Combined with the Fate of Women in Old China: Explore the Awakening of Women and the Influence of Feminism in Midnight

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, Western feminist thought began to be introduced into China, and under the impetus of the May Fourth Movement, it was widely concerned and accepted by the old Chinese intellectual circle. Mao Dun was the first scholar to translate and spread Western feminist theories during the May Fourth Movement. The potential text of Mao Dun’s novels can be seen in her representative work Midnight. Based on the background of the old Chinese era, this paper takes the typical female characters in Mao Dun’s Midnight as the research object, and uses three methods of text analysis, comparative study and literary criticism to analyze the fate of these classic female characters in Mao Dun’s Midnight and explore the awakening of women and the influence of feminism embodied in them. Then it reflects the awakening of women and the influence of feminism in old China. Moreover, the awakening of women and the influence of feminism had a profound impact on China and the world at that time and even later generations.