A Comparison of Theme between Jane Eyre and The Color Purple.doc

简爱与紫色主题思想的比较a comparison of theme betweenjane eyre and the color purpleabstract：charlotte brontes masterpiece jane eyre traces the emotional and spiritual development of the heroine, jane eyre, who discods with the traditional fictional stereotype of a woman as submissive, dependent, and ignorant in the nineteenth century. alice walker is one of the most important black woman writers in the contemporary american literature. walkers representative work the color purple depicts the black womans quest for identity and self-autonomy in the male-dominated patriarchal society. to compare these two novels, these experiences cause protagonists to be self-esteemed, self-reliant, and rebellious. they pursue equality between men and women. their unique characters, which is to influence all their life, makes them the “different sort” under the traditional conception and contemporary conventions. this paper compares themes between jane eyre and the color purple. this paper will analyze characters, protagonists transformation. nowadays, with varying values and the competitive situations, how females can find a foothold in society, seeking for development and have their values realized are realistic problems. undoubtedly, the images of two protagonists arouse peoples inspiration and contemplation.key words: protagonists transformation; independence; self-esteem; jane eyre; the color purple摘要： 夏洛蒂勃朗特的代表作简爱描述了其主人公简爱曲折的心路历程。与十九世纪典型的顺从，依赖，无知的女性形象截然不同。艾丽斯沃克是当今美国文坛最重要的黑人女作家之一，其代表作紫色讲述了黑人女性在父权社会所造成的各种逆境中寻求自我的故事。对比这两部小说，特定的经历使女主角形成了自尊自爱，自立自强，勇于抗争，崇尚平等的性格，这使她们成为当时传统观念下女性中的“另类”也直接影响着她们的人生。通过分析人物的塑造，主人公的性格转变, 这篇论文将对比两部小说的主题。在竞争多元化的今天，女性如何立足于世，实现自身价值等现实问题，主角的形象给人启发和深思。关键词： 主人公的转变；独立；自尊；简爱；紫色contentsi. introduction.1a. introduction to charlotte bronte and jane eyre.1 b. introduction to alice walker and the color purple2ii. the theme of jane eyre.2a. the characterization of female figure .2b. the protagonist journey of transformation.3iii. the theme of the color purple.5 a. the characterization of female figure.5b. the protagonist journey of transformation.6iv. a comparison of theme between the two novels.8a. similarities between the two novels.8b. differences between the two novels.9v. conclusion11works cited.13a comparison of theme between jane eyre and the color purplei. introductionit may be the complicated plots of a novel that fascinates its reader at first, but it is great character that makes it stay in our memory forever. jane eyre and the color purple are such novels.a. introduction to charlotte bronte and jane eyrejane eyre is charlotte brontes most successful and popular novel, which was published in 1847.the appearance of the novel took london by storm and brought charlotte instant fame. she opposed social norms in her novel and challenged the conventionalists of the time period, when victorian women were submissive. the story of an orphan girl jane eyre .after the death of her parents, jane eyre, still a little girl, lived in the house of her aunt who is rude and unjust to the poor girl. jane is later sent to a charity school where she was maltreated and lived a half-starved life. she left eight years later to be governess in the family of mr. rochester, a rich country squire. they fall in love with each other and are about to marry when jane learns that rochester has a wife, a raving lunatic secretly kept in the house. shocked, jane flees away and only returns when she learns that rochester is blinded in the fire set by his mad wife who diets tragically by jumping off the roof in it. in a secluded country house nearby jane found rochester, blind and lonely. at last they married and found happiness together.ever since it was published, there have appeared a lot of people studying the novel and its author, charlotte bronte. those studies have much information: on one hand, some people praise the authors criticism of the system of education, the english county squires, the chapter one position of women in society and the marriage system of the capital society, which requires that marriage should be based on social status. to these people, jane eyre is a novel, forceful, fresh, unique and true. on the other hand, there are also many people who raised so much criticism about the novel and its author. for instance, in november, 1847, era said, “it is not worthy of being called novel, for it is so different from other novels of the same ages. neither does it show off the life of the upper class nor does it describe how the people climb up to admirable situation”(yang 93). in the same year, by stander said, “one of the greatest shortcomings of jane eyre is too artificial” (yang 116).b. introduction to alice walker and the color purplealice walkers most popular novel, the color purple, published in 1982, became one of the best sellers in the same year. in the following year, it won both the american book award for fiction and the pulitzer prize. alice walker becomes the first black woman writer ever to win the pulitzer prize.the novel tells the journey of celies (the protagonists) growth from a teenager to a woman in complete possession of herself. by putting emphasis on celie and a few other black womans quest for independence, self-fulfillment and autonomy, and by employing folkloric traditions to tell the story, walker echoed her maternal ancestors call and her own assertion.some points that the novel emphasizes the theme of “change”, change means growth, and growth can be painful. for black and white, old and young, lesbian and heterosexual women alike, change means new paths to survival. all characters in the novel, male or female, all went through a series of changes, and finally live harmoniously.its broad scope of literary potential is also shown “the color purple broadens the scope of literary discourse, asserting its primacy in the realm of academic thought while simultaneously stirring the reflective consciousness of a mass audience. unlike most novels by any writer it is read across race, class, gender, and cultural boundaries. it is a truly a popular work-a book of the people-a work that has many different meanings for many different readers”(bloom 53).however, quite a number of critics feel that the novel should be “ignored” rather than “canonized”, who censure walker for the creation of an unrealistic plot, for the depiction of violent black men who physically and psychologically abuse their wives and children and the depiction of lesbianism, its frank depiction of sexual expression, its bitter castigation of male and female sex roles, and for peopling her novel with characters who themselves do not seem to respond to internal logic.ii. the theme of jane eyre a. the characterization of female figuresthe development of jane eyres character is central to the novel. she is a successful rebellious female figure. from the beginning, jane possesses a sense of her self-worth and dignity, a commitment to justice, a trust in god, and a passionate disposition. the protagonist and narrator of the novel, jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. she also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the victorian prejudices against women and the poor.b. the protagonist journey of transformation this part discusses how jane eyre struggles for independence in mind. jane eyre is shown to be always struggling for independence in mind. this is evidenced even in her childhood when she fights against oppression imposed on her. in gateshead, jane protests against jonh reed and mrs. reed. in lowood, she tells helen that she will fight against the people who are bad to her. when she grows up, her search becomes mature. she insists on equality, right of the humblest person to affection, self-realization, independence, honesty, and integrity, the right to speak out frankly, the right of self -mastery. in thornfield, she declares that women can do more and feel as men feel, moving from a defence of her individual case to a moral argument for womens right. in her relationship with mr. rochester, jane consistently stresses the spiritual equality with rochester. in moor, jane refuses st.john riverss proposal on the score of not loving him and thus defends her liberty to choose her own life.jane eyres struggle has already begun for the despised, outcast, unprotected child at gateshead and lowood. at this stage janes instinct for self-assertion expresses itself in rebellion against the bullies of her elders.in gateshead, jane was scolded by her aunt and was hit and insulted by her cousins, even the servants looked down upon her and said bad words towards her. in thus ice-cold circumstance, jane became more and more sensible. she was like a grass, little but strong. she would not take her fate lying down. she was eager to gain and protect her self-respect.in lowood school, janes rebellious character is further demonstrated. when helen, to whom jane forms a passionate attachment, is scolded severely but accepts her punishment meekly, jane is very indignant on helens behalf and declares if she were whipped she would grab the rod and breaks it. helen reminds her that the bible tells us to return good for evil. but jane cannot understand such meekness, insisting that we must “strike back very hard” and pay back the oppressors in their own coins:if people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked would have it all their own way. when we are struck at without reason, we should strike again very hard; 1 am sure we should-so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do so againi must dislike those who, whatever i do to please them, persist in disliking me: i must resist those who punish me unjustly. it is as natural as that i should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when i feel it is deserved (bronte 19).the 19th century is one in which men dominated. everything told young girls that it was for their best interests to become mens vassal. but jane does not resign herself to such submission, denying her material and moral inferiority to boys. she sees that she has some power to challenge the authority of john and mrs. reed. she refuses to submit to john reed and mrs. reed but challenges the traditional subordination of women.after eight years at lowood school, jane has learned “an allegiance to duty and order,” but her longing for excitement and fulfillment is not satisfied. she feels more and more unsettled and restless. she realizes that there is a great world beyond and longs to explore it. she craves for liberty, or if that is impossible, a “new servitude”. her restlessness drives her to seek a new position-being a governess at thomfield. however, at first her life as a governess at thornfield does not satisfy her. the stillness of thornfield makes her weary. although her job is a comfortable one, she is relentless and longs for a more varied experience of life. she links her situation to that of all women and develops a keen awareness of inequality as imposed by society on women. in a passionate outburst, jane loudly proclaims her objections against tire limits of female space and power, insisting on the rights of women to a complete and full life:nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. it is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex (bronte 233).janes monologue is absolutely a feminist speech, a speech that is as much jane eyres as the author. one impulse behind the novel is brontes dream of feminine power, not attainable to her in reality, or only attainable through the medium of art.at thornfield, when she fell in love with the host, rochester, she regarded him as the whole life. however, when she knew he was going to marry miss ingram, yet asked her to stay with him and cried furiously against him. such words as “do you think i am a machine, without feelings? do you think because i am small and poor and plain, that i have no soul and heart as you? it is my spirit that speaks to your spirit! we are equal in the sight of god!” it is janes declaration to defend her dignity and equality. she had passionate feelings but she never forgets her dignity and equality.at moor, she refused st. johns request of marriage for fear that she would lose the equal position and true love.in her childhood her struggle expresses in rebellion against the bullies of her elders. when she grows up, she begins to insist on equality, right of the humblest person to affection, self-realization, independence and the right of self-mastery. she has always been keenly aware of her material dependence and has always tried to live an independent life. eventually, she achieves independence in matter, though not through her self-struggle but through inheritance. these experiences causes jane eyre to be self-esteemed, self-reliant, and rebellious. she pursues equality between men and women. her unique character, which is to influence all her life, makes her the “different sort” under the traditional conception and contemporary conventions.iii. the theme of the color purplea. the characterization of female figurescelie is a miserable figure in the very beginning. celie was raped by her stepfather at the age of 14, and then was deprived of the educational at the age 14, and then was deprived of the educational right and the spoken right. at the age of 22, she was sold by her stepfather as merchandise to albert (mr._ ) who only treated her as a baby-sitter, a tool to release his sexual desire and a labor to produce surplus value. celie does little to fight back against her stepfather, alphoso. later in life, when her husband abuses her, she reacts in a similarly passive manner. celie lacks power and will to resist brutality imposed on her since her childhood. all she can do is to remain silent and invisible. celie is a perfect wife, like her own mother used to be, or sofias mother is, or the majority of other women: “she never say nothing back. she never stands up for herself” (walker 39). celie has no inkling that in her situation she can fight. that is sofias way. celie, instead, relates, “i dont know how to fight. all i know how to do is to stay alive” (walker 17). celie seems to be an almost deliberate delineation of the mule of the world, and apparently nothing so too brutal to be vented on her. her ordeals, painful to discuss, leave her more dead than alive. however, celie latches onto shug avery, a beautiful and seemingly empowered woman, as a role model. after shug moved into celies home celie has the opportunity to befriend the woman whom she lovers and to learn, at last, how to fight. b. the protagonist journey of transformationthis part discusses how celie struggles for independence in mind. celies female consciousness is gradually developed through writing letters. with the help of sisters around her, such as celies daughter-in-law, she advices celie to fight against the tyrant in the family instead of passively enduring, which wakens celie to a way of self-recognition -fighting for rights and dignity. shug helps to make celie aware of her sexuality, arouse her hidden and repressive feelings to love and to be loved, and significantly, free her form self-negation to self-awareness.celies personal transformation is amazing. it took a long time and much effort. she begins her narrative by writing, “i am” which she then negates by crossing out, indicating her lack of self-confidence and self-acceptance. all her life is a series of sacrifices-to pas desires, to netties safety, to alberts (mr._s) brutality. she has been “torn” into pieces-torn from childhood by pas rapes, torn from her children, torn from nettie. she can identify nothing of her own self. the only way for celie, a barely literate girl, to evaluate herself is through other peoples curse on her. she cant find any positive quality in herself.the only way for celie to find her individuality is through the help of the women in her life. with the encouragement of these women, celie successfully reaches the point in which she, too, is strong and self-able. its the inner strength of these women that helps celie.its sisterhood that helps celie realize her own value and lead her to the road of empowerment. nettie first help her build self-confidence. she often praises that celie is “smart” as she is and how beautiful her smile is. while in alberts house, albert always praises nettie. but nettie uses the same words to praise celie. most important of all is that through teaching celie what she has learned at school, nettie arms celie with a special weapon-the pen, the most effective tool to fight