The Development of Women's Subjective Consciousness in British and American Literature under the Background of New Historicism

Abstract

Gender harmony is the need of stable social development and the main foundation of building a harmonious society. Women, like men, are the objective subjects of creating social values. Under any social form, women's subjective consciousness should not be ignored. New historicism holds that there is a close relationship between literature and background, that is, the mutual influence of “you have me, I have you”. In the new historicism, it holds that literature is the combination of reality and social criticism, and literature is of great significance to the formation and development of criticism. After the 19th century, due to the gradual improvement of women's social status, their proportion in British and American literary works increased, and women characters became more and more important, even the main roles in literary works. In recent years, there have been many literary narratives about female consciousness in British and American literature, and this style has become one of the characteristics of British and American literature.