英语教育专业毕业论文A COMPARISON OF THE WOMAN IMAGE BETWEEN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND JANE EYRE.doc

A COMPARISON OF THE WOMAN IMAGE BETWEEN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND JANE EYREName: Zhang XiaoangMajor: English Education(英语教育)Grade: 2007 (Class 8)College: College of Foreign LanguagesDate: May15th，2011Tutor: Cui ChunhuaAbstract: The focus of this thesis is the two well-known female roles, Jane and Elizabeth, Jane comes from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and Elizabeth from Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice. They have not only many similar qualities but also have different personalities, one of which is that the two women have different experience of struggling to gain the female economic and spritual independence in patriarchal society. By comparing their different social status, family backgrounds, attitudes towards marriage and love, this thesis aims to explore the reasons of causing the two different experience between the two female roles and how did the backgrounds of that period which the novels in influnced women and their struggle spirits. In addition, the two novels not only describe the differences between the two women, but also compare the two autors differences, to present their womanism, and their different view of marriage and love. For exmaple, Jane Austen emphasizes of the females loves and marriages are limited by the economic conditions but Carlotte Bronte deemes that marriage should be based on the equality of the spirit and the soul.Key Words: Jane Eyre, Elizabeth, attitude of love, attitude of marri-age, different points摘要 本文关注的是文学史上两个杰出的女性角色-简爱和伊莉莎白。其中简爱出自夏洛蒂勃朗特的简爱，伊莉莎白出自简奥斯汀的傲慢与偏见，简爱和伊莉莎白有许多相似的优秀品质也有很多不同点，主要表现为两位女主角在男权社会中争取女性经济和精神独立过程中有着不同的奋斗经历。本文欲通过比较简爱和伊莉莎白不同的社会地位，家庭背景和她们对于婚姻及爱情的态度，来探讨造成两段经历不同的原因，及当时小说所处的时代背景对女性地位及女性奋斗抗争精神的影响。此外，本文不仅阐述了小说中两位女性的不同之处，而且还通过比较两部作品的作者-夏洛蒂勃朗特与简奥斯汀对待爱情婚姻及女性的态度不同之处，来展现作家的女权主义思想，以及对待婚姻爱情不同的观点，比如，简奥斯汀强调经济状况对女性爱情和婚姻的限制而夏洛蒂勃朗特则认为婚姻必须建立在精神灵魂平等的条件下。关键词：简爱；伊莉莎白 ； 爱情观 ； 婚姻观 ；不同点ContentsChapter One Introduction11.1General Comment on Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte11.2The Background of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre31.2.1 The Background of Pride and Prejudice31.2.2 The Background of Jane Eyre4Chapter Two Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre Based on Feminism52.1 Elizabeth Bennet52.2 Jane Eyre6Chapter Three Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre73.1 A Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre from their Characters73.2  A Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre from their Attitudes towards Love and Marriage9Chapter Four The Reasons for Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyres Different Attitudes towards Love and Marriage114.1 Different Social Backgrounds114.2 Different Family Backgrounds134.3 Different Personalities14Chapter Five A Comparison between the Two Authors155.1 Different Attitudes towards Love and Marriage155.2 Different Attitudes towards Woman19Chapter Six Conclusion21Notes23Bibliography24A Comparison of the Woman Image between Pride and Prejudice and Jane EyreChapter One Introduction1.1General Comment on Jane Austen and Charlotte BronteCharlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was one of the most famous female writers in English literature. In this period of tense class struggle appeared a new literary trend-critical realism. English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. The critical realists described with much vividness and great artistic skill the chief traits of the England society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. She created several works, such as Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), The Professor (1857). Her works are all about the struggle of an individual consciousness toward self-realization, about some lonely and neglected young women with a longing for love. Jane Eyre is her typical works. It is an autobiography. It was written in the year of 1846.Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist whose realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of free indirect speech, burlesque and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and best-loved writers in English literature. Although Austens works were widely read in her lifetime, she published her works anonymously. Virginia Woolf called Austen “the most perfect artist of women.” Jane Austens novels were witty, warm and ironic portraiting ,and she criticizedthe privileged classes of 18th and 19th-century England. Her best-known works were Emma (1815), Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Sense and Sensibility (1811), During her lifetime, Austens works brought her little fame and only a few positive reviews. Through the mid-nineteenth century, her novels were admired only by a literary elite. However, the publication of her nephews A Memoir of Jane Austen in 1869 introduced her life and works to a wider public. By the 1940s, Austen was firmly ensconced in academia as a “great English writer”, and the second half of the twentieth century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship that explored many aspects of her novels artistic, ideological, and historical. In popular culture, a Janeite fan culture has developed, centred on Austens life, her works, and the various film and television adaptations of them. 1.2The Background of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre1.2.1 The Background of Pride and PrejudiceThe story of Pride and Prejudice took place in the time of the Regency in Britain. At that time, Britain was at the period of transition from the earlier stage of Capitalism to Capitalist Industrialization. At that time, according to the social conditions in Britain, a good marriage for a young woman was very important. This phenomenon was closely associated with the British society and the status of women in the society. And many middle-class young women had three solutions: getting married, staying at home as old maids or working as the family female teachers. The income of family female teacher was very low, and the status was low as well. It was very difficult for them to change or swap out of this status, no one would like to be a maid forever, therefore, in terms of young women, especially those who don't have enough properties, to get married was the only way for them to gain respect, stability and social status. The story is based on this kind of special social background. 1.2.2 The Background of Jane EyreVictorian English society separated the duties of men and women into completely separate spheres. This meant that the male head of the family assumed the duty of earning an income, while his female counterpart worked within the domestic circle. A woman pursuing a higher education found herself branded with names such as “ong-tailed sheep,” an allusion to a farm animal that does not garner a high price at a sale. Like the long-tailed sheep, a well-taught woman was not considered a valuable commodity. Charlotte Bronte contradicts these notions in her novel, however. In Jane Eyre, the character of Rochester, at whose estate Jane is employed, finds himself attracted to her because of, rather than despite, her acute wit. While Jane does not possess the physical attributes of some of the other females whom Rochester knows, her intellectual capacity makes her a stimulating companion. In that time the major barrier facing women was the prevalent belief that the female mind could not sufficiently acquire and retain intellectual material. Traditionalists argued that women were physically and mentally unfit for serious intellectual pursuits. In view of this prevailing attitude, women received only a limited education in certain “appropriate” subjects. According to the traditional curriculum, girls studied English, history, geography and Scripture. They did not delve into mathematics, science, or the classics. Society expected that its women display a proficiency in art, music, French, sewing, and singing. These talents, people reasoned, would enable a young woman to provide a fitting and cultivated home for her husband. For the most part, girls received their primary education at home, usually from their mothers. Victorian mothers instructed their young pupils not only in the traditional subjects, but in the skills of housewifery as well. Upper-middle-class families also paid for their daughters to attend special boarding schools. Another breed of boarding school, commonly known as “deplorable schools,” acted as dumping grounds for orphans and other unwanted children. These establishments focused less on education than on discipline. Lowood Institution, in Brontes novels, represents one such establishment.ChapterTwo Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre Based on Feminism2.1 Elizabeth BennetElizabeth is a very remarkable young woman due to her confidence, which allows her intelligence to shine through, all the while making her less trapped than the other young women in the novel.Elizabeth is the ideal image for women as well as the most charismatic person in the novel. She is Bonnets second daughter, an active, not been affected by the formal education belonging to those aristocratic young girls, so she isn't good at music and painting, but she has read many books which make her knowledgeable and perceptive. The most important aspect is that she is a lady with dignity and upbringing. Elizabeth Bennet constitutes a critique of traditional norms of womens behavior. Her independence, intelligence, and bold personality do not hold to a traditional 19th-century view of women. Throughout the novel, there are many references to the unusual character of Elizabeth Bennet, she is seen to be an atypical female during those times. Wit, bravery, independence and feminist views all describe a most extraordinary model for women. Elizabeth Bennet is also very brave for the position in life that she is in. To not marry would put one in a very precarious situation financially and to be able to denounce tradition for the sake of ones principles are foolhardy but brave.2.2 Jane EyreJane Eyre was a different and special female, who perused the equal love and ideal marriage, who despised mundane habits and dared to challenge the traditional concept of love, which showed a new viewpoint of love and moral ideal. Although she suffered lot difficulties but she did not surrender to fate. Just because of these, Jane Eyre got her true love at last. Janes self-respect can only be achieved on the basis of economic independence. Jane had a soldiers spirit she strove for just treatment and for equality and rebelled the fate. In face of all difficulties, Jane was so brave and fearless. Jane pursed happiness and love but she claim was equal right for women and didnt think love was supreme. Jane Eyre, is a poor but aspiring, small in body but huge in soul, obscure but self-respecting girl. Jane Eyre, a marvelous figure, has left us so much to recall and to think:1.Her goodness. For someone who lost arms and blinded in eyes, for someone who despised her for her ordinariness, and even for someone who had hurt her deeply in the past. 2. Her pursuit of justice. Its like a companion with the goodness. But still, a virtuous person should promote the goodness on one side and must check the badness on the other side.3. Her self-respect and the clear situation on equality. In her opinion, everyone is the same at the Gods feet. Though there are differences in status, in property and also in appearance, but all the human being are equal in personality. 4. Her striving for life, her toughness and her confidence. When we think of this girl, what she gave us was not a pretty face or a transcendent temperament that make us admire deeply, but a huge charm of her personality. Actually, she wasnt pretty, and of course, the ordinary appearance didnt make others feel good of her, even her own aunt felt disgusted with it. And some others even thought that she was easy to look down on and to tease, so when Miss Ingram met Jane Eyre, she seemed quite contemptuous, for that she was obviously much more prettier than the plain and ugly governess. Chapter Three Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre3.1.   A Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre from their CharactersElizabeth Bennet: She is witty beautiful independent honest and active. Her admirable qualities are numerous, but her sharp tongue and making judgments hasty often lead her confused. She is lively and willing to attend a party. More or less Elizabeth also has vanity like most of the women, when she heard Darcy said that she is barely tolerant she feels angry, but that is reasonable. A person who never comes to the point of saying “I never knew myself”1doesn't have self-knowledge, and “if we don't know ourselves, we won't know the world, the reality, and what we cannot surely know, we fabricate, we assume, and we misjudge.”2 Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice is a typical model of standing for womens freedom. For her unique and orginal characteristics, she is considered as one of the most beloved heroines in English literature. Although Elizabeth makes some mistakes, for example, she has been driven by her pride and prejudice for a long time leading to the misjudgments about Wickham and Darcy, the striking features she possesses still overweight these weaknesses. She is not perfect but is an idealized woman. Jane Eyre: She has a plain character, not pretty but still attractive. She is a kind girl with soft heart who always brings love to people around her, she helps Helen Burns and Mr. Rochester when they were in troubles. Jane is a straight person, she never flattered others, for example, she hates her aunt, so she told her the truth and when Mr. Rochester asked her if he is handsome, she answered “no” without any hesitation. She is also independent, always rely on herself and make a living by herself. Jane is tolerant, for she can forgive her aunt who hurt her deeply in the past. She has sense and morality, when she knows Mr. Rochester was a married man, she leaves him resolutely although she loves him deeply at that time. In Jane Eyres mind, everyman was born equally, she said: “Do you think because I am poor, obscure and plain that I am soulless and heartless? I have as much soul as you and fully as much heart.”3 This is her idea of equality, although God hadnt given her beauty and wealth, instead, God gave her a kind mind and a thinking brain. Her idea of equality and self-respect impress us so much and let us feel the power inside her body. In this aspect, we can draw a conclusion that Jane is brave and strong in character. She might be only a little figure but she is the master of her own life. She deserves to be loved.3. 2  A Comparison between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre from their Attitudes towards Love and MarriageElizabeth Bennet: She is a woman that expected to step outside