A Woman on a Roof 英语论文.doc

“A Woman on a Roof” is not just about the conflict between both genders, but the war of class differences concerned we can learn from it. The heroine sunbathing and the heroes of three work men in different ages share the same hot sun but live the totally distinguished life. And the people in lower status also show their desires in spite of the prejudice from the upper class. My comment is focus on the class differences representing as follows.What are the descriptions of the class differences in the story?One sentence on the beginning of the story: Then they saw her, between chimneys, about fifty yards away. The distance of “fifty yards” reflects that one class leaves alone another class in life. The life the woman spends was in an idle way lying in the sun for a healthy color of skin while the three working men have to replace gutters on a roof in the sun for supporting their lives. So the sun is helpful to the former class, but cruel to the later class.How to represent the collision between the two classes?All three men desire to get the sunbathers attention as they need a diversion from the relentless heat. But no matter how hard they try including whistling, yelling, waving to the woman on a rooftop nearby, the woman keeps paying no mind to them. “The woman stayed on her blanket, turning herself over and over.” “She ignored them, no matter what they did” They become “taunted” by this womans indifference towards them. The nonverbal isolation and indignation of the woman against the mens lewd behavior provoke the three man to hatred her including Tom in the end. “They were all angry because of her utter indifference to the three men watching her.” The climax of the collision is the womans rejection against the Toms love for her. Tom, who has been fantasizing about the woman, convinced that he has acted to protect her from Stanley, sneaks over to see her, and is rebuffed. She tells him to go away and “in a low reasonable voice, where anger was kept in check, though with difficulty” she adds “if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis, why dont you take a ride a sixpenny ride to the Lido? Youd see dozens of them, without all this mountaineering.”We can learn from the story that one on the superior class is not willing to be observed or disturbed by another. In the condition of the tension between the classes, naturally, the woman indifferently doesnt respond to the working men. What is the pursuit of the lower class? Every dog has his day. People eager to make their dream come true no matter what kind of class he or she is in. People want to live in confidence and pursuit. Lessings introduction of Mrs. Pritchett serves the three men tea and flirts with Stanley. “There is no tension between Mrs. Pritchett and Stanley. This shows Stanley can have his successes with women. Upon returning to the roof the contrast of the attention he had just received from Mrs. Pritchett and the inattention from the woman on the roof is too much for Stanley to bear. All he can do now, for the sake of his own ego, is condemn her once and for all. However, at the beginning, Tom differs from the Harry and Stanley who are angry with the woman. Yong Tom is extremely fascinated by the sexy woman in bikini and fantasizing about her. Even he convinces that he is this womans hero. Throughout the story he sees himself protecting her from Stanleys domination. He feels he is not her harasser and that she must be aware of his love for her. His dreams of her have convinced him that meeting this woman is in his destiny. He doesnt interpret her indifference as rejection as Stanley does and has no idea how he will suffer for it later. Far gone into his fantasy, Tom imagines the nearby crane aiding his heroic rescue of her.Doris Lessings "A Woman on a Roof" seems to suggest the class differences in London by telling the story of the sunbathing woman and the three working men. Maybe in many cases, the two classes dont share the equal status of society. But that cant halt the aspiration of lower class for a better and more dignified life.Tom believes he is this womans hero. Throughout the story he sees himself protecting her from Stanleys domination (Lessing 858). He feels he is not her harasser and that she must be aware of his love for her. His dreams of her have convinced him that meeting this woman is in his destiny. He doesnt interpret her indifference as rejection as Stanley does and has no idea how he will suffer for it later. Far gone into his fantasy, Tom imagines the nearby crane aiding his heroic rescue of her.Tom, who has been fantasizing about the woman, convinced that he has acted to protect her from Stanley, sneaks over to see her, and is rebuffed. She tells him to go away and “in a low reasonable voice, where anger was kept in check, though with difficulty” she adds “if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis, why dont you take a ride a sixpenny ride to the Lido? Youd see dozens of them, without all this mountaineering.”Lessings introduction of Mrs. Pritchett into the story serves to exemplify Stanleys reason for his confidence with women. Mrs. Pritchett serves the three men tea and flirts with Stanley (Lessing 860). There is no tension between Mrs. Pritchett and Stanley (Atack 206). This shows Stanley can have his successes with women. Upon returning to the roof the contrast of the attention he had just received from Mrs. Pritchett and the inattention from the woman on the roof is too much for Stanley to bear and he announces he 13 going home. All he can do now, for the sake of his own ego, is condemn her once and for all.“A Woman on a Roof” relies on a minimalist plot. “It was during the week of hot sun, that June,” Lessing begins, and tells a story of three London workmenHarry, Stanley and Tomwho are replacing gutters on a roof, one with “a fine view across several acres of roof.” When they spot an attractive woman sun-bathing who “wore a red scarf tied around her breasts and brief red bikini pants,” they are annoyed and yet excited. Stanley, recently married, and Tom, seventeen, keep walking over to stare at her, to the dismay of Harry, who is older and responsible for the crew completing the gutter job.如何表现阶级差别屋顶上的女人是有闲阶级，烈日炎炎，正好享受阳光，而三个工人却必须冒着高温酷暑干活。工人干活的楼顶与女人晒日光浴的楼顶属于不同的“系统”，20英尺的间距象征着英国社会阶级的差别。如何描写阶级冲突Tom, who has been fantasizing about the woman, convinced that he has acted to protect her from Stanley, sneaks over to see her, and is rebuffed. She tells him to go away and “in a low reasonable voice, where anger was kept in check, though with difficulty” she adds “if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis, why dont you take a ride a sixpenny ride to the Lido? Youd see dozens of them, without all this mountaineering.”The men are stung at being dismissed by a desirable young womanher indifference hits at their male pride, leaving them feeling powerless. As this is England, there is also the class question: is she ignoring them because they are working men? Does her indifference suggest that they are so far below her on the social ladder that they no longer count as male in her eyes?Retreating and feeling broken, Tom gets drunk "in hatred of her." This lesson has "fixed" him as if to say: "see what you get for being so stupid?" (Lessing 862). The delay in Toms realization of his stupidity was inevitable. On the roof, Stanley and Harry displayed "lessons learned" in their attitudes. They knew when to quit. Tom took his unbridled actions all the way because he knew no better.It is now Toms moment of truth. He surprises the woman by pouncing in on her space. She stares at him and asks him "what do you want?" (Lessing 861). Expecting to be welcome, he stammers over his explanation of being there. She offers no idle conversation and rejects him with the words "go away" (Lessing 861) . Tom doesnt immediately realize what has happened because of a phenomenon called "delay of stupidity." Tom will suffer from his impulsive actions and move up to Stanleys attitude level. Eventually, Tom will land at Harrys level, as Stanley has, accepting (reluctantly) that not every women is an object for mans passion.Stanley shows a hatred for this womans remote coolness (Lessing 858). An attitude not yet displayed by Tom and long since forgotten by Harry, his anger reveals how he has dealt with the indifference of women before. Protected for the moment, by this lofty location, Stanley floats above his memory of past rejections. He is barely coping with the situation and shows he is losing it as he becomes more verbally abusive towards her.She remains the symbol of a new age woman who disdains harassment from men.The three men momentarily find distraction from the heat as they become obsessed with the sunbather s exact location.All three men share the desire to get this womans attention. Working on a rooftop of a block of flats in the hot, hot, sun, these men seek a diversion from the relentless heat. They whistle, yell, and wave at a near naked woman on a rooftop nearby, but the woman pays no mind to them. Their isolation on the rooftop and the womans relentless indignation fuels the mens decent into a world of lewd behavior, thereby creating an atmosphere of harassment and rejection. They become "taunted" by this womans indifference towards them.She sat smoking，and did not look up when Stanley let out a wolf whistle .They whistled and shouted but the legs did not move. Harry came back with a blanket and shouted：“Come on，then.” He sounded irritated with them.The sun was in her eyes，she blinked and stared，then she dropped her head again. At this gesture of indifference，they all three，Stanley，Tom and old Harry，let out whistles and yells. Harry was doing it in parody of the younger men，making fun of them，but he was also angry. They were all angry because of her utter indifference to the three men watching her.The woman stayed on her blanket，turning herself over and over. She ignored them，no matter what they did.They whistled. She looked up at them，cool and remote，then went on reading. Again，they were furious. Or，rather，Stanley was. His sun-heated face was screwed into a rage as he whistled again and again，trying to make her look up.“Ive got a good mind to report her to the police，” said Stanley，and Harry said：“Whats eating you? What harms she doing?” “I tell you，if she was my wife!”She looked straight at them，angry.Then he began stamping with his feet，and whistled and yelled and screamed at the woman，his face getting scarlet. He seemed quite mad，as he stamped and whistled，while the woman did not move，she did not move a muscle.“What do you want?” she asked.“I . I came to . make your acquaintance，” he stammered，grinning，pleading with her.They looked at each other，the slight，scarlet-faced excited boy，and the serious，nearly naked woman. Then，without a word，she lay down on her brown blanket，ignoring him.“You like the sun，do you?” he enquired of her glistening back.Not a word. He felt panic，thinking of how she had held him in her arms，stroked his hair，brought him where he sat，lordly，in her bed，a glass of some exhilarating liquor he had never tasted in life. He felt that if he knelt down，stroked her shoulders，her hair，she would turn and clasp him in her arms.He said：“The suns all right for you，isnt it?”She raised her head，set her chin on two small fists，“Go away，” she said. He did not move. “Listen，” she said，in a slow reasonable voice，where anger was kept in check，though with difficulty；looking at him，her face weary with anger，“if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis，why dont you take a sixpenny bus ride to the Lido ? Youd see dozens of them，without all this mountaineering.”She hadnt understood him. He felt her unfairness pale him. He stammered：“But I like you，Ive been watching you and .”“Thanks，” she said，and dropped her face again，turned away from him.She lay there. He stood there. She said nothing. She had simply shut him out. He stood，saying nothing at all，for some minutes. He thought：Shell have to say something if I stay. But the minutes went past，with no sign of them in her，except in the tension of her back，her thighs，her arms - the tension of waiting for him to go.如何叙述阶级诉求Lessings introduction of Mrs. Pritchett into the story serves to exemplify Stanleys reason for his confidence with women. Mrs. Pritchett serves the three men tea and flirts with Stanley (Lessing 860). There is no tension between Mrs. Pritchett and Stanley (Atack 206). This shows Stanley can have his successes with women. Upon returning to the roof the contrast of the attention he had just received from Mrs. Pritchett and the inattention from the woman on the roof is too much for Stanley to bear and he announces he 13 going home. All he can do now, for the sake of his own ego, is condemn her once and for all.Tom believes he is this womans hero. Throughout the story he sees himself protecting her from Stanleys domination (Lessing 858). He feels he is not her harasser and that she must be aware of his love for her. His dreams of her have convinced him that meeting this woman is in his destiny. He doesnt interpret her indifference as rejection as Stanley does and has no idea how he will suffer for it later. Far gone into his fantasy, Tom imagines the nearby crane aiding his heroic rescue of her.“What do you want?” she asked.“I . I came to . make your acquaintance，” he stammered，grinning，pleading with her.They looked at each other，the slight，scarlet-faced excited boy，and the serious，nearly naked woman. Then，without a word，she lay down on her brown blanket，ignoring him.“You like the sun，do you?” he enquired of her glistening back.Not a word. He felt panic，thinking of how she had held him in her arms，stroked his hair，brought him where he sat，lordly，in her bed，a glass of some exhilarating liquor he had never tasted in life. He felt that if he knelt down，stroked her shoulders，her hair，she would turn and clasp him in her arms.He said：“The suns all right for you，isnt it?”She raised her head，set her chin on two small fists，“Go away，” she said. He did not move. “Listen，” she said，in a slow reasonable voice，where anger was kept in check，though with difficulty；looking at him，her face weary with anger，“if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis，why dont you take a sixpenny bus ride to the Lido ? Youd see dozens of them，without all this mountaineering.”She hadnt understood him. He felt her unfairness pale him. He stammered：“But I like you，Ive been watching you and .”“Thanks，” she said，and dropped her face again，turned away from him.She lay there. He stood there. She said nothing. She had simply shut him out. He stood，saying nothing at all，for some minutes. He thought：Shell have to say something if I stay. But the minutes went past，with no