珍‧奧斯汀《傲慢與偏見》、《理性與感性》與《愛瑪》中的婚姻、社會地位與財產

Marriage, Social Status and Property in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma

張舜棠(Shun-tang Chang)

指導教授 ： 陳國榮

國立中正大學/文學院/外國語文學系/碩士(2012年)

摘要

在父權社會裡，法律賦予男性世襲財產的權利，相形之下，女性的權利嚴重被局限於家庭生活。在珍‧奧斯汀所處的社會中，一位女性的成功往往不是決定於她的聰明及才智，而是能否獲得一樁好婚姻，以確保她不可知的未來。本論文旨在探討婚姻、社會地位與財產在珍‧奧斯汀《傲慢與偏見》、《理性與感性》與《愛瑪》中的相互關係及其所扮演的角色。第一章從討論《傲慢與偏見》與《愛瑪》中的婚姻類型以及其中所隱藏的障礙來探索小說中人物對婚姻的態度、父母所扮演的角色、以及其所帶來的影響。第二章著重於社會地位如何賦予《愛瑪》與《理性與感性》中人物權利、他們對社會地位有何不同的詮釋、以及社會地位對婚姻關係帶來的影響與障礙。第三章探索財產對於《理性與感性》與《傲慢與偏見》中人物其婚姻的影響、父母對於財產與婚姻關係的態度、以及財產繼承制度對於婚姻的影響。珍‧奧斯汀的小說反應出女性所受到的不公平待遇，透過書中幽默的對話及截然不同的觀點，珍‧奧斯汀拒絕接受傳統小說中性別及社會的刻板模式。

關鍵字

性別刻板模式 ； 財產 ； 社會地位 ； 婚姻 ； 珍‧奧斯汀 ； 家庭生活 ； 父權社會 ； 社會刻板模式

並列摘要

In a patriarchal society, laws endow men with the hereditary right of inheriting property. Women’s rights stand in total contrast to men’s and are confined to domesticity. In Jane Austen’s society, a woman’s success does not lie in her intelligence but in the possibilities of having a good marriage in order to secure her unforeseeable future. This thesis aims to explore the interrelationship among marriage, social status and property and their roles in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Chapter One explores the characters’ attitudes towards marriage, parents’ roles, and the effect they bring about by discussing the marriage types and the obstacles placed in the marriages in Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Chapter Two focuses on how social status confers rights on the characters in Emma and Sense and Sensibility to influence others, how they have different definitions of social status, and how social status affects and poses obstacles to marriage relationship. Chapter Three investigates how property influences the characters’ marriages in Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, what the parents’ attitudes towards property in the marriage are, and how laws of inheritance influence marriage. Jane Austen’s novels aim to reflect the discriminatory treatment women suffer. She rejects the traditional gender and social stereotypes through the humorous dialogues between the characters and the contrasting viewpoints in her works.

並列關鍵字

property ； social status ； marriage ； Jane Austen ； domesticity ； patriarchal society ； gender stereotypes ； social stereotypes

參考文獻

Fitzpatrick, William J. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. New York: Monarch P,

Polhemus, Robert M. “The Fortunate Fall: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.”

Macmillan, 1992. 148-64.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Broomall: Chelsea, 1996.

Booth, Wayne C. “Control of Distance in Jane Austen’s Emma.” Jane Austen’s Emma