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1、盐城师范学院毕业论文The Comparison and Analysis of the Female Characters in Pride and PrejudiceChen YezhiAbstract: Pride and Prejudice is written by Jane Austen. It is Janes representative masterpiece. This novel mainly writes the development of the love between Darcy and Elizabeth, and depicts us four marria
2、ges. It teaches us a lesson that one should have neither pride nor prejudice in his or her relationship. The writer also reflects the feminism in this novel. The following research will analyze the main distinctive heroines one by one and then do a comparison among them, from their marriages and the
3、 angle of feminism, in order to find the different kinds of female consciousness.Key words: Pride and Prejudice; female consciousness; the comparison of the female characters1 IntroductionIn the 18th century, the number of female writers increased quickly, but novels didnt take up a rather vital par
4、t and were shortage of convention. Till the 19th century, a lot of female writers started to create novels to describe the society, the politics, and people with different fates. From these, people can see that the female literature in Britain was originated from the 18th century and developed in th
5、e 19th century. The novel Pride and Prejudice which created by Jane Austen is a symbol of the formation of the British feminist. And Jane Austen fully shows her distinctive feminist consciousness in this novel. Jane changed the womens peeped position in the literature which was long controlled by ma
6、les, so she proved to be a historic writer.1.1 Jane AustenJane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire in Britain in 1775, and she was the seventh daughter in her family. Rev. George Austen, her father, a clergyman in that parsonage of that village Hampshire, must have posed some special influences
7、on Janes growth and literary road. Educated at home, together with her sisters, Jane began to write at an early age and passed her life very quietly. After her fathers death, Jane, together with her family, moved to Southampton and then to the village of Chawton. She lived there uneventfully until M
8、ay 1817, when her family moved to Winchester to seek skilled medical attention for her illness. But Jane died two months later and she was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Although Janes books mainly picture love and marriage, she remains unmarried all her life.1.2 Janes works and Pride and Prejudice
9、Jane altogether completes six novels in her life: Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1816); Northanger Abbey (1818) and Persuasion (1818). Her novels mainly depict the life of the middle class in the country where she spends most time. Her most wor
10、ks concern the youths love and marriage. The themes of her novels are common, but have the insight deep.In 1796, Jane Austen started to work on the first version of Pride and Prejudice, but Jane was not very successful with the publishers later. So at last, the novel was first published in 1813, whi
11、ch was two years after her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility.The novel is mainly about the love affairs and marriage of the five distinctive daughters in the Bennett. In this novel, there is the good mannered Jane, the wise and independent Elizabeth, the unbridled Lydia, the arrogant Mr.
12、Darcy, etc. People know the development of the plot clearly by describing the simple life. However, in this novel, the females are the real protagonists, they instead of the males enjoy the priority. The different kinds of women also make up important parts of the novel, they are mentioned much.Prid
13、e and Prejudice, of course, as Janes masterpiece, has ranked the top ten English novels around the world nowadays. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” It is the most famous sentence in this novel, and it is written in
14、the book as the opening sentence. From this sentence, Austen wants to satirize the monetary reality bounded in her society. And from this sentence, it can infer that there must be some plots about courtship and marriage. The novel is about the marriages of four pairs of young people. The love story
15、between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy is the most important one. Their love story is full of humorous, lovely and comic style. The novel also reflects the human relationship in that time and shows us what on earth the ideal marriage is.From this novel, there have been some feminist elements in the novel.
16、Its why Pride and Prejudice can be a symbol of the formation of the British feminism. But in fact, Jane cant be strictly feminist. It still didnt influence the situation of the novel in British feminism. Jane herself is regarded as important as the first British female writer acknowledged to be of t
17、ruly major stature as an artist. And her work Pride and Prejudice has been considered as the literary work that can maximally change the attitudes of women toward themselves.1.3 The history background of Pride and PrejudiceBefore making a comparison of the female characters and try to understand the
18、 female consciousness perceived in the Pride and Prejudice, it is necessary to study the historical background of this novel first. The following two angles will show it:The first is the social status of the women in the 18th and 19th century.In the 18th century, the British males dominated in the s
19、ociety and family, and the females were underprivileged.At that time, women have no position in the economy. Take Pride and Prejudice as an example. In this novel, in order to support the family, Mr. Bennett has to ask one of his daughters to marry Mr. Collins who is the lawful heir and really contr
20、ol the familys wealth. Only this way can ensure that his family will go on. From this phenomenon, it shows that at that time, the survival of women can only depend on the property of the fathers or the husbands. If a woman wants to live well, she should have a wealthy father, or she should marry a p
21、erson who is rich enough. But no matter how rich the womans family is, the woman herself still has no position in the economy. And the fact is that the women would lose the control of money is decided by the rule of the bourgeoisie. What more, even when the women are married, they still face with th
22、e inequality. They have no rights to dispose the property. A woman must rely on her husband after getting married. If a well educated but poor lady wants to improve her living standard, the best choice is to marry with a rich guy. Therefore, in the novel Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet always expec
23、ts her daughters to marry the rich.Except the above, women also enjoy a disadvantage in the social status. From the 18th century, a lot of books published in Britain were exclusively about the behaviors and manners of the young ladies. Women at that time are required to behave like the angles and th
24、ey should also have different kinds of virtues such as be kindness, politeness, loyalty, pureness, etc.Having taken all these factors into consideration, it can be inferred that at that time, females have a low social position, and they can hardly get to their feet firmly in the society.The second i
25、s the difficulties for female writers in the 18th and the 19th century.As people know, women at that time only have three ways to choose to survive: to become a maid, to become a tutor, or to get married. If a woman becomes a maid, she would certainly receive unbearable contempt and insult. And if a
26、 woman becomes a tutor, she would have low income. So compared with these two profession, wedding is the best way for females. It is the only occupation they can get, and which is also blessed by the real life, the unequal law and her cultivation. Whats worse, women who want to do literary creation
27、would be blamed by the society. They would be considered doing some seriously strange things. In Pride and Prejudice, the author creates a girl Marry. She reads a lot, but she always seems stupid and doesnt have too much thought. That gives the reason for some people say that a female should only ne
28、ed to play as a wife, but not write literature like males.Therefore, it can be understood why some female writers often publish their works without using their own names. And from these, it can be also understood why Jane Austen often puts a piece of paper of cloth over her desk when visitors enter
29、her room.In the 19th century, most female writers tended to write biographical novels. The environment around these female writers limits them. These female writers can only write what they see, experience and touch. And it can be found this phenomenon in Janes novel. In the novel, peoples behaviors
30、 are always connected with their houses, furniture, cans or adornments, etc. When they go out, they just like to visit their friends nearby, attend the dancing party, simply chatting or playing cards. All of these cause that when writing, the female writers like to express their feelings by the occa
31、sionally slight irony.Above all, these social status and difficulties of female writers help us more clearly to figure out how deeply Jane holds the female consciousness in her novel.1.4 FeminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, eco
32、nomic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Feminism, as a kind of social and culture trends, has a long history in western countries. It has showed its force since the 19th century in the literature. Feminism has set off two waves since the 20th century. Together with structuralism
33、and deconstruction, feminism becomes the most significant part of the literary trends in the 20th century. The spirit core of the feminism is to protest against the real patriarchal society where women are considered as the slaves, to emphasize women should have equal rights as men. In the country,
34、feminism advocates that the real value of women should be valued their good mood. The value of women can neither be ignored nor be replaced by subverting the unfair patriarchal society, ensuring and improving the social status of women. And all these are the true feminism.The feminist literature can
35、 be traced back to the 17th or the 18th century. At that time in Britain, Aphra Behn was regarded as the first professional female writer. At this time, there were seldom female writers. But in the 19th century, more and more middle class females began pursuing the literature. So the scholars often
36、call this era a time of female novelist.The classic works of these female writers interpret the special angle of the women. These female writers ignore females and entrust the writers and works the new literary meaning. By describing their special feelings and experience and expressing their will an
37、d wish, these female writers hope that the real life which is once hidden and covered by the words of males can be fully conveyed. And they also hope that a convention of the feminist literature can be set up accordingly. In such an era, Jane Austen makes a contribution to the feminism.2 The compari
38、son of the female characters in Pride and PrejudiceAfter having learned so much about this novel, the author, the background of the novel and what scholars find in this novel, the author will start a deep study about the novel through comparing the female characters in it. The author will compare th
39、e female characters in two aspects. The first is the comparison of their different outlooks of marriage; the second is the comparison of the different feminist consciousness that reflects on them.2.1 The comparison of the different outlooks of marriage.As people can see, there are four marriages in
40、this novel, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Jane and Mr. Bingley, Lydia and Mr. Wickham, Charlotte and Mr. Collins. These four couples show us four different outlooks of marriage.2.1.1 Elizabeth and Mr. Darcys marriageAt the beginning of the novel, Elizabeth refuses Darcys proposal, because she doesnt like
41、 him. Although Darcy loves her very much, she hates him, and even looks down upon him. In her eyes, Darcy is arrogant and unreasonable, just because he is rich and has high social status. Knowing that, Darcy begins to change himself. He gets rid of those bad habits quietly to cater her taste and get
42、s love from her. Because of Darcys perfect behaviors and good education, Elizabeth gradually eliminates the prejudices on Darcy. Then they fall in love with each other. So when Darcy makes a proposal to Elizabeth the second time, Elizabeth agrees with him, and they get married and have happy family
43、lives at last.Their marriage is based on true love. When Elizabeth first refuses Darcys proposal, it shows that Elizabeth is not a girl who really cares much about wealth and social status. She doesnt love Darcy at first, this is truth. She falls in love with Darcy at last, this is also a truth. Wha
44、t makes her change her mind? Her sister Jane also asks her this question. Elizabeth answers that she should date from the day that she sees the beautiful lane manor park. The answer seems to refer to the property of Darcy. In fact, she refers the new Darcy in the garden. Not because of the wealth or
45、 social status, she falls in love with him just because of his changes. She doesnt love a rich Darcy, but a perfect behavior and good education Darcy. That is the true love. And that is what Elizabeth really pursues. And it can be inferred that their outlook of marriage is to pursue true love.2.1.2
46、Jane and Mr. Bingleys marriageBingley is Darcys best friend. His sister loves Darcy, so she wants Bingley to get married with Darcys sister Georgiana, so that she can get love from Darcy. The marriage of Bingley and Jane is ideal in most peoples eyes. They match with each other. But their marriage h
47、as experienced some setbacks, such as the misunderstanding of Darcy and Bingleys selfish sister. But at last, they get married as the misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Darcy has been solved.Compared with Elizabeth and Darcys marriage, their marriage is mostly based on same interest. They first
48、meet with each other on the dancing party, and leave a good expression to each other. They love with each other, but both of them never show their heart to each other clearly. Whats more, Mrs. Bennett often gives comments on the marriage in public, especially the benefits of the marriage, which almo
49、st frightens Bingley away. So this good marriage is based on mutual good impression and theres scarcely true love. Fortunately, their marriage gets through the setbacks.2.1.3 Lydia and Mr. Wickhams marriageWickham, son of the housekeeper, used to be well-treated by the family and he is also the best friend of Darcy. But because of his misbehavior, he comes down in the world. He gets into debt. He wants to get money and becomes rich. He wants to achieve these through ma