JaneEyre—ABeautifulSoul英语专业.docx

1、J ane Eyre A Beautiful Soul目录Introduction1C har lotte Bronte and her J ane Eyre1Background of Growth2Family Background3Social Background3Spiritual Independence4A Probe into the Feminist Idea of J ane Eyre5C onclusion6Bibliogr aphy7I. IntroductionThe work is one of the most popular and important nove

2、ls of the Victorian age. It is noted for its sharp criticism of the existing society, e.g. the religious hypocrisy of charity institutions such as Lowood School where poor girls are trained, through constant starvation and humiliation, to be humble slaves, the social discrimination Jane experiences

3、first as a dependent at her aunts house and later as a governess at Thornfield, and the false social convention as concerning love and marriage. At the same time, it is and intense moral fable. Jane, like Mr. Rochester, has to undergo a series of physical and moral tests to grow up and achieve her f

4、inal happiness.II. . C h a r lotte B r on t e a n d h e r J a n e E y r eCharlotte Bronte (1816-1855), the daughter of a clergyman in a small mill town in northern England, has long been considered one of the most outstanding and controversial women writers in the literary world of the nineteenth ce

5、ntury. She, together with her sisters Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte, constituted the most marvelous myth in the history of British literature. Their mother died of cancer when the children were still young and they were mostly left on their own as their father felt that “their prattle distressed him,

6、 reminding him of his dead wife”(Zha ng 2009). In 1842 Charlotte and Emily were sent to join their elder sister Maria and Elizabeth at Clergy Daughters school in Cowan Bridge. The condition of the school made a horrifying impression on Charlottes mind. The discipline was harsh. Maria suffered a grea

7、t deal, and after developing tuberculosis, was sent home to die at the age of eleven. In J ane Eyre, the description of the infamous Lowood School was based on this unhappy experience. When the girls were still young, their father brought a box of twelve wooden soldiers for their brother Branwell, w

8、ho allowed each of his sisters to choose one of the soldiers and become its patron. The soldiers were exactly the things that originally aroused Bronte sistersw ishes of being writer. From 1846 the sisters started to publish their writings. They put together a little volume of verse under their pseu

9、donyms: Currer Bell for Charlotte, Ellis Bell for Emily, and Acton Bell for Ann. Social prejudice against women writers had forced them to hide their sex. In 1852 Charlotte married her fathers curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. The marriage was sweet but short. In 1855 she became ill and died on March 31

10、 of that year of tuberculosis. All through hershort lifetime, Charlotte Bronte produced five novels: Professor, J ane Eyre, Shirley, Villetteand Emma. Except her final unfinished novel Emma, the other four have been widely read and translated into many languages. Their author also becomes the litera

11、ry world.Charlotte Bronte is actually the heroine of her novel J ane Eyre. For the story embodied her personal experiences. We can hardly imagine what the author is without what she writes. Due to this special phenomenon, it is commonly believed that no literary commentary on Charlotte Bronte is of

12、any authenticity if her personal experiences are overlooked.J ane Eyre is Charlottes second novel, published in 1847. The novel goes through five distinct stages: (1)Janes childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; (2)he education at Lowood School, where she acquires friend

13、s and role models but also suffers privations; (3) her time as governess at Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; (4) her time with the Rivers family at Marshs End and at Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St . John Rivers proposes to her; (5)her

14、 reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism and simister Gothic elements.J ane Eyre was considered as the most distinguished work after only a week it was published. Then, why this work received so muc

15、h popularity is worthy of thinking. In most cases, a character in a book directly reflects a reality or a social phenomenon, and J ane Eyre in some ways is not an exception. Yet there are lots of extraordinary things that can be found from the heroine-the resistance of ty ranny, the concept of woman

16、 statue, the thought of independence, which rather could be referred as unexpected things in that days and just could be referred as modernism nowadays. It is these things that make the novel remarkable.III. Background of GrowthThe formation of Jane Eyres personality is closely related to her growin

17、g background. And her growing process cannot be neglected in which a mans distinguished character is just developed under a special circumstance. On the hand, the formation of Janes personality can be traced from family and social backgrounds. On the other hand, her success cannot be separated with

18、the independence on spirit and economy as well. So family background, socialbackground, financial independence and spiritual independence must be regarded as a whole.A . F a m i l y B a c k g r ou n dThe story opens with the titular heroine, J ane Eyre, a plain little orphan, at Gateshead Hall with

19、her aunt and cousin. Her aunt, Mrs. Reed, a selfish and cold-hearted woman, and her three children all treat Jane very badly. One day, in an outbreak, Jane fights back and is shut up in the horrible red room. To get rid of this eye-sore, Mrs. Reed sends her away to Lowood, a charity school for the o

20、rphaned or unwanted children. Jane suffers a lot there, both physically and mentally, only to be consoled by the kindness of a teacher, Miss Temple and the friendship of Helen Buns, a pupil who dies as a result of the bad conditions there. Jane stays at the school for eight years, first six as a stu

21、dent and the rest two as a teacher. An advertisement gives her the chance to be a governess at Thornfield hall. There she falls in love with the master of the house, Mr. Rochester, a grim-looking, energetic, quick-tempered but an understanding middle-aged man. He too is attracted to the little plain

22、 governess for her quick wit, honesty, frankness, loving heart and her spirit of independence and self-dignity. But their wedding is canceled on the ground that Rochester is already married and his wife, though raving mad, is still alive. Shocked and deeply hurt, Jane makes up her mind to leave Roch

23、ester. She flees into the moorland. She would have died of starvation but for St. John Rivers and his two sisters. It turns out that the Rivers are really her cousins, and from them she also learns that she is now a rich heiress. One day, St. John Rivers, a very handsome clergyman who is determined

24、to devote himself solely to God, asks Jane to marry him and accompany him to India for missionary work. Just when Jane, now desperate of her union with Rochester, is about to accept Johns loveless proposal, she hears Rochester calling for her. Following her own heart, Jane returns to Thornfield. She

25、 finds the burnt-down Thorn field Hall and its master, now a blind but free man. The two lovers are finally united and live happily ever after.B . S oc i a l B a c k g r ou n dIn the nineteenth century, a great stratification existed between the upper and lower class. The upper classes claimed that

26、the lower classes cannot be associated in any regular way with industrial or family life. A lack of adequate nutrition, medical care and sanitary resources also contributed to the stigma attached to poor people. The disease and malnutrition that ranrampant among the poor caused stunted physiques and

27、 pale face that caused not only economicdivision between the classes, but also physical divisions as well. The story takes the progress that Jane starts at the bottom of the social scale as orphan living off her aunts charity and eventually, becomes a lady with virtuous, integrity, keen intellect an

28、d tireless perseverance who breaks through the class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loved. The uncertain social status of governesses in the nineteenth century personified a life of intense misery. They were also that most unfortunate individual; the single, middle-class women who ha

29、d to earn their own living. Although being a governess might be degradation, employing one was a sigh of culture. The psychological situation of the governess made her position unenviable. Her presence created practical difficulties within the Victorian home because she was neither a servant nor a m

30、ember of the family. She was from the social level of the family, but the fact that she was paid a salary put her at her economic level of the servants. Only the salary of the governess and usually low family position keeps her from being considered part of the cultural elite.Under such a humble soc

31、ial condition, Jane, regardless of her original position as a governess, through unrelenting struggle against many odds, finally gains her happiness, which reflects her great personality.C . S p i r i tu a l In d e p en d en c eJane has realized the importance of property in controlling her fate; me

32、anwhile, spiritual liberty is crucial to keep her mental balance even when she is still in poverty. In her mind, she cannot bear to let the spiritual independence dominated by economic situation. In the beginning, Jane interprets the spiritual freedom in different manifestation of desire. Since her

33、childhood, Jane has been enjoying broadening her horizon in reading. And by doing so she gathers power to struggle for independence. In Lowood Institute, Jane finds the enjoyment of expanding her own mind, though the condition at there is poor and the discipline is harsh.After eight years as a stude

34、nt and two years as a teacher, Jane is better qualified than most of the other governesses. Besides the ordinary lessons other governesses can teach, Jane can also teach French, drawing, and music. Her qualifications for the governess job reinforce her self-confidence in the self-support effort. She

35、 finds a job as a governesses in Thornfield. It isthe groundwork, on which Jane will achieve her goal gradually.As a mature girl with a sensitive heart, Jane claims for true love, and her anxiety for spiritual liberty is more acute than others. Jane is disadvantaged in many ways, as she has no wealt

36、h, family, social position and beauty. But Jane does have intelligence, and her disposition is such as to make Rochester fall in love with her. She is not willing to give up the hard-owned satisfaction of spiritual independence when she is engaged to Rochester. She resists becoming dependent on him

37、for economic reason. She daes not want to be a mistress with fancy gowns and jewels. To prevent herself from losing her identity and becoming an attachment to others, Jane deliberately keeps a reasonable distance from Rochester, for fear of being swallowed by the fever of love. For Jane, true freedo

38、m lies in submission to her small fate expressed in the image of “breezy ”and “healthy ”England.The new world Rochester opens to her, is one in which she may expect to flourish as the wife of a man who understands and respects her. However, she is often shown to treat herself more sternly than she w

39、ould wish to believe. She finally rejects Rochester and leaves Thornfield because she thinks that he might fail her moral principle. Jane will not rebel against God or lose her self-respect and become Rochesters mistress.This is not enough; the eventual evolution of Jane Eyre into a full independent

40、 woman comes after her experiences at the moors. When St. John asks Jane to marry him, she replies calmly and thinks that to be his wife means to keep the fire of nature continually low. It is unendurable, as she has to suppress her passion without any complaints. Clearly St. John does not meet Jane

41、s standards for true love, for Janes passion would dwindle and die if she married him. After she breaks free from St. John, Jane is ready to return to Rochester and assume the role of his wife and his equality. It is a new Jane who reassures Rochester. In control of her life, Jane marries Rochester.

42、For Jane, the quest for independence is not simple. The decision she comes to is the result of a conscientious assessment of her choices: material wealth is worthless if it is achieved at the expense of virtue; while the narrow life of a village schoolmistress retains the liberation of spirit, which

43、 goes with integrity. Moreover, freedom is not attained by enslavement to passion. The conscientiousness of independence lies deep in her personality.IV.A Probe into the Feminist Idea of J ane EyreJ ane Eyre takes a negative attitude towards mens role as a road-guide and makes sharp criticism about

44、the unequal relationship between men and women. Traditionally, female is considered weak and needs to be protected by male; whereas male is females savior who stands in front of female as a supervisor.Generally speaking, the feeling of helplessness and the desire to be rescued are always connected w

45、ith women. In J ane Eyre, Charlotte willfully overturns the traditional roles about male and female. When Jane first encounters Mr. Rochester, Rochester falls off his horse and has to be supported by Jane to ride on his horse again. The help offered by Jane to Rochester forms the framework of the lo

46、ve story between them. Later on, when Bertha wants to burn her husband, it is Jane who extinguishes the flames in time and rescues Rochester. When Mr. Mason is attacked by Bertha, it is also Jane who helps Rochester to send the hurt gentleman out without being discovered. Finally when Rochester is b

47、lind and mutilated, it is still Jane who reunites him and works as his eyes and hands. By means of these details, Charlotte highlights the relationship between Janes power and Rochesters weakness.Whats more, Jane is endowed with strong and virtuous characteristics, which she especially demonstrates

48、after she finds out the existence of Bertha, Rochesters legal wife. In the end, the legacy that Jane receives from her uncle in Madeira significantly redefines her relationship to patriarchal society. Since she gains this wealth and independence, Jane is clearly rebelling against the norms of Victorian England. The roles are reversed and Jane is now the person in her own control.V. C onclusionJane Eyre can be interpreted as a symbol of the independent spirit. Firmly persisting for the rights