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1、A Study on Charlotte Brontes FemaleConsciousness in Jane EyreA ThesisSubmitted to the School of Foreign LanguagesShenyang Normal UniversityIn Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofBachelor of ArtsBy Under the Supervision ofLecturer April 2011AbstractCharlotte Bronte is a remarkabl
2、e female writer in the 19th centuryHer masterpiece Jane Eyre received comprehensive attention and reception after it publishedJane Eyre is the most popular one among her books for its spiritually attractive Cinderella-like heroine in love story. The heroine, Jane Eyre, is a passionate woman full of
3、affection, which is unseasonable in her age. First of all, the thesis gives all introduction to the theory of feminism in the literary snd the wakeness of women in Victorian times about their social status, right, freedom, etc. This paper also gives a brief review on Charlotte Brontes life experienc
4、e and her view of point as a feminist from the novel because the heroine Jane Eyre embodies Charlotte Brontes personality and shares much in conmmon with the female consciousness.Key Words: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, female conciousness 摘 要夏洛蒂勃朗特是十九世纪英国杰出的女作家，她的代表作简爱自出版以来受到读者和文学评论者的广泛关注和欢迎。从很大程度上讲
5、，简爱被认为是作者的心理历程的自传体小说。夏洛蒂把自己的很多的人生经历和性格特点都赋予了她作品中的女主人公一简爱。外表平平、孤独贫苦、无依无靠的简爱在作品伊始就一直处于社会的边缘地位，因而经历了一个漫长的确定自己女性意识的痛苦的心理历程。此篇论文旨在从女性主义的角度，通过对作品中女主角简爱和作者本身的分析，揭示这部小说中所反映的维多利亚时期女性性别意识的觉醒和当时女性的社会地位、权利以及自由等等。同时本文也透过勃朗特自身的经历，从而了解到作为一个女性主义者，她是如何将女主人公的性格以及女性意识与自身紧密相结合的。关键词：简爱，夏洛蒂勃朗特，女性意识 ContentsAbstract in En
6、glish.Abstract in Chinese.I. Introduction.1 A. A brief introduction to Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre.11.A brief introduction to Charlotte Bronte12.A brief introduction to Jane Eyre.2 B. The purpose of this paper .3 C. The significance and limitations .3II. Female consciousness in the English literatur
7、e A. Female consciousness in the English literature .5 1. The definition of female consciousness.5 2. The development of female consciousness .5 B. The research on the female consciousness in other peoples eyes. 6III. A Study on Charlotte Brontes female consciousness in Jane Eyre.10A. A study on Cha
8、rlotte Bronte10 1.The growing background of Charlotte Bronte.10 2. The development of Charlotte Brontes female consciousness .11B. The Analysis of Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre.12 1.Janes miserable experience.12 2.Janes determination and personality in the struggle of love and equality.15C. The compar
9、ison of Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte .19IV. Conclusion.21 A. The significance of the female consciousness21 B. Female consciousness in the modern society.21 Works Cited.23Acknowledgements.25 A Study on Charlotte Brontes FemaleConsciousness in Jane EyreI. Introduction A. A brief introduction to Cha
10、rlotte Brontes Jane Eyre1.A brief introduction to Charlotte Bronte Charlotte Bronte was one of the productive English writers in the middle of the 19th century. She had set a milestone in the history of English women literature and her work embodied her eagerness for love and freedom and considerati
11、on towards womens destiny. She was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, the daughter of an Anglican clergyman. After the death of her mother, Charlotte was left with her sisters Anne and Emily and her brother Branwell to the care of their strictly religious Aunt Elisabeth. During a somewhat unhappy childhoo
12、d the children created imaginary worlds as an escape from their everyday life. She attended the Clergy Daughter School at Cowan Bridge but returned in the same year due to the harsh conditions, which she later suggested as the cause of her elder sisters deaths and her own melancholia. In 1839 Charlo
13、tte was a governess with the Sidgwick family at Skipton, and in 1841 with the White family at Rawdon, however her attempts to earn a living as a governess were constantly hampered by her terrible shyness, her ignorance of children and her longing to be with her sisters. Jane Eyre was published in 18
14、47 and achieved immediate success. It is the story of a penniless orphan who becomes a teacher, obtains a post as a governess, comes into an inheritance from an uncle and finally marries the Byronic hero, clearly reflecting an autobiographical influence. In 1854 Charlotte married her fathers curate,
15、 Arthur Bell Nicholls. She died during her pregnancy on March 31st in 1855. Over the past fifty years her reputation has risen greatly, and her work has been shown to speak up for oppressed women of all ages.2.A brief introduction to Jane Eyre During the 1800s, the period in which Jane Eyre was writ
16、ten, women were judged only by two standards: wealth and appearance. Thus, they never had rights to develop a mind of their own. Charlotte Bronte established a kind of new feminine image by creating a heroine, Jane Eyre, who possessed nothing beyond her character. She has the pesistent pursuit for e
17、qual personality and completely true love as men do. Her attractive character has influenced thousands of female readers all over the world in their life, mind and passion.Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwar
18、dly of plain appearance, She possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes a governess to the daughter of
19、the mysterious, sardonic and attractive Mr Rochester. However, there is great kindness and warmth in this epic love story, which is set against the magnificent backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. B.The purpose of this paperThis paper tries to explore the writers female consciousness embodied in these w
20、orks from the anthors experience , the appearance and the main character in the novel Jane Eyre. It focus on Charlotte Brontes own life experience and her view of point as a feminist because the heroine Jane Eyre embodies Charlotte Brontes personality and shares much in common on the female consciou
21、sness. First of all, I will study Charlotte Brontes life experience, her view as a feminist from the novel and female consciousness in the English literature in that period. Then, basing on the above study, I will study the female conciousness of Charlotte Bronte in her masterpiece Jane Eyre. Finall
22、y, I will analyse the significance of the female conciousness in Charlotte Brontes eyes to the English literature and the study on the feminism. The purpose of this paper is to get a brand-new understanding of feminism the anthor wants to express through further analysis of Charlotte Bronte and her
23、Jane Eyre.C.The significance and limitationsThe awakening of women began in the 18th century. With the wakeness of the female conciousness, feminism flourished and was rooted in England which had a traditional sense of independence and freedom. In feminism, a large number of women writers utilized t
24、heir literary works as the weapons to fight against masculinity. Jane Eyre, a novel by Charlotte Bronte, was published in 1847. Charlotte Bronte created a typical and successful female image that has the courage to rebel and fight for the freedom and the equality. This paper does some studies on the
25、 history and development of the female conciousness in the process of the feminism. And it intends to make contributtions to the research of womens studies and the comprehension of the female conciousness.This thesis examines the nature of Charlotte Brontes pioneering literary feminism，and both the
26、positive and negative characterizations of Jane Eyre in the text reveal the writers feminist value in the Victorian England. It also demonstrates the positive development of female consciousness and the limitation of female consciousness in the middle of 19th centuryFemale consciousness in the Engli
27、sh literatureA. Female consciousness in the English literature 1.The definition of the female consiousnessThe female consciousness is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosphies largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. In simple terms, feminism
28、is the belief in social, political and economic equality of the sexes, and a moment organized around the belief that gender should not be the pre-determinant factor shaping a persons social identity or social-political or economic inequality between sexes which favors the male gender, some have argu
29、ed that gendered and sexed identities, such as “man” and “woman” are socially constructed. Feminists disagree over the sources of inequality, how to attain equality, and the extent to which gender-based identites should be questioned and critigued.The female consciousness is womans self-consciousnes
30、s of status, influence and value as the subject in the objective world. It is a personal motive to stimulate womens pursuit for independence, freedom, initiative and creativity. Concretely speaking, the female consciousness means women wake up and fulfill their historical missions, social responsibi
31、lities, personal obligations, meanwhile they know their self-features well and take part in social activities in their own ways.2. The development of the female consciousnessThe establishment and development of female consciousness are the process of changing and enrichment with the changes and deve
32、lopments of the society. The standards of the female consciousness status are still in research. Peking University scholars Fu Xin and Wang Sufang claimed that the wakening and improvement of female consciousness manifest in four main aspects: women realize themselves as the subjects in the society,
33、 this realization is one of the universal attributes of human beings, according to human beings overall necessities to establish their lives spontaneously; they realize womens special qualities and portray a real female quality in harmony with their physiology and psychology; they understand and pla
34、y a variety of roles in balance; they regards man properly and can work with man in harmony. I think the standards of wakening should include the sex consciousness, which requires women to be self-respective and self-confident but not self-abased and self-flabby; they can take a correct judgment on
35、the two sexes, insisting on sexual equality, but not the male superiority nor the female inferiority or woman supremacists; the female groups consciousness awakening begin with self-respect, self-confidence, independence, and towards to female groups self-reliance.B.The research on the female consci
36、ousness in Jane Eyre in other peoples eyesAny criticism of a literary work is a juxtaposition of individual perceptions and prevalent cultural or social values. When Jane Eyre was published in 1847, it became a bestseller. The reviews were on the whole favorable. There was much speculation about whe
37、ther the writer was a man or a woman and whether the Bells were really three persons, two persons, or just one person. When it became known that a woman had written such a passionate novel and seemed so knowing sexually, the reviews became more negative. Introducing Womens Studies praised the novel:
38、 This is not merely a work of great promise; it is one of absolute performance. It is one of the most powerful domestic romances which have been published for many years. It has little or nothing of the old conventional stamp upon it, but it is full of youthful vigour, of freshness and originality,
39、of nervous diction and concentrated interest. The incidents are sometimes melo-dramatic, and, it might be added, improbable, but these incidents, though striking, are subordinate to the main purpose of the piece, which is a tale of passion, not of intensity which is most sublime. It is a book to mak
40、e the pulses gallop and the heart beat, and to fill the eyes with tears (Robinson,Victoria,1997)Jane Eyre is, indeed, one of the coarsest books which we ever perused. It is not that the professed sentiments of the writer are absolutely wrong or forbidding, or that the odd sort of religious notions w
41、hich she puts forth are much worse than is usual in popular tales. It is rather that there is a tendency to relapse into that class of ideas, expressions, and circumstances, which is most connected with the grosser and more animal portion of our nature; and that the detestable morality of the most p
42、rominent character in the story is accompanied with every sort of palliation short of unblushing justification. Sally Shuttleworth, who wrote Charlotte Bronte and Victorian Psychology, assumed a connection between unrestrained passion and political rebellion: Jane Eyre is throughout the personificat
43、ion of the unregenerate and undisciplined spirit, the more dangerous to exhibit from that prestige of principle and self-control which is liable to dazzle the eye too much for it to observe the inefficient and unsound foundation on which it rests. It is true Jane does right, and exerts great moral s
44、trength, but it is the strength of a mere heathen mind which is a law unto itself. No Christian grace is perceptible upon her.( Sally Shuttleworth,1996 )Altogether the autobiography of Jane Eyre is preeminently an anti-Christian composition. There is throughout a murmuring against the comforts of th
45、e rich and against the privations of the poor, which, as far as each individual is concerned, is a murmuring against Gods appointment-there is a proud and perpetual assertion of the rights of man, for which we find no authority either in Gods word or in Gods providence-there is that pervading tone of ungodly discontent which is at once the most prominent and the most subtle evil which the law and the pulpit, which all civilized society in fact, has at the present day t
