earticle

영어

Park, Sang Man. “A Study of the Politics of Androgyny revealed in Far from the Madding Crowd.” Studies in English Language & Literature. 38.1 (2012): 47-61. The purpose of this study is to identify the most positive masculine and feminine traits which comprise humanistic androgyny and to harmonize it with contemporary sexual politics, and in the end to analyze which masculine and feminine features are desirable as human characteristics. Gender is regarded as one of the huge array of forms that compete, overlap, and interconnect at momentous times and places in history. Far from the Madding Crowd is a novel which deals with the issues of gender and sexuality between men and women that take place within the community of Weatherbury. Masculinity and femininity in this work are shown to the reader from a point of view completely different from the typical contemporary point of view. Through Bathsheba’s gender crisis and her sexuality, Hardy tries to obtain a new definition of femininity and emphasize both Bathsheba’s feminine role and that of a farmer. On the other hand, Gabriel who has feminine and masculine traits, suggests a new form of social relationship not based upon gender roles but upon equality and humanity, creating an equitable economic relationship and a cooperative fellowship in work situations. Through the altered roles of Bathsheba’s and Gabriel’s genders and sexuality, this paper tries to illuminate sexual politics via androgynism. (Wonkwang University)