The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream

Yishan Li

doi:10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786535.20250604

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The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream

Volume 6, Issue 4

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The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream
The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream
College of Chinese Language and Culture, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510610, China
Vol. 6, Issue 4, Pages: 176-179(2025)
Published：30 August 2025
DOI：10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786535.20250604
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Li Yishan.The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2025,06(04):176-179.
DOI：

Li Yishan.The Plight of "the Other" in Simone de Beauvoir's Feminist Perspective: A Comparative Study of Eileen Chang's The Golden Cangue and Pai Hsien-yung's Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2025,06(04):176-179. DOI： 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786535.20250604.

摘要

Abstract

In the opening chapter of Book II of "The Second Sex"

Simone de Beauvoir famously proclaims: "One is not born

but rather becomes

a woman.

[

]

" This central thesis exposes the tragic fate of women who are constructed as "the Other" within patriarchal society. Using Beauvoir's feminist theory as its framework

this paper offers close textual readings and a comparative analysis of Eileen Chang's "The Golden Cangue" and Pai Hsien-yung 's "Wandering in the Garden

Waking from a Dream". It explores how the two authors differentially narrate the process of female "Othering

" the predicaments of women 's existence

and the possibility of liberation. The study finds that Chang anatomizes the devouring power of patriarchy

revealing the double chains of economics and gender that bind Cao Qiqiao

whereas Pai

through cultural nostalgia and temporal-spatial displacement

presents the spiritual exile women suffer amid historical rupture. Both point to what Beauvoir calls the prison of female "immanence

" yet they diverge profoundly in their diagnoses of tragedy

their visions of emancipation

and their aesthetic strategies.

关键词

Keywords

references

Beauvoir, Simone de. "The Second Sex". Trans. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. New York: Vintage, 2015.

Chang, Eileen. "The Golden Cangue" and Other Stories. Beijing: Culture and Art Publishing House, 2001.

Li Shihua. An Analysis of Cao Qiqiao's Abnormal Psychology in Eileen Chang's "The Golden Cangue"—A Psychoanalytic Perspective [J]. "Journal of China West Normal University (Philosophy & Social Sciences Edition)", 2009, (03): 41-46.

Yan, Yuting, and Huang Hongchun. "From 'the Eaten' to 'the Eater': A Tragic Theory Reading of 'The Golden Cangue'." "Comparative Cultural Innovation Research", 2024(11): 1-5.

Zhu, Yihong. "A Feminist Reading of Cao Qiqiao in Eileen Chang's 'The Golden Cangue'." "Zhejiang Shuren University Journal", 2006(3): 86-90.

Yang, Chun. "Color and Synesthesia in 'The Golden Cangue'." "Journal of China Women's University", 2011, 23(2): 77-81.

Ki, Eun-yeong. "A Study of Eileen Chang's 'The Golden Cangue'". Shandong University, 2009.

Song, Jianhua. "'The Golden Cangue' Is Not Necessarily 'Money'." "Fujian Forum", 2025.

Shi, Weikun, ed. "Classic Chinese Short Stories You Must Read". Nanchang: Baihuazhou Literature and Art Press, 2018.

Wang, Yanfang, and Li Wei. "Intertextuality and Chinese Literary Tradition in Pai Hsien-yung's 'Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream'." "Theatre Arts", 2023(4): 86-94.

Liu, Lili. "Interpretive Space at the Moment of Awakening: On the Artistic Value of 'Wandering in the Garden'." "Zhengzhou University Journal (Philosophy & Social Sciences)", 2005(6): 22-26.

Zhang, Lin. "A Reading of Color in 'Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream'." "Journal of Hubei Institute of Education", 2007(1): 4-6.

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