中英女性爱情观比较——以林黛玉与简爱为例

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摘 要

林黛玉和简爱作为《红楼梦》和《简爱》的女主人公，是极具鲜明特色的文学人物形象。她们在身世经历等方面具有惊人的相似性，但两者的遭遇，爱情结局等又截然不同。比较她们的异同既有利于读者加深对两部文学作品的理解，又有利于读者了解中英两国文化差异。本文从跨文化的角度对比分析林黛玉，简爱在身世，性格恋爱等颇为相似又不同的人生境遇与情感历程，探讨并揭示林黛玉与简爱爱情观差异及其文化根源，从而促进中英两国文化交流，增进中英两国人民的友谊。

关键词：林黛玉；简爱；爱情观；文化根源

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
2. Literature Review…………………………………………………………1
3. Brief Introduction of Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre……………………...2

3.1 Lin Tai-yu………………………………………………………………2

3.2 Jane Eyre………………………………………………………………3

4. The Concepts of Love of Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre……………………….5

4.1 The birth of love…………………………………………………………5

4.2 The development of love ………………………………………………...5

4.3 The end of love ……………………………………………………...9

5. The Reasons for the Differences in the Concepts of

Love Between Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre …………………………………..10

5.1 Differences in the living environment…………………………………….10

5.2 Differences in social time background…………………………………….10

5.3 Differences in Chinese and British culture in that time………………….11

6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………….13

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...14

1. Introduction

Lin Tai-yu is one of the principal characters of Cao Xueqin"s classic Chinese novel Dream of Red Mansions. She is portrayed as a well-educated, intelligent and beautiful young woman. The romance between Tai-yu and Jia Pao-yu forms one of the main threads of the book. Her sentimental character has impressed many people in the world. Jane Eyre is the main character in the novel named Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte. She is a fictional character, and in our hearts she will stay. This incredible lady in her beloved story has carried on through the centuries to inspire all its readers. Jane is a cherished woman with whom everyone can find a bit of themselves in.

Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre as the heroine of Dream of Red Mansions and Jane Eyre are two very distinctive features of the literary characters. They have a striking similarity in terms of life experience but entirely different in encounters and love. Comparing their similarities and differences not only help readers deepen their understanding of two literary works, and it helps the reader understand the cultural differences between Chinese and Britain.

2. Literature Review

Jane Eyre is one of the most concern works by scholars from various countries in literary criticism topic worldwide Bronte Literature. Since it was introduced to Chinese readers in 1917, Jane Eyre has been universally welcomed and discussed by Chinese readers and scholars all the time and gradually becomes a hotspot of Western literary criticism in China .After the advent of Dream of Red Mansions which aroused people’s comments and research on it, and now these researches have become an art. there are many researches on the two works from different angles, such as Lu Yuling and Yang Jingyuan, they make a research on Jane Eyre’s view on women and concept of love separately; and another two scholars, Peng Hongwei and Xue Liping who have conducted a comparison between Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre briefly.

As two heroines of Dream of Red Mansions and Jane Eyre, there are few concrete analyses of Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre. The thesis aims to compare and analysis Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre from cross-cultural point in similar life experience, personality and love and different life circumstances and emotional journey to explore and reveal why Jane and Lin have different concepts of love. The author hopes the readers can learn some useful things from the two heroines in order to better grasp their futures.

1. Brief Introduction of Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre

3.1 Lin Tai-yu

3.1.1 The experience

Born to a Suzhou scholar-official, Lin Ruhai, and Lady Jia Min of the Rongguo house, Tai-yu is raised by her parents in her family’s mansion in nearby Yang Zhou, where she received an excellent education. She had a natural affinity for literature and has learned exceptionally well. Her childhood tutor is Jia Yucun.

During her childhood, a Buddhist monk once proposed to take her away to save her from a tragic fate. This is of course, rejected. Having a naturally weak constitution she has been taking medicine and tonic from a very young age, and this resulted in her somewhat willowy build and ethereal beauty.

At the age of six， Tai-yu lost her mother, and then she is summoned to the capital to be with her maternal grandmother, the lady Dowager. She immediately bonds with Jia Pao-yu, her maternal cousin and her grandmother’s favorite, and with the many girl cousins in the house. Tai-yu’s father dies a few years after her entry into the Rongguo House, leaving her a complete orphan. She is one of Grandmother Jia’s most doted grandchildren.

Tai-yu is an emotional girl, prone to extreme mood swings and melancholic spells. She is described as having been sickly since childhood; indeed, when she is first introduced, a couplet describes her “with a heart like Bi Gan’s, yet even more intelligent; and with an illness like Xi Zi, yet even more beautiful”. Her disposition to frowning leads Pao-yu to give her the courtesy name of Pinpin or Frowner, when they first meet.

3.1.2 The characteristics

Tai-yu use poetry to vent her own swept away. She wrote more than a few sad verses, often thought to be dead, old, scattered, decline. It is due to congenital weakness of the body, Tai-yu has more negative reactions to things and likes to consider things from the opposite side, which also cause her negative and passive way of thinking. Person’s temperament and personality are linked, some kind temperament is easier to form some kind of personality, sanguine people are easy to form helpful and lively character, and Tai-yu is melancholic, this temperament for her formation of character played a role in the foundation, which makes her “like loose dislike together”, “like silence dislike moving”, daughters in Grand View Garden knew her natural temperament, so they did not have excessive demanding on her. These sisters prefer Pao-chai to Tai-yu, every time Xiangyun comes, she looks for Pao-chai first instead of Lin, which reduces the social interaction of Tai-yu with others, also contributes to her more melancholy character.

The impacts of family decline on her are as follow, she voices out her love but is unable to voice objections, only put love deeply in her heart, looking forward to the help from others. She pinned her love in someone else’s mercy, developing strong feeling of dependence. What is called “love deeply, deeply hurt also”. Finally, pay for love with her life.

As the saying goes “no one is perfect, better than gold”. Tai-yu such a noble willowy girl is no exception. She is too pure to exist in the dirty world. She and Pao-yu’s love are too platonic, and the things around her are completely idealized. She did not understand the world in which she has no clear picture of her status. So, she is always surrounded by a layer of barriers. Because of this, she is not trying hard to understand someone else, although she is good. Her thinking and behavior are far higher than the era, in which she is, but her ideals are different from the world, and she does love acting on her own mind and maintain her noble quality, and does not mind a good relationship with the people around so in the end inevitably come to a tragic end.

3.2 Jane Eyre

3.2.1 The experience

Jane Eyre is an orphan, lodging at aunt’s home, suffered from childhood bullying and supercilious. She is sent to a charity school, where she learned how to survive under harsh conditions, and eventually became a teacher of the school. Later, she applied position on newspaper ads, came Thornfiled, as the tutor of a little girl who is adopted by the lord of the manor Mr. Rochester. Plain Jane, born in humble, is honest sincere and independent, having the courage to express her views. Rochester is attracted deeply by Jane, and she also fell in love with Rochester. On the occasion of their upcoming marriage, Jane learned that Rochester has a wife who is the mad woman locked in the attic Bertha. Jane refused Rochester’s request her to stay and left Thornfiled.

Homeless Jane Eyre is took in by St. John Rivers siblings who are actually Jane’s cousins. St. John is going to India to preach, he thought Jane is very suitable as the pastor’s wife, and then asked her to marry him, but Jane never forgot Rochester. One night, she seemed to hear Rochester calling her name, so she went back to Thornfiled, but found the old manor had turned to ashes because of a fire set by Bertha. And he is injured to blindness when he rescued Bertha. At this time, Jane who has inherited a legacy decided to stay with Rochester.

3.2.2 The characteristics

The heroine is a forceful, simple, independent, aggressive, unbelievably courageous and beautiful woman. Her humble birth and plain appearance do not make her feel inferior. She feels contempt for the arrogant elite, mocking their stupidity, showing self-reliance personality and beautiful ideal. She has strong vitality, and never bows to fate, and finally has her own longing for a better life. Jane Eyre is orphaned and depends on her ant. She receives the cruel treatment from her Aunt Reed and her cousins, which do not drive her into despair and make her fall, on the contrary, in exchange for her unlimited confidence, irrepressible spirit and invincible inner strength of character. She has a good grip on her own destiny, values and status and has a rational understanding of her mind and personality. She has a firm pursue of her happy love. Jane Eyre expresses a new image of women today: self-esteem, self-respect, self-reliance, and self-improvement.

4. The Concepts of Love of Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre

4.1 The birth of love

Lin Tai-yu lives in the late Qing which is in the climax of Chinese feudal dynasty and the corrupt ruling class is nodding to its fall, as the restriction and bondage of culture and thought is more stringent the persecution of women in body and mind is crueler. Although Lin is a woman of noble birth, she has to depend on others because of early death of her mother, which causes her rebel character. Jia Pao-yu who is the devil incarnate in Jia house is also a fabulous people. As the two Yes in the Jia house, not only does he dislike feudal official career, but likes to hang on with women, protesting against the feudal class’s injustice against women. Jia Pao-yu’s personality accord with Lin Tai-yu’s yearning for love and equality, which makes they hit it off. They understand each other better in long-term relationship and they fall in love with each other.

Jane Eyre lives in Victorian era which is a period full of changes when women’s education movement intersects with larger Victorian cultural conflicts over gender and identity. And women are appealing for equality with men. So Jane earns her financial independence by working as teacher or governess. She comes to Thornfiled to be the tutor of Rochester’ adopted daughter and she shows her intelligence and kindness which attract Rochester. The mutual understanding and attraction in spirit make them fall in love with each other. Although they have identity and age gap, they still attract each other. In a manner of speaking, Jane is in love with Rochester because Rochester is sincere and pays a lot for her.

4.2 The development of love

Lin Tai-yu does not force to call her cousins “little master” like Jane , but she did not realize that women and men are equal just like the majority of the Chinese woman at that time, and is unaware of the significance of economic independence . What she thought is that Jia is not her home, and she could not lose her temper for anything as before what she did at her own home. As for love, it is the feeling between brother and sister built up on the basis of innocence with the inconformity of modern science. They are able to produce such feelings, which is not based on the “Preliminary democratic ideology” they have although the " Dream of Red Mansions " reveals the inevitable decline trend of Jia , Shi , Wang, Hsuch four families. Lin Tai-yu falls in love with Jia Pao-yu, which has nothing to do with the kind of far-fetched “Preliminary democratic ideology”. First, as an orphan, Lin Tai-yu almost has no chance to contact with juvenile males, and when came to Jia, the people around her are almost young women; Jia Pao-yu is the only man in Grand View Garden. Therefore, there are not many people for Tai-yu to compare and select. Second, Pao-yu is dearly loved by the lady dowager all time relative to other young men. He grew up among lots of girls who he is very familiar with and had no novelty. Pao-yu had heard Tai-yu long ago, he is really curious about her. Junior instinctive curiosity made them hit it off.

From the third chapter about their first meeting we can see that. “How very strange!” she is reflecting in her mind; “it would seem as if I had seen him somewhere or other， for his face appears extremely familiar to my eyes”. Pao-yu， having concluded his scrutiny of her, put on a smile and said, “This cousin I have already seen in days gone by.” “there you are again with your nonsense,” exclaimed lady Jia, sneeringly, “how could you have seen her before？” “Though I may not have seen her, ere this,” observed Pao-yu with a smirk, “yet when I look at her face, it seems so familiar, and to my mind, it would appear as if we had been old acquaintances; just as if, in fact, we are now meeting after a long separation.” And said: “ Now come such a fairy -like sister” So , we can say Tai-yu , Pao-yu fell in love with each other at first sight , but because they are still very young and fancy-free, however, they impressed deeply each other . Thereafter, Tai-yu cannot get along well with most of the sisters in Grand Vie Garden in her long-term life. Sisters consider Tai-yu as a sentimental, sarcastic and grouchy girl so they do not like to talk to Tai-yu and leave her alone. That is to say, Tai-yu is lonely from time to time. Jia Pao-yu and Tai-yu who are scared of book just know how to have fun. And sisters in Grand Vie Garden understand Jia Zheng’s discipline for him; they often do not care him. Although Pao-yu is favored by lots of people, he is lonely in essence. Therefore, Tai-yu and he had very naturally many contacts, which gradually produced a hazy ties can not be separated from each other and fell in love step by step.

Lin is sickly from a child, and is a miss with unhealthy psychology growth in morbid family. She hasn’t realized that she is Pao-yu’s lover. Tai-yu’s sensation for Pao-yu is exactly exist, but as the miss grew up in feudal family in 18th century, she often still holds partly concealed , she yearns for love but dares not admit and even dares not pursue, which contrast with Jane’s pursuing love without scruple, reflecting historical reality and environmental reality on love and marriage of Chinese women. So Lin Tai-yu’s vie of love and marriage is far behind Jane Eyre’s. In fact, although Lin Tai-yu can marry Jia Pao-yu, their marriage won’t be happy.

Women as the beloved never have any choice in love. But after the baptism of Enlightenment thought Jane Eyre, she contempt for the fate assigned to women constantly. When Jane is in love with Rochester, she shows a self-confident and decisive image of woman and she persevered in her own selection and approach actively. Persist even proactive. She loves Rochester because his special character is different from the other nobles. And Rochester loves Jane because of Jane’s frankness and magnanimous mind. Despite of the low status, she still remains human dignity, and does not cater and flatter to employer. At her first conversation with the employer, Rochester asked her: “Do you think I’m pretty?” Jane Eyre replied: “No, sir,” the master asked: “For this employment point of view, do you agree that I make a show of authority?” The answer is definitely no. She is neither haughty nor humble. It seems that she can not see the special section on the pedigree, property, hierarchy between Rochester and her. No wonder Mr. Rochester said she is “a bit of a special”, and it is this personality which has attracted Rochester. They resonate in thinking so that they get to communicate in the mind. Although they have great difference in social status, the status, she felt she had the right to love her master, and for her, her personality and dignity is more important than their love, or can say mutual respect and equality of personality are the basis of love.

Once, Rochester used lies to test Jane, Jane thought that she is played with affection by Rochester, saying such words, “Do you think I am an automaton? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you-and full as much heart! You do not think wrong! My soul and mind is rich just like you! And if god had gifted me with wealth and beauty, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me as it is now for me to leave you, I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities nor even of mortal flesh, it is my spirit that addresses your spirit. Just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal-as we are!” She tried to defend her dignity, not to let love leave her dignity aside, visible in Jane Eyre’ mind; though love is important, more important still is her dignity, which is a manifestation of a strong woman nature. When Jane Eyre finds that she fall in love with the owner, she dares to love despite of such a disparity in the status, because she believes people are equal in spirit. This in itself is a bold challenge to the social prejudices, only she who does not mind the rich and powerful people dares to love without scruple. Based on this, her way of expressing love is not sweet praise, gentle whisper, not even begging, seduction or seduce, ultimately, her pursue the equality on combination of two hearts. This is her hair inner spirit to defend for the concept of equality.

When the misunderstanding eliminated, she is more in love with Rochester, but because of Rochester’s mad wife, they can not form a couple. Rochester want to take her to a distant place, Jane believes that she is tantamount to be a mistress of him if he does so. Although at the moment she loved Rochester more than ever, she is painful but firmly to leave him to make a living by herself. After getting her uncle"s legacy, she divides the legacy into four parts initiatively to share with her cousins. Later, the village priest St. John proposed to her, but Jane Eyre with him in mind as far as communicating with Rochester. St. John is mainly to see her hard working, missionary, which could make Jane be his right-hand woman. This combination acting as tools is also bound to Jane Eyre’s independent personality. Thus, while St. John is her saving grace, or her cousin, and she admires his noble character and spirit, but still firmly refused his proposing.

When the manor of Rochester is burned, blind and armless and completely bankrupt, Jane decided to combine with him to establish a truly independent equality and love based on empathy. Here, not only reproduce the British women’s pursuit of love and freedom of marriage, but also show democratic idea of Jane Eyre’s independent personality. In Jane’s view, the effective measures to maintain independent equal must first be financially independent, so as to open out at any time from the male side. As the future bride of Rochester, she rejects his gift of jewelry; continue to maintain the independent status as the family teacher. She thinks that the more gifts he buys for her, the more shameful she feels. She said to Rochester, she does not want any property: “I just want inner peace, sir, rather than being overwhelmed by the overwhelming grace.” However, she hopes to have a separate property: “Because if I can have a little small independent property, then it would be a comfort.” she’ll can not stand to let Mr. Rochester dress her like a doll, so every day Golden rain shower sprinkled in circumference. “I think if I could bring a new property to Mr. Rochester one day, then I can stand raised by him.” Rochester asks her to give up her tutor job immediately to accompany him all day but she refused, “I do the job as Adele’s tutor sequentially, earn my room and board as well as annual salary of thirty pounds.” Due to Jane thinks that only does she achieve economic independence, does not rely on people to support, then the independence requirements of the spirit is even more conscious of freedom, righteousness, so she did not often feel low self-esteem like other humble women, and thus shows the economic ideas of the 19th century democratic influence on British women.

4.3 The end of love

The end of Lin Tai-yu is really miserable; she dies in Pao-yu and Pao-chai’s wedding day and doesn’t have a final meeting with Pao-yu. The people in Jia tell Pao-yu that the person he marries is Lin Tai-yu, he doesn’t know until he enters the bridal chamber, lifting the veil, founding that the person isn’t Lin Tai-yu, which makes him mad. Finally, Jia Pao-yu becomes a monk and goes with a monk and a buddha. Jia family chooses Pao-chai as Pao-yu’s wife for their own benefit, and Tai-yu becomes the victim of political marriage between Pao-yu and Pao-chai.

The end of love between Jane Eyre and Rochester is entirely different from that between Lin Tai-yu and Jia Pao-yu. At last, Rochester loses his sight and becomes armless because of a fire set on by her mad wife, at the same time, his fortune turn to ashes while Jane comes back to him with a legacy inherited from her uncle. Jane lives a better life but she doesn’t detest poor Rochester instead of marring him and taking care of Rochester without complaint or regret. Jane doesn’t give up her job as tutor because she is rich; she continues to do the job to earn money for her family. Rochester regains his sight a year later under the care of Jane and he has a child with Jane Eyre and they live happily ever after.

5.The Reasons for the Differences in the Concepts of Love Between Lin Tai-yu and Jane Eyre

5.1 Differences in the living environment

Jane Eyre and Lin are orphaned from a child, depending on others. Tai-yu stays at grandmother’s home, plus the teachings of her mother that grandmother’s home is different from elsewhere, thereby causing her young heart feel heavy repression. So she is always prudent and takes her precautions in Jia house. One can imagine how frustrated her life is. Jane Eyre is different, although depends on her ant and suffer from her ant and cousins’ bullying, she does not despair, her misfortunes evoke infinite faith and indomitable spirit; thrown into the red house, go to school to receive religious indoctrination Lowood. However, she is influenced by the arts and knowledge for many years, which makes Jane Eyre become a strong girl.

5.2 Differences in social time background

It is evident that to be a woman in feudal society, to some extent, is to have a bad fate. The inferior social status of women is a manifestation of Chinese hierarchy nature. The entire political system of Chinese feudal society is based on Confucian family moral code. The family, not the individual, is the basic unit in political life. For centuries, Chinese rulers and Confucian scholars liken the state to the traditional family. Proper order and hierarchy in the political realm of the state are said to be directly related to the family’s proper moral training of obedience and filial subjects. So the moral principles and rigid hierarchy are highly valued for the purpose of public stability and the consolidation of power. To sum up, the feudal ethical code on the basis of Confucianism is the primary locus for understanding Chinese women and their fates in feudal society.

Women are ancillary to men in Chinese feudal society whose history is as long as over two thousand years. No matter how capable they are, there is no way for women to live an independent life. They are supposed to follow their senior’s decisions; if not, they are considered to be unfilial, which is against Confucianism, the footstone of the feudal social values. Therefore, Tai-yu has to follow her grandmother’s arrangement for her spouse. And the old lady chooses Pao-chai, and then Tai-yu will have no choice but marry someone else. Of course, Tai-yu is not satisfied with the decision, but she cannot tell her grandmother her true feelings; if she does, it is regarded as unconventional in feudal society. Although Tai-yu cherishes a rebellious heart, she is not strong enough to totally abandon her class. Therefore, she gives herself up and dies. And in some sense, her immature death is a negative way of revolting feudal values.

In Jane Eyre’s times, although the social system works for the male, the Victorian Era is a period full of changes when women’s education movement intersects with larger Victorian cultural conflicts over gender and identity. And women are appealing for equality with men. So Jane earns her financial independence by working as teacher or governess and in the end, it is Jane who affords the expenses in her married life.

5.3 Differences in culture at that time

In Dream of Red Mansions, although Jia Pao-yu and Lin Tai-yu are in love with each other, Pao-yu has another outstanding admirer, who, to some extent, is more advantageous than Tai-yu is in feudal society. In feudal society, as far as marriage is concerned, family background is usually taken into consideration. The Lin family used to be a prosperous one but declines with few members left thus leading to Tai-yu’s living together with her grandmother’s family. The Hsuch family is one of the four powerful families of Chinling. There are several examples of marriage among the four families. And there has never been any marriage between the Jias and Hsuchs. Therefore, it is more possible for Pao-yu to marry Pao-chai in order to strengthen the relationship among the four families. Although Tai-yu is the only daughter of the old lady’s beloved daughter, it is more appropriate for Pao-chai to marry to the Jia family. So Tai-yu has to make sacrifices for the interest of the Jia family.

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