群体中的自我

　　At all costs，even if it means the price of her life， Helen chooses to be true to her feelings and being. This reveals that the suffering of a self-less life is unbearable. It is worse than death. In this sense，Helen just "does away with"（Treadwell 71）George Jones to gain a moment of freedom and free herself from moral and psycho-logical constraints. Her affair with the Mexican Man is a form of self-assertion，too. Through Helen's interactive and dynamic sexual relationship with the Mexican lover，Treadwell accentuates Helen's passion and desire to seek happiness and ful-fillment in life by abandoning all moral consideration in the form of mamage.It is clear from the two plays that the two female protagonists' problematic con-struction of their selves is caused by their awareness of their performativity in their defming dominant communities. Those victimized mothers should not bear the re-sponsibility of their daughters' spiritual bankruptcy. Their fathers also play a part.Helen and Jessie yearn for the freedom and autonomy enjoyed by their fathers. As patriarchs of their families，the fathers stand for power，order，and the right. As Luce Irigaray puts it：As long as there aren't harmonious relationship [ s] between daugh-ters and mothers， mothers and daughters- between women-the father is the one who will impose "order"-no matter how repressive-into this dark and passionate relationship.（21）Though fathers are absent in Machin.al and 'Night，Mother，paternal influence still prevail. As Paul Rosefeldt observes， the deceased fathers create "a romanticvision of life that leads [ the daughters] toward self-destruction"（63）. Both daughters dream of fashioning their selves with their fathers as their role models.Jessie openly expresses her attachment to the old man： "I liked him better than you did"（Norman 46）. Influenced by her father，Helen dreams of freedom，which，according to her husband George Jones，is men's privilege： "All men are bom free and entitled to the pursuit of happiness"（Treadwell 55）.But Jessie's incessant desire to identify with her father shows the "phantasmal" male self that Jessie aspires to（Norman 47）. As Miller Jean Bakerobserves， '6Women are quite validly seeking something more complete than auton-omy as it is defined for men，a fuller not a lesser ability to encompass relationships to others， simultaneously with the fullest development of oneself" （95）. In culti-vating her personhood， Jessie yearns for autonomy and freedom enjoyed by her fa-ther. That is to say，she sees her father as a role model in her quest for selfhood.For instance，Jessie prefers to converse with her father，though the topic might be trivial things such as "black socks are warmer than blue socks"（Norman 47）.Such triviality shows Jessie's feminine sensitivity and gender traits without her knowing. It is clear that she regards her father as a hero whom she admires and im-itates. The fact that Jessie chooses to use her father's gun but not Cecil's to end her life shows her final attempt to connect with her father. As Paul Rosefeldt observes，the gun is a symbol for "a struggle to claim the father and his power"（68）. Jessie also cogently expresses her wish to rejoin her father in death，since she wishes to "hang a sign around her neck， ' Gone fishin，' like her daddy's"（Norman 48）.Furthermore，Jessie instructs her mother Thelma that her funeral service should be handled by the same "preacher who did Daddy's"（Norman 80）. Jessie's death，therefore， can be seen as her allegiance with her deceased father and her claim of the sovereignty of her own life.　　……