Abstract: Born in California, the Chinese-American female writer, Maxine Hong Kingston, published her first novel The Woman Warrior in 1976. As soon as the novel was published, it was widely received by American readers and totally became a bestseller at that time. Thus, the success of this novel helps her lay the foundation of becoming the representative of Chinese-American literature. By telling talk-stories, Maxine Hong Kingston builds several female images, such as “no name woman”, “Fa Mulan” and “Moon Orchid”, etc. What’s more, in the talk-stories, the author describes two major female characters, Brave Orchid and Kingston, who exist throughout the whole novel. By reading the stories, the readers can know that Kingston is very different from her mother Brave Orchid in personality. But there’s still something in common. The similarity and difference between them two lie in their own dual character. By analyzing Kingston and her mother’s personality, the paper tries to inform the readers of the dual character that exists in both Brave Orchid and her second-generation Chinese-American daughter, Kingston.

Key Words: Dual character; Patriarchy; Racism; Cultural Collision; Chinese-Americans; 

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-5

Chapter 1 The Dual Character of Brave Orchid and Kingston-6

1.1 The Dual Character of Brave Orchid-7

1.2 The Dual Character of Kingston-8

Chapter 2 The Causes of the Dual Character of Brave Orchid and Kingston-11

2.1 The Causes of Brave Orchid’s Dual Character-11

2.2 The Causes of Kingston’s Dual Character-13

Chapter 3 The Effects of the Dual Character of Brave Orchid and Kingston-15

3.1 The Effects of Brave Orchid’s Dual Character-15

3.2 The Effects of Kingston’s Dual Character-17

Conclusion-19

Bibliography-20

Acknowledgments-22