In Search of Spiritual Nobility: An Analysis of the Heroines’ Attitudes toward Men in Sense and Sensibility_英语论文

摘要

简· 奥斯汀是英国18世纪末19世纪初最著名的女性文学作家之一，由于当时庸俗无聊的“感伤小说”和“哥特小说”充斥英国文坛，她的作品中主要体现的日常生活和田园风光一扫假浪漫主义风气，因此在英国小说的发展史上具有重要地位，她也被评为可以跟莎士比亚平起平坐的作家。《理智与情感》是简·奥斯汀的第一部长篇小说。该书讲述了出生在英国乡绅家庭的两姐妹埃莉诺和玛丽安娜的爱情故事。两姐妹对男性、对婚姻持有相似的理想化观点。本文将着重分析两位女主人公突破传统的婚恋思想、不同于创作时代社会思潮的婚恋观：婚姻应该建立在高尚的品德、彼此平等和尊重、灵魂的契合作的基础上。女主爱情追求的美好结局以及小说对物质主义人物的讽刺表达了作者对理想婚姻的向往和对物质取向婚姻的批判。

关键词：婚姻，理想化，物质化    

Abstract

Jane Austen was one of the most eminent female writers of Britain in the late eighteenth Century and early nineteenth Century. In contrast to the vulgar and boring "sentimental novel" and "Gothic novel" filling British literature, the daily life and the pastoral scenery reflected in her works swept away the false romantic atmosphere, so her works have important significance in the history of British novels. She is known as important as Shakespeare in the history of British literature, and she is regarded one of the greatest writers in the world. Sense and Sensibility is Jane Austen's first published novel. The book tells the love stories of the two sisters Elinor and Marianne born in a British squire family, who share similar idealistic attitudes towards men and marriage. This thesis focuses on the two sisters’ nonconformist ideas concerning love and marriage, which are extremely different from thoughts prevailing in their society: love and marriage should be based on noble qualities, mutual respect, equality and spiritual resonance. The happy ending of the two heroines’ love pursuit and satires on materialistic characters conveys the author’s expectation for ideal marriage and criticism of materialoriented marriage.

Key words: marriage, idealistic, materialistic 

Contents

1. Introduction1

2. Demonstration2

2.1 Focus on Interior Qualities2

2.1.1 Noble Characters3

2.1.2 Sympathies between Souls4

2.1.3 Equalities and Respect5

2.2 Ignorance to Exterior Conditions6

2.2.1 Appearance and Age7

2.2.2 Wealth and Social Status8

2.3 Austen's Attitudes toward Men and Marriage 8

2.3.1 The Social Background of Romanticism9

2.3.2 The Criticism of the Status Quo 10

3. Conclusion 11

Works Cited12

Bibliography 13