论《简爱》中的女性意识

安阳师范学院人文管理学院本科毕业论文

An Analysis of the Feminist Consciousness of

Jane Eyre

论《简爱》中的女性意识

摘

要

《简爱》是英国著名的女作家夏洛蒂

.

勃朗特的代表作品，由于她成功地塑

造了一个典型的人物—简 爱，

她也因此被认为是一位卓越的女作家。

这部作品一

经出版，

简爱这个人物就引起了人们极大的关注，

她表现出早期女权主义者的某

些特征，主要表现在她敢于反抗压迫和社会偏见，努力争 取独立，自由，平等和

真爱，

为追求幸福生活而顽强斗争，

宣告了女性自我意识的觉醒。

本文首先通过

事例分析对简爱的女性意识的表现进行介绍，

着重描写她的人格平等意识；

维护

女性尊严，

追求独立人格的意识；

强烈的爱情和婚姻自主意识；

追求经济上的独

立意识 。

然后从个人和社会因素分析简爱这种意识形成的原因。

最后简 要分析简

爱的这种女性意识对当今女性的启迪意义，

从中挖掘现 代女性所应具备的个性品

质。

关键词

：

女性意识；尊严；真爱；独立

I

2

II

Abstract

Jane Eyre

is the most famous work written by Charlotte Bronte in England. By

creating

successfully

the

typical

figure,

Jane

Eyre,

is

also

considered

as

an

extraordinary woman novelist. When the book is published, the character of Jane Eyre

has caught

people’s

broad attention. She showed some of the characteristics of early

feminists,

such

as

the

persistence

to

rebel

and

fight

bravely

against

the

social

oppression and discrimination, her unremitting efforts of pursuing freedom, equality,

independence and true love and she always tries her best to seek for a happy life. That

declared the awakening of female self-consciousness. At first, this essay attempts to

introduce

Jane’ female

consciousness through an analysis of some cases happened to

her,

and

a

plenty

of

works

will

be

done

to

describe

her

personal

equality

consciousness,

her

maintaining

the

dignity

of

woman

and

the

pursuing

of

her

independence both in marriage and economy. Then next part analyzes the causes of

the formation of

Jane Eyre’

s female consciousness from the aspects of individuality

and

society.

In

the

end,

an

analysis

of

revealing

will

be

made

about

the

female

consciousness

of

Jane

Eyre

for

women

today,

from

which

it

can

be

seen

obviously

that the modern female have their own personal traits.

Key Words

:

female consciousness, self-respect, true love, independence

III

Contents

摘

要

............... .................................................. .................................................. ............................ I

Abstract

....................................... .................................................. ...............................................

I

II

1. Introduction

.......................... .................................................. .................................................

1

2. The Performance of Female Consciousness of Jane Eyre

.........................................

2

2.1 Personal Equality Awareness

.................... .................................................. .................

2

2.2 The Pursuit of Dignity and Independence

.

... .................................................. ...........

4

2.3 The Pursuit of Love and Marriage

.

................................. ............................................

5

2.4 Independent Awareness in Economy

.

............................................. ...........................

6

3. T

he Causes of the Formation of Jane Eyre’s Female Consciousness

.

....................

7

3.1 The Individual Factors

.................... .................................................. ............................

7

3.2 Family Factors

............................... .................................................. ...............................

8

3.3 The Social Factors

.

........ .................................................. ...............................................

8

4. The Revealing of Jane’s Female Consciousness for Modern Female

.

....................

9

4.1The Influence of Jane Eyre

.

........................................... ................................................

9

4.2 The Significance for Modern Female

........ .................................................. ............

1

0

5. Conclusion

.............. .................................................. .................................................. ............

1

0

Bibliography

.... .................................................. .................................................. .......................

1

2

Acknowledgements

.

...................................... .................................................. ..........................

1

3

1. Introduction

Charlotte Bronte is a great critical realist in the 19

th

century who was born in a

poor family at Thornton Yorkshire. Her father is a country clergy man who has three

daughters, and the another two are Anne Bronte and Emily Bronte.

Wuthering Heights

was

a

great

work

written

by

her

sister

Emily

and

the

other

sister

Anne

has

ever

published

Agnes Grey

. Their novels based on their miserable lives are very popular in

the word. Charlotte Bronte went to a charity school where bad food and poor living

conditions

were

provided,

and

then,

she

was

removed

from

the

school

to

start

a

sketchy learning at home. She had been in a boarding school, and later was appointed

as

a

family

teacher.

She

has

not

received

much

formal

schooling

in

her

youth,

but

wide

reading

and

home

education

seemed

to

give

full

play

to

her

imagination.

She

had written lots of works in her long life. In 1842, Charlotte learned French for nine

months

in

Brussels,

and

got

a

job.

The

job

gave

her

a

chance

to

work

there

as

a

teacher for one year. Later, she got married with a clergyman, but less than one year

she died in 1855.

Her masterpiece,

Jane Eyre

, is a world famous novel in 1847, and

has been translated into many languages. She later wrote a great number of works in

the past 40 years, which made her enjoy a high reputation.

Jane Eyre

is a novel written by Charlotte Bronte based on her own experiences,

which is her most famous work. This novel has brought public attention and a heated

discussion for over 150 years. On the surface,

Jane Eyre

is about a love story that tells

us

the

beautiful

love

between

a

poor

young

woman

Jane

Eyre

and

a

rich

man

Mr.

Rochester. But when we read it carefully, it can be found out that this work is not only

a simple love story, but also reflects some social issues in Victorian. Eyre is an orphan

who is plain, timid and weak. She is ill-treated seriously by her relatives. She rebelled

and fought bravely against the social oppression and discrimination, made unremitting

efforts of pursuing freedom, equality, independence and true love and she always tries

her

best

to

seek

for

a

happy

life,

which

makes

her

a

tough

character

with

strong

self- respect, beautiful ideal and wisdom. It can be seen that Jane Eyre, a marvelous

1

figure, has left us so much to recall and to think: she is a special image out of ordinary.

She

has

the

bravery

to

express

her

own

idea

and

creates

her

own

life.

She

always

works

hard

and

keeps

her

self-respect,

intelligence

and

her

tough

personality

under

the pressure of life.

In her point

of view, everyone is not

different

at

the same sky.

Though

there

are

differences

in

status,

property

and

appearance,

but

all

the

human

beings

are

equal

in

personality.

She

represents

those

middle-class

working

women

who are struggling for the recognition of their basic rights and equality as a human

being. Jane tries her best

to gain women’s liberation and to pursue freedom, equality

and true love in spite of all difficulties. She began to understand the true meaning of

life, and tried to brave and strong to live. She thinks i

t’s

her spirit that makes the life

meaningful.

Jane

Eyre

was

Charlotte

Bronte

’

s

own

embodiment

to

resist

the

oppression of the traditional morality.

The heroine Jane moves most readers as a unique image in spite of her plainness,

poverty and low position. There is no doubt that this novel is of great importance in

the history of world literature, and a new image it creates gives a profound meaning

about

Jane’s personalities

. It can be said that

Jane Eyre

is an excellent declaration of

women. It is Jane Eyre

’

s female consciousness that awakens women

’

s strong desire

for

liberation.

This

thesis

manifests

the

females’

situations

under

the

traditional

morality in Victorian age. Jane Eyre fights against to break the traditional morality at

that time, which is the appearance of feminine consciousness. Women

’

s pursuing of

equal social status like men and independence in life can be easily found.

2. The Performance of Female Consciousness of Jane Eyre

2.1 Personal Equality Awareness

Women were discriminated against by men and almost had no right at Victorian

Age because man dominated and controlled everything, including woman. However,

Jane

Eyre

dares

to

challenge

men’

authority

and

traditional

ideas

in

the

process

of

going

for

the

freedom

and

equality

in

her

life.

One

of

the

eternal

sights

is

her

powerful confession of love. In a pleasant evening, to tempt Jane Eyre, Rochester said

2

he was

going to marry Miss

Ingram, but also expressed that he was passionately in

love

with

Jane.

He

hoped

that

Jane

would

stay

with

him.

Jane

Eyre

immediately

retorted:

“

Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an

automaton?--a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread

snatched

from

my

lips,

and

my

drop

of

living

water

dashed

from

my

cup?

Do

you

think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You

think wrong!--I have as much soul as you,--and full as much heart! And if God had

gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to

leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the

medium

of

custom,

conventionalities,

nor

even

of

mortal

flesh;--it

is

my

spirit

that

addresses

your spirit;

just as if both

had passed through the

grave, and

we stood at

God's feet, equal,--as we are!

”

(Charlotte Bronte, 2007: 23) Here, Jane Eyre thought

that her pride was hurt, and pure emotions played a trick by the traditional concept, so

she sent out the angry voice under the patriarchal culture depressed women and gave a

call of equality between men and women. In this section of the confession of love, it

can be found that the poor consciousness and the sense of the slave of the employees

are

far

from

Jane

Eyre.

Some

others

thought

that

she

was

easy

to

look

down

on,

thanks

to

her

ugly

looks

and

poor

family.

So

when

someone

met

Jane

Eyre,

they

always

seemed

quite

contemptuous,

for

that

they

think

that

they

obviously

much

prettier than Jane. But as the little Jane

had said: ‘Do you think, because I am poor,

obscure, plain,

and little,

I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!’

(Charlotte

Bronte.

Jane Eyre

, 2003: 67) from that the idea of equality was showed strongly in

Jane Eyre’s mind.

She was not given the beautiful looks and an amount of money, but

everyone is

equal

in

the eyes of God, and Jane is

not

an

exception. She has

a kind

heart and a thinking brain, which is different from others. What she impresses us most

is her awareness of everyone is equal and the sense of self-respect. The strong power

can

be

felt

in

her

small

body.

Jane

Eyre

never

forgets

that

she

is

equal

with

other

people when in the face of that arrogant noble young lady. She always insists on the

principle of equality between men and women. She said angrily and discontentedly:

“

women generally are considered to be very loyal, but they also have the same feeling

3

with man. And they, like their brothers, also need to play their talents to the full, to

exert them

to

the harsh

environment.

”

(Charlotte Bronte.

Jane Eyre

, 1997:45)

the

book

shows

its

uniqueness

and

force

because

of

Jane

’

s

insistence

on

equality

and

shocked many women around the world. In order to strive for equality, Jane made a

strong resistance. It can be said that Jane played the female consciousness of that age.

2.2 The Pursuit of Dignity and Independence

Jane’

s

strong

independent

awareness

has

an

impact

on

the

people

from

other

parts

of

the

world.

She

was

thrown

into

a

survival

environment

where

her

parents

were dead. However, it is possible for Jane to pursue her self consciousness and self

rights.

Aunt’

s contempt

, cousin’

s insult and beat and the snobbishness of the servants,

these are never made her give up. Instead, she rises up to struggle against opponents

with terrible fear, and never compromises. Jane Eyre begun to realize that she had to

rely on nobody but herself to get the respect from others at the Lockwood boarding

schools. Although constantly humiliated in school,

she didn’

t sink in humiliation. She

got

her

strength

to

obtain

independence

from

her

dear

teacher

and

fellow

students.

Maria Temple, an independent woman, is the headmaster of the Institution. She has a

responsible attitude toward students and sees everyone equally, even the low students.

From then on, Jane began to realize that independence is of great importance thing for

everyone to fulfill their values, which is a meaningful lesson she leaned from Maria

Temple.

Later

Jane

made

great

progress

in

the

aspect

of

her

studies

and

won

the

respect

and

understanding

from

her

teachers

and

students.

Eventually

she

succeeds

and gains respect and popularity from the people around her.

Later

Jane

began

her

teaching

career,

which

made

her

be

independent

economically.

Without

economic

independence,

female

liberation

movement

would

be impossible. When Rochester provided Jane with a chance to free her passions, Jane

came to realize that she would be sacrificing her dignity for the sake of her feelings,

so

she

refused

without

hesitation,

because

she

thought

that

the

freedom

and

independence

she

achieved

by

living

as

Rochester’s

mistress

is

shameful

and

disgraceful. From the point of

Jane’

s view, everyone is equal in terms of personality,

without regard to their different status, property and appearance. Love must be based

4

on

equality

and

mutual

independence.

Women

with

independent

personality,

self-esteem, self-love, but not attached to

the other people can get others’

respect, love

and real happiness. So when the rights and dignity was invaded, she will be desperate

to resist for their human dignity.

2.3 The Pursuit of Love and Marriage

In Britain, at that time, it is difficult for women to obtain a majority position that

truly belongs to them. Women

don’

t free to choose a spouse and to

enjoy

freedom.

But

Jane is

a woman full

of new love. She

has

the bravery to

be

against the

social

order

and

convention.

The

love

between

her

and

Mr.

Rochester

is

on

the

basis

of

equal

exchange

mind

and

spiritual

communion,

especially

on

the

emotional

communication. That is a kind of love o

f ‘soul calling soul’

. She insists on that she

doesn

’t

need any stranger who has no common language and is incompatible with her.

She needs a type of person with me; she can get emotional resonance together. Love is

equal and need mutual exchanges. This is the first criteria of mate selection in Jane

Eyre’s

view. She is just a poor teacher with a small figure and no charming beauty,

and she hasn

’

t a noble position, an illustrious background, and an amount of wealth or

a

beautiful

appearance.

The

only

proud

thing

is

her

self- respect

and

her

staunch

independence. She never expects Rochester to love her for that she thinks there is a

wide

gap

between

them.

In

order

to

not

lose

herself,

Jane

always

keeps

her

self-respect and independence when they fall in love. Therefore she has won the love

of

Rochester.

It

can

be

acknowledged

that

the

reason

lies

in

her

unique

personality

and bright spirit that is her most valuable personality.

It

is

said

that

love

is

the

most

beautiful

thing

in

the

world,

which

can

bring

human beings the spiritual happiness and delighted

warmth. However,

some people

regard

their

love

as

goods

that

can

be

sold

and

measure

their

marriage

by

some

materialistic

staff,

such

as

social

status,

money

and

power.

Maybe

they

have

never

tasted the true love. Jane and Rochester love each other; the true love is their common

goal that can enjoy the same thing. They can break the bonds of tradition and surpass

all

obstacles.

More

efforts

like

that

have

been

done

to

achieve

true

love

after

they

experienced

a

lot

of

sufferings.

Eventually

Jane

falls

in

love

with

Mr.

Rochester

5