《名利场》中两位女主人公的对比分析精编版.docx

《名利场》中两位女主人公的对比分析精编版.docx

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《名利场》中两位女主人公的对比分析精编版

AComparativeAnalysisoftheTwoHeroinesinVanityFair

《名利场》中两位女主人公的对比分析

Abstract

VanityFairisafamousnovelandmasterpiecewrittenbyWilliamMakepeaceThackeray,anditisafamousworkofcriticalrealism.Inthenovel,Thackerayhascreatedtwofemaleimages---BeckyandAmelia,whoarefreshandplump.Theyrespectivelystandsfortwotypesoffemaleimages:

oneisthe“badwomanimage”representedbyBeckywhobreaksthetraditionones;andtheotheristhetypicaltraditional“familyangelimage”representedbyAmelia.However,boththebadwomanandangelhavethedualnaturesinThackeray’seyes.Inthispaper,itmakesacomparativeanalysisofthetwofemaleimagesshapedbyThackerayinVanityFair,todiscussthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweentwofemalesimages’characters,values,anddestiny,andprobeintothedeepreasonsforsuchdifferences.

Throughthisnovel,the19thcenturyEnglishsocietycanbeseenatalllevelsandhowdifferentpeoplesurviveinthecruelsociety.Researchingthistopichasimportantsignificanceinunderstandingandbecomingfamiliarwiththesocietyandcultureofthe19thcenturyBritishcapitalism.

Keywords:

characters;Becky;Amelia

中文摘要

《名利场》是19世纪英国著名小说家威廉·梅克比斯·萨克雷的成名作也是其代表作，是一部著名的批判现实主义作品。

小说中塑造了两位女主角——蓓基和爱米丽亚，形象鲜活丰满，栩栩如生。

她们分别代表了两种女性形象：

一种是蓓基所代表的打破传统女性形象的“坏女人”；一种是爱米莉亚所代表的典型传统家庭天使形象。

然而，不管是坏女人还是天使，在萨克雷的眼中都是有其两重性的。

本文就萨克雷在《名利场》中所塑造的两位女性形象进行对比分析，分析二人性格、价值观及命运的异同，并探讨导致这种差异的深层原因。

透过这篇小说，我们可以看到19世纪英国上流社会的各个层面，以及不同的人怎样在社会中谋得他们的一席之地。

研究此课题对了解和熟悉19世纪英国资本主义社会文化具有重要的意义。

关键词：

性格；蓓基；爱米丽亚

Outline

1.Introduction

2.ComparisonofBeckyandAmeliainVanityFair

2.1DifferentCharacters

2.1.1Becky---BreakingtheTraditionalImageofWomen

2.1.2Amelia---ATypicalTraditionalFemaleImage

2.2DifferentAttitudetowardLoveandMarriage

2.2.1Becky---AToolLeadingHertotheUpperSociety

2.2.2Amelia---DevotedHerselftoLove

2.2DifferentFates

2.2.1Becky’sDestiny

2.2.2Amelia’sFates

3.ReasonsforTheirDifferentFates

3.1LivingEnvironment

3.2SocialSituationinVictorianEra

3.3TraditionalFemaleMorality

4.Conclusion

1.Introduction

VanityFairisamasterpieceoftheBritishnovelistThackeray.Itmainlydepictstheencountersanddestiniesoftwobeautifulgirls---BeckyandAmeliawholiveintheBritishupperclassintheearlytimeofthe19thcentury.Beckyisatypicaladventuressinthecapitalistsociety.Theinfluencesanddiscriminationsoftheunderworldcauseherpersonalitiestobecomedistorted.Inordertomakealiving,shedoesn’tgiveupanyopportunitiesandtriestoreachherpurposethroughmarriages.Shelikestoshowherfaceinpublic.Infact,thelifepursuedbyherisfilledwithfameandwealthaswellastheendlessdesires.Sheisevil,butsuccessful.Sheisanoutcomeofthedualfunctionoftheeraandsociety.Onthecontrary,Ameliaisaprettyandsimplewomanwithgoodcharactersandpurelove.Shecomesfromarichmerchantfamily,lookingforwardtotheidealloveandtryingtoweaveherownlifewithlove.Sheispoor,buthappy.Beingdeeplyattractedbythesetwoheroines’distinctpersonalitiesanddifferentfates,theauthortriestoexploretheimpliedsocialreasonsfortheirdifferentencountersandviewsofloveandmarriage.

ThroughanalyzingBeckyandAmelia’sdifferentcharacters,viewsonloveandmarriageaswellasfatesinthisnovel,thispaperaimsatsummarizingthecoremoralconceptsoftheVictorianwomenandexploringtheimpliedsocialreasons.Hopethispapercannotonlybeasupplementtothepreviousstudies,butalsohelpthereadersbetterunderstandthedeepconnotationsofthisnovel.

2.ComparisonofBeckyandAmeliainVanityFair

BritainatthattimeisnothingshortofVanityFair.Therefore,tosurviveinsuchacruelsociety,onemusthavecertainlifeskills,especiallypeopleborninpoorfamilies.SodoBeckyandAmelia.Inthispart,thecharacters,attitudetoloveandmarriage,aswellastheirfateswillbecompared.

2.1DifferentCharacters

IntheVanityFair,thetwoheroines,BeckyandAmelia,appearfullblown,especiallyBeckywhoisoneofthemostsuccessfulandtypicalcharactersinnovels.Inthefollowingpart,theirdifferentcharacterswillbediscussed.

2.1.1Becky---BreakingtheTraditionalImageofWomen

Beingdoughtytopursue:

IntheVitoriatimes,socialcultureandeconomicstatusdeterminethestatusofwomen.InVictorianBritain,“womenhavenoopportunitytogetknowledgethrougheducationorwork;theyareonlytoldtowhatkindoftheirbehaviorsareinconformitytonorms,whichboundthefemale’scharacters”（Hagan,1975:

479）.Rebeccaisapoororphan,butshewantstowintherespect,andobtainstheeconomicstatusandsocialstatus.Herindependentpersonalityisinconflictwithherstatusconferredbythesociety.

Herdesireofrespectderivesfromherchildhoodexperience.Herfatherwouldbeathiswifeanddaughterwhendrunk,andcomplainedthesociety’sinjustice.Herfather’spunishmentintensifiedheranger,andherchildhoodexperiencemadeherrealizeshewaslivingininacageofpatriarchalsociety.Shewantstohaveadifferentchildhoodlife,butthesocietyimposedrestrictionsoffemalesonher.Therefore,inthatsociety,tolivewithyourowngoalsanddesiresisagreatchallengeforher.IntheVictoriantimes,onlywomenintheupperclasshavetheopportunitytoaccepttheeducationaboutmanners;foragirllikeRebeccasuchagirlfromthebottomofthesociety,lifeismorebound.Rebecca’ssocialstatuscondemnshertorelyonherownbutnootherway.Shewillneveraccepttherestrictionsofgenderandstatusimposedformthesociety,andshehasherownplansandtriestorealizeheraspirationsbyherself.

ResistingSpirits:

Afterhisfatherdied,Rebeccaisallowedtostayinschool,buthastoteachothergirlsFrench.Rebeccaisangeredbyotherstudents’discrimination,andshebeginstodesireforprestigeextremely.Theschoollifemakeshermoreawarenooneelsecanrelyonbutherself,soshebeginstoplanforherownfuture.Shecannotbearother’sdiscriminationanymore,soshedeterminestoentertheuppersociety.However,beforegraduation,shefindsthechallengetothetraditionalconceptswillonlyhurtherself,soshegetsherownangerandambitionhidden,andpretendstosurrender.ShehaslearnedfromAmeliathatbeingsubmissiveandnaivewillbemorepopulartopeople.AndthehugedifferencesinMissPinkerton’streatingonAmeliaandher,makessherealizethatshehastohidehernaturalinstincts,buttoshowelegantandpolitemanners.Innaterebelliondoomsherwon’tchangeherbehaviortoachievethesocialexpectationsofwomen.（Hammond,2002:

26）Shesocializescarefullywithpeoplearoundher,andthenlaughsatthembehind.LordSteyne’shumiliationletshergetthesenseofsatisfaction,becausehisnoblestatussymbolizesforthecagesetbyherchildhoodsocialsystem.

WitandCapability:

InVictorianpatriarchytraditionalsociety,womencannotleavethemanalone,butthemenonlythinksthemselves.Rebeccahastransformswoman’sinferiorrolethroughherintelligentmanipulationordeceivemenaroundher.Asagoverness,shebreaktherulesrestrictedbythesocietyforwomenthroughbecomingindispensablefigures.Inthemaster’shome,althoughsheisonlyafamilyteacher,butshefindsherselfactuallydominatingthefamilybusinesstoagreatextent.Rebecca’swordsanddeedsunderthecoverofinnocenceareverypersuasive.ShecontrolsothersthroughherwordsandactionstomakethembelievesheawomanlikeAmelia:

obedient,andchildlikeinnocent.

2.1.2Amelia---ATypicalTraditionalFemaleImage

Ameliacomplieswiththerequirementsofbeing“anangelinthehouse”.（Hammond,1992:

663）Shenotonlyactsasaqualifiedmother,butalsoactsasadocilewifeandafilialdaughter.

Thesocialgenderisnotonlydeterminedbythephysiologicalsex,butalsoconstructedbythesociety.ThroughouttheVictorianera,formostofthemiddle-classwomen,theirlifeisshapedbyboththeirfamilyrolesandtheideaofwhatfeminizationis.Andtheirsenseofself-conceptisdeterminedbytheirsocialstatusandeconomicconditions.Femalesaredescribedascaring,simpleandignorantgroups.AccordingtotheVictoriansociety,theidealwifeshouldbeloyal,obedient,passive,self-denyingandandpureandsoon.Ameliaissucharepresentative.Shedesirestobean“Victorianangel”whichisconsistentwiththerequirementsofthetimes.However,thesocietydoesn’tsupporthersenseofself-conceptandlimitsallherindependentawareness.Beauvoirhaseversaidthatwhenfemalesrelyonmalestomakealivingandenjoysuchakindoflifestyle,theyarewillingtobeothers.（Zeng,2006:

149）AndthisisaveryexactdescriptionforAmelia.

DuringthesixyearsofstudyinginPinkertongirls’school,Ameliahasbeenalsopraisedandlovedbypeoplearoundher.Whenshefinishesherstudies,theheadmasterMissPinkertonsaysthat:

“AmeliapossessestheuniquepersonalitiesthataqualifiedBritishwomanshouldhave.Shestudieshardandhasmoderatetemperament,winningthepraiseofteachersandclassmates.Thus,everyoneintheschool,youngandold,lovesher.”AmeliaregardsBeckyashermostintimatefriend.Once,afterBecky’sstayingatherhomeforaweek,shestillwantshertostayatthereforanotherweek,whichsoundsextremelyincredible.ThesentimentalAmeliainherentlytendstodependonpeoplearoundher,makingherbeinasubordinatepositioninthepatriarchalsociety,butshedoesn’tmindatall.Shetakesloveandmarriageasalifelongcareer.Sheistheembodimentofangelsandhercowardandgentlepersonalitiesareinaccord