《傲慢与偏见》与《简爱》中的女性主义比较研究_英语论文

A Comparative Study of Feminism in Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre

摘要

简·奥斯丁和夏洛蒂·勃朗特是十九世纪英国两位重要的女作家。简·奥斯丁在其著名小说《傲慢与偏见》中展现出了强烈的女性主义思想，对于其后英国女性文学的产生开创了先导。夏洛蒂·勃朗特在其小说《简·爱》中，进一步发展和完善了女性主义思想。本文从女性主义角度对两位作家的代表作品《傲慢与偏见》和《简爱》中的女性形象、时代背景、女权意识进行分析，以揭示两位作家女性主义思想的异同，并阐述其间的继承与勃发的关系。简·奥斯丁的女性意识主要关注在家庭、爱情和婚姻中男女平等，而夏洛蒂·勃朗特将女性主义意识扩大到整个社会，认为女性还应该经济独立。

关键词：简·奥斯丁；夏洛蒂·勃朗特；女性主义；《傲慢与偏见》；《简·爱》

Abstract

Both Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte are exponents of British women writers in the nineteenth Century. Proposed for the first time by Austen in her famous novel Pride and Prejudice, feminist ideas played a pioneering role in British women's literature. On the basis of Austen's thought, Charlotte Bronte developed feminist ideas further. Analyzing the two female images of Elizabeth and Jane Eyre, the social background and the feminist consciousness, this thesis attempts to discuss the feminism of these two writers from their novels to reveal their differences and similarities in describing women’s suppressed situation in patriarchal society and their challenges to patriarchy. Austen pursued equality between men and women at first in terms of family life, love affairs and marriage. Bronte looked at a wider community with a profound understanding of the importance of economic independence for the maintenance of women's independence.

Key words: feminism; Pride and Prejudice; Jane Eyre; Jane Austen; Charlotte Bronte 

Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Background of Women's Writing in Nineteenth Century 2

1.1 Educational Experience of Austen and Charlotte Bronte 2

1.2 The Initial Awakening of Feminist Consciousness 3

2 Feminism in Pride and Prejudice 3

2.1 Feminist Perspective and Feministic Literature 3

2.2 Jane Austen’s Feminist Consciousness 4

2.3 Elizabeth's Independent Personality 5

2.4 Austen's Ideal of Female Personality and its Limitations 7

3 Feminism in Jane Eyre 8

3.1 Jane Eyre's Personality Power 8

3.2 The Feminist Awareness of Bronte 10

4. Similarities and Differences 11

4.1 Feminism of Jane Austen 11

4.2 Feminism of Charlotte Bronte: The Advancement of Feminism of Jane Austen 11

4.3 The Reasons for the Differences between Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte in their Characters 12

Conclusion 12

References 14