《简爱》中的女权主义研究

Research on Feminism in Jane Eyre

Abstract: The thesis makes a thorough analysis of the heroine Jane‘s feminist consciousness by means of the approach of the feminist criticism. It first gives a brief introduction to the definition and connotations of the feminism. Then it deals with the embodiment of the heroine Jane‘s feminist consciousness from three aspects. They are：rebellion of the traditional women‘s image, pursuit of equality and pursuit of the independent personality. Finally it explores the reasons for the formation of Jane‘s feminist consciousness from the rise of the bourgeois democratic reform and her harsh living conditions.

Key words: Jane Eyre; feminist consciousness; equality; independent personality

简爱中的女权主义研究

摘要: 本文采用女性主义的批评方法对小说《简爱》中的女主人公简的女性意识进行了全面分析。首先简要地介绍了女性主义的定义和基本内涵；然后,从三个方面论述了女主人公简的女性意识的体现,它们分别是：传统女性形象的反叛,追求平等和人格的独立。最后从资产阶级民主改革的掀起和艰难的生存环境等方面探讨了其女性意识形成的原因。

关键词:：《简爱》；女性意识；平等；独立的人格

Introduction

Charlotte Bronte was born in a priest‘s family in 1816 in the north of England. Her father was an Anglican clergyman and her mother died early, so she and her sisters were under the care of their strict, religious aunt. When they were young, the children of the Bronte listened to the stories of the country folk and enjoyed their imagination, which inspired them to create stories. In 1 824, Charlotte and her two sisters entered the Clergy Daughter‘s School at Cowan Bridge. She attended Roe Head School between 1831 and 1832, and then taught at the same school in the following decade. As a notable English realistic female writer in the 19th century, she is considered to be the brightest star of the female literature in English and was praised as one of the prominent novelists in modern Britain by Marx. Her most famous novel Jane Eyre places an emphasis on women‘s love, marriage and family life, and indirectly manifests the feminist consciousness from the perspective of the heroine.

In the past 40 years Charlotte Bronte‘s reputation has risen rapidly, and feminist criticism has done much to show that she was speaking up for the oppressed women of every age. Her masterpiece Jane Eyre has never lost its glamour and she was still regarded, as one of the most outstanding British writers. Jane Eyre is a great work of both a literary motif and social document in the form of a fictional autobiography, Charlotte‘s real life experience and sufferings are all reflected in the novel. The novel is full of profound intention, complicated plots and sincere emotion. It also shows its unique artistic charm and literature values, it has become the topic of scholars‘ argument and scholars keep on exploring its potential intentions, delicate skills and writing style. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte created the image of a passionate young woman with strong consciousness of feminism, independence in spirit, anger of man‘s domination, pursuit of true love and increasing rebel. These aspects are worthy of our study. Though many scholars have begun to be interested in them, the researches are far from over. This paper tries to analyze the feminist consciousness of the heroine in Jane Eyre. Through the study of the protagonist Jane Eyre and the embodiment of her feminist consciousness which reflected the female‘s desire and pursuit in the twentieth century, we can know more about the contemporary female consciousness.

1. Introduction to Feminism

In this part, we are going to introduce what is feminism and its connotations.

1.1 Definition of Feminism

Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. In simple terms, feminism is the belief in social, political and economic equality of the sexes, and a movement organization around the belief that gender should not be the pre-determinant factor shaping a person‘s social identity or socio-political or economic rights. A large portion of feminists are especially concerned with what they perceive to be the social, political and economic inequality between the sexes which favors the male gender; some have argued that gendered and sexed identities, such as ―man‖and ―woman‖, are socially constructed. Feminists disagree about what sexism consists in, and what exactly ought to be done about it；they disagree about what it means to be a woman or a man and what social and political implications of gender has or should have. Nonetheless, motivated by the quest for social justice, feminist inquiry provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural and political phenomena. Important topics for feminist theory and politics include: the body, class and work, disability, the family, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, science, the self, sex work, and sexuality.

1.2 Connotations of Feminism

The term ―feminism‖has many different uses and its meanings are often contested. For example, some writers use the term ―feminism‖to refer to a historically specific political movement in the US and Europe；other writers use it to refer to the belief that there are injustices against women, though there is no consensus on the exact list of these injustices. Although the term ―feminism‖has a history in English linked with women‘s activism from the late 19th century to the present. It is useful to distinguish feminist ideas or beliefs from feminist political movements, for even in periods which there has been no significant political activism around women‘s subordination, individuals have been concerned with and theorized about justice for women.

In the mid-1800s the term ?feminism‘ was used to refer to the qualities of ―females‖. And it was not until after the First International Women‘s Conference in Paris in 1892 that the term was used regularly in English for a belief in and advocacy of equal rights for women based on the

idea of the gender equality. Although the term ―feminism‖in English was rooted in the mobilization for woman suffrage in Europe and the US during the late 19th and early 20th century, of course efforts to obtain justice for women did not begin or end with this period of activism. So some have found it useful to think of the women‘s movement in the US as occurring in ―waves‖. The struggle to achieve basic political rights during the period from the mid-19th century until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 counts as ―First Wave‖ feminism. Feminism waned between the two world wars. In the late 1960‘s and early 1970‘s it was ―revived‖ as ―Second Wave‖ feminism. In this second wave, feminists pushed beyond the early quest for political rights to fight for greater equality across the board, e.g., in education, the workplace, and at home. More recent transformations of feminism have resulted in a ―Third Wave‖. Third Wave feminists often critique Second Wave feminism for its lack of afflation to the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, and emphasize ―identity‖as a site of gender struggle. However, some feminist scholars object to identifying feminism with these particular moments of political activism, on the grounds that eclipse the fact that there has been resistance to male domination that should be considered ―feminist‖throughout history and across cultures: i.e. Feminism is not confined to a few(White)women in the West over the past century or so. Moreover, even considering only relatively recent efforts to resist male domination in Europe and the US, the emphasis on ―First‖and ―Second‖Wave feminism ignores the ongoing resistance to male domination between the 1920‘s and 1960‘s and the resistance outside mainstream politics, particularly by women of color and working class women.

In many of its forms, feminism seems to involve at least two groups of claims, one normative and the other descriptive. The normative claims concern how women ought(or ought not)to be viewed and treated and draw on a background conception of justice or broad moral position；the descriptive claims concern how women are, as a matter of fact, viewed and treated, alleging that they are not being treated in accordance with the standards of justice or morality invoked in the normative claims. Together the normative and descriptive claims provide reasons for working to change the way things are；hence, feminism is not just an intellectual but also a political movement.

2.The Embodiment of the Feminist Consciousness in Jane Eyre

2.1 Rebellion of the Traditional Women’s Image

―Frailty, thy name is woman.‖

This famous statement in Shakespeare‘s Hamlet reminds people of the conventional opinion of woman‘s image in a patriarchal world. In a world where woman has no rights, no matter whether it is a real world or an imaginary world of literature, it seems that the roles and personalities of women are predestined and expressed by logocentricism as being either angles or whores. The ideal image of a lovely woman should be that of fair and flower-like features; the status of woman in society and family is always objective and subordinate. Women have served men for centuries as mirrors reflecting them at twice their natural size. For women, traditions and conventions of the nineteenth century have strictly required women how to play their proper roles, how to be a good girl, an eligible wife and mother. But as for Jane, she breaks through the traditional women‘s image.

The 19th century was one in which men were in the dominating position. Young girls were told that it was for their best interests to become men‘s vassal. But Jane does not resign herself to such submission, denying her material and moral inferiority to boys. She sees that she has some power to challenge the authority of John and Mrs. Reed. She refuses to submit to John Reed and Mrs. Reed but challenges the tradition which women are subordinate to men.

In her aunt‘s family, she protests against her cousin—John Reed and her aunt-- Mrs. Reed. Being the young master in Gateshead, John has superior status in the house. Although he is a boy of only fourteen years old, he is precisely a little tyrant. He bullies and punishes young Jane ―not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually.‖(Bronte, 2002: 9) Goaded by John Reed‘s bullying, Jane hits back on occasions, fighting like a mad cat until she is overpowered. But on account of her restricted and subordinated situation, Jane has been habitually obedient to John. However, when John again abuses Jane, Jane‘s deep indignation finally breaks out. She flies at him like a mad girl. And she calls John a ―wicked and cruel boy‖, ―a murderer‖, ―a slave-driver‖, a ―Roman emperor‖,(Bronte, 2002: 12) using whatever words she can find in her vocabulary. She questions why John is her master. That is the thing Jane never did before and the words she never thought to declare aloud. Finding herself in a position of inferiority, she is immersed in her rage and misery. ―I resisted all the way; new things for me,‖

writes Jane, ―...like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.‖(Bronte, 2002:12) She moves beyond self-protection to passionate self-declaration.

After that, Mrs. Reed decides to get rid of her and sends her to Brocklehurst‘s charity school at Lowood. Before Jane leaves, her aunt tells Brocklehusrst that Jane is a bad girl who is fond of telling lies. Stung by Mrs. Reed‘s accusations that she is deceitful, Jane hits back in words, insisting on her own honesty, telling her aunt how much she dislikes her: ―I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed.(Bronte, 2002: 82) ...I will tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale. People think you a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!‖(Bronte, 2002: 84) Mrs. Reed is horrified by Jane‘s protest. Jane wins the battle. ―I was left there alone-winner of the field. It was the hardest battle I had fought, and the first victory I had gained.‖(Bronte, 2002: 85)

2.2 Pursuit of Equality

Through all her life Jane is always pursuing equality. As we all known, the inequality between men and women had been rooted in the assumption that women were born inferior to men. Jane attacks the deeply-rooted male-dominance, asserting that people are equal in spite of their birth rank, social status and other physical values. Jane‘s creed of equality can be seen all the time. The equality between Mr. Rochester and her is the most obvious evidence.

Jane is an 18-year-old girl who has scanty experience of life, while Rochester is a welltravelled, experienced and knowledgeable man, who has already got married. Jane looks plain and young, but what she has is the special character that Mr. Rochester wants. Before him she shows her self-esteem. When he thinks that he has the right to be proud, to be masterful, Jane says abruptly:

―I don‘t think, sir, you have the right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your

claim to superiority depends on the use you have made, of your time and

experience. (Bronte, 2002:357)

Jane challenges the orthodoxy of male dominance. She believes she is mentally equal to Rochester: ―I have something in my brain and heart, in my blood and nerves that assimilates me mentally to him‖. (Bronte, 2002:472) Jane‘s creed reaches its zenith when she claims equality between women and men in the right to declare their love. It is Jane who declares her

love to Rochester before he makes his sentiments plain to her.

Through all her life Jane is always pursuing equality. The most noticeable thing about her as a woman is her attitude and behavior of self-respect, especially her claim for equality: to treat others equally and in turn be equally treated by others. Although a person‘s appearance makes distinctions between beautiful and plain, his property makes distinctions between large and small, and his social status makes distinctions between high and low, people are equal in human dignity. This is Jane Eyre‘s belief, without which she would not have the courage to love her master. When Mr. Rochester probes Jane Eyre that he will marry Miss Ingram and Jane must stay with them to be a governess, Jane retorts:

―Do you think I am an automation?-a machine without feeling? 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 I am poor, obscure, plain,

and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! -I have as much soul as

you, -and full as much heart! ... I am not talking to you now through her

medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;-it is my spirit

that address your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we

stood at God‘s feet, equal,- as we are !‖ (Bronte, 2002:686)

If Jane is not a woman of strong equal will in human dignity, if she does not respect herself, if she has less sense of morality, she would probably choose to stay and becomes a vassal. This is also different from Scarlett, for Scarlett never considers equality in marriage.

2.3 Pursuit of Independent Personality

Jane is very independent. Jane used to assert, ―I‘m not an angel, and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.‖(Bronte, 2002: 706) Relying on this belief Jane grows up into an independent governess from a poor, wretched orphan and goes through many bitter experiences.

To achieve independence as an equal human, Jane never yields to fate. At Lowood Institution, Jane learns from Hallen the importance of duty and self-control and she also learns from Maria Temple the value of independence. She would rather stay there than depend on her aunt for a living. At the same time, she encourages Burns to be independent, not to be docile and compromising. She thinks they must resist the unfair punishment. Jane‘s pursuing of independence doesn‘t change despite the evil environment. She wins over hunger, fear,

humiliation, maltreatment and gains a job as a teacher in the Lowood Institution. She completely breaks away from the life of relying on others.

At Thornfield, Jane is very awake; she makes her every effort to rebel against social prejudice and customs, struggling for independence and true love. Jane‘s independent character is fully showed. From the first day when she comes into Thornfield to the last day when she leaves there, Jane never gives up her dignity. She always takes the governess of Adele as her job to support herself, remaining independent. As a tutor, she knows what status and identity she is in, she professes herself an independent worker. She attracts Mr. Rochester deeply by her extraordinary stubbornness and independent spirit power. As for the love between Jane and Rochester, Jane insists on her own opinion, keeping independent all the time.

3. Reasons for the Formation of Jan e’s Feminist Consciousness

3.1 Rise of Bourgeois Democratic Reform

In the 19th century during Queen Victoria‘s rule,a very well- known society was erected called the Victorian Society.It was a very confined society maintained through many restrictions and regulations. It is known for its rigid social structures. The society had very distinct class divisions that the people had to live within making social mobility not very probably (Poovey, 1988:24). This point is adequately depicted in Jane Eyre.

Victorian novels were imbued with feminist concepts. Theories of gender division took on in the 19th century a great power, projecting social contradictions. The ideological separation of public and private, work and home, which accompanied the rise of the Victorian middle class, was mirrored by a clear-cut division between male and female spheres. Home was considered women‘s sphere, together with family. So that they were addressed to as ―the angel in the house‖. They should have been passive and powerless, sympathetic and self-sacrificing, submitted to their husbands and especially pure. In this situation, a large scale of women‘s suffrage movement was inevitable in 1830. Charlotte lived in the age of Victoria. At that period, England had started its bourgeois democratic reform.

Through Charlotte Bronte‘s fiction the heroines carry out their struggle for self-definition and identity. Nevertheless at the same time their language and thought mirror the contradictions of Victorian opinions on femininity. The aim of this writing is to underline this aspect of the

novel, pointing out precise reference to emancipation contained in the book since it contains hidden explicit declarations of independence. which may also mirror some severe social issues, some background knowledge is beneficial to our understanding of the novel.

Charlotte lived in this age and had a humble status in the real life and lived through poverty, loneliness and discrimination, so she became a pessimistic fatalist .She had no power to rebel the reality, so she gave all her misery, love, hope and ideal to Jane and arranged a much more rebellious life for Jane. Jane lived through hardship and finally gained victory for working women, a shorter work week and a secret ballot, thus threatening the government. Political revolution mirrored another kind of revolution: female emancipation.

3.2 Harsh Living Conditions

Marx and Engels pointed out that ―personality is caused by the environment.‖Jane Eyre lived in her aunt house, spending her childhood in a lonely and miserable environment. She often suffered abuse from the aunt‘s family, making her young mind suffer great shame. Under this kind of environment, Jane Eyre grew up and made her rebel personality for the pursuit of equality, independence. Jane Eyre‘s ultimate goal of the performance of all the resistance is to maintain her strong self-esteem which is more in need of protection in the brutal environment. She couldn‘t endure the abuse and maltreatment from her aunt family, Lao Wade school and compromise to the St. John‘s marriage without love and imperiousness of Rochester. If the former is a person born with self-esteem, the latter has been added by a dignity as women in this basis.

In her image and status, she had low self-esteem in her childhood on her own appearance, when she sees Miss Ingram at Thomfield, she suddenly realizes the gap between them and feels more inferior, then places herself in the dark grief alone. When she comes back to Thomfield again and sees the Manor burnt into ruins and Rochester has become disabled, she is actually full of ―irrepressible ecstasy‖, it is because that Jane Eyre has got rid of her inferior complex. The inferior people will feel safe, even a little superior just when they stay with those people that are weaker than them. At this time, the difference between Jane Eyre and Rochester has lost, she needn‘t hides any more in the shadow of inferiority. Her extreme self-esteem comes from the inferiority deepest in her heart. Because of low self-esteem, she has to admit herself more and maintain human dignity. A powerful force is formed by the self-esteem burst out by inferiority,

which makes her against all unfair to her, from childhood to the cousin‘s rebuke to the Lao Wade school‘s ―fight back‖, from refusing to be Rochester‘s mistress to rejecting St. John‘s repeatedly proposal for marriage, Jane Eyre finally becomes a New Woman with an extraordinary character and unique charm. It can be said her rebellion is made by her low self-esteem.

Environment shapes human‘s personality. Jane Eyre‘s growth experience lets her be strong, she resists the injustice of this world with her own way and ability. Then she becomes braver. The ten-year-old orphan Jane Eyre was sent to live with her uncle Mr. Reed, who died shortly after her arrival. Mrs. Reed and her children treated Jane with miserable cruelty. Mental and bodily suffering aroused her to fight against the family. Jane suffered further mistreatment from the Reed family and then was sent to School at Logwood, where she was maltreated by the authorities. There Jane excelled as a student for six years and as a teacher for two. After that Jane finds employment as a governess at the estate of Thomfield for a little girl. where she falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester. So does he with her. However, their marriage is prevented by the revelation on the wedding day because Jane finds that Rochester already has a wife who is still alive and mad. Shocked by the news, Jane leaves Thomfield. She goes through a lot of hardships until she fortunately meets St. John Rivers and his two sisters. They help her and she gets a job as a teacher in a village schoo1. By accident, Jane is told that she has inherited a vast fortune from her uncle, and that the Rivers are her cousins. They share the fortune. Jane struggles continually to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. She must fight against the patriarchal domination-against those who believe women to be inferior and submissive.

Conclusion

Jane Eyre is a famous novel with feminine features written by a female novelist Charlotte Bronte. The most remarkable is Jane‘s strong consciousness of feminism, independence in spirit, anger to man‘s domination, pursuit of true love and increasing rebellion. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte‘s real life experience and sufferings are all reflected in the novel. Charlotte narrated Jane‘s hard life and complicated psychological activities exquisitely. She praised highly women‘s independence and self-respect which provoked a wide interest in the critical approaches from feminist perspective and aroused a hot debate on the author‘s gender awareness, through the discussion of which we have a deeper understanding of Victorian society and goes beyond understanding of Jane Eyre merely as love story. The novel is full of profound intention, complicated plots and sincere emotion. It also shows its unique artistic charm and literature values, it has become the topic of scholars‘ argument and scholars keep on exploring its potential intentions, delicate skills and writing style. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte created the image of a passionate young woman with strong consciousness of feminism, independence in spirit, anger to man‘s domination, pursuit of true love and increasing rebel.

Since Jane Eyre was published, it has experienced more than a century but still continues to show the sparkling glory. It can be say that the writer of Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte was a very important writer in the history of women literature, and also a very important ideologist in the developing history of feminism. She represented the summit of women literature and feminist ideas in the 19th century, with a landmark meaning. The feminists pay a great attention to self-sufficiency, self –improvement and dignity of women, and more of them are seeking reconciliatory ―equal rights‖ between men and women. This novel arisen from the early feminine phase is considered with an obvious characteristic of feminism. The entire author‘s experience for Jane Eyr e,s self-esteem of women shaped the image into its own imprint.

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Acknowledgments

I hope to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Mr. Tang Xiangcong, without whose help the thesis would never have been completed. Ms. Tang Xiangcong, has given me the most valuable support and precious suggestions, and has carefully and patiently scrutinized the outline and the draft.

My thanks are also due to my classmates and friends, whose timely and precious help makes me finish this thesis more easily.