英语专业毕业论文傲慢与偏见

Pride and Prejudice - A Window Through Which the Female is PiercedAuthor: Xu TingtingSupervisor: Jiang YanyanA ThesisSubmitted as a Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirement for the Degree of B.A. in English School of Foreign Studies Fuyang Teachers College, Anhui ProvinceMay, 2011学位论文傲慢与偏见透视女性世界的小窗口（学号0724）指导教师姓名 职称 单 位 阜阳师范学院外国语学院专业名称 英语教育 申请学级别 学士学位授予单位 阜 阳 师 范 学 院2011年 5 月 Pride and Prejudice - A Window Through Which the Female is PiercedAbstractSince the ancient times, love and marriage have always been the permanent theme of literature. Jane Austen, a quite significant English novelist in the 19th century, is the author of Pride and Prejudice. Based on the young lovers relationship and marriage, clued by the development of the love between Darcy and Elizabeth, this masterpiece all together depicted us four couples in love and taught us a lesson deeply- one should have neither pride nor prejudice in his or her relationship. The novel vividly reflected the particular life and human relationship in the conservative, unenlightened English county from the late 18th century to the early 19th century and thought highly of the feminism which had been depressed and ignored in the real society and literary works. In the following research, the author will analyze the main distinctive heroines one by one and then do a comparison among them, from the angle of feminism, in order to find the different kinds of female consciousness. The first part will be the brief introduction of the author-Jane Austen, her masterpiece-Pride and Prejudice and the feminism. The second part will be the historical background which gave birth to this enduring and marvelous novel. The following part will be the main body of the research-three different kinds of female consciousness embodied in the five mentioned heroines. And the last part will be a conclusion drawn by all the above factors.Key words：Pride and Prejudice; heroines; female consciousness; 傲慢与偏见透视女性世界的小窗口内容摘要古往中来,爱情与婚姻一直是文学作品中永恒的主题。英国小说家简·奥斯丁是十九世纪一位重要女性作家。傲慢与偏见作为其重要作品,以男女青年的恋爱婚姻为题材, 以男主人公达西和女主人公伊丽莎白的爱情纠葛为主线, 一共描写了四起姻缘,反映了18世纪末到19世纪初,于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和世态人情,高扬了在现实生活及文学创作中备受压抑和漠视的女权。本文的研究将从女权主义视角出发,通过逐个剖析作品中五个独具特色的女性形象,将她们身上所体现的不同种类的女性意识加以比较,整合。第一部分将先对作者简·奥斯丁、小说傲慢与偏见、以及女性意识加以简单介绍,第二部分则解释小说傲慢与偏见诞生的时代背景,第三部分将逐一分析班内特夫人及简的顺从依附意识,伊莉莎白的独立意识,莉迪亚和夏洛特的情感缺失意识这三种不同类型的女性意识,最后一部分对全文观点进行总结概述。关键词：傲慢与偏见；女性角色；女性意识 Pride and Prejudice - A Window Through Which the Female is PiercedThesis StatementAnalyzing from the perspective of feminism, we can find three different kinds of the feminine consciousness from some female characters in Pride and Prejudice.从女权主义视角出发,傲慢与偏见中不同女性角色共体现出三种不同的女性意识。OutlineI. Introduction II. The Historical Background of Pride and PrejudiceA. The Social Status of the Women in the 18th-19th CenturyB. The Difficulties for the Female Writers in the 18th-19th CenturyIII. Manifestation of Feminine Consciousness in Pride and Prejudice A. the obedient feminine consciousness B. the independent feminine consciousnessC. the emotion-lacking feminine consciousnessIV. Conclusion I. IntroductionIn the 18th century, the number of female writers increased quickly. However, the novels didnt take up a rather vital part and were shortage of convention. Till the 19th century, many female writers created novels to vividly describe the society, the politics, and various kinds of fates of those people in detail. So we can say that the female literary in Britain was originated from the 18th century and developed in the 19th century. The creation of the classic Pride and Prejudice is a symbol of the formation of the British feminine. And the author, Jane Austen fully embodied her distinctive feminine consciousness in this novel. Having changed the womens peeped position in the literary which was long controlled by males, Jane proved to be a historic writer to make the women become the main character in the literary works.A. Jane AustenIf you were living in the 19th century in Steventon, Hampshire in Britain, you may have seen such a scene-a quite little outgoing girl, almost having no idea about this enormous world, often enjoyed herself in her fathers parsonage or wrote some clergy, the old maid, the short-sighted women, the marriageable lady and other similar people.If you were living in the 19th century in Steventon, Hampshire in Britain, you may have heard such a thing-a girl, lost herself in writing something, would suddenly throw a piece of paper over her desk when some visitors passed by. If you were living in the 19th century in Steventon, Hampshire in Britain and had a good luck, you may have met this special girl. But you may never realize that, this cheery, sprightly young lady would turn out to be a distinguished novelist. Yes, she is just Jane Austen.In 1775, as the 7th daughter in her family, Jane Austen was born. Her father, Rev. George Austen, a clergyman in that parsonage of that village we have mentioned, must have posed some special influences on Janes grow up and literature road. Educated at home, together with her sisters, Jane began to write at an early age and passed her life very quietly and. After her fathers death, Jan, together with her family, moved to Southampton and then to the village of Chawton, where she lived uneventfully until May 1817, when her family moved to Winchester to seek skilled medical attention for her illness. But Jane died two months later and she is buried in Winchester Cathedral. Although Janes books mainly pictured love marriage, she remained unmarried all her life.B. Janes works and Pride and PrejudiceIn her later time, Jane had to write to survive and her novels mainly depict the life of the middle class in the country where she spent her most time. It is the youths love and marriage not the sharp social conflicts that most of her works concerned. The themes are common, but the insight deep. Due to certain restrict factors, Jane altogether completed six novels: Sense and Sensibility (1811);Pride and Prejudice(1813);Mansfield Park (1814);Emma(1816);Northanger Abbey (1818) and Persuasion (1818).Just like one sentence says, “Each is perfect, and there is no choosing between them for one who enjoys her quite irony and her simple delicate analysis of character.”(Wu Weiren 118) In 1796, Jane Austen began working on the first version of Pride and Prejudice, which was called "first Impressions" by herself. However, Jane was not very successful with the publishers later so that the manuscript had not been published until January 1813, two years after she published the first novel, Sense and Sensibility. The plot of the novel Pride and Prejudice was mainly based on the love affairs and marriage of the five distinctive daughters in the Bennet. From the novel, we meet the chatterbox, Mrs. Bennet, the good mannered Jane, the wise and independent Elizabeth, the artificial Kitty, the unbridled Lydia, the gentle Mr. Bingley, the arrogant Mr. Darcy, etc. By describing the simple life such as the frequently ball, tea, and visit, we clearly know the development of the plot. However, in this novel, it is the females instead of the males enjoyed the priority. Apart from being narrated much, the different kinds of women also took up the driving position when telling the story.Pride and Prejudice, of course, regarded as Janes masterpiece, has ranked the top ten English novels around the world nowadays. From the opening sentence in the book, “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”, Austen ironied the monetary reality bounded in her society. And we can have inferred some inevitable plots such as courtship and marriage. This famous romance, based on the marriages of four pairs of young people, narrates us a love story between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, in a humorous, lovely, and comic style. Furthermore, the work reflects the human relationship in that time and shocks us deeply-what on earth the ideal marriage is. From this novel we can find that, maybe Jane is strictly not a feminist but there have been some feminism elements in the novel, especially perceived by some heroines. She is regarded as important as the first British female writer acknowledged to be of truly major stature as an artist. And Pride and Prejudice has even been considered as the literary work that can maximally change the attitudes of women toward themselves.C. FeminismAs a kind of social and cultural trends, Feminism, having a long history in western world, has showed its force since the 19th century in the literature. From the 20th century on, Feminism, having set off two waves, becomes the most significant part of the literary trends, together with Structuralism and Deconstruction, in the 20th century. The spirit core of Feminism is to protest against the real patriarchal society where the women were considered as the slaves, to emphasize women should have as equal rights as men, to appeal that women ought not to be controlled by the patriarchal society. On the country, Feminism advocates that the real value of women should be valued in their best mood. To subvert the unfair patriarchal society, to ensure and improve the social status of the women, therefore all can realize the value of women cannot neither be ignored nor be replaced-and all these are the true Feminism.The Feminist Literature can be traced to the 17th or 18th century and Aphra Behn can be regarded as the first professional female writers at that time in Britain. In the 19th century, more and more middle class female began pursuing the literary so this era can be called a time of female novelists.These female writers reinterpreted the classic works from the special angle of the women, to re-dig out the depressed, ignored females and entrust the writers and works the new literary meaning. By picturing their particular feelings and experience and expressing their will and wish, these female writers hoped that the real life which was once hidden and covered by the words of males can be fully conveyed and a convention of the feminist literary can be set up accordingly. And in such a history, Jane Austen contributed a pioneering contribution.II.The Historical Background of Pride and PrejudiceBefore we try to understand the female consciousness perceived in the Pride and Prejudice, lets study the historical background of the novel. And the research will be done from the two following angles:A. The Social Status of the Women in the 18th19th CenturyDavid Naghan, the British literary critic, once criticized in his Jane Austen in a social contest, nothing is less respected than women in the 18th century. In that time, it was the British males that dominated in the society and family, whereas the females were Underprivileged.To begin with, women had no say in the economy. Take Pride and Prejudice as an example, having affluent property to offer his families bread, Mr. Bennet had to witness all will be inherited by Mr. Collins instead of his daughters, due to some related laws. This phenomenon vividly reflected that the survival of women can only depend on the property of the fathers or the husbands. And the fact that women would lose the control of the money was decided by the rule of the bourgeoisie.Furthermore, women were faced with the inequality in the marriage, which was the result of the no right to dispose the property. She must rely on her husband after got married, and for an educated but poor lady, to marry with some rich guy seemed her only alternative choice if she wanted to improve her living standard. Therefore, Mrs. Bennet was eager to marry her daughters with the rich in Pride and Prejudice.Last but not least, women enjoyed a disadvantage in the social status. From 18th century, lost of Conductbooks which were exclusively about the behaviors and manners of the young ladies had been published in Britain. These books warned that, all the females must behave like the angels and that they should have different kinds of virtues such as be graceful, tender, polite, pure, loyal, virgin, kind, etc. Having taken all these factors into consideration, we can clearly draw a conclusion that they, the females, can hardly get to their feet firmly in the society.B. The Difficulties for Female Writers in the 18th19th Century All together, the women in that time could only have three ways to chose to survive: to become a governess, to remain the old maid, and to get married. While, for being a governess, its an unpopulated job with a low salary. And the old maids would certainly receive intolerable disdain and humiliation. Compared with these, the female had to get married to someone and the wife would be the only occupation they can get, which was blessed by the real life, the unequal law and her cultivation. Whats worse, some women who want to pursue the literary creation would be blamed by the society, for such a woman would be considered doing some seriously abnormal thing. And in Virginal Woolfs On Novel and Novelist, this feminist once wrote like this;Ouch! A woman who tries to writeWould be thought of as the arrogant, unbridled oneAnd this mistake would never be forgiven by any virtuesThey said that she was making a seriously wrong choiceAnd the only achievements she pursued should beCultivation, good manner, dance, dress and gameOtherwise, her grace would be hidden, her life wastedAnd she could hardly win the love in her most beauty.Therefore, we can easily understand why some female writers would publish their works anonymously and why Jane Austen often put a piece of paper or cloth over her desk when the visitors entered her room. In this Pride and Prejudice, Jane created such a heroine who was absorbed in learning, Mary. Although she read a lot, she always seemed stupid and didnt have too much thought which made us extremely worry about the future of women who were educated. In the 19th century, most female writers were inclined to write some biographical novels. The surroundings around these female writers gave them much limitedness and they only hade to record what they saw, heard, experienced and touched. No wonder that in Janes works we could often find a series of objects which symbolized the closeness or the isolation. Peoples behaviors were mostly connected with rooms, draw, or other furniture and cans. Even when they went out, they were likely to visit nearby friends, simply chatting or playing cards. All these factors stimulated these females to express their feelings by the occasionally slight irony while writing. In a short, it is these inferior social status and difficult surroundings that help us more clearly figure out how deeply Jane held the female consciousness.III. Manifestation of Feminine Consciousness in Pride and PrejudiceTo be historical, men hold dominance in almost every aspect in society because of their control of the property and power in 18th century in Britain. Women are considered as one piece of mens possessions and even the mens slavery. And in mens eyes, womens merits are used only to please them and secure a good life. However, Jane Austen indirectly reveals the subtle interesting change in marital relations that feminism was budding. And in this Pride and Prejudice, we can all together realize three different kinds of female consciousness.A. the obedient feminine consciousness In the late 18th century, the Industrial revolution brought Britain a speedy development in economy and also gave birth to a new social class-the middle class. This kind of power rised rapidly and could not be ignored. they earned the economic strength, the chance to be educated and some important social status by their hard working. However, they would never be considered as important as the bourgeois aristocracy. And the only possible way is marriage. This kind of consciousness of climbing the upper class easily altered to the pursuit for money. Whats worse, the long-existing concept of the title or the origin obviously induced this outlook.In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet would be the vivid example to illustrate this kind of feminine consciousness. In her youth, she got married to Mr. Bennet with not wealthy property which would be all disposed by him. And in her daily life, we can clearly realize that they were just seemingly harmonious. For having no sons, Mrs. Bennet was engaged in selecting proper husbands for her five daughters. Because according to the law, all their property would be inherited by other relatives so that their daughters may confront a rather poor situation. When she got to know that Mr. Bingley, the new neighbor, was a pretty rich man, she persuaded her husband to call on him so that the rich may fall in love with one of their daughters. When Mrs. Bennet eldest daughter, Jane, was invited by Ms. Bingley, she planed cautiously in order that Jane may have more time to get along with Mr. Bingley regardless of Janes bad healthy condition in such a terrible weather.Apart from Mrs. Bennet, Jane can be proved the classic character that was extremely tender and obedient in this novel. Gentle and submissive in nature, elegant and charming in manners, Jane always had the mild love for the entire world. When dealing with the relationship between Mr. Bingley, sometimes she looked forward to the future secretly, while sometimes she dated totally because of her mothers order. Although she had her own ideas, she was frequently disposed and controlled by her mother now and then. All her personalities, manners and the attitudes toward her love fully and vividly reflected the demand for the women in that time, in that society, and her strong dependence in marriage. In the 18th century, the Male chauvinism which was represented by Milton and Rousseau was still vigorously publicizing it was the obedience and weakness that could firmly attract the men. So we can easily understand why Jane would behave like this.The concept of this kind of economic marriage truly reflected the womens attachment in their marriages. The Industrial Revolution made people suddenly realized the inevitable status of male labor in either the society or the family and the priority of men when dealing with the external things in the upper class. Nevertheless, women were becoming less and less important and gradually they were regarded as some kinds of accessory in their family. As a result, family life was the most suitable yard for the women and being humble was the most vital virtue for them in that society.B. the independent feminine consciousnessIn that time, Britain was in the Industrial Revolution. Peoples pursuit for economy and the limitedness to the womens life brought a serious result that the education of the women was neglected. The common value existing in the society was the woman should concentrate on her own family and her major responsibility is to take good care of her husband and children. It is limited for the women to be educated and such a phenomenon was fully illustrated in Janes Pride and Prejudice.However, Jane Austen was never satisfied with just describing what she saw or heard. She had something more profoundly meaningful to tell. And all her thoughts were expressed through the excellent spokesman, Elizabeth, in Pride and Prejudice. Maybe Jane is more beautiful, Lydia is more courageous, and Charlotte is more cultivated, Elizabeth still has something special that no one else can catch up.First of all, Elizabeth has the sharp ability to observe and judge, which mirrored she can think independently. In such a society where women were controlled and disposed, Elizabeths