Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2026, 9(4); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2026.090403.
Qingyu Meng1
1School of International Studies, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
“The Golden Notebook” is a renowned British novel that intricately depicts a woman’s journey of personal growth and internal conflicts. Sartre’s existentialist theory, which underscores the impact of freedom, responsibility, and choice on individual existence, offers a valuable framework for understanding the complexities of female identity construction. Based on Sartre’s existentialist theory, this thesis analyzes the identity construction process and methods of the protagonist Anna in “The Golden Notebook”, presenting how she finds a balance between freedom and responsibility, the individual and society, tradition and modernity, and revealing the deep feelings and existential struggle. Anna often faces identity confusion due to internal multiple identities and external “the other, endures great pressure in identity construction, and ultimately achieves dialectical identity reconstruction by breaking gender boundaries, taking responsibility and highlighting female value to promote individual and social co-development. This thesis explores female identity construction in “The Golden Notebook” and provides important inspirations for modern women to take responsibility and cope with existential struggles.
Doris Lessing; “The Golden Notebook”; construction of the female identity; existential struggle
Qingyu Meng. The Construction of Female Identity and Existential Struggle in “The Golden Notebook”. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2026), Vol. 9, Issue 4: 17-24. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2026.090403.
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