曼斯菲尔德作品《序曲》中琳达和贝丽尔两姐妹是对称人物,两人在婚姻状况、家中角色、人物关系、女性欲望、婚姻态度等方面呈现出惊人的对称性。为父权制度所主宰的姐妹俩虽然有不同程度的女性意识觉醒,却始终无力奋起反抗,只能接受被奴役的事实。曼氏通过精心的人物设置和对比,揭露了维多利亚时期中产阶级女性无论以何种状态生存,都难逃父权制压迫的悲剧命运。 Two sisters, Lindsay and Beylier in Mansfield’s Overture, are striking symmetries in terms of their marital status, their roles in the family, their relationships with women, their desire for women, their marital attitudes, and so on. Although the sisters dominated by the patriarchal system have varying degrees of awakening of the female consciousness, they have been unable to resist and accept the fact of enslavement. Man’s careful personalities set and contrast revealed the tragic fate of Victorian middle-class women who survived no matter what kind of state they were in.