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摘 要

1847年时，夏洛特的《简·爱》一夜成名。书中塑造的这个“丑小鸭”形象，在很长时间内遭受到评论家们的严峻批判。相对而言，托马斯及他的作品《德伯家的苔丝》在欧洲和美国已被研究超过一百年。本文就这两本小说，从女权主义角度对简爱及苔丝这两个女主人公形象进行了比较分析。一方面，本文师徒探讨这两位女主人公对于爱情和婚姻的态度；另一方面，通过对他们复杂经历及情感的分析，像读者展现出她们内心的感受及她们困惑时的行为。这项研究将有助于群众对女性的生存状态进行更为广泛的思考，唤起人们内心深处的对于女性意识的觉醒。为将女权主义思想彻底展现在这个残酷的社会中及促进两性和谐提供强有力的证据。

关键词：《简·爱》；《德伯家的苔丝》；女权主义；对比分析

1. Introduction

• 1. Research background

When it came out in 1847, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre made a hit overnight. After the birth of this “duckling” image, it got the reviewers’ criticism for a long time. William Makepeace Thackeray described the book as “the masterwork of a great genius” when Charlotte dedicated it to him. Indeed, Charlotte’s creation of the ordinary-looking and unattractive heroine achieved a great success. However, there were also doubts. For example, people of Charlotte’s era wondered whether the pseudonym Currer Bell was a man or woman and whether the Bells were one person, two persons or more. After the early chorus of praise, the reviews became the opposite when it was acknowledged that such a passionate novel was written by a woman.

The novel Jane Eyre tells a story about an orphan girl named Jane Eyre discriminated and bullied during all her childhood. It presents for readers the girl’s course of struggle through which the author expresses her feminist voice. Jane’s pursuit for independence and freedom has impressed myriads of readers even to this day. What is done by Jane can be a representation of the aspirations held by thousands of women writers as well as readers. The unconventional female Jane is a typical feminist.

Thomas Hardy and his literary works have been studied for more than a hundred years in Europe and the United States. Before 1960, Hardy was generally remembered as a novelist. After that, his poems started to gain people’s attention. The famous English poet Philip Larkin considered Hardy “the greatest poet in 20^th century”. Tess’ life is more like a tragedy. Unlike the orphan Jane Eyre, Tess owns an entire family, including father, mother and six younger sisters and brothers. As the oldest daughter of the family, she can’t really follow her heart to do what she wants to. She is a beautiful and pure girl with extraordinary features. The image of the heroine Tess in the novel has become one of the most beautiful and attractive women images in the long corridor of world literature. She not only arouses people’s sympathy for the weak, but also presents us with the power of revolt. However, on the other hand, influenced by the contemporary ideology, she can’t completely break through the restraint of feudal patriarchy. She has to be dependent on men. Thus, there exists a strong comparison between Jane and Tess. Two different images of heroines reflect totally different minds and struggles. Then, to study the two literary works can help us learn more about feminism.

1.2 Need of the study

Feminism deals with differences between males and females. More and more women writers show their voices with their pens. Throughout ancient and modern times, much contribution in the field of literature is made by female giants such as Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Simon de Beauvior, Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson, etc. Those women intellectuals exhibit women’s stories and mental activities ignored by the public, appealing an entire serious care for women, for their fellows’ need was neglected by men and women themselves. It is their efforts that boost the development of women’s literature and women’s buried consciousness. Gradually, women care much more about themselves than they had done before; as a result, problems between men and women like gender difference, unfairness and discrimination are unfolded before people’s eyes. Thus, struggle for equality as well as freedom becomes the most imperative for those who are awake, which reflects the meanings of feminism.

2. Literature Review

The origin and development, definitions, and significance of feminism will be elaborated on in this chapter. Then, previous studies on Jane Eyre and Tess of the D’Urbervilles will be analyzed respectively.

2.1 Feminism

Feminism is a theory hard to define. From the encyclopedia we can see feminism is defined as a social theory and political movement. Steven Goldberg, who is known for his theory of patriarchy, once held that “Feminism is difficult to define because of many different kinds of feminists, which exists today. Most feminists hold a belief that women as a group are treated oppressively and differently from men; they are subject to personal and institutional discrimination” (365). He explains from the biological perspective the difference between women and men and suggests that the dominant position of males is inevitable. But feminists believe that the biological difference is not the reason why males dominate, and they consider the society organized in a way as it works, benefiting men all the time. Thus feminists devote themselves to the equal social status. The Feminist movement starts from women’s fight for their equal rights, positions, power, independence, opportunities and freedom, etc. As is known to all, women have been oppressed and discriminated from ancient times to the present day in many countries. Some of the nations in the world had experienced the feudal age, in which women were seriously inferior to men. Tyrannical patriarchy has started to take root from then on and left its cruel brand on the human history. Although we have ushered an era of the civilization of capitalism and socialism, women haven’t achieved their equality with men. Gender inequality is still a topic in the whole society; therefore, women’s long-lasting struggle for equality has appeared.

Feminism exists as a social movement can be traced back to the 19^th century. It is actually a political concept, which means supporting the struggle against male domination and gender discrimination and establishing the personality of new women. The common wish for feminists is to achieve the equality between mean and women, politically, socially and economically.

From literature, feminists behold the first light of morning.

Feminism as a literary theory which exerts great influence upon the world literature and other fields first appeared in France. It is closely related to feminist movements and women’s literature, aiming to dispel the dominant male culture and overturn the patriarchal point of view on women, thus establishing a new female experience and perspective. Women argue for their rights through writing. Feminism is not only a weapon for women. Some men of letters are also influenced by the powerful feminist views, such as our great critical realistic writer Thomas Hardy, who created a series of vivid and influential female characters which well represented the women images in the 19^th century. Hardy’s interpretation of women characters has been controversial for a long time. We have no certain reason to regard Hardy as a feminist, but his works are worth reading from a perspective of feminism. Likewise born in Victorian Age, Charlotte Brontë as a British woman novelist evidently represents her hope for establishment of women’s subject consciousness. Thus, their masterpieces Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jane Eyre are both classical treasures for us to reread and review from a feministic angle.

2.2 Previous studies on Jane Eyre

In the past 50 years, feminist criticism has done much to affirm Charlotte’s efforts to argue for the oppressed women. The studies regarding the author of Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë can be found in E. Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) which is a well-known biography around the life of her friend Charlotte, M. Cromton, another biography of Charlotte, M. Peters’ Unquiet Soul (1975) for which the author won the best work of prose in Friends of American Writers award, and John Maynard’s Charlotte Brontë and Sexuality (1984). The book written by John Maynard gives a comprehensible description of Charlotte, exploring the complexity of sexual nature and how she deals with a ‘world below’ of consuming passion, adultery, seduction, promiscuity, frigidity and incest. From this point, Charlotte has the similar intention with Hardy who shows in his works more than one woman that involves herself in sexual problems. Zhong Yuning (2014) focuses on the natural growth of feminism and the equality between both sides by highlighting the theme---the female should be independent. Jiang Nan (2014) conducts a detailed description of Jane Eyre who always pursues freedom and fights for her true love.

There are also other enlightening comments on Jane Eyre; for example, Thematic Structure in Jane Eyre written by Dale Kramer (1968) presents the structural reconcilement of the novel represented by the parallelization of passion and reasons as well as psychological conflict of Jane between revolt and submission. Jane Eyre is a magnificent representative in English Literature, not merely for her plain appearance but also for her outstanding and alien thoughts. She tries her best to struggle for freedom, equality, independence and true love, which is the most prominent theme. This voice as the motif is an unprecedented ever-burning light in the history of British literature.

As a whole, most of the international studies on Jane Eyre are from the perspective of historical sociology, which emphasizes that literature can produce social life and analyzes the views of the author and the historical background of the work so as to explore its historical and social meanings. Since the novel is widely acknowledged as autobiographical, the study on life of Charlotte becomes the very sources of the personality of Jane. With the appearance of interdisciplinary studies, the novel has also been researched on the relationship of literature with law, narrotology, feminism, linguistics, psychology, etc.

2.3 Previous studies on Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Foreign researchers have made great contribution to the study of Thomas Hardy. Some are about his artistic ideas such as in Thomas Hardy: Art and Thought (Pinion 1997); some are on his unique writing skills and style, e.g. in Thomas Hardy: The Tragedy Form (Kramer 1975) and Psychology in Hardy’s Novels (Thurley 1975) centers on psychological thought reflected in Hardy’s novels. In addition, several critical theories such as Freudian Theory, Structuralism and Feminist Criticism have permeated into the study of Hardy.

Studies on the novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles mainly focus on the three characters Tess, Angel and Alec. Tess is a woman with double character and Hardy presents for us a real situation of his time, expressional as well as critical. Being influenced by the contemporary ideology, she can’t completely break through the restraint of the feudal patriarchy. She has to be dependent on men, and she always sacrifices herself for others, for the society and for the ones by whom she is oppressed. Finally, she expresses her hatred and rage in an extreme way and consequently steps in a tragic doom. Yang Yang (2014) sings highly of Tess’ spirit of the true, the good and the beautiful so as to reflect his approval of feminism whereas Mu Mengru (2014) makes a comparison between Alec d’Urberville and Angel Clare to demonstrate their deliberate arrangement for and destruction of Tess.

Some researchers keep an eye on Hardy’s arrangement of sexual problem or Tess’ murder in the end. Hardy’s perspective on females is dominated by men. On the second stages, feminists put more emphasis upon gender differences and uniqueness, and explore female literary tradition through re-interpretation of women writers’ classic works. After 1980, the criticism turns into the third stage. In this period feminist criticism develops beyond the field of literature and into a multi-dimensional phase. It is worth stressing that feminists start to discuss gender differentiation and the female’s state of mind.

This thesis plans to have a feminist reading of the two novels, and make a comparative analysis of Jane and Tess in order to explore the two authors’ feminist ideas. Furthermore, by reviewing Jane’s and Tess’ struggle processes for love and fate, it aims to interpret how the authors reveal their feminist consciousness through their disclosure of and criticism on the discrimination and oppression of women. Likewise, representing a prospect of the Victoria time, bounded by gender differences, the two masters give their expressions in different courses in fighting against the patriarchy, which is until the modern period a thoughtful issue for readers and critics. Therefore, under the framework of the feminist theory, this comparative study can draw a meaningful conclusion.

3. Attitudes toward Love and Marriage

This chapter discusses Jane’s bold utterance of love and struggle for equality in marriage as well as Tess’ futile rebellion and subordinated position in love and marriage.

3.1 Jane’s bold utterance of love and struggle for equality in marriage

As we know, Charlotte Brontë is one of the pioneering women writers in the literary world. She herself has extraordinary characteristics and unique views on love and marriage. However, her ways of pursuing true love seem not smooth so she reposes her faith and hope on Jane. Her attitude towards love and marriage proves to be enlightened by means of education. In front of men, for example Mr. Rochester, she is confident and insists on her principle of being herself. Though Jane deeply loves the man, she puts equality between them in the first place.

Intelligently, Jane can quickly understand a man and make an analysis of her relation with her. As to love and marriage, she has less conventional constraints in her mind. Jane feels age as well as appearance is an unnecessary problem at all. That’s why she feels Mr. Rochester is more than handsome even if he does not. For her, the most important and appreciable quality should be personality and inner charm. She cares more about brain and heart than about rank and wealth. Furthermore, it is her unconventional mentality that attracts Mr. Rochester’s heart, which has been stalled for a long time. In this aspect, women’s revolt to men’s oppression sometimes benefits their own rights and interests, for men also need women’s rebellious consciousness. Women should not lay hopes on the males to make their condition better, but do it themselves. Therefore, Some female intellectuals realize that the equality between lovers is the foundation of a harmonious and happy family.

Although inferior to Mr. Rochester in social class and wealth, Jane believes that they own equal souls. Jane tries her best to defend her equal rights in front of her lover, presenting tenacious spirit as a female. Though deeply falling in love with her master, Jane also likes to be herself, which can be shown by her words: “I am not an angel”, “ and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself” (Charlotte 430). Unlike Tess, who would like to give everything to her dearest Alec, Jane adheres to her principles all the time. She consistently believes that love should be based on equality and common conviction. She really deserves honor and her fighting proves to be a giant leap for the development of feminism.

When acknowledging the truth that Rochester has a mad wife, she neither blames Rochester nor stays to be his mistress, but decides to live alone, getting out of dependence upon a man and finding her own room. As a woman, she can understand the circumstance of Rochester yet she can’t ignore the existence of his mad wife who lives in the garret. At this point, she has to make a decision that can be good for the three. Such a woman with strong self-esteem can never be the third party who accommodates herself to the man for material satisfaction or some other comforts. But she can only be herself, which is the principle insisted on by both Jane and her author Charlotte.

In short, whatever situation she confronts, Jane shows her persistence and determination. In her process of seeking for true love, Jane keeps being herself with a positive attitude, which should be a view held by modern women. Compared with Tess, Jane is always clear about what she does. She chooses to leave Mr. Rochester because she knows the existence of his mad wife and she will never be a mistress. Then later, she refuses St. John’s proposal since she doesn’t want to establish a marriage without true love and she will never be just an accessory of her husband. Jane is definitely herself. Her decisions and actions, to great extent, reflects her strong female consciousness, standing for the author and millions upon millions of women in the world. The plot of the novel may not be realizable in that society; at least it is an expression of the author’s wish, i.e. to gain personal space and equal status in a pair.

3.2 Tess’ futile rebellion and subordinated position in love

Tess’ image is more of social color, as if the path of her life is previously paved. Tess is such a pure woman that she knows little about man and love. In the novel there are two main lines telling a story about Tess’ relationship with two men, Alec Alexander and Angel Clare. Alec sounds so haughty and aggressive while Angel so gentle and loveable. So do their behavioral performances. At first, when the pure girl has no information about love, she encounters the arrogant man Alec as soon as she leaves her hometown for the first time. From then on, her fate starts to change with him, thus showing her futile rebellion.

Without any protection or any escaping skill, Tess loses her virginity under Alec’s flirting, which is regarded as a representation of women’s morality. She could have lived with him henceforward, which seems an expected result of her family; however, she finds she doesn’t love him when she has already been pregnant. Many women at that time might choose to marry him for the sake of their reputation but Tess decides to leave even when she has a baby of him and even when he would like to take the responsibility. On one hand, it shows Tess’ ignorance of self-protection; on the other, it reflects she has a clear-cut stand on what to love and what to hate. She would rather foster the baby by herself than live with the man who hurts her. Her choice can be an explanation of rebellious consciousness. Tess, a female fighter, struggles for freedom and love but in futility. Compared with Jane, she lives a life which forces her to bring home the bacon with no chance to liberate herself spiritually. Thus facing love, she almost loses confidence, let alone positively express it to her beloved.

It is widely accepted that love and marriage are the most common yet the most significant concerns in life, especially for women. As a male story maker, Thomas Hardy places his heroine Tess in a passive position. Compared with Charlotte, his view is more objective and he is much more influenced by the patriarchal ideology. Bounded by his gender, his understanding of women can’t be complete. Undoubtedly, Hardy is a sympathizer of female destiny, which has been found in his stories. However, sympathy for the weak doesn’t work all the time. On one hand, it reveals the maltreatment of women under the male rule of the society, which can promote women’s distinct perspective of their status as well as what they want. On the other hand, the exposure to women’s softness, to some degree, is the neglect for positive energy. Compared with Jane, she lives a life which forces her to bring home the bacon, with no chance to liberate herself spiritually. Thus facing love from Angel, she almost loses confidence, let alone positively express her true feelings.

Tess’ sense of her subordinate position in love determines her later life tragedy. This is why when she makes sure that she loves Angel, she dares not convey her feelings blamelessly and she feels nothing than uneasy despite the fact Angel brings her the new hope. The purest girl overestimates men’s breadth of mind and underestimates their desire to possess love. Comparing Clare’s and Tess’ reflections on their own secret stories, we can feel the evident unfairness. After Angel tells his ‘eight-and-forty hours’ dissipation with a stranger’ in London with excuses, “she presses his hand tightly for an answer”. She doesn’t blame him or even mention his affair at all but feels glad, for she thinks they will be equal and she will not be guilty any more. The poor girl knows no technique to conceal her feeling, showing every brow as obviously as possible. Her heart is filled with self-reproach, thinking that her affair “cannot be more serious”. Besides, Tess herself shows evident weakness and compromise. Her love to Angel Angel is so selfless that she ignores the past affair that he experienced. She shows her guilt to Angel, and when being denounced by him, she doesn’t uphold justice but demonstrates her weakness.

To sum up, Tess lacks consciousness of maintaining her own rights but reposes hope upon others’ sympathy. That is to say, she has to be looked down upon not only by men but also by herself.

4. Consciousness of Women’s Rights

As early images in world literature, Jane and Tess both devote themselves to struggle for rights and status through life, not only for themselves but also for all women. As is known to researchers, Jane is an unforgettably rebellious image with unique personality whereas Tess seems reserved. While appreciating the two figures, we find the most important for them is their consciousness of women’s rights, which differentiate them from others. However, the two girls seem not the same, for the former is able to determine her own destiny while the latter has no control of her own life.

4.1 Jane’s struggle for freedom and independence

During the process of Jane’s achieving happiness, we can find her urgent desire for freedom and independence. Jane’s growing experience can be divided into four stages.

When she lives at Gateshead with her uncle’s family, Mrs. Reed and the children’s discrimination and oppression first arouse her rebellious consciousness deep in heart, and she is eager to get rid of their bondage. Her situation at Gateshead can be reflected in “I mounted into the window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk….” (Charlotte 2) . Her cousin John treats Jane ruthlessly: “He bullied me and punished me; not two or three times a week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually” (Charlotte 5). When Jane clashes with John, Mrs. Reed turns a blind eye to the fact and locks Jane in the spooky red-room. Here we see Jane suffers a miserable life in her uncle’s home.

The only comfort for her is learning. As a ten-year-old girl, Jane has already expressed her keen interest in learning and rebellion. She even fights with John to regain her own dignity and self-esteem. It can be found that Jane was born with the rebellious consciousness. Jane doesn’t understand the serious unfairness between herself and other children. She asks in her heart: “Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, for ever condemned? Why could I never please? Why was it useless to try to win any one’s favour”（Charlotte 14）? There are a serious of question marks in Jane’s mind, which shows she has a strong feeling of inequality.

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