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It would seem tobe a very male point of view. She pointed out that all “McEwan’s female charactersare portrayed as possessing attributes of creativity, sensibility, mystery andparticipation with nature” and they were more powerful in the face of sophisticatedsituations (Roger 25). Through these conflicts, McEwan unpacked the polarizedpositions of the wider society and suggested that the “resolution may lie in more positive relationships between men and women” (Roger 25). However, Rogerbelieved that McEwan treated women only as a complement to men in his early works.Though Roger’s study made a good beginning, due to the limitation of time, heranalysis was old and narrow. There are 11 novels after Black Dogs. After Roger’sanalysis, it seems that there is no feminism study on McEwan until 2008. 

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CHAPTER ONE FEMALES INSIDE THE LIVING SPACE: STAYOR RUN

1. Representations of Space: Domestic Space as ACage

In the story, the domestic space of the protagonist is a comfortable Queen Annehouse, which “overlooked an enclosed garden with ancient herbaceous borders thatwere well known” (McEwan 1-2). This big house and the garden indicate the highsocial status of the host. Serena’s father was a vicar and then a bishop. The house wasthe fruit of his sincere belief and labour. In other words, the house was father’sproperty, and he had the right of disposition. In this way, family members’ statuses in the house were decided. It was a patriarchal space. In Serena’s description, the house“was genial, polished, orderly, book-filled” (McEwan 1). There were a hall, a study, akitchen downstairs and other rooms upstairs.

The study is a conceived space that implies unapproachable knowledge andpower, which is always occupied by the father. He indulged himself in his belief there.In Serena’s view, even “answering the door was something that would never occur tohim” (McEwan 264). And he did not “intrude” much on daughters’ lives as Mr.Bennet did in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. When Serena and her younger sisterLucy were in their teens, they fought over him to gain his attention for five minutes inhis study. They considered it as a privilege to be loved by their father. For the bishop,children’s problems were not his business, especially when they were two girls. Heleft all “womanly mess” to a woman—his wife. For instance, when Serena went homeon Christmas and cried on his shoulder, he asked her: “‘Shall I fetch your mother?’”(McEwan 265) He could not and was not willing to deal with the situation. His spacialpractice reflects his indifference to other issues. As a household member, though hewas neither a good husband nor a good father, he enjoyed the most superior statusthrough his work in the study.

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2. Representational Space: Individual Rental Rooms with Freedom

Compared to the domestic space with family members inside, rooms or housesfor individuals, without other people inside, might be more neutral, less gendered, andmore private and give inhabitants inside more freedom. And individuals can constructtheir own lived space— “representational space” by their spatial practice. In the novel,some female characters tried to construct their own space to resist domesticrepression.

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