英文毕业论文从女性主义的角度分析《简爱》.docx

英文毕业论文从女性主义的角度分析《简爱》.docx

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英文毕业论文从女性主义的角度分析《简爱》

本科生毕业论文

从女性主义的角度分析《简爱》

AnAnalysisonJaneEyrefromthePerspectiveofFeminist

摘要

十九世纪英国女作家夏洛蒂.勃朗特的作品《简爱》因其独特的思想内容和表现手法，一直被看作是英国文学的经典之作。

自从作品问世以来，一直受到文学评论界的关注。

尤其是作品中对女性独立与平等的追求，使得小说中女主人公简爱的形象负载了西方妇女在19世纪开始觉醒的女性意识。

英国文学不乏叛逆女性的形象，但像简爱那样卑微、平凡、孤苦无依而又相貌平平的“弱势”女性，如此自觉地对抗强大的父权社会，算是空前的。

此篇论文从女性主义的角度出发，通过对作品中女主人公简爱的分析，揭示小说中所反映的维多利亚时期女性性别意识的觉醒和当时女性的社会地位。

在维多利亚时期女性地位得到了提高，女性意识得到了发展，但是仍然受到社会等级和社会地位的限制。

但总体来说，随着时代的发展，女性地位和女性意识都得到了不同程度的提高。

关键词：

简爱；夏洛蒂.勃朗特；女性主义；平等和自由

Abstract

CharlotteBronteisanoutstandingwomanwriterinthe19thcenturyEnglishliterature,herworkJaneEyrehasbeenregardedastheclassicsoftheEnglishliteratureduetoitsuniquecontentandwayofexpression.Sincetheworkhasbeenpublished,ithasattractedtheattentionoftheliterarycritics.Especiallythepursuitoffemaleindependenceandequality,makingtheheroinesofJane’simageloadstheWesternwomen’sawakeningoffeministconsciousnessinthe19thcentury.ThereisnolackoftheimageofrebelliouswomeninEnglishliterature,butlikeJaneEyre,ashumble,ordinary,plainbutwhohaveno“minority”women,soconsciouslyagainstthestrongpatriarchalsociety,beregardedasunprecedented.

ThispaperrevealsthewakeofthegenderconsciousandthesocialpositionofwomeninVictorianperiodthroughtheanalysisoftheheroinefromthefeministperspective.ThestatusofwomenintheVictorianperiodhasimprovedbythedevelopmentoffemaleconsciousness,butstillaffectedbysocialclassandsocialstatus.

Keywords:

JaneEyre；CharlotteBronte;female;equality;freedom

TableofContents

3.1.2CharlotteBronte'sPositioninLiteraryHistory…………………………………..7

3.2.3LiteraryValueofJaneEyre………………………………………………………9

4.3Thornfield-UprisingofFemaleConsciousness…………………………………………11

Chapter1Introduction

1.1SocialBackground

JaneEyreisoneofthefamousnovelswrittenbyCharlotteBronteinthe19thcenturyanditisamongmyfamousnovels.Sinceitspublication,ithasattractedalotofattention.Fromtheliteraturereview,thethesisoftheworkisaboutfeminism.Inthelaterpartofthetwentiethcentury,itbecomescommonforliterarycriticstopayattentiontofeministelementsinCharlotteBronte’snovels.FeministfirstappearedinFrance;theFrenchRevolutionchallengedsocialinequalitiesandopeneddoorsforwomen’sfightforequality.AsslaveryinAmericabecamewidespreadintheearly1800s,manyscholarschallengeditsexistence.Womeninthisperiodarelargelyconfinedtohomeandareexpectedtomarryinordertosecurestatesandprivilege.In1848,StantonandMottcallthefirstSenecaFallsConventionforwomen’srightswhichcallsforwomen’srighttovoteandstatesthatallmenandwomenarecreatedequal.JaneEyrewaspublishedin1847alongwiththedevelopmentofthewomenmovement.

Thewriter,CharlotteBrontehadbeenraisedbythefatherwhotaughthischildrentothinkforthemselves.Shelearnedtotrustherinstinctsthatencouragedhertobelievethatwomen,aswellasmen,hadaneedtodream,toexplore,thatthey“needexercisefortheirfaculties,andafieldfortheireffortsasmuchastheirbrothersdo”（CharlotteBronte,1992:

130）.Hermotherdiedin1821,leavingthechildreninthecareoftheiraunt.Livingintherectory,shehadlittletodootherthanreadandwrite.Thelonelinesssheexperiencedwasclearlyacute.

1.2MotivationsandObjectives

InVictoriantimes,CharlotteBrontewasamongthefirstfeministwriters.Thiswasthetimethatthewomenwerelookeddownuponbythesociety.Theyhadfewrightsandfewoptionsopentothemforself-support.Formostwomentheonlywaytolivedecentlywastogetmarried,andinmanycases,itwasnotuptothewomentochoosewithwhomshemarried.Forthemostpart,awomanwasnotgiventheopportunitytogotoschoolandearnadegreeunlessshewasbornintoahighsocialclass.TheaverageVictorianwomanwastreatednotasaperson,butasan

objectorpieceofproperty.Shehadveryfewrightseitherinsociety,ormarriage.InJaneEyre,themaincharacter,Jane,exploresthedepthatwhichwomenmayactinsocietyandfindsherownboundariesinVictorianEngland.JaneEyreisanovelaboutonewoman’sjourneythroughlife,soshedescribedJane’sexperienceindetailtoshowtheinferiorityofthewomanandthepovertyofthesociety.ButJaneissuchself-respect,independentanddecisivewoman.Herfemaleconsciousnessandherstrugglingexperiencesetabrilliantexampleforthefemaleworldwide.Herspiritencourageswomantofightforliberation.Asagreatbook,JaneEyrenotonlyawakesitsearlyreadersoftheVictoriansAge,butalsoencouragesthemodernwomen.JaneEyretellsnotonlywhatanindependentwomanislikebutalsowhatasuccessfulwomanshoulddo.Throughtheaboveanalysis,wecanknowthattheauthorofJaneEyrecreatedsuccessfullyatypicalwomancharacterwhohasthecouragetorebelandfightforfreedomandequality.

ThispaperrevealsthewakeofthegenderconsciousandthesocialpositionofwomeninVictorianperiodthroughtheanalysisoftheheroinefromthefeministperspective.Thefirstchapterintroducesthesocialbackground,thetypeandthesubjectofthework.Thesecondchapterintroducesthetheoreticalbasis,theformoffeministanditsinfluencetothecreationofthework.Thethirdchapterputsthefoundationtoanalyzethefemaleconsciousthroughthecomparisonoftheauthor’sexperienceandtheplotofthework.Thefourthchapteranalysesthemaincharacterinthreeaspects.Italsoreflectsthedevelopmentofthefemaleconsciousnessandthepursuitoftheequality.ThefifthchapteranalysesJane’spursuitofequalityandlibertyfromthefeministperspective,reflectingthe19thcenturywomen’seffecttopursuitfreedomandequalityaswellasthelimitationofthefemaleconscious.Thesixthchapteristheconclusionofthework.InVictoriantimes,women’sstatusgotdifferentimprovement,butduetorestrictionofthesocialstatus,femaleconsciousnessstillhasthelimitation.

Chapter2LiteratureReview

2.1TheDefinitionofFeminism

Theideaof“feminism”appearedseveralcenturiesago,whileeventodaythereisnoexactlydefinition.Throughoutthehistory,womenhavealwaysstruggledtogainequality,respectandthesamerightsasmen.Whatisfeminism?

Bygeneraldefinition,feminismisaphilosophyinwhichwomenandtheircontributionsarevalued.Itisbasedonsocialpoliticalandeconomicalequalityforwomen.Feminismcanalsobedescribedasamovementorarevolutionthatincludeswomenandmenwhowishtheworldtobeequalwithoutboundaries.Therearemanydifferenttypesoffeministtheoryandeachhasaprofoundimpactonwomenandgenderstudies.Thefirstisculturalfeminismwhichisthetheorythattherearefundamentalpersonalitydifferencesbetweenwomenandmen.

Mostfeministsholdabeliefthatwomanasgroupsaretreateddifferentlyfrommen.Theyaresubjecttopersonalandinstitutionaldiscrimination（StevenGoldberg,1973）.Feministsbelievethatbeingfemaletoalargeextentdeterminesone’slife.Beingawomanmeanshavingacertaingender,especiallyfemininity.Feministsalsobelievedthatthesocietyisorganizedinfavorofthemen.Feministstrytoexplainthatthepowersareimbalancedduetothegenderdifference.Literaturewilloftenreflecttheculturalassumptionsandattitudesofitsperiod,ofcourseincludeattitudestowardswomen:

theirstatus,theirroles,theirexpectations.

Andfeministtheoristsaimtounderstandthenatureofinequalityandfocusongenderpolitics,powerrelations,andsexuality.Feministpoliticalactivitiesadvocateforsocial,political,andeconomicequalitybetweenthesexes.Theycampaignonissuessuchasreproductiverights,domesticviolence,maternityleave,equalpay,discriminationandsexualviolence.

Whenwetalkaboutthefeministcriticism,wemustmentionthattheword“feminism”.AccordingtotheNewEncyclopediaBritannica,“feminism”,alsocalled“feministmovement”or“women’sliberationmovement”,referstothesocialmovementsthatseekequalrightsforwomen,givingthemequalstatuswithmenandfreedomtodecidetheirowncareers

andlifepatterns.ThereareotherfivedifferentdefinitionsofFeminism:

1.Challengingthepowerstructurebetweenmenandwomen;seeingmenandwomenasgroupsratherthanindividuals.

2.Rebellingagainstandrejectingpowerstructures,institutions,laws,orsocialconventionsthatmaintainwomenassubordinate,powerless,orsecond-classcitizens.

3.Arguingagainstthedivisionoflaborthatvaluesmeninthepublicsphere（work,sports,government,law）anddevalueswomenintheprivatesphere（home,childcare,reproductivelabor,housework,maintainingfamily）.

4.Workingasacollectivetofightforwomen’srightsinallfacetsofmodernlife,includingtheworkplace,sexuality,reproductiverights,fairrepresentation,andacceptanceofalternativefamilies.

5.Demandingfullrightsforallwomenandmen.

2.2ResearchBackground

Intheyearof1800s,peoplehavefewrightsandfewchances.Womenarestillregardedasthesecondclasscitizens.ButthingstochangeafterthereignofQueenVictoria.TheVictoriantimeisaperiodofdramaticchangethatbroughtEnglishtoitshighestpointofdevelopment.TheIndustrialRevolutionbringsanenormousincreaseinwealthandprovidesthetoolsforthedevelopmentaswellasserioussocialproblems.Duringthetime,womengraduallygaintherighttotheirpropertyuponmarriagethroughtheMarriedWomen’sPropertyAct,therighttodivorce.BytheendofVictoria’sreign,womencouldtakedegreesattwelveuniversities.Butgeneralconditionsforwomenarestillpoor.

2.3HistoricalViews