瑪格麗特•艾特伍德的《女神諭》一書中，女主角瓊•佛斯特必須藉由多重身分，才能保護自己並免受二元性別思想的箝制。此外，由於她的多重身分違反了一般社會約定俗成的習慣，她仍利用這些身分去解構父權，這造成她的多重身分引起不少爭議。然而，「正切線概念」不但可以詮釋瓊•佛斯特的舉止，更可以證明瓊•佛斯特不間斷的進行顛覆，是確保為自己在父權社會裡能夠生存下去。本論文旨在檢驗父權社會中性別對立思想的充斥之下，如何運用女性的身體和書寫作為解構策略。
本論文的引言為《女神諭》相關文獻的回顧。艾特伍德所強調的「正切線概念」可用來重新衡量女性和社會之間的關係。

論文的第一章旨在探討解構的理論及其運用。首先扼要闡明仇恨女性的歷史，然後陳述女性利用解構策略爭取平權的理由。由於性別中二元對立的煽動，女性淪為附屬品，以致未能分享核心的權利，艾特伍德在《女神諭》一書中建議藉由女性的身體和書寫策略來去除女性的他性。

第二章詮釋瓊•佛斯特如何透過她的身體去反抗沙文主義的社會。瓊•佛斯特的多重身份認同及其假自殺均旨在賦予她的肉體新生命，鋼索上扮演芭蕾舞者的胖女士象徵著1950年前後的“迪奧新裝”加諸在女性身體的桎梏，小說中瓊•佛斯特所患的貪食症與厭食症，透露了她母親不負責任的行為和男性對女性身材的宰制，而她多次的性經驗不但符合西蒙•波娃對女性苦難歷史的分析，更揭露男性對女性病態的對待。

第三章探討瓊•佛斯特的另一個解構策略--書寫。她的各種作品代表她和社會之間不同的「正切線」關係，她的前十五本哥德式羅曼史，忠實地紀錄她週遭朋友對於父權建構的未來所產生的幻想，她的超現實寫作風格，主要是將自己從父權文字中解放出來，使她能夠進入自己的潛意識去體會男女的不平權。除此之外，瓊•佛斯特將《被愛跟蹤》寫成諷刺的小說，且在作品裡面指涉自己的生活。

結論談到瓊•佛斯特在故事的結尾，對於自己未來新生活的期望，其實是預示她將會繼續解構生活中刻板的性別角色。她之所以能夠不停地顛覆父權，是因為她能夠持續地質疑目前的生活現狀。在父權的社會中，不固定的身份提供瓊•佛斯特遊牧式的自由，使她能擁有流動的身分去開創生命中更多嶄新的可能性。

In Margaret Atwood’s Lady Oracle, Joan Foster has to forge multiple identities to protect herself from being pinned down by the logic of sexual dichotomy. The debates on the significance of her many identities usually concentrate on the fact that her identities, incongruous with the social conventions, are still used as strategies to deconstruct the patriarchal socialization. However, the concept of the tangents not only explains Joan’s behavior but also demonstrates her continuous efforts to deconstruct in order to survive in the patriarchal society. This thesis aims at examining the prevalent sexual dichotomy in patriarchy and the usage of women’s body and writing as the deconstruction strategies.
Introduction deals with a survey of the scholarship on Lady Oracle. Based on Atwood’s espousal of Joan’s tangential relations with her society, I propose to use the concept of deconstruction to reconsider the relationship between women and society.

Chapter One focuses on the concept of deconstruction. A brief survey of the history of misogyny will elucidate why women have to fight for equality by means of the deconstruction strategies. The incitement of sexual dichotomy results in women’s subordinate positions and leads them to be excluded from sharing the authority of center. Women’s alternity (otherness), as suggested in Lady Oracle, can be recuperated by the deconstruction strategies: body and writing.

Chapter Two illustrates how Joan fights against her contaminated society through her body. Her multiple identities and fake suicide help her to reincarnate her body. The Fat Lady as a ballerina on a tight rope symbolizes that women’s body are straitjacketed by the fashion of “Dior’s New Look” around 1950. Joan’s willful suffering of bulimia and anorexia nervosa reflects her mother’s irresponsible behavior and men’s obsessions with women’s slim body. And her sexual experiences, dovetailing with Simone de Beauvoir’s analysis of the history of women’s suffering, reveal men’s morbid treatment of women.

Chapter Three concerns Joan’s writings as a deconstruction strategy. Her various forms of writings also stand for her tangential relations with her society. She realistically records her friends’ fancy for the future constructed by patriarchy in her fifteen gothic romances. Her automatic writing, which relieves her from the bondage of the Symbolic Order, enables her to probe into her subconscious so that she can recognize the uneven power sharing between men and women. In addition, she projects her selfhood onto her latest work, Stalked by Love and makes it a parody.

Conclusion discusses Joan’s expectations for her future, which indicate that she will continue to deconstruct the gender stereotypes in her life. Her strategies to fight against patriarchy are to subvert the status quo of her life. The avoidance of a fixed identity in patriarchy provides her with nomadic freedom to have identity-in-flux and to open up new possibilities for her life.

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