英文毕业论文 从女性主义的角度分析《简爱》

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5.3 Limitation of the Feminism

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Chapter 6 Conclusion

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Bibliography

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Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Social Background

Jane Eyre

is one of the famous novels written by Charlotte Bronte in the 19

th

century and it

is among my famous novels. Since its publication, it has attracted a lot of attention. From the

literature

review,

the

thesis

of

the

work

is

about

feminism.

In

the

later

part

of

the

twentieth

century, it becomes common for literary critics to pay attention to feminist elements in Charlotte

Bronte

’

s

novels.

Feminist

first

appeared

in

France;

the

French

Revolution

challenged

social

inequalities

and

opened

doors

for

women

’

s

fight

for

equality.

As

slavery

in

America

became

widespread in the early 1800s, many scholars challenged its existence. Women in this period are

largely confined to home and are expected to marry

in order to secure states and privilege. In

1848, Stanton and Mott call the first

Seneca Falls Convention

for women

’

s rights which calls for

women

’

s

right

to

vote

and

states

that

all

men

and

women

are

created

equal.

Jane

Eyre

was

published in 1847 along with the development of the women movement.

The writer, Charlotte Bronte had been raised by the father who taught his children to think

for themselves. She learned to trust her instincts that encouraged her to believe that women , as

well as men, had a need to dream, to explore, that they

“

need exercise for their faculties, and a

field for their efforts as much as their brothers do

”

(Charlotte Bronte, 1992:130). Her mother died

in 1821, leaving the children in the care of their aunt. Living in the rectory, she had little to do

other than read and write. The loneliness she experienced was clearly acute.

1.2 Motivations and Objectives

In

Victorian

times,

Charlotte

Bronte

was

among

the

first

feminist

writers.

This

was

the

time that the women were looked down upon by the society. They had few rights and few options

open to them for self-support. For most women the only way to live decently was to get married,

and in many cases, it was not up to the women to choose with whom she married. For the most

part, a woman was not given the opportunity to go to school and earn a degree unless she was

born into a high social class. The average Victorian woman was treated not as a person, but as an

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本科生毕业论文

object or piece of property. She had very few rights either in society, or marriage. In

Jane Eyre

,

the main character, Jane, explores the depth at which women may act in society and finds her

own boundaries in Victorian England

. Jane Eyre

is a novel about one woman

’

s journey through

life, so she described Jane

’

s experience in detail to show the inferiority of the woman and the

poverty

of

the

society.

But

Jane

is

such

self- respect,

independent

and

decisive

woman.

Her

female

consciousness

and

her

struggling

experience

set

a

brilliant

example

for

the

female

worldwide. Her spirit encourages woman to fight for liberation. As a great book,

Jane Eyre

not

only

awakes

its

early

readers

of

the

Victorians

Age,

but

also

encourages

the

modern

women.

Jane Eyre

tells not only what an independent woman is like but also what a successful woman

should

do.

Through

the

above

analysis,

we

can

know

that

the

author

of

Jane

Eyre

created

successfully a typical woman character who has the courage to rebel and fight for freedom and

equality.

This paper reveals the wake of the gender conscious and the social position of women in

Victorian

period

through

the

analysis

of

the

heroine

from

the

feminist

perspective.

The

first

chapter

introduces

the

social

background,

the

type

and

the

subject

of

the

work.

The

second

chapter introduces the theoretical basis, the form of feminist and its influence to the creation of

the

work.

The

third

chapter

puts

the

foundation

to

analyze

the

female

conscious

through

the

comparison

of the author’s experience and the plot of the work. The fourth chapter analys

es the

main character in three aspects. It also reflects the development of the female consciousness and

the pursuit of the equality. The fifth chapter analyses

Jane’s pursuit of equality and liberty from

the

feminist

perspective,

reflecting

the

19

th

century

women’s

effect

to

pursui

t

freedom

and

equality as well as the limitation of the female conscious. The sixth chapter is the conclusion of

the work. In Victorian times, women’s status got different improvement, but due to restriction of

the social status, female consciousness still has the limitation.

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1 The

D

efinition of Feminism

The

idea

of

“

feminism

appeared

several

centuries

ago,

while

even

today

there

is

no

exactly definition. Throughout the history, women have always struggled to gain equality, respect

and the same rights as men. What is feminism? By general definition, feminism is a philosophy

in which women and their contributions are valued. It is based on social political and economical

equality for women. Feminism can also be described as a movement or a revolution that includes

women and men who wish the world to be equal without boundaries. There are many different

types of feminist theory and each has a profound impact on women and gender studies. The first

is

cultural

feminism

which

is

the

theory

that

there

are

fundamental

personality

differences

between women and men.

Most feminists hold a belief that woman as groups are treated differently from men. They

are

subject

to

personal

and

institutional

discrimination

(Steven

Goldberg,

1973).

Feminists

believe that being female to a large extent determines one

’

s life. Being a woman means having a

certain

gender,

especially

femininity.

Feminists

also

believed

that

the

society

is

organized

in

favor

of

the

men.

Feminists

try

to

explain

that

the

powers

are

imbalanced

due

to

the

gender

difference.

Literature

will

often

reflect

the

cultural

assumptions

and

attitudes

of

its

period,

of

course include attitudes towards women: their status, their roles, their expectations.

And feminist theorists aim to understand the nature of inequality and focus on gender politics,

power

relations,

and

sexuality.

Feminist

political

activities

advocate

for

social,

political,

and

economic

equality

between

the

sexes.

They

campaign

on

issues

such

as

reproductive

rights,

domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, discrimination and sexual violence.

When

we

talk

about

the

feminist

criticism,

we

must

mention

that

the

word

“

feminism

”

.According to the New Encyclopedia Britannica, < /p>

“

feminism

”

< br>, also called

“

feminist

movement

”

or

“

women

’

s liberation movement

”

, refers to the social movements that seek equal

rights for women, giving them equal status with men and freedom to decide their own careers

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本科生毕业论文

and life patterns. There are other five different definitions of Feminism:

1. Challenging the power structure between men and women; seeing men and women as groups

rather than individuals.

2. Rebelling against and rejecting power structures, institutions, laws, or social conventions that

maintain women as subordinate, powerless, or second-class citizens.

3.

Arguing

against

the

division

of

labor

that

values

men

in

the

public

sphere

(work,

sports,

government,

law)

and

devalues

women

in

the

private

sphere

（

home,

child

care,

reproductive

labor, housework, maintaining family).

4. Working as a collective to fight for women

’

s rights in all facets of modern life, including the

workplace,

sexuality,

reproductive

rights,

fair

representation,

and

acceptance

of

alternative

families.

5. Demanding full rights for all women and men.

2.2 Research Background

In the year of 1800s, people have few rights and few chances. Women are still regarded as

the second class citizens. But things to change after the reign of Queen Victoria. The Victorian

time is a period of dramatic change that brought English to its highest point of development. The

Industrial

Revolution

brings

an

enormous

increase

in

wealth

and

provides

the

tools

for

the

development as well as serious social problems. During the time, women gradually gain the right

to their property upon marriage through the

Married Women

’

s Property Act

, the right to divorce.

By

the

end

of

Victoria

’

s

reign,

women

could

take

degrees

at

twelve

universities.

But

general

conditions for women are still poor.

2.3

Historical

Views

Feminism is difficult to define because of the many different kinds of feminisms, which

still exist today. Feminism started as women

’

s struggle for their political rights, and flourished in

the world of literature. It was encouraging, thrilling and enlightening for a time, but it also had

been faced with challenges and doubts.

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Feminism first appeared in France. Many scholars have devoted themselves to the research

on it. Virginia Woolf (1929) is known as the modernism and feminist pioneer in the twentieth

century. She advocates feminism and notes that women have to be independent in the economic

and

life.

Steven

Goldberg

(1973)

hold

the

view

that

women

’

s

groups

exist

as

an

independent,

they also bear the heavy burden and the system of gender discrimination. Elaine Shwalter (1979)

is American literary critics and feminist writer. She calls for equality between women and men.

In

China,

scholars

began

to

touch

upon

feminism

in

Jane

Eyre

from

the

middle

of

the

1980s.

Zhang Wei hold the view that Jane Eyre represents the idea of women's liberation since she longs

for her financial independence and a marriage based on love(

张伟，

2001). Zhu Hong points out

“

women not only pursuit of spiritual equality but also the economic independent

” (

1987).

Form the brief liberation review; we can see that both in west and in China,

Jane Eyre

has

got great attention from the critics. The novel provided the reader a new world of the society in

the Victorian

time.

Jane

Eyre

is

a

plain

girl

but

she

has

a

strong

will,

she

dares

to pursue

the

economic independence and social states in a world that women are regarded as a second class.

She

set

an

example

for

today

’

s

women.

I

hope

that

my

effort

in

writing

this

thesis

will

make

some help for the later research.

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Chapter 3 Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre

3.1 Charlotte Bronte

3.1.1 Personal Experience of Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte

Bronte

was

born

in

Yorkshire,

England

on

April

21,

1816.

She

was

the

third

child of Maria Branwell Bronte and the Reverend Patrick Bronte. Originally of Irish decent, the

children all inherited their father

’

s passionate Irish temperament. When she was five years old,

her mother died and she was raised by her aunt. As the oldest daughter in a family of six, she

helped

raise

her

brother,

Branwell,

and

two

sisters,

Emily

and

Anne.

Their

father,

a

strict

clergyman,

believed

in

self-education,

and

his

children

was

forbidden

to

attend

school

or

socialize with other children. He allowed his children to roam on the moor. As the young Brotto

grew up, they became more adventurous and gained a sensibility of everyday details in nature.

In

1824

Charlotte

and

three

of

her

sisters

were

sent

to

Cowan

Bridge,

a

school

for

daughters

of

clergymen.

Obviously

he

chose

the

school

for

its

low

tuition,

but

the

living

conditions were intolerable and the discipline overly rigid. The

“

lowood

”

section of

Jane Eyre

vividly

conveys

Charlotte

’

s

unhappy

memories

of

her

experience

there.

After

an

outbreak

of

tuberculosis

killed

Maria

and

Elizabeth,

Charlotte

and

Emily

were

brought

home.

During

this

time, Charlotte taught her sisters at home and worked as a governess, an experience which she

described in

Jane Eyre

. Several years later, she returned to school, but later she became a private

governess instead.

In 1846, the three sisters published a book of Poems, and though the sales were low, the

reviews were good and spurred on further literary endeavors. In August of 1846 she began work

on

Jane Eyre

. Though it was published in 1847, she didn

’

t tell her father about it until the next

year, when the novel

’

s success was plain.

This success was followed up by tragedy, however. In September 1848, Branwell died, this

was closely followed by Emily

’

s death from consumption in 1848, and Anne

’

s death of the same

disease in May 1849. Bereft, Charlotte and her father clung to each other for support. Eventually,

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