An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx

An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx

《An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx（13页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

AnAnalysisofJaneAusten

AnAnalysisofJaneAusten’sprideandprejudicefromthePerspectiveofFeminism

Chapter1Introduction

JaneAusten’sreputationattheendof19thcenturyandtheearly20thcenturyisadmiredbymanyliteraryelites,yethernovelsaresharp,pitiless,pessimisticanalysesofhumanrelations.Althoughherworkshavewildlyadmiredin19thcentury,butfewofadmirersseemsfullytohaverealizedthedepthofherart,northeperfectionherbroughttotheliteralform,whichhavetoprovethechiefvehicleofimaginativeexpressionofVictorianage,andherspecialtalentinnovelculminatedtheartoffiction.Hersixnovelsshowsometypically18thcenturyassumptionsaboutsocietyandaboutattitudestohumanrelations.TheVictoriansabandonedanddespisedmanyoftheseassumptions,whichinvolvedastaticviewofsocialorderswhiletheyaredeeplypreoccupiedbychange,andanironic,illusionlessconceptionofhumannaturewhichtheyareattempttointerpretasakindofmoralshallownessorcynicism.ThisisperhapsthereasonwhythemostofvaluableJaneAusten’scriticismsproducedinthelaterhalfcentury.Whathascausedcriticsoflatercenturytorecognizethegreatnessofthenovelssheaccomplishedisthealertnessofherconscious,orevenherobservations.PrideandPrejudiceasaexampletoreflectthevaluesofwomanfrommiddleorupperclassestowardsmarriage,thenovelisthasanimportantpartinformingthisconsciousbecauseshehadgivenustheimagesofsocialfiguresinwhichwecanimaginativelyparticipate,thesignificanceofhergreatnessinnovelisdependonhowwellwecanunderstandourselvesandwhatwecanobserve.（Gillie,2006:

4-5）

TheimmediatesuccessofPrideandPrejudiceamongthefashionablenovelreadingpublicsisduetoitsliteralgenre,isnotaconventionalromanticstory,butasatiricalgoodhumorofcomedymanners,indeed,PrideandPrejudiceareaslightlydifferentsortofnovel,Bingleywouldhavebeentheheroandbeautiful,longsufferingJaneastheheroineisinthefirstplace,andsecondhergraspofthesocialcontextwithintheirstoriesareworkedout,particularly,issuggestedinthecoollyironicreversaloftheopeningsentence,asinglewomanmustbeinwantofahusbandwithagoodfortune,andthedesireforamaninpossessionofagoodfortuneistheoverridingconcernofthefemalecharactersinthisworld,IlikelytoconfirmthatthemainbusinessofPrideandPrejudiceistheproposalofyoungwomeninmarriage,aswhole,fourkindsofmarriagearerepresentinfrontofreaders.Infact,Austenisinclinedtogivethecriticalimportanceofmarriage,tohighlightherunderstandingoftheeconomicdeterminantsofsocialactionbyameansofmaritalimperativereaches.AlthoughthenovelendedwiththerealizationofsuchidealmarriagebetweenElizabethandDarcy,theexplorationoffeminismbyextensionisstillinternalforustohaveabetterunderstandingfortheassumptionwhichAustenmentionedduringVictorianage.

Chapter2Literaryreview

Itistruth,butnotuniversallyacknowledgedthatacademicstudyisallthatkeepmostoftheclassicsofEnglishliteratureinprint,oneofthegreatesttributestoprideandprejudiceisthatsomescholarcanstillhavethesatisfactionofseeingtheinternalvaluesorethicsasoneofthefemalenovelsin19thcenturyofBritishliteratures.Duetoitsimmediatesuccess,almosttwocenturieslateritremainthemostpopularofallJaneAusten’snovel,hasalreadybecomethebelovedofmostcritics,andcriticismsonAusten’sworkisnowacorpussolargethatitcontainsthewildestdiversityoftheoreticalapproachesandmethodologicalaffiliations.Infollowingparagraphs,willpresentstheextentstudiesonprideandprejudiceintwomaincategoriesthatisinternationalanddomesticones.

2.1InternationalReviews

SincethepublicationofJaneAusten’sPrideandPrejudice,theworkhasarousedwideattentionofreadersandpeoplewhohavethoughtaboutitinthewest,withreverencebooksandpapersappearinginlargernumbers.LikeKennethL.Moler,considersmaincharactersascentraltargetstofurtherexploration.MolertracestheevolutionofDarcy'scharacter.InMoler'sview,thenovelhingesonthecentraltensionbetweenElizabethBennet'sindividualismandDarcy'sfaithinanestablishedsocialorder.（Moler,1967）,somecriticspraisecharacterizationinPrideandPrejudiceaswellasthenovel'sscenesofdomesticlife,anotherexampleaboutcharacterstudyisFrancis,sherelatesthehistoricalbackgroundsurroundingbothJaneAustenandthenovelPrideandPrejudice,SheincludesacritiqueofAusten'streatmentofbothmaleandfemalecharacters.（Francis,2005）Ontheotherhand,somecriticsusuallychoosetherelationshipbetweenElizabethandDarcytorepresenttheirinterpretationsofwhatisidealmarriage.StovelassertsthatAusten'snovelallowsfortheinterpretationthatElizabethandMr.Darcy'srelationshipisanexampleofideallove,aswellastheviewthatitisan"immediateandmagneticattraction.（Stovel,2005）

Also,someresearchesfocusingontextitselfhelpushaveagoodunderstandingofEnglishhistory,forexample,BrowndiscusseshowAustenoffersapowerfulcommentaryonthechangesinsociety,genderattitudes,andclassstructureinearlynineteenthcenturyEngland.（Brown,2007）

2.3Domesticreviews

Comparetothestudiesinthewest,thedomesticstudiesonPrideandPrejudice;havebeendividedintoseveralcategoriesovertwentyyears.

ThefirstphasecentralsaroundtheethicsofmarriageappearedinPrideandPrejudice.Asweknown,thenovelhasgiventhecriticalimportanceofmarriage,asinallJaneAustennovels,mostofscholarsandcriticstendtobelievethatthemainbusinessofPrideandPrejudiceisthedisposalofyoungwomanmarriages.Therefore,overaperiodoftime,theireffortsetsforthbothinformedpersonalresponseandacademicknowledgeintheserviceofsomespecializedstudiesofthephilosophicalconceptsunderthebackgroundofso-called“moralethics”atVictorianera.SuchthematiccriticismsofPrideandPrejudice,articlesandessaysthathaveexploredAusten’sworkinrelationtothetypicalfourmarriagesrepresentedinnovel.YiWenqing,YangGuiqing,AnLina,YanJunlingaretheexamplesindiscussingthequestion.YiWenqingmakesacomparisonbetweenJaneEyreandPrideandPrejudice,twoclassicsasthetopictoexploreamatterofattitudesfocusingonmarriagesinlater18thcenturyandearly19thcentury,thustodeemtheconclusionthatthemarriagesamongtheyoungwomeninPrideandPrejudiceisresultedfromthefinancialstates,whileJane’smarriageisestablishedonthebasicstoneofspiritualequality.（YiWenqing,2010）However,AnLinatendstoselecttheheroineinGonewiththeWindasaobjecttocomparewithElizabethinPrideandPrejudice,soastorefracttheirpersonalresponsestowardloveandmarriagesundertheinfluenceoftheirdesignedfeaturesincharacters.（AnLina,2009）generallyspeaking,thediversityofmarriagesaredirectlydeterminedbytheirpersonalitiesandsocialvalues,baseonsuchstatement,YanJunlingtendstoanalysisitwiththeparticularperspectivesofmarriage.（YanJunling,2008）

Withtheregardtothefemalecharacters,ElizabethBonnet,theheroineandotheryoungsinglewomeninPrideandPrejudice,arealwaysthefocusesofcritiques,andFeminismconsideredasanewtrendofliterarytheoryshapeourviewstoanalysisthefemalenovels.JaneAustin,regardedasainitiatorandpioneerofFeminismin19thcentury,auniversalviewisthatAustin’sPrideandPrejudicedescribesprotagonistsinfemalewriter’sworkswhofacetheunthinkableresultsofgenderhatredinfemalewritersandemergefromtheirtrialswithanewsenseofself-ownership,likeallAustin’snovels,PrideandPrejudiceisthefirsttrialtodescribingthefemalehistoryasahauntingexperience,itsrelationtofemale’sindependenceandequalityhasbeenwidelyexploredbyLiuChangandZhuWanying,theformerdeemsthatPrideandPrejudiceisaclassicwhichusedfemalepointofviewtoreflectfemaleexperienceandsentimentalemotions.（LiuChang,2009）Laternotestheessenceofmarriagein19thcenturyisthefemale’sself-awarenessinrelationbetweenthemarriageandfortune,love,asthesourceofcreation,isreallyaperspectivequietimportantinAustin’sattitudetowardidealmarriage.（ZhuWanying,2008）.

2.4Summary

Basesonthestudiesofbothinternationalanddomestic,mostofcriticismsrepresenttheirunderstandingandinsightstowardscharacters,researchesoftext,thematicanalysisandhistoricalbackgroundbyextension,aswellassomeapproachesofcriticism,suchasfeminism.InthecourseofattentivereadingofJaneAustin’sPrideandPrejudice,concernedwiththetheoryorbranchesofFeminism,IinsistthattheexplorationoftheFeminismthoughtshiddeninthisnovelisofmoresignificancethananyoneelsewhentakinganacquaintancewithFeminismtheory.Thenbasedonabovereviews,ItendtoattempttofocusmystudyofFeminisminanalysisofPrideandPrejudice,andAustin’sartsoffemalenovelwriting.

Chapter3Methodology

ThestorynarratedandthecharactersmentionedinPrideandPrejudice,isalludingnotmerelytomaleprejudiceagainstwomen,butalsototheprejudiceagainstmatrimonyitself,ifweregardedthecharactersinPrideandPrejudiceasthe“images”oftheyoungsignalwomen,wewillgetasomberimpressionofthelotofwomeninJaneAustin’slifetime,tosomeextent,FeminismhavebeenignitedasameanstohelpushaveabetterevaluationtowardJaneAustin’snovel.

3.1Feminismandfeministliterarycriticism

Feminismisgenerallydefinedas