王禎和小說以實驗性濃厚著稱，不但在語言上創新，最特出的一點就是「寓莊於諧的喜劇傳統」。最明顯的手法，就是在形塑人物方式上採取丑角化，極盡所能的醜化其外貌、行為動作和言語，將之形象加以誇張、扭曲，使他們的「醜陋」能夠毫無保留的暴露。對於王禎和筆下人物形象塑造「醜陋化」的原因，許多評論家甚至王禎和自己都做了解釋，大部份集中在為「喜劇效果」運用的討論。但是，在閱讀王禎和小說文本後，發現其實還有男、女形象設定的差異。女人較男人更經常性被醜化。而女性角色也非全然被醜化，還可大致歸納成「善母」（賢妻）——形象塑造正常，與「惡母」（惡妻）——形象塑造醜惡。而針對女性角色塑造的討論，一直是過去王禎和小說研究較為缺乏的；因此，本文將以王禎和小說文本為對象，挑選出文本中有關女性形象的書寫，由外型、行為、言談的塑造方式以及語言符碼進行分析、詮釋，並藉由女性主義論點，結合小說家所處的社會背景，詮釋王禎和小說中的女性形象塑造所隱含的社會文化上的意義。希望能透過以上五個部份的討論，詮釋王禎和小說中所建構的「善母」（賢妻）、「惡母」（惡妻）的婦人圖譜，提供王禎和小說中的喜劇特點，較為不同的體認。

Zhen-He Wang was an experimentalist on writing fictions. We can find not only the creative rhetoric skill in his novel, but also the tradition of tragicomedy; therefore, the most noticeable writing characteristic in Zhen-He Wang’s work is to caricature his characters. After reading all his novels, we realize the percentage of female character that has been caricatured is higher than the male character, except that the female character, who is a fond mother, can always avert from being caricatured. According to this feature of creating character, we can categorise female character into two types—fond mother (farming model) with the normal image and wicked mother (brothel model) with the ugly image. In this study, we’re going to analyze these two different images of female characters through symbolic analysis and feministic perspective, and then observe the social construction in which Zhen-He Wang lived. In conclusion, we tend to interpret the meaning that was connoted in the way he models female characters and provide a different viewpoint on the analysis of Zhen-He Wang’s work.

善母、惡母、母性、女性形象、丑角化

fond mother, wicked mother, mothering, female image, caricature