《简爱》女性主义的象征(2)

菜单

4.2 Thorough revenge of Bertha Mason 10

5. Conclusion 11

References 13

1. Introduction

Charlotte Bronte, an English women novelist and poet, was a great critical realist in the 19th century. She is the eldest of the three Bronte sisters whose novels have become classics of English literature. It’s known as her masterpiece, Jane Eyre, which was published in August, 1847. Jane Eyre is a symbol of feminism that awakens women and stands for women’s aspiration for liberation.

Charlotte was born in Thornton in 1816. The place Charlotte was born is west of Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire. She is the third of the six children of Maria and Patrick Brontë. Her father is an Irish Anglican clergyman. In 1820, her family moved to the village of Haworth, where her father had been appointed perpetual curate of St Michael and All Angels Church. Her mother Maria died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, and a son, Branwell, to be taken care of by her sister, Elizabeth Branwell. In May 1846 Charlotte, Emily and Anne made the publication of a joint collection of poems under their assumed names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell by their own money. In 1848, Charlotte began to start the manuscript of her second novel, Shirley. However, Charlotte’s sisters suffered the deaths during the time she worked on this novel. After Charlotte’s sister Anne's death Charlotte resumed writing as a way of dealing with her grief. Shirley, which deals with themes of industrial unrest and the role of women in society, was published in October 1849.

Jane Eyre stands for a symbol of feminism in the 19th century. Jane Eyre struggles all by herself against the unjust social restrictions on her and finally achieves her goal of her self-fulfillment. The patriarchal Victorian society of the time, in the 19th century, female’s social positions were inferior to men in Britain. Women did not have any social status. They were discriminated, Marriage and family life were the whole of women. At that time, women rarely went to work, the only occupation opened to women was teaching as school mistress or serving as governess in a private family. Women should remain ignorant and uneducated in victorian times. When women went out to work in the society, they suffered from various miseries, trials and temptation. With the industrial revolution changed Britain in 19th century. With the development of technology and economy, 19th century is in the process of social transformation from agricultural society to industrial society. The development of society and economy promoted the large changes in women's education. Although there were gender inequality and bias in many aspects of education, British women's education increased, it gave more opportunities for women to take education. Education changed people, women educated wanted to change the gender relations, which lead to the change of the women's social status.

Pat Macpherson points out in the book Reflecting on Jane Eyre, “Jane Eyre is marked by strong romantic elements and the role of nature is especially important”(1983, p.297-302); The work is infused with romantic spirit: the emphasis on the sensitiveness of the mind and the intense sensibility to changing nature (as in Wordsworth’s poetry); the longing for adventure and the insistence on liberty, independence, and the right of the inpidual soul and self-fulfillment (as in Byron’s and Shelley’s poetry); After a stranger destroyed Jane’s wedding, Jane left. Exhausted and penniless, she thinks of nature as the “universal mother”. Wang Guofu, author of the Literary Theory of Feminism, says: “Jane Eyre embodies a new conception of women as heroines of vital strength and passionate feelings” (1987, p.225-229); In Victorian times women did not have important status. Until the last decade of the 19th century, almost the only occupation open to women was teaching as schoolmistress or more likely serving as private governess in a family. So when Charlotte had her books published, she had to use pseudonyms, pretending she was a male writer, Currer Bell for Charlotte. Jane Eyre was a representative work reflecting women’s call for equality. Zheng Kelu’s Charlotte’s Feminist Declaration discussed, “During the Victorian Age was men-centered and men-controlled times. Women were discriminated against by men at that time. However, the ahead-of-age female consciousness of Jane Eyre, the main character challenges men’s authority.” (1999, p.167); As Joyce Card Oates indicates in the third edition of the novel's "Introduction" that In 1847 Jane Eyre published, in English literature, not lack the image of rebel women. However, like Jane Eyre, as humble, ordinary, who have no 'weak' against powerful patriarchal society, which has been regarded as an unprecedented .