The Shaping of Female Images in Literary Works of the East and the West--The Example of the Ball of Fat and Xianglin Sao

The issue of female image formation in both Eastern and Western literature has long been a subject of academic concern, but existing research is still insufficient in exploring the underlying mechanisms by which cultural differences influence female image formation. This paper takes “Ball of Fat” and “Blessing” as the research subjects and uses the comparative analysis method to explore the similarities and differences between the two typical female characters, the ball of fat and Xianglin Sao. Research shows that Maupassant highlights kindness through physical and behavioral contrasts, while Lu Xun depicts numbness using symbolism. In terms of fate, both are tragic, but the tragedy of the ball of fat stems from the alienation of human nature in a war environment, while the tragedy of Xianglin Sao is rooted in the institutional oppression of feudal ethics. Based on this, this paper suggests that in literary studies, the deep influence of cultural context on the shaping of characters should be emphasized, and cross-cultural comparative studies on the literary representation of disadvantaged groups should be strengthened.