《傲慢与偏见》作品赏析

《傲慢与偏见》作品赏析 《傲慢与偏见》是奥斯丁的代表作。这部作品以日常生活为素材，一反当时社会上流行的感伤小说的内容和矫揉造作的写作方法，生动地反映了18世纪末到19世纪初处于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和世态人情。这部社会风情画式的小说不仅在当时吸引着广大的读者，时至今日，仍给读者以独特的艺术享受。 奥斯丁在这部小说中通过班纳特五个女儿对待终身大事的不同处理，表现出乡镇中产阶级家庭出身的少女对婚姻爱情问题的不同态度，从而反映了作者本人的婚姻观：为了财产、金钱和地位而结婚是错误的；而结婚不考虑上述因素也是愚蠢的。因此，她既反对为金钱而结婚，也反对把婚姻当儿戏。她强调理想婚姻的重要性，并把男女双方感情作为缔结理想婚姻的基石。书中的女主人公伊丽莎白出身于小地主家庭，为富豪子弟达西所热爱。达西不顾门第和财富的差距，向她求婚，却遭到拒绝。伊丽莎白对他的误会和偏见是一个原因，但主要的是她讨厌他的傲慢。因为达西的这种傲慢实际上是地位差异的反映，只要存在这种傲慢，他与伊丽莎白之间就不可能有共同的思想感情，也不可能有理想的婚姻。以后伊丽莎白亲眼观察了达西的为人处世和一系列所作所为，特别是看到他改变了过去那种骄傲自负的神态，消除了对他的误会和偏见，从而与他缔结了美满姻缘。伊丽莎白对达西先后几次求婚的不同态度，实际上反映了女性对人格独立和平等权利的追求。这是伊丽莎白这一人物形象的进步意义。 从小说看，伊丽莎白聪敏机智，有胆识，有远见，有很强的自尊心，并善于思考问题。就当时一个待字闺中的小姐来讲，这是难能可贵的。正是由于这种品质，才使她在爱情问题上有独立的主见，并导致她与达西组成美满的家庭。 在《傲慢与偏见》中，奥斯丁还写了伊丽莎白的几个姐妹和女友的婚事，这些都是陪衬，用来与女主人公理想的婚姻相对照。如夏绿蒂和柯林斯尽管婚后过着舒适的物质生活，但他们之间没有爱情，这种婚姻实际上是掩盖在华丽外衣下的社会悲剧。 奥斯丁的小说尽管题材比较狭窄，故事相当平淡，但是她善于在日常平凡事物中塑造鲜明的人物形象，不论是伊丽莎白、达西那种作者认为值得肯定的人物，还是魏克翰、柯林斯这类遭到讽刺挖苦的对象，都写得真实动人。同时，奥斯丁的语言是经过锤炼的，她在对话艺术上讲究幽默、讽刺，常以风趣诙谐的语言来烘托人物的性格特征。这种艺术创新使她的作品具有自己的特色。 傲慢与偏见--英语论文                                        About 《Pride and Prejudice》 The story     Marry all her daughters was Mrs.Bennet 's biggest wish .In a genteel ball holded by Mr. Bingley ,he loved Jane at first sight .Darcy ,who was Bingley 's good friend ,was fond of Elizabeth. But his pride temper and the smear from Wickham leaded Elizabeth to misunderstand and was biassed against Darcy .     Darcy can't restrain himself from loving Elizabeth ,so he proposed to her,but his attitude was still so arrogant .Elizabeth had declined firmly.This hit made Darcy noticed the consequence from proud and conceited for the first time.He has left her painfully, before leaving he left a long letter to explain the things around him and Elizabeth . She regreted after reading it . not only feel guilty for misunderstanding of Darcy , but also ashamed for the behavior of her mother.     She had changed her views of Darcy gradually. Darcy met Elizabeth in his own manor again, his sincere attitude and thorough etiquette made Elizabeth considerably surprised.Finally ,they walked out of the frog which was pride and prejudice .This is called a perfect ending . The criticism     In the view of author, the marriage only for property, money and status is a total wrong. And not consider above-mentioned facts is also stupid. Jane Austen emphasized the importance of ideal marriage , and she think the base of the marriage was the true love between the man and the women .     Elizabeth refused Darcy for misunderstanding and was biassed against him was a reason, but the major reason was she disagreed he was arrogant.This kind of pride from Darcy was showed the reflection of discrepant status actually, as long as the arrogance was existent , Darcy and Elizabeth was impossible to be together and have a ideal marriage .     Elizabeth's different attitudes of the propose actually had showed that female pursued independent personality and equal right . This is the progressive meaning of this figure .     The story of Austen 's novel is very flat ,but she is good at figuring vivid role . At the same time, the sentence of Austen is polished by process. This kind of artistic innovation made her works have own characteristic and was praised by generations. 论《傲慢与偏见》婚姻价值取向 来源：中国论文下载中心    [ 08-05-24 14:18:00 ]    作者：佚名    编辑：studa0714 [摘要] 简·奥斯丁的《傲慢与偏见》写于1813年，一直以来很受欢迎，并被广泛阅读。特定的历史时代决定了那个时候的人们对金钱特别看重，影响波及婚姻观念。在这篇文章里面，书中大部分人物的婚姻选择都用来作为典型，证实金钱体现他们的婚姻价值取向。  [关键词] 傲慢与偏见，金钱，婚姻价值取向，婚姻观  [Abstract] Pride and prejudice is a very popular novel written by Jane Austen and it is read widely all over the world. It was written in 1813. That specific history time decided that people at that time took money much more seriously, even on their marriage. In this paper, the marriage cases of most characters in the book were taken as typical to analyze how money influenced their matrimonial value orientation.  [Key words] Pride and prejudice, money, matrimonial value orientation, marriage  Introduction Pride and Prejudice is the most enduringly popular novel written by Jane Austen. It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between country squires and fair ladies in Britain in the 18th century. The plot is very simple. That is how the young ladies choose their husbands. Someone said that “Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel, flatly rejected William Collins’ proposal, who is the heir of her father’s property and manor, and refused the first proposal from the extremely wealthy nobleman Fitzwilliam Darcy later,”(1) all this makes it clear that Elizabeth “seeks no fame nor fortune, but self-improvement and high mental outlook.”(1) It’s right. From the view point of Austen, Elizabeth’s marriage, who finally marries Darcy, as well as Jane-Bingley’s, composing money and love, is the ideal marriage people should after. But in other marriage cases in this novel, we can see that if money and love can’t be held together in one marriage, love would always make a concession to money because of the special social background. After reading through the whole book, we will find that money acts as the cause of each plot and the clue of its development. It affects everybody’s words and deeds, even Elizabeth Bennet. Tony Tanner once said, “Jane Austen, as well as other authors, is very clear that no feeling could be extremely pure and no motive could be definitely single. But as long as it is possible, we should make it clear that which feeling or motive plays the leading role.” (2) Social Background  The story of Pride and Prejudice took place in the time of the Regency in Britain. At that time, Britain was at the period of transition from the earlier stage of Capitalism to Capitalist Industrialization. In the countryside, the aristocratic family still held great power and right that country squires were likely to fawn upon them. However, as the development of Capitalism and the expand of the rank of rich people, the distinction between social strata was becoming smaller and smaller, while money was getting more and more important in people’s mind about social value. A western literature critic once said that “ even David Ricardo (a British economist) had a unlikely clearer understanding about the function of money in daily life as Jane Austen had.”(3) It is exactly because of the secure pledge in finance that the country squire society could be existing strongly and solidly.  The first sentence of the whole novel proclaims, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”(4) Here, “a good fortune” and “in want of” are two key phrases. “in want of” means it is needed objectively, but not subjectively. Such kind of wording makes the proposition have more objectivity of “truth”. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennets are taken as the typical to test the “truth universally acknowledged”.  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five daughters, living at Longbourn. Mr. Bennet’s property consists almost entirely in an estate of two thousand pounds a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, is entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation. That means there will be no other guarantee for their daughters’ future lives, but their perspective marriages. Therefore, it is no wonder that Mrs. Bennet takes Mr. Bingley as “the rightful property”(5) for their daughters when she hears about that he has one hundred thousand pounds property, though she has not even seen him – “A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”(6) That is the beginning of the novel. The implicit marriage mentioned here obviously concerns no feeling but only financial condition and subsistence. To those husband-hunting ladies, Mr. Bingley is an abstract signal. The most important thing is that he has “a good fortune”. So we can say, to opposite with the proclamation at the beginning, so-called “ a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” is not at all “ a truth universally acknowledged”, but only Mrs. Bennet’s own wishful thinking. We can also say that, as Zhu Hong pointed out, in Pride and prejudice, the real “truth universally acknowledged” is “ a woman without property must be in want of a husband with a good fortune.”(7)  We first see Mr. Darcy at the ball, “ He soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a-year.”(8)  Next is the introduction about Mr. Bingley and his two sisters.  “They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humor when they pleased, nor in power of being agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were very handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family the north of England; a circumstances more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.  Mr. Bingley inherited property to the amount of nearly an hundred thousand pounds from his father, who had intended to purchase an estate, but did not live to it. Mr. Bingley intended it likewise, and sometimes made choice of his county; but as he was now provided with a good house and the liberty of a manor, it was doubtful to many of those who best knew the easiness of his temper, whether he might not spend the remainder of his days at Netherfield, and leave the next generation to purchase.”(9)  The narration above describes the British country squires’ life-picture from one aspect. They have enough money for loafing, and these loafers can afford big or small residence with servants for ordering about. They take family background seriously, which is the most important factor to earn others’ respect, on the basis of fortune and good-breeding. At the same time, they will not trace to its sources. In short, there does exist strict hierarchy, which is classified according to the family and tradition from the surface, but the financial income actually. Those who have the highest income will be in the highest social position, owning large residence and parks, having the nicest furniture and the most precious paintings, and the best streams for fishing. The money earned by trading is despised, but it will be soon forgotten after generations. However, to avoid being looked down upon, the generation at present will always employ such kind of clever method: giving up business dealing or profession and going to countryside to settle down then nobody will know their past.   From a neighbor of the Bennets, we can get to know how such social process begins:  “Sir William Lucas had been formerly in trade in Meryton, where he had made a tolerable fortune, and risen to the honor of knighthood by an address to the king, during his mayoralty. The distinction had perhaps been felt too strongly. It had given him a disgust to his business, and to his residence in a small market town; and, quitting them both, he had removed with his family to a house about a mile from Meryton, denominated from the period Lucas Lodge, where he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world.”(10)  Then what attitude does these rich country squires hold to the low-class people surrounding them? Let’s look at another paragraph of description about Lady Catherine de Bourgh:  “Elizabeth soon perceived, that though this great lady was not in the commission of the peace for the county, she was a most active magistrate in her own parish, the minutest concerns of which were carried to her by Mr. Collins; and whenever any of the cottagers were disposed to be quarrelsome, discontented, or too poor, she sallied forth into the village to settle their differences, silence their complaints, and scold them into harmony and plenty.”(11)  Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a model of her rank, arrogant and conceited. Her manners to the inferiors are dictatorial and insolent. She has the reputation of being remarkably sensible and clever. But all this, together with her ability of administrating the county, derives from her rank and fortune. That is to say, good fame and exceeding power would certainly come to a person as long as he/she has money and is in high social position.  The great impact of money on marriage In Pride and Prejudice, we can always see country squires’ leisurely life with calls, walks, picnics, conversations, parties, balls and marriages. But seeing through the surface, there is a world of struggling for existence determined by economic base. The whole book is filled with digit. Mr. Bennet’s property consists almost entirely in an estate of two thousand pounds a year. Mrs. Bennet’s father ... leaves her four thousand pounds. Each of their five daughters can get one thousand pounds in the 4 per cents after their mother dies. Mr. Bingley inherits property to the amount of nearly an hundred thousands pounds from his father and he has four or five thousand a year. Miss Bingley has a fortune of twenty thousand pounds. Mr. Darcy has ten thousand pounds a year while his sister, Georgiana has a property of thirty thousand pounds. Wickham wants to get ten thousand from Darcy, otherwise he will not marry Lydia even though they are in elopement. Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy’s cousin, would like to marry a woman who should have a property of at least fifty thousand pounds, since he has no inheritance as a younger son of an earl. Mr. Collins claims that he must make such an agreement for tithes as may be beneficial to himself and not offensive to his patron. Even the chimney-piece in one of Lady Catherine’s drawing rooms costs eight hundred pounds. Of course, the very one thing that cannot be forgotten to mention is that the estate entail of Mr. Bennet, which makes Mrs. Bennet be extreme obsession. And it is the exact thing that decides the fate of their five daughters and then the story of Pride and prejudice occurs. Upon the whole, no marriage that involves no money. Except the detailed digit of money, there is another factor which has a great influence on marriage. That is social position determined by economic condition. In the story, the Bennets have some low connections. They have one uncle, Mr. Phillips, being an attorney in Meryton, and another one, Mr. Gardiner, settling in London in a respectable line of trade. As for this, Miss Bingley always makes fun of the Bennets, and Mr. Darcy once says frankly that “it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world.”(12)  To make it clear that money is very important in the marriage convention of such kind of society, Mr. Collins’ words after Elizabeth refusing his proposal can be taken as proof.  转贴于 中国论文下载中心 http://www.studa.net “… It does not appear to me that my hand is unworthy your acceptance, or that establishment I can offer would be any other than highly desirable. My situation in life, my connections with the family of de Bourgh, and my relationship to your own, are circumstances highly in my favor; and you should take it into further consideration, that in spite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer to marriage may ever be made you, your portion is unhappily so small, that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications.”(13)  Mr. Collins is not a sensible man, and the deficiency of Nature has been but little assisted by education or society. The subjection in which his father brought him up has given him originally great humility of manner; but it is a great deal counteracted by the self-conceit of a weak head, living in retirement, and the consequent feelings of early and unexpected prosperity. The respect which he feels for Lady Catherine’s high rank, and his veneration for her as his patroness, mingling with a very good opinion of himself, of his authority as a clergyman, and his right as a rector, makes him altogether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility. His intention of choosing Elizabeth as his wife is his plan of amends -- of atonement – for inheriting their father’s estate; and he thinks it an excellent one, full of eligibility and suitableness, and excessively generous and disinterested on his own part. So he takes it for granted that Elizabeth will accept his proposal cheerfully and readily. Though Elizabeth rejects him for his incomplete character, it still can tell us the low social-status of the British women at that period of time. The only thing a young lady without property could do is to marrying a man with a good fortune.  Take the marriage case of Lucas-Collins for another example. Miss Lucas is Elizabeth’s closest friend. She is a sensible, intelligent young woman, knowing it very clearly that “Mr. Collins, to be sure, was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.”(14)  Such humorous and piercing description portrays the mentality of Lucas-like women deeply and also their fate that there is no other way that can improve their own position in finance and society except marrying a husband with a good fortune. Elizabeth goes to Parsonage to visit them by the invitation of Miss Lucas after they getting married, and finds:  “Her home and her housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent concerns, had not yet lost their charms.”(15) “When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was really a great air of comfort throughout …”(16)  It is interesting that, in such marriage based on sole and naked money-transaction, the woman without property does marry a single man with a good fortune, but the husband himself has nothing to do with the enjoyment the marriage bringing to her. Is not it an excellent irony to the proposition at the beginning of the novel the “truth universally acknowledged”?   Wickham-Lydia Scandal can be taken as another instance to illustrate that money is of overwhelming importance in marriage. Wickham is very handsome and charming from his appearance, but actually demoralizes. He is extravagant and always greatly in debts of honor. Lydia, far more different from her two elder sisters, is vain, ignorant, idle and absolutely uncontrolled. Moreover, she indulges herself in flirtation with officers. They elope from Brighton without any engagement and are found out in London finally. Though under such circumstances, Wickham has no intention at all to marry Lydia, but for Darcy’s help in secret: “Mr. Darcy asked him why he had not married your sister at once? Though Mr. Bennet was not imagined to be very rich, he would have been able to do something for him, and his situation must have been benefited by marriage. But he found, in reply to this question, that Wickham still cherish the hope of more effectually making his fortune by marriage in some other county. Under such circumstances, however, he was not likely to be proof against the temptation of immediate relief.  They met several times, for there was much to be discussed. Wickham, of course, wanted more than he could get, but at length was reduced to be reasonable.”(17)  Wickham’s marrying Lydia finally calms down the dissatisfaction in the society, and for that, Mrs. Bennet is in great joy.   In marriage, money