An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx
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An Analysis of Jane Austen.docx
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AnAnalysisofJaneAusten
AnAnalysisofJaneAusten’sprideandprejudicefromthePerspectiveofFeminism
Chapter1Introduction
JaneAusten’sreputationattheendof19thcenturyandtheearly20thcenturyisadmiredbymanyliteraryelites,yethernovelsaresharp,pitiless,pessimisticanalysesofhumanrelations.Althoughherworkshavewildlyadmiredin19thcentury,butfewofadmirersseemsfullytohaverealizedthedepthofherart,northeperfectionherbroughttotheliteralform,whichhavetoprovethechiefvehicleofimaginativeexpressionofVictorianage,andherspecialtalentinnovelculminatedtheartoffiction.Hersixnovelsshowsometypically18thcenturyassumptionsaboutsocietyandaboutattitudestohumanrelations.TheVictoriansabandonedanddespisedmanyoftheseassumptions,whichinvolvedastaticviewofsocialorderswhiletheyaredeeplypreoccupiedbychange,andanironic,illusionlessconceptionofhumannaturewhichtheyareattempttointerpretasakindofmoralshallownessorcynicism.ThisisperhapsthereasonwhythemostofvaluableJaneAusten’scriticismsproducedinthelaterhalfcentury.Whathascausedcriticsoflatercenturytorecognizethegreatnessofthenovelssheaccomplishedisthealertnessofherconscious,orevenherobservations.PrideandPrejudiceasaexampletoreflectthevaluesofwomanfrommiddleorupperclassestowardsmarriage,thenovelisthasanimportantpartinformingthisconsciousbecauseshehadgivenustheimagesofsocialfiguresinwhichwecanimaginativelyparticipate,thesignificanceofhergreatnessinnovelisdependonhowwellwecanunderstandourselvesandwhatwecanobserve.(Gillie,2006:
4-5)
TheimmediatesuccessofPrideandPrejudiceamongthefashionablenovelreadingpublicsisduetoitsliteralgenre,isnotaconventionalromanticstory,butasatiricalgoodhumorofcomedymanners,indeed,PrideandPrejudiceareaslightlydifferentsortofnovel,Bingleywouldhavebeentheheroandbeautiful,longsufferingJaneastheheroineisinthefirstplace,andsecondhergraspofthesocialcontextwithintheirstoriesareworkedout,particularly,issuggestedinthecoollyironicreversaloftheopeningsentence,asinglewomanmustbeinwantofahusbandwithagoodfortune,andthedesireforamaninpossessionofagoodfortuneistheoverridingconcernofthefemalecharactersinthisworld,IlikelytoconfirmthatthemainbusinessofPrideandPrejudiceistheproposalofyoungwomeninmarriage,aswhole,fourkindsofmarriagearerepresentinfrontofreaders.Infact,Austenisinclinedtogivethecriticalimportanceofmarriage,tohighlightherunderstandingoftheeconomicdeterminantsofsocialactionbyameansofmaritalimperativereaches.AlthoughthenovelendedwiththerealizationofsuchidealmarriagebetweenElizabethandDarcy,theexplorationoffeminismbyextensionisstillinternalforustohaveabetterunderstandingfortheassumptionwhichAustenmentionedduringVictorianage.
Chapter2Literaryreview
Itistruth,butnotuniversallyacknowledgedthatacademicstudyisallthatkeepmostoftheclassicsofEnglishliteratureinprint,oneofthegreatesttributestoprideandprejudiceisthatsomescholarcanstillhavethesatisfactionofseeingtheinternalvaluesorethicsasoneofthefemalenovelsin19thcenturyofBritishliteratures.Duetoitsimmediatesuccess,almosttwocenturieslateritremainthemostpopularofallJaneAusten’snovel,hasalreadybecomethebelovedofmostcritics,andcriticismsonAusten’sworkisnowacorpussolargethatitcontainsthewildestdiversityoftheoreticalapproachesandmethodologicalaffiliations.Infollowingparagraphs,willpresentstheextentstudiesonprideandprejudiceintwomaincategoriesthatisinternationalanddomesticones.
2.1InternationalReviews
SincethepublicationofJaneAusten’sPrideandPrejudice,theworkhasarousedwideattentionofreadersandpeoplewhohavethoughtaboutitinthewest,withreverencebooksandpapersappearinginlargernumbers.LikeKennethL.Moler,considersmaincharactersascentraltargetstofurtherexploration.MolertracestheevolutionofDarcy'scharacter.InMoler'sview,thenovelhingesonthecentraltensionbetweenElizabethBennet'sindividualismandDarcy'sfaithinanestablishedsocialorder.(Moler,1967),somecriticspraisecharacterizationinPrideandPrejudiceaswellasthenovel'sscenesofdomesticlife,anotherexampleaboutcharacterstudyisFrancis,sherelatesthehistoricalbackgroundsurroundingbothJaneAustenandthenovelPrideandPrejudice,SheincludesacritiqueofAusten'streatmentofbothmaleandfemalecharacters.(Francis,2005)Ontheotherhand,somecriticsusuallychoosetherelationshipbetweenElizabethandDarcytorepresenttheirinterpretationsofwhatisidealmarriage.StovelassertsthatAusten'snovelallowsfortheinterpretationthatElizabethandMr.Darcy'srelationshipisanexampleofideallove,aswellastheviewthatitisan"immediateandmagneticattraction.(Stovel,2005)
Also,someresearchesfocusingontextitselfhelpushaveagoodunderstandingofEnglishhistory,forexample,BrowndiscusseshowAustenoffersapowerfulcommentaryonthechangesinsociety,genderattitudes,andclassstructureinearlynineteenthcenturyEngland.(Brown,2007)
2.3Domesticreviews
Comparetothestudiesinthewest,thedomesticstudiesonPrideandPrejudice;havebeendividedintoseveralcategoriesovertwentyyears.
ThefirstphasecentralsaroundtheethicsofmarriageappearedinPrideandPrejudice.Asweknown,thenovelhasgiventhecriticalimportanceofmarriage,asinallJaneAustennovels,mostofscholarsandcriticstendtobelievethatthemainbusinessofPrideandPrejudiceisthedisposalofyoungwomanmarriages.Therefore,overaperiodoftime,theireffortsetsforthbothinformedpersonalresponseandacademicknowledgeintheserviceofsomespecializedstudiesofthephilosophicalconceptsunderthebackgroundofso-called“moralethics”atVictorianera.SuchthematiccriticismsofPrideandPrejudice,articlesandessaysthathaveexploredAusten’sworkinrelationtothetypicalfourmarriagesrepresentedinnovel.YiWenqing,YangGuiqing,AnLina,YanJunlingaretheexamplesindiscussingthequestion.YiWenqingmakesacomparisonbetweenJaneEyreandPrideandPrejudice,twoclassicsasthetopictoexploreamatterofattitudesfocusingonmarriagesinlater18thcenturyandearly19thcentury,thustodeemtheconclusionthatthemarriagesamongtheyoungwomeninPrideandPrejudiceisresultedfromthefinancialstates,whileJane’smarriageisestablishedonthebasicstoneofspiritualequality.(YiWenqing,2010)However,AnLinatendstoselecttheheroineinGonewiththeWindasaobjecttocomparewithElizabethinPrideandPrejudice,soastorefracttheirpersonalresponsestowardloveandmarriagesundertheinfluenceoftheirdesignedfeaturesincharacters.(AnLina,2009)generallyspeaking,thediversityofmarriagesaredirectlydeterminedbytheirpersonalitiesandsocialvalues,baseonsuchstatement,YanJunlingtendstoanalysisitwiththeparticularperspectivesofmarriage.(YanJunling,2008)
Withtheregardtothefemalecharacters,ElizabethBonnet,theheroineandotheryoungsinglewomeninPrideandPrejudice,arealwaysthefocusesofcritiques,andFeminismconsideredasanewtrendofliterarytheoryshapeourviewstoanalysisthefemalenovels.JaneAustin,regardedasainitiatorandpioneerofFeminismin19thcentury,auniversalviewisthatAustin’sPrideandPrejudicedescribesprotagonistsinfemalewriter’sworkswhofacetheunthinkableresultsofgenderhatredinfemalewritersandemergefromtheirtrialswithanewsenseofself-ownership,likeallAustin’snovels,PrideandPrejudiceisthefirsttrialtodescribingthefemalehistoryasahauntingexperience,itsrelationtofemale’sindependenceandequalityhasbeenwidelyexploredbyLiuChangandZhuWanying,theformerdeemsthatPrideandPrejudiceisaclassicwhichusedfemalepointofviewtoreflectfemaleexperienceandsentimentalemotions.(LiuChang,2009)Laternotestheessenceofmarriagein19thcenturyisthefemale’sself-awarenessinrelationbetweenthemarriageandfortune,love,asthesourceofcreation,isreallyaperspectivequietimportantinAustin’sattitudetowardidealmarriage.(ZhuWanying,2008).
2.4Summary
Basesonthestudiesofbothinternationalanddomestic,mostofcriticismsrepresenttheirunderstandingandinsightstowardscharacters,researchesoftext,thematicanalysisandhistoricalbackgroundbyextension,aswellassomeapproachesofcriticism,suchasfeminism.InthecourseofattentivereadingofJaneAustin’sPrideandPrejudice,concernedwiththetheoryorbranchesofFeminism,IinsistthattheexplorationoftheFeminismthoughtshiddeninthisnovelisofmoresignificancethananyoneelsewhentakinganacquaintancewithFeminismtheory.Thenbasedonabovereviews,ItendtoattempttofocusmystudyofFeminisminanalysisofPrideandPrejudice,andAustin’sartsoffemalenovelwriting.
Chapter3Methodology
ThestorynarratedandthecharactersmentionedinPrideandPrejudice,isalludingnotmerelytomaleprejudiceagainstwomen,butalsototheprejudiceagainstmatrimonyitself,ifweregardedthecharactersinPrideandPrejudiceasthe“images”oftheyoungsignalwomen,wewillgetasomberimpressionofthelotofwomeninJaneAustin’slifetime,tosomeextent,FeminismhavebeenignitedasameanstohelpushaveabetterevaluationtowardJaneAustin’snovel.
3.1Feminismandfeministliterarycriticism
Feminismisgenerallydefinedas
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