斯佳丽VS董心碧--两位乱世佳人的对比(2)

While Xinbi’s attitude towards men is completely different from that of Starlet. According to a Japanese scholar: “A woman should treat her husband as God, and she should serve him with the highest sense of religion and respect. The most important responsibility for a woman, or in other words, the last-for-ever responsibility is obedience.”[12]
Xinbi is a traditional minded Chinese woman. She is dependent on Jiren and worships him as the God of her. She never says no to her husband. Even some time Jiren complains about something to her, she never feels ashamed or angry. To the contrary, she enjoys it. Since the day Jiren saves her, she is dependent on him. To him, “she has no views or wishes, she prefers to agree to other people’s opinions.’’ [13]
In fact, Xinbi’s worship towards Jiren comes into a pathological state—she has been married to Jiren for many years and does many things, such as giving birth to children, keep the house and so on. She is alike childish at the presence of Jiren. What is more, she hopes that her husband can teach her something. If it is wretched scamp, Xinbi admits it happily. [14] (进济仁家这么多年，为他生儿育女，操持家务，也算是个能干要强的女人了，就是在济仁脱不了孩子气，只盼着他天天把她放在嘴里教训着、点拨着才好。如果说这是“贱”的话，心碧可是心甘情愿认了这份贱)
Compared with Scarlet’s inpiduality, Dong Xinbi’s love is just for dependence, and she always cares so much about the traditional views that she is hesitate to accept men’s love towards her. She only marries to Jiren and never gets married again.
After Jiren’s death in the beginning of the war; she feels so tired and empty that she needs Shen Chen to depend on. But as a traditional Chinese woman, she cares so much of what other people might comment on her that she is hesitate to accept Shen Chen’s love. When she finally chooses to accepts, but it is too late because Shen Chen passes away.
Besides Dong Jiren, Xue Muzi is the man Xinbi depends on and loves. However, because of Xinbi’s traditional view of love, she always hesitates to receive his love, and because she wants to be a good mother, they depart at last.

Different from Scarlet’s active attitudes towards love, Xinbi is passive. The traditional Chinese woman always hesitates to accept the love and finally misses it.
4.2 Attitude towards children
Scarlet maybe is the Satan to her children because she does not love them, what she cares is only herself and money. Wade, her first and only son, Scarlet “had not wanted him and she resented his coming, and, now that he was here, it did not seem possible that he was hers, a part of her.” [15] “Ella! It annoyed Scarlet to realize that Ella was a silly child but she was undoubtedly was.” [16] Bonnie is her and Rhett’s daughter, however, she does not like Bonnie very much either. Naturally, Bonnie is much intimater with her father Rhett. In a word, Scarlet never has the slightest notion with her children. What a failed mother!
According to Woolf, woman is “the angel of the family, she is sympathetic, charming and selfless. The art of torture in the family is her merit. And she sacrifices to other people everyday. ” [17] It suits for Xinbi properly—the traditional Chinese woman, different from the Satan in the family of Scarlet O’Hara, she is a dutiful wife and loving mother. She devotes all herself to her family. Due to the traditional view of “maritage is an undeniable basis of marriage” [18] She tries her best to make the maritage for Runyu and gives all what she can give her—sharp 100 loads of maritage although they are in the hard time of war. Besides Runyu, she treats other children as the same. She is open-minded and never intrudes in her children’s personal affairs.
Dong Xinbi is a typical example of successful traditional Chinese mother: she devotes all herself to her children and her children respect her. While Scarlet is a failed mother compared with Dong Xinbi’s success. She is an inpidualist who only cares about herself; and she is a materialist at the same time, who cares about how to make money. She is too sharp and easily vexed to win the children’s confirm or affection, and now it is too late for her to look into the deep hearts, worse still, she refuses to do such a tough work.

4.3 Attitude towards friends
Scarlet is a lady of inpidualist, she never cares what others may comment on her, she only pays attention to herself. And she acts ostentatiously. “She is unsuccessful in every female role and in her relations with other women.” [19] Even her sister Suellen hates her because she seizes her fiancé Frank. Maybe Melanie is her only woman friend besides her mother Ellen and her common Mummy. However, she does not realize it until Melanie passes away.
While Xinbi is a traditional Chinese woman, she believes that unity is the best policy. And she is a tactful and wise woman, although she knows that a lot of people are green eyed with her, she pretends to be completely in the dark of their hostility and is always ready to help them. What is more, she always enjoys a harmonious relationship with her friend. And they help her a lot in the war. Even her counterpart Duyan gives her a hand when she is in trouble. And the servants of her family respect her and help her whenever she is in need of help.

5. Beliefs
As an inpidualist, Scarlet is irreligious, she only believes herself. Her God is a God of wrath. When Ellen and her family members are preaching piously, she is thinking of how to marry with Ashley secretly. And when she seizes her sister’s husband and marries him, she only thinks that “I really didn’t think about God much more then—or hell. And when I did think – well, I just reckoned God would understand. ” [20] We can even say that Starlet’s God is an absentee God. When Mammy complains that “ ah doan know whut de Lawd thinkin’ ‘bout, lettin’ de bad women flurrish lak dat w’en us good focks is hungry an’ mos’ barefood.” [21] Scarlet only replies coldly: “The Lord stopped thinking about us years ago. And don’t go telling me Mother is turning in her grave to hear me say it, either.” [22]
Being a traditional Chinese woman, Xinbi believes in the religion. Before the wartime, Xinbi is so busy keeping the house that she just respects the Guanyin when it is festivals. For another reason, she knows that madam Xinjin always respect the Buddha for her. However, due to the serious misfortune in the wartime, Xinbi loses herself. She finds nowhere to put her spirit. Gradually, she becomes a total Buddhist at last for the religion is the place for her to place her hopes on.

6. The Processes of maturing
6.1 Before the war
Scarlet, the inpidualist is quite willful. In her opinion, “a lady’s highest and the only task for her is to show her perfect character of being a woman.” [23] So the only thing for her is to dress up beautifully and looks for an ideal husband. She could never long endure any conversation of which she is not the chief subject, and she hopes that every man pays attention only to her.
Compared with Scarlet’s inpiduality, Xinbi is full of virtue and duty.
Before the wartime, Xinbi has already been a sagacious and efficient woman: although she has to give birth to children, keep the house, treat all kinds of people… However, she is dependent on Jiren. She never has to care about how to make money; and when something happens, she does not need to deal with it because Jiren will do with it well. She believes that “Ignorance is a woman’s virtue.” (女子无才便是德) and does whatever her husband tells her to do.
Moreover, her obedience to Jiren is somehow crazy. Just because Jiren likes Yi Fengjiao—a prostitute, she accepts her and makes an independent house for her.
Xinbi is just a traditional Chinese woman, she keeps the virtue that is passed down from the ancestors and never doubts whether it is right to do so.
6.2During the war
There is an old saying that life is connected with the world, and each people make choices through his around environment and through it to make sure of him. The pre-war period are sweet memories for both Scarlet and Xinbi, however, the war stimulates them to be strong.
Scarlet becomes a widow during the war. Atlanta is falling; she wants to turn back to Tara for help. However, Melanie is going to give birth. Without the doctor’s help, she becomes a midwife and delivers her child. With Rhett’s help, she gets away from Atlanta successfully, but Rhett also leaves her in the half way because he is going to take part in the war. Scarlet feels sad, the only word she can remind is “leaving”, and Rhett is going to leave her. But she has no time to feel sad; she has to return to Tara. However, the situation in Tara is much more serious-- Mum Ellen died the day before, father is in a state of dementia, her pitiful two sisters are hit by the typhoid, she has to look after Melanie for she just gives birth to a child… In a word, the war throws her into a homeless and starved state. Scarlet has to become strong; she tries every means to save Tara and becomes a competent businesswoman. When a Yankee soldier intrudes, she even kills him and takes away his treasure.

The life during war is no better for Xinbi--Jiren passes away, her mother-in-law is old, madam Xinjin is weak, what is more, she never cares about the domestic affairs, and her children are still young…she has no other choice but to becomes strong and supports the family all by herself. In addition, she is hard working: She plants vegetables and make clothes for her children in her own.
Xinbi is dauntless. The death of Runyu shocks her severely, but she comes to herself within two days, because she still has five other children. Shen Chen is the second man that she falls love into, however, he is shot by her son-in-law—Wang Qianfan. God plays a serious joke on her, but she struggles for herself. Xinbi also kills a soldier, because that Japanese solider is going to insult her daughter. She kills him and takes away his money.
According to Woolf, “There are two kinds of power in one’s body, the masculine power and the female one… and the excellent state is when the two powers combine and work together harmoniously and heartedly.” [24] For Xinbi and Scarlet the two ladies in the turbulent world, the wartime is just the time for them to be the embodiments of combining the two powers together. But Scarlet somehow does better than Xinbi, because the inpidualist “she is eager to get a seat in the history, she demands that she should gain the chance of sharing the opportunity and power equally with men.” [25]
6.3After the war
After the war, Scarlet measures money much more important than before. She dares to ask her neighbors to pay back the debts, employ the free black slaves even the prisoners. “Now, all what she does is masculine. She is clear out, firm, decisive and sharp, without any hesitation. She knows what she needs and looks for it in an easiest way like men.” [26] The same is true to Xinbi. At the end of the war, Xinbi and her children go back home. Now, she is “actually under bi-pressures, she is not only has to be a traditional dutiful wife and loving mother, but also to seek for personal finance and the independent social status.” [27] Being the backbone, she has to keep her children and to raise her family. When other people interrupt her family, she tries every means to recapture her property.

The two ladies are strong, but they are weakening in their feelings.
The event that shocks Scarlet most is that when she finally clears about her feeling—the one she really loves is Rhett. However, it is too late for Rhett to accept because he is too tired to accept her love. But luckily, she is full of hope and believes that “I will think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I will think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.” [28]
The death of Kejian after the war is the biggest shock to Xinbi. She loses heart and even commits to suicide many times. She is so weary that “the next spring, when Xiaoyu brings her son from Shanghai to visit mum. She could only see an old lady with grey hair on entering the door. She is puzzled whether she is a relative or not. But she is her mother Xinbi. That year, Xinbi is only fifty one years old.” [29] (开春的时候，小玉抱着她周岁的儿子从上海回来看娘。踏进家门，只见迎着阳光的门洞里坐着一个白发苍然的老太太。小玉先是一愣，不知道这是家中哪一位老太太，细看，才知道原来是她娘。这一年，心碧不过五十一岁。)

7. Conclusion
Both Dong Xinbi and Scarlet are ladies in the turbulent world. Scarlet is the representative of the westerners; while Dong Xinbi stands for the traditional Chinese woman. They are pretty, strong minded and hard working.
Scarlet O’Hara is the representative of the Southerners after the Civil War—hard working and independent. She is an outstanding woman that full of energy, who can overcome all the challenges from life; moreover, she can take care of her family without a man. In a word, she is a “type of ruthless entrepreneur which Northerners have met in their own life.” [30]
Dong Xinbi is the representative of the traditional Chinese women. She shows an excellent ability of changing with the times. And she is clever and knows what to do al the time. She believes that everything will go well and nothing is difficult. She is “not a woman of inferior sex but the embodiment of genuineness, kindness and beauty.” [31]
This paper helps me to know better of Margaret Mitchell and Huang Beijia, and their works. What is more, through writing the paper, I have a better understanding of the characters.

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