Jane Eyre
---- Charlotte Bronte
social and culturalபைடு நூலகம்background
Jane Eyre’s author Charlotte Bronte lived in the 19th
century of the Victorian era. At that time, men represent the power, and truth, while women are the weak, mental patients and weird representation of pronoun. They don’t have their own voice and loss of their lives in the patriarchal extreme rules. ◆ 《简·爱》的作者夏洛蒂·勃朗特生活于19世纪的维多利亚 时代。在那个时代，男人代表着权力、力量和真理，而女 性则是弱者、精神病患者和怪异表象的代名词，普遍丧失 话语权而生活在男权极端统治的阴影之下。
◆ a symbolic representation of the "trapped" Victorian wife,who is expected never to travel or work outside the house and becomes ever more frenzied as she finds no outlet for her frustrationand anxiety.
Symbols
Symbols are objects,characters,figures,or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
◆ Bertha Mason
◆ a statement about the way Britain feared and psychologically "locked away" the other cultures it encountered at the height of its imperialism;
◆ scenery description
◆ I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose. If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn stones which causewayed the middle of the path. --------Chapter 12
◆ The main features of this novel ◆ Use the first-person voice
◆ psychological description
◆ “the fact is, I was a trifle besides myself; or rather out of myself, as the French would say. I was conscious that a moment’s mutiny had already rendered me liable to strange penalties, and, like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.” --------Chapter 2
◆ In 1847s, women were in a subordinate position, but the works of Jane Eyre refused to be placed in the subordinate
◆ the traditional on the status of women. she dares to against the prevailing male consciousness, dare to fight for their rights, dare to on the women's social function and their comment on by the restrictions .The power of Jane’s mental and moral beauty attracted thousands of readers .She becomes the idol of numerous women at that time and in today’s society. This has profound practical significance.
◆ The Red-Room
◆ The red-room can be viewed as a symbol of what Jane must overcome in her struggles to find freedom,happiness,and a sense of belonging.The red-room's importance as a symbol continues throughout the novel.It reappears as a memory whenever Jane makes a connection between her current situation and that first feeling of being ridiculed.
The Victorian Period
1836—1848 1848—1870 1870—1901
time of troube
economic prosperity
and religious controversy
melancholy
◆ Ideologically(思想上)， the Victorians experienced fundamental changes. The rapid development of science & technology， new inventions & discoveries in geology， astronomy， biology & anthropology drastically shook people‘s religious convictions. Darwin’s The Origin of Species （1859 ） & The Descent of Man （1871） shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. On the other hand， Utilitarianism（功利主义） was widely accepted & practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility， that is， the extent to which it could promote the material happiness.
main characters
◆ Jane Eyre - the heroine, a simple, strong and flexible, independent,passionate,and aggressive women. She shows contempt for the arrogance of the rich and powerful.Sheis brave and never bow to fate.She values the freedom and dares to fight with unequality and to pursue highlevel spirit and happiness.
◆ cultural background
◆ Features of the Victorian Literature ◆ Victorian literature， as a product of its age， naturally
took on its quality of magnitude and diversity. It was manysided and complex，and reflected both romantically and realistically the great changes that were going on in people's life and thought. Great writers & great works abounded. In this period ,the novel naturally became the most popular form of all the literary art, and what writers were concerned with was the fate of common people.