A comparative study of Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtai from the Perspective of Feminism女性主义视角下简爱与祝英台对比研究文献综述

 2021-12-30 20:46:36

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文献综述

1.Introduction Jane Eyre is the heroine of the novel Jane Eyre, which is one of Charlotte Brontes most famous novels. This novel is considered by many to be the authors autobiography, because many of the plots in the novel fit well with the authors own experience. Throughout Charlottes life, she lived a difficult life. when she was very young, she was sent to boarding school, where the conditions were difficult and her two sisters passed away one after another, and later she chose to become a governess in order to make a living. The hardships in life made her yearning for love, so in her novel, Jane Eyre falls in love with her employer and finally wins a happy life by virtue of her strong and unyielding character. As a result, Jane Eyre has become a typical image of women in the new era.Zhu Yingtai is a female historical figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, she was the daughter of an eminent family, but she chose to disguise herself as a man to study in Hangzhou. On the way, she met Liang Shanbo and they became sworn brothers. After that, they spent three years together and Zhu had fallen in love with Liang. Before returning home, she implied that she was a woman and asked Liang to propose marriage. However, because Liang Shanbo's family was poor, he was far inferior to Zhu Yingtai's distinguished family. Their love cannot be accepted by the society at that time and Zhu Yingtais parents. Zhu Yingtai was forced to marry Ma Wencai, and Liang Shanbo died of despair. Finally, when Zhu went to visit the tomb of Liang Shanbo, thunder split the tomb open. Zhu jumped into the tomb and then they turned into two butterflies and flew to the sky. Zhu Yingtai embodies the awakening of female consciousness in ancient China, she not only asks for marriage independence, but also has the courage to break the shackles of all feudal thought. The main task of this thesis is to discuss the similarities and differences of Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtai from the perspective of feminist consciousness, analyzing their backgrounds, feminist images, their attitudes towards love and marriage and characteristics of their rebel. Besides, Their feminist consciousness also has its own limitations.2.Literature ReviewFeminist consciousness means that women begin to realize their status, role and value in the objective world. It is the internal motivation that simulates women to pursue independence, autonomy, initiative and creativity. Showalter (1979) thinks that contemporary female writers show strong feminist consciousness in their writing. This shows from the side that feminist consciousness is rising. The emergence of feminist consciousness is often inseparable from the political and economic system, ideology and culture of the society. In the 19th century, Europe gradually completed the transition from feudalism to capitalism, which provided fertile soil for early European feminist consciousness. However, in ancient China, taking the Eastern Jin Dynasty as an example, although it was in a feudal society, due to the weakening of the influence of Confucianism and the unprecedented opening of social thoughts, more and more women yearned for equality with men. This shows that the culture of a society is also crucial to the generation of feminist consciousness. Feminist consciousness has promoted the growth of women in all aspects. In terms of female images, women have begun to dare to be rebels. In the past, women were often dominated by men. Jiang (2001) pointed out that for a long time, women have been attached to men for thousands of years. On the one hand, they seek for independence, on the other hand, they are obsessed with the attachment to men. Nowadays , feminist consciousness pushes women to pursue equality and independence. Josephine(1988) once put it in her paper that the stereotypical image of Western women represents either spiritual goodness or material evil. People have stereotypes about women, thinking that women are inherently attached to the family and are even slaves in marriage. However, all of this has been overturned. Woolf (1921) holds that a woman must have a room of her own, which implies that women's concept of marriage and family is also changing.Previous studies on feminist consciousness about Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtai are of great significance for this paper. Zeng (2002) holds that Jane Eyre has a strong awareness of pursuing personality liberation, independence and equality, which makes her the most typical image of rebellious woman in the Victorian age. In fact, Jane Eyre has always sought a balance between spiritual equality and material equality. Merryn (1984) believes that the feminist consciousness embodied in Jane Eyre is complicated. Contrast to Merryn, Zhu (1987) concludes that Jane Eyres feminist awareness can be seen from three dimensions: First, accusing male oppression. Second, creating a positive image of woman. Third, describing womens natural emotions. Zhu Yingtai and Jane Eyre have one thing in common, that is they dare to question the subordination of women in marriage. Zhu Yingtai abandoned the deformity of marriage in feudal times, which reflects the new outlook after the rising status of women in Jin dynasty (Ji, 2020). Wang (2009) concludes that The special thing about Jane Eyre is that she tries to maintain her dignity and not let marriage leave her dignity behind. However, though Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtai have a strong feminist consciousness, they all have their limitations. Lu (1996) thinks that Jane Eyre did not get rid of the servility characteristic of Victorian women . In the book, Jane Eyre always calls Rochester the host, and when Rochester is in trouble, she is always ready to dedicate to him at any time, which reflects that Jane Eyre is always attached to Rochester. Instead, Zhu Yingtai is unable to escape the dependence on the feudal patriarchy. Xu (1997) believes that In order to realize her ideals, her most fierce struggle was a fierce debate with her father on the issue of marriage . These limitations should be treated rationally, and they are closely related to their social environment and many other aspects.3. ConclusionThis paper mainly analyzes and compares Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtais feminist consciousness from the perspectives of backgrounds, feminist images, attitudes towards marriage and characteristics of their rebel. It is found that both Jane Eyre and Zhu Yingtai embody feminist consciousness, while different historical backgrounds have an impact on their different fates. In Victoria times, great changes took place in economic and social relations, women of this new age were also more daring to pursue their own happiness. However, in Jin dynasty, women were in a low status and they had no right to choose whom to get married with despite Confucianisms restraints on people weakened, and many women in Jin dynasty dared to ignore the existence of ethics(Xu, 2015). In general, China was a feudal patriarchal system for a long time, which also led to many love tragedies of ancient women. Just because of it, Jane Eyre is a radical patriarchal rebel, she had never been loved by her family and always been abused by her aunt. A miserable childhood taught her to struggle to survive, just like a flower of the cliff. She was sensitive and self- abased, arrogant and self- conceit. Therefore, in the face of love and marriage, she thinks that she can not give up her dignity for love. Different from Jane Eyre, Zhu Yingtai was born in Chinas feudal society, the open folk customs of the Eastern Jin Dynasty made her dare to challenge the feudal patriarchy and pursue freedom and love. She has such a passion for love that she is willing to sacrifice her life, which is a fulfillment of her own, but also a protest against the feudal system. Nevertheless, she has always been a little woman in a feudal society, deeply fettered by traditional Confucianism. She did not dare to fight against her parents directly. Instead, she could only be a restrained rebel and use death to show her determination. There is no doubt that there are some limitations in their feminist consciousness, but the feminist consciousness embodied in them represents the progress of an era. Through this paper, we will have a deeper understanding of the charm of feminist consciousness .ReferencesBronte, C. (2012). Jane Eyre. Nanjing: Yilin Press.Josephine, D. (1988). Beyond the net: Feminist criticism as a moral criticism. In K. Newton (Ed. ), Twentieth century literature theory (pp. 265-268). Macmillan: Macmillan Educational Ltd.Merryn, W. (1984). Women in the English novel 1800～ 1900. London: Macmillan Press.Showalter, E. (1979). Toward to feminist poetics: Womens writing and writing about women. London: Croom Helm.Woolf, V. (1921). A room of ones own. New York: Harcourt Brace Company.鲍宗豪（1992），《婚俗文化：中国婚俗的轨迹》。

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