论《远大前程》中郝微香小姐悲剧的必然性

1、山 东 经 济 学 院本科毕业设计(论文)论远大前程中郝微香小姐悲剧的必然性设计(论文)题目: 指导教师： 学 号： 姓 名： 外国语学院（部）英语 专业 2009 届山东经济学院教务处制2009年5月7日miss havishams doomed tragedy in great expectationsbyzhai xiangqununder the supervision ofxxxsubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of bachelor of artsschool of foreign

2、 languagesshandong economic universitymay 7, 2009山东经济学院学士学位论文山东经济学院学士学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。本声明的法律结果由本人承担。学位论文作者签名： 年 月 日山东经济学院关于论文使用授权的说明本人完全了解山东经济学院有关保留、使用学士学位论文的规定，即：学校有权保留、送交论文的复印件，允许论文被查阅，学

3、校可以公布论文的全部或部分内容，可以采用影印或其他复制手段保存论文。指导教师签名： 论文作者签名： 年 月 日 年 月 日miss havishams doomed tragedy in great expectationsabstractcharles dickens, a great english novelist of the victorian era, is a master in creating various types of characters in his prolific career, which adds to the richness of the englis

4、h literary gallery. as a prominent female character in his novel great expectations, miss havisham has received much popular and critical attention for her eccentric character and unusual way of life. this thesis aims to explore the causes of miss havishams tragic fate by analyzing her tragedy from

5、three aspects: society, family and her character. it argues that social values in victorian society, the education background in her family life and her own character flaw leads to the doomed tragedy of miss havishams life. keywords: charles dickens; great expectations; miss havisham; doomed tragedy

6、论远大前程中郝微香小姐悲剧的必然性摘要19世纪英国著名小说家查尔斯狄更斯擅长创造各种小说人物形象，为文苑画廊增墨添彩。郝微香小姐是其小说远大前程中的一位女性人物。因为她性格乖僻，特立独行，长期以来备受人们的关注。通过从社会、家庭及自身性格三个方面入手分析郝微香小姐人生悲剧的成因，本论文认为，维多利亚社会的价值观念、家庭教育背景及自身性格缺陷等因素最终决定了郝微香小姐悲剧的必然性。关键词：查尔斯狄更斯；远大前程；郝微香小姐；悲剧命运contentsintroduction1chapter one victorian society in miss havishams tragedy2i. pat

7、riarchal social system in victorian england2ii. prevailing money worship in victorian society4chapter two family life in miss havishams tragedy6i. an angel blinded in the house6ii. persistent familial influence7chapter three character flaw in havishams tragedy9i. haughty and self-centered9ii. gothic

8、 elements in miss havishams personality10conclusion12works cited13acknowledgements14introductioncharles dickens（1812-1870）was the greatest of the critical realists in the 19th century english literature, whose novels show a deep sympathy for the miseries of the poor laboring masses and an incisive c

9、riticism of the social realities. his literary career may be roughly divided into three periods. the first period (1836-1841) is characterized by a light and cheery tone. it began with the writing of little sketches which were later collected as sketches by boz. the creation of pickwick papers allow

10、ed him a rather affluent life. oliver twist was also created then. in each of these early novels, dickens attacks one or more social evils in victorian england. the second period (1842-1850) witnessed the creation of his works about america, five christmas books, dombey and son and david copperfield

11、. great expectations belongs to the third period of his literary career (1851-1870) of which the novels are much darker in content than the former ones.great expectations, dickenss thirteenth novel, is one of his most well-constructed novels. it is a symbolic novel recounting from the beginning to t

12、he end of pips great expectations and entangling with a subplot of the love and life of miss havisham and estella. pip, an orphan brought up by his sister and brother-in-law, retains his kind heart and deep love for estella after those ups and downs of his life. miss havisham, a wealthy lady jilted

13、by her fianc on their wedding day, turns from a normal person to a grotesque, from a victim to a victimizer. after being jilted, she begins a life of seclusion and seeks to take revenge by educating her adopted daughter estella into a heartless girl, who aims merely to break mens hearts in the same

14、way as she was once hurt.dickens is especially good at characterization. through the portrayal of miss havisham, the most impressive and memorable female character in great expectations, he unfolds before us a true-to-life picture of womens pathetic position in victorian england. her unusual behavio

15、r has aroused more and more attention among literary critics recently. scholars take interest in miss havishams inner world and the ultimate causes of her tragedy. linda raphel attempts to analyze miss havishams inner world from the perspective of psychological analysis and feminist theory. through

16、a summary of others works and a detailed study of womens economic status in victorian society, raphel claims that miss havisham is a narcissist under mental pressure. some chinese critics tend to analyze the heroine from the social point of view (song). in fact, be it psychological or social, miss h

17、avishams life should be analyzed in a more systematic way. a detailed analysis of her entire life indicates that in victorian society, under the impact of its social values and family education, a woman with such character flaw is doomed to suffer a tragic fate. in other words, miss havishams traged

18、y is doomed. this thesis attempts to analyze the inevitability of miss havishams tragedy through a careful study of the society in which she lives, her family education and her character flaw. in addition to introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of three chapters. the first chapter discus

19、ses miss havishams tragedy from two aspects, the prevalent patriarchal system and the general cult of money in victorian england, so as to show the impact of victorian social values on miss havishams life. the second chapter deals with the role family education plays in the forming of miss havishams

20、 tragedy. and the third chapter focuses on miss havishams personality and inner self, exploring the deep cause of her tragedy from her character.chapter onevictorian society in miss havishams tragedy as a great 19th century critical realist, dickens is a great master in depicting and deploring the d

21、isintegration of social values and all sorts of malpractices in victorian society. his works provide us with a keen observation and sharp criticism of the victorian society. great expectations unfolds before us a panorama of that age in every detail. the dominant social values and outlooks beneath t

22、hat panorama play an important part in miss havishams doomed tragedy. this chapter analyzes these social values and outlooks and their impact on miss havishams tragedy mainly in two aspects: the patriarchal social system and worship of money as a dominant victorian social value.i. patriarchal social

23、 system in victorian englandthe idea that women are inferior to men is deeply rooted in western society. simone de beauvoir, the famous french writer, once remarked:one is not born, but becomes a woman. no biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presen

24、ts in society: it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between, male and eunuch, which is described as feminine. (249) therefore, according to beauvoir, women are not biologically born but a socially and historically created gender, which means that women are created

25、out of mens imagination and value orientation. aristotle also believes that men are born morally and intellectually superior to women, and that women are to be ruled by men is such a natural thing just as subjects are to be ruled by emperors (jarobe). in fact, the idea of patriarchism dates back to

26、the beginning of christianity. according to the famous tale of garden of eden, eve was created out of a rib of adam and was taken as the chief contributor to mans fall. the tale proves at least one thing that women are born for men, and live for men. therefore, it was their obligation to submit to m

27、en. women count no more than subordinates to men. they are merely “the second sex” in society. they dress up for men, live a life according to mens imaginations and ideas and even their happiness in life depends on men. marriage was all they can depend on for the hope of a better life. before marria

28、ge, they were the property of their father, while after being married, they were turned into servants of their husbands. once married, they had to obey their husbands and were expected to be pure, obedient, gentle, and, unless sweet-spoken, silent.as to education, for a long time in the west women w

29、ere discouraged from any kind of activities that might get them knowledge. education is always an element much valued in society. to certain extent, it is no exaggeration to take it as the key to change a womans destiny. however, under that omnipotent and omnipresent patriarchal social system, while

30、 men were pushed to go to colleges and became knowledgeable in many subjects, women were prevented from acquiring too much education and told to be obedient housewives. the typical life they lead before marriage was one spent in learning how to please their husband-to-be. and their social activities

31、 were confined to their own family. then, what is that patriarchal system like in the victorian age? it was an age when that system got to the peak of its power. as john fowles says in the french lieutenants woman:what are we faced with in the nineteenth century? an age where woman was sacred; and w

32、here you could buy a thirteen-year-old girl for a few poundsa few shillings, if you wanted her for only an hour or two. where more churches were built than in the whole previous history of the country; and where one in sixty houses in london was a brothel (the modern ratio would be nearer one in six

33、 thousand). where the sanctity of marriage (and chastity before marriage) was proclaimed from every pulpit, in every newspaper editorial and public utterance; and where neveror hardly ever have so many great public figures, from the future king down, led scandalous private lives. where the female bo

34、dy had never been so hidden from view; and where every sculptor was judged by his ability to carve naked women. (192; ch.35) the victorian age was an age of high hypocrisy, which enforced womens chastity and submissiveness while mens privileges in their love affairs were totally beyond question. thi

35、s age, for all its conflicts and anxieties, was one of variegated and often self-critical intellectual and literary activities. it was safe to say that it is an age of morality. womenthe focus of our discussion, were down in the bottom of society. they were limited to two choices then: whether to be

36、come an “angel in the house” who was feminine, loyal, virtuous and chaste like esther in the bleak house, or to be a “devil” that were in every respect an aversion to traditional conception toward female thus considered queer and crazy like bertha mason in charlotte brontes jane eyre. there was no g

37、olden mean in between. family was regarded as the most sacred center of social life, while women were the most sacred angels in that sanctuary. it was their duty to get the family well-organized and be loyal to their husbandsmasters of the family. any woman who went against these regulations was con

38、sidered immoral and insane.such extremities in gender discrimination are sufficiently illustrated in dickens works. miss havisham, obviously a woman in berthas group, with her own life story, showed us the destined tragic life of women in the male-centered victorian society.for many victorian women,

39、 marriage was the sole road to happiness. and once failed, they were doomed. miss havisham, a proud and innocent woman brought up in that society was deeply affected by this social convention. her mother died when she was a baby. so she was brought up completely under her fathers education. mr. havi

40、sham, a self-contradictory gentleman, left his daughter nothing but a large property, a spoilt half-brother, and a blind belief in mans control over the family. the young lady dreams for a bed of roses through marriage and fell passionately in love with compeyson.i believe she had not shown much sus

41、ceptibility up to that time; but all she possessed certainly came out then, and she passionately loved him. there is no doubt that she perfectly idolized him. (148; ch.22)it is obvious that miss havishams affection for compeyson is so strong and simple that she is willing to give up everything for h

42、im. in her mind, compeyson, her husband-to-be, is her master to whom she is obliged to attach all her love and loyalty. thus, when her lover asks her to buy over the whole share of the brewery, she follows his demand obediently, never doubting the sincerity of his affection. however, what the rascal

43、 wants from her is merely her property, which she never realizes until it is too late. in fact, he is in conspiracy with her half-brother. they devise the plan to play a trick on the nave lady and hurt her to the quick by jilting her on the intended wedding day. such disaster was no small hurt to a

44、typical middle class woman then. miss havisham breaks down in illness and when “recovers,” “she laid the whole place waste, as you have seen it, and she was never since looked up the light of the day” (148).in victorian times, being jilted certainly meant the end of a womans happiness. what people c

45、ared was not the reason of the disaster but the fact that the woman was discarded. and in their mind, it must be the womans fault. miss havisham, a victim of this social prejudice, has simply no courage to face the reality but to escape it in her own way. thereafter, she encloses herself in satis ho

46、use and never steps out of it ever since. the jilting might be a direct cause of her illness, but her afterward seclusion and extremity in action deserve much critical analysis. all her unusual behaviors could be partly attributed to a dread for the possible consequence brought out by her being jilt

47、ed. the gossip among her neighbors is powerful enough to destroy her happiness. the victorian notion about a womans virtue is already a part of her existence. thus her tragedy is a tragedy of all victorian women. ii. prevailing money worship in victorian societymoney worship is generally understood

48、as a state of mind that takes the amount of money as the sole measure for the importance of ones life and the highest criteria for moral judgments. to money worshippers, money is omnipotent .in order to gather as much property as possible, they are willing to betray friends, to commit crimes, even t

49、o sacrifice the whole nation for personal interests. the importance of money can be identified from the famous soliloquy in shakespeares play timon of athens:gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold?thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.

50、ha, you gods! why this? what, this, you gods? why, thiswill lug your priests and servants from your sides,pluck stout mens pillows from below their heads-this yellow slavewill knit and break religions, bless th accursd,make the hoar leprosy adord, place thievesand give them title, knee, and approbat

51、ion,with senators on the bench. this is itthat makes the wappend widow wed again-she whom the spital-house and ulcerous soreswould cast the gorge at this embalms and spicesto th april day again (4.3. 26-41). money counts the most in those worshippers mind. to them, there is nothing that cannot be ac

52、hieved through the use of money. thus, they try every means to increase their accumulation.the victorian age is an age of rapid and wrenching economic and social changes that has no parallel in earlier historychanges that make england the workshop of the world. as one of the golden age in british hi

53、story, this era witnessed not only rapid social development which contributed to britains rise to the leading industrial power of the world, but also its dramatic change in social values and outlooks. the pace and depth of such developments, while fostered a nation of great strength, also produced s

54、ocial and political unrest. capitalism, the dominant social system, was widely accepted as the mainstream social conception. a general worship for money was prevalent among the newly founded middle class and overseas colonizers. dickens often gave an eloquent account of the general avarice for money

55、 in many of his works, of which miss havishams case can be regarded as a typical one. as mentioned before, compeyson pursues her under the purpose of grabbing her property. he “practice s on her affection in that systematic way, that he got great sums of money from her, and he induces her to buy her

56、 brother out of a share in the brewery at an immense price” (148;ch.32). he “acted throughout in concert with her half-brother” to deceive from miss havisham as much money as he could. he is a villain whose every cell craved for money, a typical money worshipper. the large amount of money miss havis

57、ham inherited is a blessing to her in everyones eyes. however, it is exactly this sum of money that has made her the prey of those money worshipers. judging from what actually happens; such inheritance is apparently more a disaster than a fortune to the young lady. money for a victorian woman was hardly a blessing. whats worse, it might well be the cause of her tragic life. the amount of money miss havisham has inherited proves not only the cause of her disaster but also a persistent torture after her seclusion. her “relations were poor and scheming,” all crave to have a share of he