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s were not seen as a pioneer of her time but rather as a challenge to male dominance instead of being sought after for her innovative feminist views. Her acts were viewed as a test of masculine society’s audacity rather than as a pioneer for her time.

Chapter Two Pursuit of Female Subjectivity

2.1 Rewriting Female History

Byatt’s fictions are successful in changing the way we think about intellectual women in both the past and the present because, just as historically accepted features and events frequently ‘change’ definitively as a result of critical thought and research , as do the accounts of Ash and LaMotte’s lives in Possession, we can usefully broaden our understanding of history to include a variety of plausible and likely narratives. Byatt incorporates numerous myths and fairy tales into Possession, which are renowned for their plot consistency and for the similarity between the characters in stories and the existential circumstances of fictional characters. The novel evolves the historical texts in a more or less deliberate fashion by borrowing from, copying, rewriting, modifying, and even subverting ancient stories. This creates an inextricable interplay of meaning and interaction between the former and the present writings. The new historicism of Byatt’s novels is related to her skill in reconstructing classic images in her works. two strategies: one is to “rewrite” the female characters in the literary classics, so that the old literary characters can be revived in a new. The other is the reconstruction of real historical figures, in which Byatt creates fictional details of the lives of real characters according to the needs of the plot and theme. The other type is the reconstruction of real historical characters, in which Byatt fictionalizes the details of life or psychological activities of real characters according to the needs of the plot and theme, so that the real characters can acquire a new image. By rewriting women in classic literature. By rewriting the image of women in classic literature, Byatt gives a modern character to the image of women in traditional literature, and also gives a chance to speak to the neglected and erased women in history.

2.2 Claiming Female Identities

In Possession, the female characters develop their identities and express their wants via intertextuality and literary allusions. Beauvoir and Byatt both believe that women have a double consciousness, both as an object and as a subject. Beauvoir points out in The Second Sex that “woman lives in a world where men compel her to assume the status of the Other” (Beauvoir 6). She says that “woman is always aware of herself as seen by the other” (Beauvoir 46). This means that women not only have to see themselves as an existent, but also as a being-existed. Women not only have to feel themselves as an actor, but also as a being-acted. Women not only have to recognize themselves as a meaning-maker, but also as a being-meaning. This double consciousness puts women in a contradictory and split state, both wanting to pursue their freedom and subjectivity, and wanting to adapt to men’s expectations and evaluations. Women both want to transcend their limitations and fixed identities, and want to maintain their security and recognition. Women both want to express their truth and uniqueness, and want to obtain others’ approval and respect.