目前国内对美国女性戏剧的研究仍很薄弱，本书是作者对博士论文进行完善撰写而成，希望对女性戏剧的研究有所贡献。本研究以唯物女权主义和精神分析女权主义为理论支持，对美国女性剧作家莉莲·海尔曼和玛莎·诺曼的原创剧作进行解读，旨在透视作品中女性人物在社会伦理范畴、家庭生存环境和个人心理空间的存在状态，进而探索两位剧作家作品中女性身份由依附到独立的嬗变。

Chapter One Introduction

 1.1 Significance and Purpose of the Study

 1.2 Analytical Approach

 1.3 A Note on the Relationship between Realism and Feminism

 1.4 Literature Review on Lillian Hellman

 1.5 Literature Review on Marsha Norman

Chapter Two Victim and Survivor of Moral Inferiority

 2.1 Rumor Kills

2.1.1 Slander Web Woven by Women

2.1.2 Death in the Homophobic Gaze

 2.2 Breaking the Locking Bars

2.2.1 Inside and Outside Prisoner

2.2.2 Paths Out

Chapter Three Siege and Sortie of Physical Confinement

 3.1 Family Enclosure

3.1.1 Money Hunger

3.1.2 Bird with Clipped Wings

 3.2 Dark Road to Autonomy

3.2.1 Solitary Confinement

3.2.2 Nonexistence with Meaning

Chapter Four Loss and Regain of Psychological Wholeness

 4.1 The Attic of Illusion

4.1.1 Feminine Mystique

4.1.2 Ties and Lies

 4.2 Mid-night Awakening

4.2.1 Woman without Full-fledged Name

4.2.2 Mothering Each Other

Chapter Five Conclusion

References