature, broken the limits of time and space, and studies literature from a wide space (Wang Xiangyuan, 2003). That being said, parallel research can be used as long as there's comparability of writers or works, even in different times, in different positions and influences.
3.2.1 Analogy study
The analogy study was formally established in1958when the second annual meeting of the International Comparative Literature Association was held. And the analogy research refers to "A similar phenomenon of style, structure, tone or concepts with two works there's no necessary connection" (A. Owen Aldridge, 1969). It means to find similarity between different writers and their works.
From the writer's point of view, it can be studied from the similar life experiences and thought patterns, such as the comparative study of Qu Yuan and Dante, and the comparative study of Lu Xun and Leo Tolstoy. And from the work's point of view, different literary works can be seen in different historical background. Such as the Scarlett in Gone with the Wind and Yao Mulan in Moment in Peking in the war atmosphere, they are representative of the abundantly colorful female image in the war life between oriental and occidental cultures, and they represent standards and requirements for women in different cultures. And as the stingy and avaricious literature image, not only appeared in Balzac's Eugenie Grandet and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, also represented in the famous satirized novel The Scholars in our country. These images have enhanced the feasible confirmation of analogy research.
3.2.2 Inverse study
Inverse study means to compare the characteristic of different cultures or different literary system, to help people better understand the essence of things and grasp the rules of the development of things. Such as comparison of English and Chinese proverbs, a proverb is a short, pithy saying that expresses a traditionally held truth or piece of advice, based on common sense or experience. But the different living environment, regional culture will reflect different characteristics. China is an agricultural country since ancient times, so the proverbs always based on farming and land. But Britain is an island country, surrounded by seas, so they often take the sea as their subject theme.
Therefore, parallel research as one of the research methods of comparative literature, it can compare the works from two different historical backgrounds with different geographical environments and draw a conclusion.
IV. Zhang Ailing's and Jane Austen's Cinderella Complex
After the brief introduction of the correlative theories, in this part, the above-mentioned theories and systems will be employed to analyze the two writers' Cinderella Complex from the perspective of parallel research. There will be a difference from social factors, literary factors and personal factors between two writers. In addition, because of the influence of genre and culture, differences exist between the western writer and Chinese writer, so a comparison will be given.
4.1 The Cinderella Archetype: The Aspiration of Jane Austen
The depiction of characters in each works is closely related to the living environment and historical background of the writer. Actually, Jane Austen's life experience filled her with a long for the Cinderella story, which revealed her "Cinderella Complex" in subconscious.
About Jane Austen's Cinderella Complex, it was first caused by the times of she lived. "At the time of Austen in UK, the landholding was depended on the social class and status. Because of the male heirs will take the property ownership, women have been in a passive position in the social organizational patriarchy system and they only belongs to men" (Wang Yujing, 2008). It's pathetic of women's position that women are not respected and cannot independent with their own economic, if there's no legacy they can inherit from other relatives, women can only be teacher and sisters or get married to change their fate. In the Victoria age, marriage became to women's coordinate of life. The effects on the social status it's entirely different for men and women at that time. As for men, even they without inheritance, but they can get married with young lady from new bourgeoisie. But for women, because their low socioeconomic status, if they want to improve social status, only can compete and look for a way out in the marriage market. Because the conception of being matched for marriage was prevailed at that time, women's mate-selection criteria are always positioned in their own class or upper class, because their future social status mainly determined by the husband's social status. In the Victoria age, people always repelled single woman and the unmarried maid are seen as social problems, so almost women hope through marriage and rely on men's social position to improve their situation. Even the education for middle class's girls are often around marriage, everything they learned is in order to find an ideal husband.
Secondly, the unique life experience and emotional experience for Jane Austen is the root cause of her "Cinderella Complex". Jane Austen was born in the 18th century British priest home and Jane was the seventh child of six boys and two girls. The whole family lives on father poor income, life is very difficult and nervous. Sometimes the family is very poor and often in debt. When Austen and her sister grew up and began to attend some parties and other activities, they often feel embarrassed because they cannot afford new clothes and it makes a great influence on young Austen. Because of the background of times and sociopolitical reasons, Jane Austen could not go out to work and she could only rely on her parents to live, later her father was gone and she had to rely on her brother for aid to prop up life. She began to write and live on it. On personal feelings, Jane Austen had a relationship with an Irish youth Lefroy in 1794. The social status and social relations of Lefroy was completely worthy of the family of Austen, but a good time never lasts long, it comes to nothing when Lefroy back to Ireland. And in 1801, it is said that Jane fell in love with a young man who had been reunited with her, but after she returned, she received a letter from her brother saying that the youth had died suddenly. The sad news replaced the joy of reunion. In 1802, Jane Austen accepted the proposal of a wealthy manor owner six years younger than her when she was 27 years old. Perhaps because of the age gap between them, after a sleepless night, Jane suddenly regret in the next morning. The beautiful talented Jane Austen failed in love and finally never married.
Because Jane Austen lived in a small town and was contacted by landlords, pastors and other people as well as their comfortable living environment, so there are not reflect the major social contradictions, but mainly describes the relationship between love and marriage. And Austen was influenced by Christian doctrine all her life. "Her faith is inherent in her works: the virtue of strict self-disciplined lifestyle, the mutual care between husband and wife, the obligation of childcare duties, the fulfillment of duties with love and morality, all these morals embodied in her letters and works" (Lefroy Helen, 2002). As an emotionally, sensitively single women, Jane Austen face double deficiency in the experiences of life and emotion. And as such, it had inspired Austen's psychological illusion and creation desire and prompted her to set up an aerial castle of her own ideal love in her works, let the "princes" to save the suffering "Cinderella".
In the 18th century Europe, the feminist movement and feminist consciousness were still in their infancy, and the feminist consciousness began to awaken both in Jane Austen and her works. "Jane Austen's heroines are not self -conscious feminists, yet they are all exemplary of the first claim of Enlightenment feminism: that women share status, and exercise the same responsibility for their own conduct" (Margaret Kirkham, 1995). Although Austin is an example of traditional lady: gentle and elegant, virtuous and tolerant, but she craved for love and marriage like the Cinderella story and hopes to achieve her life security through marriage. However, in her works, it embodies obvious female consciousness, advocates a balanced view of love and marriage that emphasizes both in emotion and personality, insists that as a woman, she must have her own independent personality and let others regard herself as a person to respect, these are Jane Austen's subject female consciousness.
4.2 Zhang Ailing: the Chinese Cinderella
Zhang Ailing's "Cinderella Complex" is also related to her living background and life experiences. In the first half of the 20th century, China was in a period of internal and external problems, although the capitalist commercial culture had already affected people's daily life, the feudal custom has come into a long time still imprisoned people's minds, they could not able to cope with the spiritual life of the emerging capitalism. After all, in the male-dominated Chinese society for thousands of years, women are often the adjuncts of men, losing their economic and spiritual independence and their inability to grasp their own lives and happiness. In China, not only about the economic reasons, and the servility and ailing conscious of female themselves, which regards male as the God is preventing female development.
Zhang Ailing was born in Shanghai in 1921, his father was a descendant of the Manchu Qing, he inherited the cruelty and dogmatic and other undesirable features of them, but also brought a lot of mental pain to the young Zhang Ailing. Zhang Ailing's mother and her aunt studied abroad when Zhang Ailing was young, her mother was a new woman with advanced ideas and she likes music and literature. Because of a long-term disagreement, Zhang's parents always quarrel and struggle even strife and eventually broke up. Zhang Ailing stayed with her father but suffered so much that she lost mother's love all the childhood and youth stage. It brought a great obstacle of Zhang Ailing's healthy growth and leave an unforgettable shadow on her mind. Zhang Ailing was vivacity and talented that both embraced the influence of traditional culture and learned western literature and art. Although her father rarely crossed her before the age of 16, and she was locked up by her father when she was 18, but she still thought her father liked her. With the decline of the family, Zhang Ailing has become the victim of family disintegration. In 1942, Hong Kong was fell in and Zhang back to Shanghai, she writed drama reviews and film critic for The Times and she had been written for the German English magazine Twentieth Century. At the age of 23, Zhang Ailing met already 40-year-old Hu Lancheng. The man is able and the woman is beautiful, they were private settle for life.
However, Hu Lancheng had had several marriages before he met Zhang Ailing, in addition to the sincere, Hu Lancheng get married with Zhang Ailing also hope Zhang Ailing's fame and her famous lineage to fulfill himself. Later, Hu Lancheng had acquainted with a nurse in Shanghai and became unconcern with Zhang Ailing. The first husband of Zhang Ailing had broken her heart. As the current events changed, Zhang Ailing displaced to the United States and found "the only thrill" Laya. Although Laya has more than 60 years old and Zhang Ailing was only 40 years old， Laya gave Zhang Ailing the most sincere love and healed her hurts on love.
However, Zhang's second husband took her to be mother's right and pleasure before they married, and insisted her to have an abortion when she was pregnancy. Zhang Ailing's three most important men in her life had both owed her, which made her feel sad and reflected in later works.
In Zhang Ailing's novels, "the analysis of the choices women make under the fate, whether they are active or passive, is not directed at moral censure by Zhang Ailing and is replaced by profound psychology analysis" (Lin Xingqian, 2003). Because of her life experiences, Zhang Ailing is filled with a longing for a perfect marriage and hope that after being tortured, she will receive the salvation of the "prince" and live in a truly happy life. Her life experiences also reflected her "Cinderella Complex" in her heart, she reflected her emotions in her works to express her dissatisfaction about the real life.
Jane Austen never married and Zhang Ailing gone through the marriage, they both desired for happy love and marriage and they both had "Cinderella Complex" rely on men. Although they are from different countries and different times, they created different characters, they both attention on women's fate and observe their experience. The Cinderella story not only the desires of Jane Austen but also conform to Zhang Ailing's life experiences.
V. A Case Study: Bai Liusu's and Elizabeth's Cinderella Complex
Analogy study always can help us to compare different works in different way and the universality and diversity of culture and literature provide a comparative possibility and basis for parallel research. In this part, it's a case study between Love in a Fallen City and Pride and Prejudice about the heroine's Cinderella Complex.
Psychologically, "Cinderella Complex" reflects the ubiquitous psychology of women's desire for the protection, care and redemption of men. It derives from the traditional status of women as economically independent and without job opportunities, and there is also no right to property inheritance. Because in the minds of women they are infused with the idea that they are the weak and do not need to be self-reliant and they will be rescued one day in the future. This is the psychological implication of the Cinderella story. However, the acquisition of a happy life is what every "Cinderella" look forward to. It is also a reflection of the collective unconscious psychological of many works' characters. Elizabeth and Bai Liusu as two "Cinderella" characters whose hearts are also full of the desire to redeem themselves through the pursuit of a happy marriage, and to change their social and economic status. This psychological it's a performance of the collective unconscious, it is shown in the name of love to break the sectors of society and socioeconomic status of women to achieve the "Cinderella Complex" for redemption. So, I think Elizabeth and Bai Liusu are the recreation of "Cinderella" archetype.
5.1 The Cinderella Complex of Elizabeth: The Modification of the Archetype
Jane Austen lived in the United Kingdom at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries while the economy is buoyant. Therefore, among Jane Austen's works, the ideal female characters always have a certain sense of superiority in morals. They both can maintain themselves and integrate into society. The stories portrayed in the Pride and Prejudice happened exactly in the late 18th and early 19th century that bourgeois women in the United Kingdom had to rely on men for socioeconomic and family status to survive and women could not engage in any occupation, marriage is the only decent way out for women who have earned their livelihood. As long as someone marries, they are reluctant to give up any chance of being able to marry, especially equal in social status and property status. At the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, it was said that,
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters." （Jane Austen, 1）
In the novel Elizabeth is lively and cheerful, bright and intelligent, outgoing and educated. She has courage and wisdom, being good at thinking and having her own independent opinions, making Elizabeth unfettered and fully aware of her own value and independent view of marriage. She always insists on the concept of do not get married without love. Elizabeth's treatment of marriage is reasonable, she did not own marriage as a "safe", but to pursuit of a marriage of love. Despite her socioeconomic status and family status are lower, Elizabeth's sincerity and kindness, unbelievably glamorous let her full of charm and luster.
Elizabeth flatly rejected of Collins and Darcy's first offer showed that she would never compromise the loveless marriage. Not only did she recognize the unhealthy atmosphere of marriage that people marred by property and social status at that time, she also did not be bound by traditional secular concepts. In her contacts with Darcy, she insisted on her equality of morality and dignity, and regarded her noble sentiment and emotional needs as an important part of her life's happiness. After eliminating the misunderstanding and prejudice against Darcy, Elizabeth based on the profound feelings of both parties, accepted Darcy's proposal of marrying on the basis of equal love and mutual respect. Faced with the threat of Lady Catherine, she persevered and dared to face it. She is familiar with the weakness of human nature, knowing that honesty and happiness are more meaningful than living comforts and wealth.
and status, and finally got a happy marriage. Elizabeth and Darcy's love and marriage, both full of rational, but also with a deep emotion, their love marriage reflects the true value. This view of marriage includes the mutual respect, equality and freedom of both sides, rather than dependence and domination of the subordinate relationship, which shows that Elizabeth will never be the slave of marriage and status. Elizabeth's view of marriage fully reflects Jane Austin's ideal model of love and marriage, and clearly constitutes Austen's value orientation and marriage concept. Marriage requires certain economic foundation, but more importantly is the other's character, appearance and emotions. It is wrong to marry for property, money and status, and it is foolish to marry without considering the above factors. Elizabeth's "Cinderella Complex" embodies the concept of marriage based on a deep emotion and equal in love and economy.
Elizabeth insists that the true feelings of both men and women are the cornerstone of an ideal marriage. Opposition to getting married for property, money and status, the marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy is both a rational choice and a deep emotion based. Although Elizabeth is a Cinderella-style figure, Elizabeth is not the same as Cinderella in the story. Elizabeth's "Cinderella Complex" is a revision of the Cinderella archetype.
5.2 The Cinderella Complex of Bai Liusu: The Subversion of the Archetype
If Elizabeth is a revision of the Cinderella archetype, Bai Liusu is a subversion of the Cinderella archetype. In the first half of the twentieth century, China was in a period of frequent internal and external war. Although the introduction of civilization of Western capitalist society to China then, the status of women had risen, but they were not totally economical independent, mainly rely on men to survive. At the time, Zhang Ailing had a very profound experience of hurting by applying feudal stereotypes to women
The repression, alienation and anxiety of women in Zhang Ailing's works have caused by the historical background and their own shortcomings, also closely related to the current situation of female life. Zhang Ailing said that "feeling everything is a bit wrong, to the degree of terror. Human is living in an era, but this era is sinking in shadow, people feel that they are abandoned. In order to prove their own exist, to seize a little real, people cannot help to resort to the ancient memory of mankind in all ages, the memory of life is more clear and friendly than the hope" (Zhang Ailing, 1991:108). The collective unconsciousness of Zhang Ailing's inner world is also clearly reflected in her works, so most of the characters depicted in Zhang Ailing's works have become the laggards or victims of the times. The tragic outlook on life and the insight into human nature make she does not believe in romantic love anymore, the greatest hope is nothing more than to be an ordinary couple in the trouble times. Both Zhang Ailing and her characters all live in the society in which courtesy was broken and righteousness ruined, neither the descendant of the old nor the working women are shrouded in threats, and in addition to making a living and love.
In Love in a Fallen City, though Bai Liusu was educated in the west, she still has a strong sense of feudalism in the mind and she look for economic patron as the objective of her choosing men. Therefore, it's difficult for Bai Liusu to obtain a love and guaranteed marriage when she divorced. Bai Liusu always careful to keep the most basic human dignity in the process of dating with Fan Liuyuan, because Fan Liuyuan was born in a foreign country and grown there, he mainly accepted the western culture and education. His father is a wealthy, but the combination of his parents is not a formal legal marriage, so he was as a "bastard" name in his early childhood and his identity cannot be confirmed. Although he acquired the right to inherit property later, there was always a shadow that could not be eclipsed in his mind. So when he first meet Bai Liusu and learned of her difficult situation in the family, he became very interested in her because he could feel the familiar panic on the Bai Liusu. Because there is no way to change the woman who is divorced, Bai Liusu uses her last youth as a bargaining chip and uses the rest of her life and her personal dignity to look for a reliance on marriage, status and economic stability. In order to survive she only can be like this. Fan Liuyuan indeed loved her very much and wanted to find a destination for love. However, he was also realistic, he clearly realized that he needed an affection from Bai Liusu, but he disdains herself as a wife, so Fan Liuyuan just pursue pleasure in Bai Liusu in order to original in the white fossil body just to hug, in order to fill a gap of the emptiness of the soul.
The love between her and Fan Liuyuan, is a battle of wits, is a rational business. Their love is not a true have mutual affinity and emotional needs, it seems like a transaction. In this love transaction, Bai Liusu was so carefully that she understood Fan Liuyuan love her is not important than economic security, she wants to use marriage to seize this man in order to obtain financial protection, make life more peace and secure. It happened with the Outbreak of the Pacific War, Hong Kong was fell and it complete Bai Liusu, she finally get married with Fan Liuyuan. It's an unequal marriage although Bai Liusu had the initiative in the emotional development and they had a happy ending, she had always been in a disadvantageous and passive position. The "Cinderella Complex" in Bai Liusu's heart reflects her tendency toward the pursuit of superior marital life.
Of course, the "Cinderella" of Bai Liusu is no longer displayed in front of people in a totally passive manner. The "Cinderella Complex" reflects her inner desire and pursuit of material interests. Therefore, the "Cinderella" of Bai Liusu is very different from the "Cinderella" in the story, Liu Fengjie had been said that "psychological and fantasy, or reality and the archetype, as two the power of creation has been quite fully demonstrated in Zhang Ailing's novels" (Liu Fengjie, 1999: 122). Then Bai Liusu was based on the archetype of "Cinderella" who has paid more attention to the reality. However, the marriage of Bai Liusu is not a marriage based on love but a helpless choice made by women at that time. Her marriage and love is inequality and deviance. So, the "Cinderella Complex" of Bai Liusu is a subversion of the Cinderella archetype.
VI. Conclusion
This dissertation discusses Jane Austen and Zhang Ailing's living background and life experiences in parallel study, shows Jane Austen and Zhang Ailing both have "Cinderella Complex", then through the interpretation of Pride and Prejudice and Love in a Fallen City and found that the heroines Elizabeth and Bai Liusu's love and marriage story, have applied the archetype of Cinderella story. Jane Austin and Zhang Ailing borrowed the theme, characters and plot structure of the Cinderella story to make the marriages of Elizabeth and Bai Liusu recreate the marriage model of Cinderella. Both Elizabeth and Bai Liusu have the "Cinderella Complex", because the combination of "Prince" and "Cinderella" is a beautiful aspiration and spiritual sustenance of both Jane Austin and Zhang Ailing. However, the "Cinderella Complex" between Elizabeth and Bai Liusu is not a simple imitation and inheritance of the Cinderella story, their "Cinderella Complex" embodies the historical content and distinct characteristics of the times.
In a word, this dissertation compares and analyzes the "Cinderella Complex" between the two heroines Elizabeth and Bai Liusu in the novel of two talented female writers in parallel study, and finds their similarities and differences in "Cinderella Complex". In fact, the story of Cinderella is always staged in real life. The story of Cinderella is like a shadow near or far, connecting the psychological experiences of writers together. And it's the collective unconsciousness of the spiritual origin when people in the face of subsistence and emotional starvation problems and it's also a strong craving for a good love and marriage.
