“驯顺之躯”与“觉醒之魂”——《面纱》中女性的身体政治与主体性建构
“Tamed Body” and “Awakened Soul”—Women’s Body Politics and the Construction of Subjectivity in The Painted Veil

《面纱》是英国作家威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆的名著，被誉为“女性精神觉醒经典之作”。论文将结合小说成文的时代背景与社会环境，以福柯的身体理论为视角，从女性的身体政治入手，解读《面纱》中女性被驯顺之躯背后的政治权力隐喻，探寻蕴含在文本中的女性主体性建构之路。《面纱》中的女性身体被男权及其社会符号化和商品化，也难免进行自我客体化。然而女性却能够打破束缚与桎梏，在驯顺之下逐渐觉醒自我，努力建构身体与精神的主体性。毛姆在《面纱》中通过女性之躯来展现女性的自我困境、迷失与觉醒，揭示了西方资本主义父权社会制度的黑暗，强烈批判了男性霸权对女性的凝视与教化。
The Painted Veil is a masterpiece by British author William Somerset Maugham, known as “A classic work of female spiritual awakening”. This paper will combine the historical background and social environment of the novel, and from the perspective of Foucault’s body theory, start with the politics of women’s bodies, interpret the metaphor of political power behind the tamed body of women in The Painted Veil, and explore the way of constructing women’s subjectivity embedded in the text. The female body in The Painted Veil is symbolized and commodified by male power and its society, and inevitably undergoes self-objectification. However, women are able to break free from constraints and shackles, gradually awakening themselves under obedience, and striving to construct the subjectivity of body and spirit. In The Painted Veil, Maugham shows women’s self-predicament, loss and awakening through their bodies, revealing the darkness of the patriarchal social system of Western capitalism, and strongly criticizing the male hegemony’s gaze and edification of women.