在《紅樓夢》中，「婚姻是一個女孩兒成年的終極標示」 。嫁妝就是女孩在這場成長中的見證，它隨女子進入新的環境，體驗新的人生。在未來的日子裡，女子與嫁妝的關係是緊密的，嫁妝不僅幫女子從母家過渡到夫家的新環境，標示著女子的身份，還支撐著她未來的生活用度。嫁妝對女子的意義關係到她們未來的人生。因此本文分別探討了嫁妝對未嫁閨秀和已婚女子的意義，將未嫁閨秀的嫁妝與她們的自我感覺相聯繫，主要運用了財產與延伸的自我理論。將已婚女子的嫁妝放置在人際競爭中看待，論證「慾望是如何與物質性（可以被觸及的實體）相關而同時又是非物質性的。」 并著重探討慾望的非物質性是如何在已婚女子的特殊嫁妝──陪房中顯現的。;In The Dream of the Red Chamber, "Marriage is the full-blown sign of a girl’s adulthood". The dowry that go with the woman into new environment and experience new life is a testimony in the woman’s growth process. In the days to come, the relationship between women and dowry is inseparable. The dowry not only helps women transition from their mother’s home to the new environment of the husband’s family, show the status of women, but also as her own property in future in husband’s family. The meaning of dowry for women is related to their future life. Based on this, this paper explores the significance of dowry for unmarried women and married women, and links the dowry of unmarried women to the sense of self, mainly using the theory of possessions and the extended self. Put the married woman’s dowry in interpersonal competition and demonstrate how "desire is related to materiality (the entity that can be touched)and at the same time immaterial ". And focus on how the immateriality of desire is the special dowry of the married woman appeared in the maidservant.
