Fin De Siecle Splendor Analysis

Before and after 1949, the gap between the possibilities and limits of Chinese women’s lives was large, where the limits on women far surpassed the possibilities for a prolonged amount of time. Societal views were placed upon women, creating a system in which women must conform to a specific type of person or they would be shunned upon by those around them. This system was what determined the future of a woman in China. In the following stories, “Sealed Off”, by Ailing Zhang, “A Woman Like Me”, by Xi Xi, and “Fin de Siecle Splendor” by Zhu Tianwen, we explore the status of women during these periods of times. From being viewed as unequal to men to forging a sense of independence from men, women have created a path towards decreasing the …show more content…
During this period of time, women are starting to find ways to break from the societal views of how they are not equal to men or how they are stuck in one place, restricted to the values that have been placed upon them. For them, this means finding ways to become more independent. For example, while with Wanyu, Mia agreed, “earning money and supporting themselves is a matter of pride, spending the money of a man they love is happiness. These are different things altogether” (Zhu 391). What this represents is the idea of a woman’s independence where she does not need a man to support her. Furthermore, another representation of women’s independence lies in the fact that the idea of falling in love and being with someone would make them dependent on that person. In the story, Mia wanted to create a future for herself, as she stated, “...she would have nothing to do with love. Love was too wishy-washy, too degrading...she decided that she’d create a brilliant future for herself whatever it might take” (Zhu 393). During this time, if women wanted to change their future, they had to build it themselves, through their own work. To further support the idea of women’s independence, the narrator states, “the abyssal blue of the lake tells her that the world men have built with theories and systems will collapse, and she with her memory of smells and colors will survive and rebuild the world from here” (Zhu 402). What the “abyssal blue of the lake” represents is how clear and visible it is and the narrator explains how women are finding ways to change the way society views them. The societal views upon women from before and after 1949 have greatly affected their lives both in a positive and negative way. In the stories, “Sealed Off”, “A Woman Like Me”, and “Fin de Siecle Splendor”, women have gone through countless conflicts with themselves