哥特山庄的闯入者_浅析简_爱的哥特特征_英文_

1、哥特山庄的闯入者-浅析简爱的哥特特征南京信息工程大学语言文化学院熊安沅Abstract:T h is thesis exp lo red the go th ic features of Charlo tte B rontes Jane Eyre from the perspective of traditi onal relati ons betw een the hero and hero ine1Jane Eyre is read as a typ ical go th ic sto ry of a fem ale knigh t rescue a m ale p risoner iso

2、 lated in a remo te castle by a m ysteri ous fo rce1T he fo rce m igh t be a villain o r an unseen pow er created by hum an m ind1T he typ ical go th ic hero and hero ine,the w eird setting,the m ystery and suspense,the supernatural pow er all contribute to enhance the character of Jane Eyre1Key W o

3、rds:Go th ic featuresJane Eyrecastlew eired settingT he Go th ic traditi on utilizes elem ents such as supernatural encounters,remo te locati ons,comp licated fam ily h isto ries, ancient m ano r houses,dark secrets,and m ysteries to create an atmo sphere of suspense and terro r,and the p lo t of Ja

4、ne Eyre includes mo st of these elem ents1L ow ood,M oo r House,and T ho rnfield are all remo te locati ons,and T ho rnfield,like Gateshead,is also an ancient m ano r house1Bo th Rochester and Jane po ssess comp licated fam ily h isto riesRochesters h idden w ife,Bertha,is the dark secret at the nov

5、els co re1T he expo sure of Bertha is one of the mo st i m po rtant mom ents in the novel,and the m ystery surrounding her is the m ain source of the novels suspense1T he Go th ic elem ents serve to antici pate and elevate the i m po rtance of the p lo ts turning po ints1A ll th is add the atmo sphe

6、re of m ystery and fear to Jane Eyre1T ho se Characters w ith go th ic features,the w eird settings,the conflict p lo t and the them e of typ ical go th ic traditi ons are all of the go th ic style w h ich contributed to the effect of Charlo ttes Jane Eyre1The Ar istocratic,Self-absorbed M ale Prot

7、agon istRochesterT he typ ical Go th ic novel of the1790s featured an aristocratic,self-abso rbed m ale,usually the ow ner o r caretaker of a castle o r m ansi on,handsom e but m ysteri ous,char m ing but socially estranged,w ho se iso lated w o rld is to som e degree comp rom ised by the intrusi on

8、 of a young w om an1It is evident that Rochester is a typ ical p ro tagonist of a go th ic novel,w ith h is black brow s,flash ing eyes,gnash ing teeth and Byronic passi on1H e em erges from a m ysteri ous past; w ithout religi on,he p roclai m s h i m self h is ow n god,trying to be freed from exte

9、rnal li m itati ons and contro l1Rochester is undoubtedly an aristocratic gentlem an, T ho rnfield is h is castle1H e lived a lonely and gloom y life befo re the com ing of Jane Eyre1T hat is to say h is w o rld is changed by the intrusi on of Jane,w ho s w ep t aw ay the dull atmo sphere bo th in T

10、 ho rnfield and the heart of Rochester w ith h is pow er of love1T hough Rochester is no t handsom e he is never lack of m ysteries1A nd he is char m ing enough to be ado red by h is servants as w ell as the social circles1Rochesters character is only gradually revealed to Jane and to the reader1H e

11、 is m ade to sound rather enigm atic even befo re he appears1M rs1,Fairfax finds it hard to characterize h i m and can only say that he is a gentlem an,but peculiar in that one never know s w hether he is in jest o r in earnest,he has no t the conventi onal good look s of a hero,fo r he is dark,ster

12、n,and rather ugly1H e does no t act the conventi onal m aster w ith Jane, either1O n the first nigh t he is ask ing her if she belongs to the m an in green and p retending she bew itched h is ho rse,to the comp lete m ystificati on of M rs1Fairfax;soon he is exam ining her paintings w ith som e pene

13、trati on and m uch curi o sity1Yet in sp ite of h is obvi ous interest in her,he is very changeable, som eti m es staring w ith strange look s at the battlem ents1H is account of h is relati onsh i p w ith A deles mo ther does no t reflect credit on h is mo rals,but h is desire to be a better m an t

14、han he has been is in h is favo r1Jane w rites that he is“p roud,sardonic, and harsh to inferi o rity of every descri p ti on”(B ronte, Charlo tte,1985and w onders at h is occasi onal moods of savage gloom and anger1W hen M ason is hurt,he show s that he can keep h is head and act w ith autho rity a

15、nd dispatch,yet he tells Jane gloom ily that he is standing“on a crater crust w h ich m ay crack and spur fire any day1”H is sudden changes of mood and abrup t departure continue1Charlo tte set the m ysteri ous scene fo r encounters betw een Jane and Rochesterthe moonlit fro sty nigh t w ith the m a

16、jestic w inter sky that readers can no tice in m any occasi ons in th is novel1O ne fro sty afternoon Jane set out to take a letter to the village po st office1A fter sitting on a stile to w atch the sun go dow n,she w as about to go on her w ay by the ligh t of the rising moon w hen she heard a cla

17、tter of hoofs in the lane,fo r a mom ent she feared it m igh t be a Gytrasha sp irit w h ich could take the fo r m of vari ous ani m alsbut th is ho rse had a rider and therefo re could no t be a sp irit1Just as she cam e to th is conclusi on,the ho rse sli pped on the ice and he and h is rider cras

18、hed to the ground1T he dog w ith them barked and appeared to summon Jane to help h is m aster1T he Ho rse and the rider bo th struggled to their feet,but the m an had sp rained h is ank le,Jane offered to run fo r help,but the gentlem an w ould no t hear of th is1H e did lean on Janes shoulder w h i

19、le he secured h is ho rses bridle,then mounted and galloped aw ay1Jane reflected on th is passing encounter w ith the stern,dark stranger1She felt reluctant to return to the dull life at T ho rnfield1How ever,w hen she did return she discovered that the m ysteri ous stranger w as M r1Edw ard Fairfax

20、 Rochester1Rochesters first appearance w as full of Go th icis m and left m ystery and suspense to hero ine and readers1Just like mo st heroes in Go th ic novels,Rochesters past w as full of m ysteries too1W hen Jane w as puzzled by the identity of A dele and Rochesters“changeful and abrup t”humo r,

21、she asked M rs1Fairfax1M rs1Fairfax exp lained that allow ance should be m ade fo r h is m anner,because“painful though ts”and“fam ily troubles”harassed h i m,she h inted that M r1Rochesters father and elder bro ther had taken step s to p lace h i m in a“painful po siti on,fo r the sake of m ak ing

22、h is fo rtune,”but w hat these step s w ere and w hat th is po siti on w as she co ld no t say1“N o w onder he shuns the o ld p lace(T ho rnfield,she concluded,and Jane w as obliged to drop the subject1”(B ronte,Charlo tte, 1985Charlo tte,like Em ily in W uthering H eigh ts,likes to create an atmo s

23、phere of m ystery about the past,m ystery w h ich is gradu ally exp lained and w h ich affects w hat happens in the p resent1 M r1Rochester is a spouse shack led to a failed m arriage and burdened by an inadequate and degrading partner1Rochester specifically addressed the questi on of legal p roceed

24、ings w hen he eventually tells Jane the sto ry of h is m arriage to Bertha:“M y bro ther in the interval w as dead;and at the end of the four ears m y father died w oo l Iw as rich enough nowyet poo r to h ideous indigence:a nature the mo st gro ss,i m pure, dep raved,I never saw,w as associated w i

25、t m ine,and called by the law and by society a part of m e1A nd I could no t rid m yself of it by legal p roceedings;fo r the docto rs now discovered that m y w ife w as m adher excesses had p rem aturely developed the ger m s of insanity1”(B ronte,Charlo tte,1985Rochester i m p lies here that becau

26、se Bertha is m ad,he canno t divo rce her1L ater he says:“I knew that w h ile she lived I could never be the husband of ano ther and better w ife1”(B ronte,Charlo tte,1985T he po int here is no t so m uch to ask w hy the law could no t allow Rochester to divo rce bertha,but that in the ter m s of th

27、e novel it is necessary fo r h i m to be saddled w ith an i m movable burden1T h is w ay Rochester is guilty of erro r,dissi pati on and attemp ted bigam y,but he is also redeem able and fo rgivable,especially since he attemp ts to rescue Bertha from herself even at h is ow n danger1The Y oung Fe ma

28、le I n truderEyreT he chaste Go th ic m aiden,the sexual fo il to the Go th ic m ale villain,created a sympathetic bond w ith the bourgeo is fem ale reading audience of the ti m e:she is si m ultaneously attracted to and repulsed by the m ale she encounters in her vari ous ficti onal ro les as gover

29、ness,distant relative,neighbo r,o r innocent visito r to the secluded Go th ic castle1T he rest of the novel,depending upon the autho r p roducing it,either revo lves around the Go th ic m aids hyperactive i m aginati on as her rom antic fantasies are system atically sti m ulated and then dispelled,

30、o r else the sto ry centers on the very real and dangerous m ale pursuit of fem ale distress1In tho se Go th ic narratives w here evil reigns,the text is often m ale villain-centered,w h ile in tho se tales w here good w ins out in the end,the novel is conversely m aiden-centered1In either case,here

31、 w e have the fundam ental p lo tline of Go th ic crisis:a trem bling m aiden dep icted in som e stage of quasi-hysterical fligh t into o r from a dream landscape in w h ich anyth ing can happen and p robably w ill1T he Go th ic novel h igh ligh ted a surreal and super ani m ated universe out of con

32、tro l,the m an and w om an unable to comm unicate w ith one ano ther,an overindulgence of emo ti on,the ruth less pursuit of p sycho sexual obsessi ons,and the language of anguish and defiance1T ho se m aiden-centered texts can easily be found in Jane Eyre as the go th ic p lo t obvi ously recognize

33、d by the readers1Jane Eyre is mo re o r less w ith a good-w ins ending and the novel is undoubtedly m aiden-centered1Jane as the governess intrudes into M r1Rochesters castleT ho rnfield1Janes love to Rochester w as h indered by Rochesters past,w ith her pow er of intelligence,k indness and love Jan

34、e conquered every obstacles and obtained happ iness at last1T hough Jane w as no t described as a disguised p rincess o r a noble and beautiful intruder in mo st of the go th ic sto ries;she w as never lack of char m ing to M r1Rochester1Jane had a go th ic o rigin;her parents died w hen she w as ve

35、ry young and left her to her uncle1A fter the death of her uncle Jane w as abandoned to L ow ood by her aunt1T here she obtained the ability to live independently and to love as tho se go th ic hero ines obtained the m agic pow er from a w itch o r a fair lady1Charlo tte B ronte creates a hero ine t

36、ho rough ly alone in a th reatening w o rld1“You m ust be tenaci ous of life”(B ronte, Charlo tte,1985says Rochester,on hearing of Janes survival of L ow ood1T h is is no t si m p ly to say that mo re dangerous and exciting obstacles th reaten Jane,though indeed they do,in the fo r m of a nervous fi

37、t in the red-room;p rivati ons and disease at L ow ood;a fire,a m adw om an;death by starvati on on the moo rs; and St Johns urgings to go to India1H er battle is often against death itself,and her triumph is to stay alive1Jane is a survivo r against a fairly constant th reat of annih ilati on,detec

38、table even in the“happy ending”w h ich finds her living at Ferndean,w ho se insalubri ous cli m ate she has survived fo r a decade at the ti m e of w riting her sto ry1A nd th is w as the p lace that Rochester though t unfit fo r Bertha1Janes first battles have a p ri m itive,hero ic quality that su

39、ggests an equati on betw een ch ildhood and the p ri m itive w o rld of acti on1She stands up to her bullying cousin and is felled only by superi o r fo rce1She stands up to her aunt M rs1R eed and in som e sense w ins her w ay out of that supp ressi on1A t L ow ood Schoo l she continues to p lay an

40、 active defiant ro le even as she undergoes the heros educati on to patience and self-contro l from her m ento rs H elen Burns and M iss T emp le1How ever m uch she learns from their p lacid accep tance of fate1F rom H elens unw o rldly attendance on a better w o rld,Jane rem ains the active,hero ic

41、 figure1H er educati on amounts no t to resignati on but to a chastened activis ma reso luti on to pursue a new servitude if that is the best she can expect,but at least pursue som eth ing1T hereafter the rom ance pattern of a go th ic sto ry is ofcourse rew oven th rough the loom of a hero ines rat

42、her than heros experience,that is to say“m aiden-centered”1In Janes m ain contest in life,the initial am biguous relati onsh i p w ith Rochester and the temp tati on after the existence of h is w ife is revealed;Janes hero ic acti ons are all cast in the passive fo r m necessary to a dependent fem a

43、le in the househo ld of a rich m an1She rem ains the figure of rom ance hero is m,figh ting the dragon of custom and rank to clai m her equality w ith Rochester on that m idsumm ers eve in the garden,asserting herself against Rochesters amo rous encroachm ents on her independence,carrying th rough o

44、n her reso luti on to stage a M o scow retreat from T ho rnfield in her deso lati on after the discovery of Bertha1T he central battle,the patho s in Janes struggle tow ard fulfill m ent,ends in apparently to tal lo ss1A ll seem s w ithout hope;Janes inability to conclude the contest at T ho rnfield

45、 by any mode but to tal retreat from fulfill m ent leaves her ironically caugh t in a sterile w asteland of her ow n devising1She seem s bested,vanquished by the supp ressive fo rces she has fough t all her life but w ith w h ich she m ust now co llabo rate1(M aynard,John,1984D esp ite her perseveri

46、ng figh ting sp irit,Janes vital fo rce is surp risingly stal w art,and fo r ti m es,she m iraculously survives death1W hen Jane w as only one year o ld,her father caugh t the typhus fever as he w as visiting the poo r as a clergym an,and soon her mo ther w as infected from h i m1Bo th of them died

47、w ith in a month,little Jane,against nature,survives such p revalent disease and is adop ted by R eed fam ily1B rough t up by M rs1R eed,Jane seem s to dodge the th reat of death;how ever, go ing back on her w o rds,M rs1R eed finally drives Jane aw ay and sends her to L ow ood Schoo l,no t w ell in

48、tenti oned1W hat M rs1R eed hopes to see is Janes tribulati on and even rap id death there1L iving continuously w ith insufficient foods and clo th ing,Jane is severely undernourished,so do o ther girls1A cco rdingly,w hen infecti on invades L ow ood w ith the arrival of sp ring,a large m ass of stu

49、dents duly catch it and nearly the half of them lie ill si m ultaneously,dying w ith an alar m ing rate1But Jane rem ains safe and sound1A s a typ ical fem ale:go th ic hero ine,Jane is fo reo rdained to be i m mo rtal and al w ays triumph s in the end1Ow ing m uch to her hardsh i p s at Gateshead a

50、nd L ow ood, Jane gets p repared fo r the succeeding adventures,bo th physically and m entally1A fter undergo ing a series of hardsh i p s on her w ay tow ards m aturity and w isdom,Jane no t only chastens her strong w ill and talents during the p rocess,but also inherits her uncles large amount of

51、money1W ith that,Jane becom es econom ically independent,w h ich paves the w ay fo r her equal m arriage w ith Rochester1Bertha-The Goth ic V illa i nA villain is an evil character w ho oppo ses the hero and is cast in the ro le of antagonist1In a go th ic rom ance there often w as an evil character

52、 w ho oppo sed against the hero o r hero ine, som eti m es a w itch,som eti m es a monster1In Jane Eyre Bertha is the sym bo l of villain1Because of her existence M r1Rochester and Jane could never“live happ ily together ever after”1 T he figure of Bertha w as perceived as a fo il to the hero ine; s

53、he lived on the attic purpo sely o r unm eantly run against Jane and Rochesters happ iness1Go th ic rom ance had been very popular in the19th century w h ich ai m ed at giving its readers a sensati on of p leasant ho rro rho rro r based on fear of physical injury o r fear of physical injury o r fear

54、 of the supernatural1T he settings of these novels w ere usually m edieval castles o r mo ss covered ruins,w ith tow ering battlem ents,secret passagew ays, and dis m al dungeons,instrum ents of to rture,gho stly visitati ons,gho stly m usic and vo ices1Charlo ttes A ngrian sto ries,the descri p ti

55、ons of the th ird floo r at T ho rnfield,the atmo sphere of m ystery and suspense certainly ow e som eth ing to th is traditi on,w h ich charlo tte m ay have encountered in Ho race W alpo les Castle of O tranto and M rs1R adcliffs M ysteries of U do lpho in1In p resenting Bertha Charlo tte p lays on

56、 the stereo types that have p lagued go th ic anti-hero ine from their incep ti on1Bertha rem inds us of all tho se lustful,ravening aristocrats w ho populated the text of go th ic rom ance1Bertha is associated in Rochesters m ind w ith“vices”“giant p ropensities”;she is“intemperate and unchaste,”“g

57、ro ss, i m pure,dep raved”1(Stonem an,Patsy,1996Bertha enacts in all these ep isodes the revenge of the go th ic anti-hero ine on her avatar,the go th ic fem inist1T he first cli m actic denunciati on of Bertha occurs in her activities the nigh t befo re Jane and Rochester are to be m arried1She inv

58、ades the brides bedroom and w akes her from yet ano ther particularly troubling dream about dead babies1W hen Bertha confronts Jane in her virginal bed she stands as a silent accusati on,a living em bodi m ent of som eth ing vestigial buried by the mo re pow erful energy that the Jane rep resents1Ja

59、ne describes her later to Rochester as“a w om an,tall and large,w ith th ick and dark hair hanging dow n her back1I know no t w hat dress she had on:it w as w h ite and straigh t;but w hether gow n,sheet,o r sh roud,I canno t tell1”(B ronte,Charlo tte,1985the w om an alternately clad as bride, bedm ate,o r dead is a particularly app rop riate rep resentati on of the vocati onal po ssibilities held out to w om en in the go th ic universe1In charlo ttes ow n ti m e Sheridan L e