Chapter One Introduction 1
1.1 Definition and Terminology 3
1.2 Significance and Purpose of the Study 11
1.3 Analytical Approach 17
1.4 Literature Review 21
Chapter Two Loneliness in Faith 34
2.1 Loneliness in Institutional Religion 36
2.1.1 A Rebel Against Orthodoxy 39
2.1.2 A Skeptic Among God's Children 50
2.2 Loneliness in Personal Religion 67
2.2.1 Truth and Beauty 71
2.2.2 Child's Faith 77
Chapter Three Loneliness in Existence 88
3.1 Nature:Impossible Integration 92
3.1.1 Lone Landscape in New England 95
3.1.2 Alienation Between Man and Nature 102
3.2 Life:Impermanent Being 113
3.2.1 Loneliness from Separation 118
3.2.2 Homeless at Home 125
3.2.3 Loneliness in Spinsterhood 133
3.3 Death:Inevitable Doom 143
3.3.1 Shadow of Death 145
3.3.2 Fantasy of Afterlife 153
Chapter Four Loneliness in Gender 163
4.1 Women's Reticence as the Other 166
4.1.1 Reticence in Society 168
4.1.2 Reticence at Home 176
4.2 Women's Anxiety of Authorship 183
4.2.1 Solitary Writer 186
4.2.2 Another Textual Strategy 199
Chapter Five Duality of Loneliness 208
5.1 Great Pain in Loneliness 212
5.1.1 Pain in Progression 214
5.1.2 Suicidal Attempt as Escape 219
5.2 Romantic Appreciation of Solitude 225
5.2.1 Satisfaction and Inspiration 228
5.2.2 Individualistic Preservation 236
5.2.3 Hidden Discourse 243
Chapter Six Conclusion 254
References 264
中文参考文献 288