傲慢与偏见论文提纲
【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'人们对金钱非凡看重,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】PrideandprejudiceisaverypopularnovelwrittenbyJaneAustenanditisreadwidelyallovertheworld。Itwaswrittenin1813。Thatspecifichistorytimedecidedthatpeopleatthattimetookmoneymuchmoreseriously,evenontheirmarriage。Inthispaper,themarriagecasesofmostcharactersinthebookweretakenastypicaltoanalyzehowmoneyinfluencedtheirmatrimonialvalueorientation。
【Keywords】Prideandprejudice,money,matrimonialvalueorientation,marriage
Introduction
PrideandPrejudiceisthemostenduringlypopularnovelwrittenbyJaneAusten。Ittalksabouttrivialmattersoflove,marriageandfamilylifebetweencountrysquiresandfairladiesinBritaininthe18thcentury。Theplotisverysimple。Thatishowtheyoungladieschoosetheirhusbands。Someonesaidthat“ElizabethBennet,theprotagonistofthenovel,flatlyrejectedWilliamCollins’proposal,whoistheheirofherfather’spropertyandmanor,andrefusedthefirstproposalfromtheextremelywealthynoblemanFitzwilliamDarcylater,”(1)allthismakesitclearthatElizabeth“seeksnofamenorfortune,butself-improvementandhighmentaloutlook。”(1)It’sright。FromtheviewpointofAusten,Elizabeth’smarriage,whofinallymarriesDarcy,aswellasJane-Bingley’s,composingmoneyandlove,istheidealmarriagepeopleshouldafter。Butinothermarriagecasesinthisnovel,wecanseethatifmoneyandlovecan’tbeheldtogetherinonemarriage,lovewouldalwaysmakeaconcessiontomoneybecauseofthespecialsocialbackground。Afterreadingthroughthewholebook,wewillfindthatmoneyactsasthecauseofeachplotandtheclueofitsdevelopment。Itaffectseverybody’swordsanddeeds,evenElizabethBennet。TonyTanneroncesaid,“JaneAusten,aswellasotherauthors,isveryclearthatnofeelingcouldbeextremelypureandnomotivecouldbedefinitelysingle。Butaslongasitispossible,weshouldmakeitclearthatwhichfeelingormotiveplaystheleadingrole。”(2)
SocialBackground
ThestoryofPrideandPrejudicetookplaceinthetimeoftheRegencyinBritain。Atthattime,BritainwasattheperiodoftransitionfromtheearlierstageofCapitalismtoCapitalistIndustrialization。Inthecountryside,thearistocraticfamilystillheldgreatpowerandrightthatcountrysquireswerelikelytofawnuponthem。However,asthedevelopmentofCapitalismandtheexpandoftherankofrichpeople,thedistinctionbetweensocialstratawasbecomingsmallerandsmaller,whilemoneywasgettingmoreandmoreimportantinpeople’smindaboutsocialvalue。Awesternliteraturecriticoncesaidthat“evenDavidRicardo(aBritisheconomist)hadaunlikelyclearerunderstandingaboutthefunctionofmoneyindailylifeasJaneAustenhad。”(3)Itisexactlybecauseofthesecurepledgeinfinancethatthecountrysquiresocietycouldbeexistingstronglyandsolidly。 Thefirstsentenceofthewholenovelproclaims,“Itisatruthuniversallyacknowledged,thatasinglemaninpossessionofagoodfortunemustbeinwantofawife。”(4)Here,“agoodfortune”and“inwantof”aretwokeyphrases。“inwantof”meansitisneededobjectively,butnotsubjectively。