大学英语专业毕业论文

Abstract

Jane Eyre is a piece of autobiographical fiction written by Charlotte Brontë, the famous talented English women novelist. It was written in the Victorian Age when women were considered subordinate to men. Women were taught that their duty was to submit. Jane Eyre is a story about a woman who is unwilling to submit to anything she perceives wrong or unfair. The heroine—Jane Eyre believes that she should have the right to make her own choice, and that she should be considered the equal of any man as a human being. Such a position was hard for any Victorian woman to achieve. However, as a woman raised from an orphan, Jane Eyre makes it and achieves her self-realization. Her wonderful transformation from an unfortunate infant to an independent woman with happy marriage is very remarkable till now. This thesis analyses Jane Eyre's self-realization by taking a lot of examples and shows the features of heroines under the pen of the author. Chapter I introduces the historical background of this book and the author Charlotte Brontë, as well as the life of Jane Eyre. This part is helpful to improve our understanding of the novel. Chapter II mainly analyses the factors that contribute to Jane's self-realization from two aspects: her characters and the influence of her teacher and friend. It is the key part in studying the progress of her self-realization. Chapter III explores the linkage between Charlotte Brontë’s experience and the features of her heroines and reflects the author’s call for women’s rights. It is the inspirations obtained from Jane Eyre’s self-realization.

Key Words: self-realization; independent; self-respect; equality; women ’s rights

摘 要

《简·爱》是一部由英国著名女作者夏洛蒂·勃朗特写的一部自传体小说，写于维多利亚时期。 当时的妇女被认为是男人的从属，并受到这样的教育：妇女的责任是服从。《简·爱》讲述了一个不愿对任何错误或不公屈从的女性的故事。女主角——简·爱相信她应有权利作出自己的决定，她应和男人一样被同等对待。这样的地位对于任何一个维多利亚时期的女性都是很难达到的。然而，孤儿出身的简·爱却达到了这样的地位并实现了自我。直至今天，她由一个不幸的孤儿到一个独立而拥有幸福婚姻的人的完美蜕变还是十分引人注目的。本论文通过一系列的例子分析了简的自我实现，并展现了作者笔下的女主角的特点。第一章介绍小说的历史背景，作者夏洛蒂·勃朗特以及简·爱的生活。这部分将有助于增进我们对这部小说的了解。第二章分析促成简的自我实现的因素：她主要的性格和老师朋友对她的影响。这是对简的自我实现过程的研究的关键部分。第三章研究了夏洛蒂·勃朗特的经历与她的女主角间的联系，并揭示了作者对女性权利的呼吁。这是我们从简·爱的自我实现中得到的启示。

关键词： 自我实现； 独立； 自尊； 平等； 女性权利

Introduction

Jane Eyre is the first governess novel in the history of the English literature. It is Charlotte Bro ntë’s second novel and is one of her masterpieces. Charlotte always shapes the features on the basis of her experience and Jane Eyre is a good reflection of the author's personal experience and individual point of view. Jane Eyre was written in the 19th century Victorian Age, when women were regarded as second-class and there was a rigid social hierarchy. The goal of existence for girls was to marry men from rich and powerful families or try to gain wealth and status through marriage. The only vocation for women to choose was to become a good wife and mother. Charlotte herself was like the heroine, Jane Eyre. She kept trying to improve her life. She had once learned French to establish a French school and been a tutor for twice. On the matter of marriage, the novel Jane Eyre also shows the author's point of view, that is, marriage should be based upon mutual love and respect. Charlotte experienced a lot but she finally became famous and successful and married a man who also loved her.

The hard self-realization of Charlotte can be reflected from the experience of Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre is a young orphan being raised by Mrs. Reed, her cruel, wealthy aunt. She has no way of appeal whatever against her cousin's frequent bully on her. One day, as a punishment for fighting with her cousin John Reed, Jane's aunt imprisons Jane in the red-room, the room in which her Uncle Reed died. While locked in, Jane believes that she sees her uncle's ghost. Jane screams and faints. Then Jane is packed off to Lowood. There she is exposed to the harsh conditions and unreasonable rigid disciplines. Jane makes friends with a young girl named Helen Burns, who later dies of typhus epidemic. When she works as a governess, she falls in love with her master, Mr. Rochester. However, just on their wedding day, Jane discovers that Rochester already has a wife. She is unwilling to become a mistress and chooses to leave him. Later Jane rejected St. John's appraisal for marriage and returns to Rochester, who is now blind and lost his left hand. The two lovers finally married and find happiness together.

Chapter I Overview of Jane Eyre

1.1 An Introduction to Its Author

Charlotte Brontë was born in Haworth, Yorkshire, a poor mountainous region in north England in1816. Her mother died when she was only five years old, leaving six children to her father, a poor clergyman. Fortunately, her father was an intellect. He taught his children read books and told them stories. So Charlotte developed her interest in literature when she was a little girl. In1834, Charlotte was sent to a boarding school together with her three sisters. The next year, her two elder sisters died of tuberculosis, then she and her younger sister were brought home. This period of time leaved her a terrible memory and was reflected in her novel Jane Eyre. Thereafter, Charlotte lived at home and developed a wide interest. Among them, she showed the talent in literature. Charlotte returned to school again when she was 15. She became a teacher in that school in1835 in order to support her younger brother and sister to go to school. After she left this school, she took up the job as a tutor for twice, but she didn't like the job because people didn't respect teachers at that time. After she studied French, she established a French school with the hope of improving her life. However, there’s no student visiting it. The school was a failure and her career as a writer was not smooth, too. The Professor was Charlotte's first book, but never found a willing publisher during her lifetime. In1847, her second novel, Jane Eyre, was published under the name of Currer Bell. The book was a great shook at that time and made her successful. She later created Shirly and Villette . She married Bell Nicholls, her father's curate, when she was 38 years old. She died a few months later in pregnancy.

1.2. Historical Background in Jane Eyre

Jane lives in the Victorian Age. British literature flourished and reached its peak in the 1940s. The early years of Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as many social problems. England developed into a rich, advanced country while there existed the sharpest contrast between the rich and the poor and wide spread poverty among the working class. Meanwhile, the Victorian England had a rigid social hierarchy and the law controlling property and inheritance were very strict in Victorian England. George C. Brodrick once wrote : “The Law of Primogeniture, in its strictest form, has now determined the descent of land on intestacy ［dying

without a will to determine the transmission of one’s property］in this county for more than six centuries.”○1 This law deprived women of the right to acquire income by inheritance. What’s more, there were few possibilities open to women outside of marriage and they had few right to speak for themselves.

1.3. The Life of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre's life path is full of ups and downs, but she finally achieves her self-realization step by step. When Jane is still an infant, her parents both dies of typhus fever. Her uncle Mr. Reed is a kind-hearted man. He takes Jane to Gateshead. After her uncle's death, Jane suffers her cousins' bullying behaviors frequently. One day, her cousin John strikes her cruelly. Jane is imprisoned in the red-room for her fight back. Then Jane is sent to a charity school run by a cold-hearted hypocrite called Mr. Brocklehurst. Children there are given scanty supply of food and freezing rooms. Both Miss Temple and Helen help and influence Jane greatly. Unluckily, Helen died of a massive typhus epidemic. After Jane's graduation, she becomes a teacher there. Then with the hope of exploring the wide world out of Lowood, Jane advertises on a newspaper for a job as governess. Soon she is employed to teach a French girl named Adèle Varens in Thornfield Hall. One January afternoon, while taking a walk, Jane helps a man who falls from his house. She latter finds out that the man is the master of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester is a very proud, harsh and quick-tempered middle-aged man. He seldom talks to his servants for he doesn't have the same language with them, but he enjoys talking with Jane after supper. He is attracted by her quick wit, honesty, frankness, self-dignity, and her spirit of independence. Jane also loves Rochester deeply. But their wedding is interrupted by a man named Mason and her lawyer. They declare that Rochester still has a wife who is alive. The word turns out to be true. Although Mr. Rochester's wife has gone mad for many years, Jane doesn't choose to stay at Thornfield Hall as a mistress and flees into the moorland. Homeless and penniless, Jane would have died of starvation but for the help of St. John Rivers and her two sisters, Diana and Mary. Jane soon recovers her energy under the care of them and gets a job with the help of St. John. To her surprise, St. John turns out to be her cousin, and she becomes a rich heiress. St. John once asks Jane to marry him. Jane rejected his loveless proposal for he just wants to find a wife as an assistance of his missionary work. Just at

this time, Jane hears Rochester calling her. She returns to Thornfield which has been burned down by a big fire. Rochester becomes disabled, and his mad wife died. When Jane encounters Rochester in Ferndean garden, she sees a blind man without left hand. The two lovers are finally united and live happily ever after.

Chapter II. Analysis the Factors Contribution to the Self-realization of Jane

Jane Eyre, once a plain orphan and depended on her harsh and unsympathetic aunt, finally becomes an independent woman with a happy ending. How could she improve her life and reach self-serealization? We can get the answer by analyzing the following factors.

2.1 The Main Characters of Jane Eyre

Ever since the publication of Jane Eyre, it has attracted millions of readers. Jane Eyre is neither beautiful nor wealthy, but her life finally achieves a happy ending. In a sense it is her unique characters that help her a lot.

2.1.1 Jane Eyre's Independence

Jane Eyre is less important than a servant in Gateshead. She often hears the servants saying to her:“ You ought to be aware, Miss, that you are under obligations to Mrs. Reed: she keeps you: if she were to turn you off, you would have to go to the poor house. ”○2Jane feels that: “ I had nothing to say to these words: they were not new to me: my very first recollections of existence included hints of the same kind. This reproach of my dependence had become vague singsong in my ear, very painful and crushing, but only half intelligible. ”○3Little Jane shows her disgust at the fact that she depend on her aunt. She wants to leave Gateshead to begin a new independent life. Soon she grasps a chance to go to a school called Lowood, separating from Gateshead entirely. Jane's independence is fully displayed during her eight years’ staying at the school. She not only habituates herself to the rigid rules and harsh conditions there, but also makes full use of the advantages — the excellent education in the school. She studies hard and reaches the head of the class. Her performance gives her the chance to be a teacher at Lowood and becomes financially

independent. At Thornfield, when Jane and Rochester have planed to marry, Jane still keeps working as a governess to maintain her economical independence.

2.1.2 Pursuit of Equality

Jane insists on the equality between different classes as well as the equality between men and women.

Once Rochester pretends that he will marry a rich and beautiful woman to see if Jane loves him. Jane declares to Rochester: “ Do you think that I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am automation? — 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 am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? — You are wrong! — I have the same soul as you— and full of such heart! And if God had gifted me with the same beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is 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, equal — as we are! ”○4Such declaration is a cry for equality between different classes. She believes that everyone is equal at the God's feet. No matter rich or poor, people all have equal personality and the same rights to live a better life. Such an equal attitudes was an astonishment and wonder to people of the day, but it is the first manifestation of the awakening of the exploited and maltreated women.

Jane lives in the Victorian period, when women were considered inferior to men. They are confined to limited jobs. As a woman with the wakened women consciousness, Jane asks the equal chance as men do to improve herself. She believes that" Women are supposed to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brother's do; they suffer from too rigid a restrain, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer: and it is narrow-mined in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to be confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex." ○5

2.1.3 Jane Eyre's Self-respect

Jane Eyre has done two kinds of work: first as a governess, then as a school teacher. Both of the works are not respected by people at that time. But Jane never feels abject or looks down upon her job. Instead she enjoys it and devoted to it. So she finally gains respects from her students.

Her self-respect and straight speech also gain her true love between Rochester. She loves Rochester deeply but when she knows he has a mad wife who is still alive, she determines to leave him. Because she believes “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will hold to the principles received by we when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now.” ○6 It is difficult for Jane to make the decision for she still loves Rochester. But her self-respect and reason helps her take the determination. She is clear that being a mistress means losing her integrity and relying on Rochester for the unprotected marriage bond.

Jane's self-respect also makes she rejected St. John's proposal. St. John just wants to have a wife as convention and hope Jane can help him as a wife of a missioner. Jane refuses to be a tool for the fulfillment of his religious ambition. With her self-respect, Jane's free will is saved, which leads she choose to go back to Rochester. Otherwise, she would have sacrificed all her energy and dream for the work pointed by St. John, rather than her own dream of self-realization.

2.2 The Influence of Jane's Teacher and Friend

At Lowood, Jane is influenced by one of her teachers, Miss Temple, and her best friend, Helen. She gains power from them to live through the miseries in Lowood. Miss Temple is the most kind-hearted teacher at the school. Her kind, merciful and brave actions gain her love and respect of all students. When the porridge is so burnt at breakfast that it is inedible, she arranges, against the order of Mr. Brocklehust, to have the children fed a different, better meal. When Mr. Brocklehust announces to the entire school that Jane is a bad and deceitful girl, based on the information given by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, Jane is very sad because she thinks all classmates and teachers will either despise or dislike her. Just at this time, Miss Temple helps her clear the imputation and relieves her from a grievous load. Miss Temple teaches Jane that it is her present and future behavior that matter most, that if she behaves herself well at Lowood, her reputation will be based on that behavior, not on the criticisms of someone from her past. Miss Temple also serves as a mode of independent

woman for Jane. She is among those early independent women who support themselves by their own hands and directs Jane towards self-realization.

Helen's martyrlike attitude towards the school's miseries is helpful to Jane. She learns from Helen the ability of endurance. But Jane won't accept the unjust blame and punishment so passively. She shows her endurance during the 8 years’ hard life in Lowood and the almost desperate wonder on the moor. But for her endurance and strong will, she would have died of hungry and coldness before she is saved by St. John.

Chapter III. The Inspiration Obtained from Jane Eyre's Self-realization

3.1 The Linkage between Charlotte Brontë's Experience and the Features of Her Heroines

As a famous English female writer, Charlotte’s work is famous for the depiction of the life of the middle-class working women, particularly governesses. Jane Eyre is the first governess novel in the history of English literature. “Charlotte’s works are about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards self-realization, about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love, understanding and a full happy life.” ○7 All Charlotte's novels are more or less based on her own experience and feelings and the life as she sees around. In other words, by writing from an individual point of view, she projects herself into her leading characters and follows her innermost feelings, her secret impulses to color her narratives. Charlotte herself is an independent and persisting woman. When she was young her mother died early and her father was a poor clergyman. Her father's income was only able to meet their basic need of life. In order to support herself and their family, Jane worked hard. She had been tutor for twice. But the work was not respected by people at that time. So she left that work at last. During that period she was proposed by two men. She rejected their loveless proposal, because they didn't love her at all. They just wanted to marry a wife as convention. Latter, she married Bell Nicholls with true love. Her pursuiting of true love showed her self-respect and was also shown on the character of her heroines. In 1836, Charlotte sent some of her poems to the famous poet, Robert Southey. However Southey said that literature was not the career for women, because they didn't have the talents in writing

poems. This hurted Charlotte's heart. But she didn't lose her confidence and kept writing. This character is shown on Jane Eyre. In a sense, she creates the story of her inner life. It is easy to find her characters in her work.

3.2The Call for Women's Rights

The Brontë Sisters lived in the time when women were as second-class and their rights to speak for themselves were restraint by the various creeds based on the benefit of the male. The birthright deprived women's economic income. Women could only receive elementary education, only to become refined madams, limitating within the traditional world for women: Church, Cookery and Children. The way to realize their value was to be good assistants and vassal of men. Because“ Women were considered to be subordinated to men according to the law of both God and Nature. Under the law, married women were unable to sue in their name or even to have legal rights to their own children. They were legally the property of their husbands, who could treat them as well as or as poorly as they chose. ” ○8 “And a great many women, as well, accepted the notion that by nature and God’s decree, women were different to men.” ○9 But Charlotte shaped Jane Eyre, a completely new woman image with independent character, aggressive spirit and beautiful dream. Jane maintains her dignity and never loses the faith of pursuiting equality. She believes in her right to be a full and complete human being, to be treated equally in terms of basic human rights. In the twenty-first century, this idea is commonplace. In Charlotte’s time, however, It was quite revolutionary. So “Jane Eyre represents those middle -class working women who are struggling for recognition of their rights and equality as a human being.” ○10 Charlotte calls out through Jane's self-realization that women should not be satisfied with their role settled by the society, but should pursuit the equality on marriage, economic and social status by their own efforts.

Conclusion

The analysis above shows that Jane Eyre is different from many other women in the male-dominated society. She strives to be a fully developed human being, instead of a mere Victorian lady. Although she starts her life as an orphan and with no money, inferior position and terrible family environment, she never looks down upon herself. Furthermore, she overcomes all these difficulties bravely and looks forward to a better future. She believes she has the ability to maintain her independence by her hard work. She struggles for equality on economy, marriage, personality and social status. At last, she succeeds and lives a happy life with her lover. Jane Eyre is a leader for women to realize their value. It is her insistence of independence, maintenance of self-respect, pursuit of equality as well as the positive influence imposed by her friends that contribute to her realization. We must acknowledge that it was of great significance for the author to advocate women's independence, self-respect and equality in the days when women were over oppressed. By shaping Jane Eyre, the author found a way out for women: supporting themselves by their own hands, pursuiting freedom and never clinging to other people.

This idea can still act as a principle for women nowadays. If we can learn some of Jane’s spirit and act in that way, we may achieve our self-realization someday.

Notes

1德布拉•蒂奇曼著，《简·爱》解读， 北京：中国人民大学出版社，2007 ○

2夏洛蒂·勃朗特著，刘素译，《简·爱》，北京：中国国际广播出版社，2009 ○

3夏洛蒂·勃朗特著，刘素译，《简·爱》，北京：中国国际广播出版社，2009 ○

4夏洛蒂·勃朗特著，刘素译，《简·爱》，北京：中国国际广播出版社，2009 ○

5Charlotte Brontё, Jane Eyre,Beijing: Central Compilations＆Translation Press,2008 ○

6夏洛蒂·勃朗特著，刘素译，《简·爱》，北京：中国国际广播出版社，2009 ○

7 Zhang Boxiang, Selected Reading in English and American Literature, Beijing: Foreign ○

Language Teaching and Research Press, 2009

⑹德布拉•蒂奇曼著，《简·爱》解读， 北京：中国人民大学出版社，2007 8德布拉•蒂奇曼著，《简·爱》解读， 北京：中国人民大学出版社，2007 ○

9Margaret Walters, Feminist, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2008 ○

10Zhang Boxiang, Selected Reading in English and American Literature, Beijing: Foreign ○

Language Teaching and Research Press, 2009

Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude goes to a number of people who have made this thesis much more mature than before. Firstly I would like to appreciate the help of my tutor— Qin Dongxin, who has given me much valuable guidance and spent so much time apolishing my thesis. Then I am grateful of Miss Liu who has given me constructive advices. I am also very grateful to many other friends who has given me useful advices on finishing this paper. Finally I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to those who spend their precious time in reading this thesis.

Bibliography

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Margaret Walters, Feminist, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2008 Zhang Boxiang, Selected Reading in English and American Literature, Beijing: Foreign Language

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