《名利场》中两位女主人公的对比分析.doc

A parative Analysis of the Two Heroines in Vanity Fair
《名利场》中两位女主人公得对比分析
Abstract
Vanity Fair is a famous novel and masterpiece written by William Makepeace Thackeray, and it is a famous work of critical realism、 In the novel, Thackeray has created two female images --- Becky and Amelia, who are fresh and plump、 They respectively stands for two types of female images: one is the “bad woman image” represented by Becky who breaks the tradition ones; and the other is the typical traditional “family angel image” represented by Amelia、 However, both the bad woman and angel have the dual natures in Thackeray’s eyes、 In this paper, it makes a parative analysis of the two female images shaped by Thackeray in Vanity Fair, to discuss the similarities and differences between two females images’ characters, values, and destiny, and probe into the deep reasons for such differences、
Through this novel, the 19th century English society can be seen at all levels and how different people survive in the cruel society、 Researching this topic has important significance in understanding and being familiar with the society and culture of the 19th century British capitalism、
Key words: characters; Becky; Amelia
中文摘要
《名利场》就是19世纪英国著名小说家威廉·梅克比斯·萨克雷得成名作也就是其代表作,就是一部著名得批判现实主义作品。小说中塑造了两位女主角——蓓基与爱米丽亚,形象鲜活丰满,栩栩如生。她们分别代表了两种女性形象:一种就是蓓基所代表得打破传统女性形象得“坏女人”;一种就是爱米莉亚所代表得典型传统家庭天使形象。然而,不管就是坏女人还就是天使,在萨克雷得眼中都就是有其两重性得。本文就萨克雷在《名利场》中所塑造得两位女性形象进行对比分析,分析二人性格、价值观及命运得异同,并探讨导致这种差异得深层原因。
透过这篇小说,我们可以瞧到19世纪英国上流社会得各个层面,以及不同得人怎样在社会中谋得她们得一席之地。研究此课题对了解与熟悉19世纪英国资本主义社会文化具有重要得意义。
关键词:性格;蓓基;爱米丽亚
Outline
1、 Introduction
2、 parison of Becky and Amelia in Vanity Fair
2、1 Different Characters
2、1、1 Becky --- Breaking the Traditional Image of Women
2、1、2 Amelia--- A Typical Traditional Female Image
2、2 Different Attitude toward Love and Marriage
2、2、1 Becky --- A Tool Leading Her to the Upper Society
2、2、2 Amelia --- Devoted Herself to Love
2、2 Different Fates
2、2、1 Becky’s Destiny
2、2、2 Amelia’s Fates
3、 Reasons for Their Different Fates
3、1 Living Environment
3、2 Social Situation in Victorian Era
3、3 Traditional Female Morality
4、 Conclusion
1、 Introduction
Vanity Fair is a masterpiece of the British novelist Thackeray、 It mainly depicts the encounters and destinies of two beautiful girls --- Becky and Amelia who live in the British upper class in the early time of the 19th century、 Becky is a typical adventuress in the capitalist society、 The influences and discriminations of the underworld cause her personalities to bee distorted、 In order to make a living, she doesn’t give up any opportunities and tries to reach her purpose through marriages、 She likes to show her face in public、 In fact, the life pursued by her is filled with fame and wealth as well as the endless desires、 She is evil, but successful、 She is an oute of the dual function of the era and society、 On the contrary, Amelia is a pretty and simple woman with good characters and pure love、 She es from a rich merchant family, looking forward to the ideal love and trying to weave her own life with love、 She is poor, but happy、 Being deeply attracted by these two heroines’ distinct personalities and different fates, the author tries to explore the implied social reasons for their different encounters and views of love and marriage、
Through analyzing Becky and Amelia’s different characters, views on love and marriage as well as fates in this novel, this paper aims at summarizing the core moral concepts of the Victorian women and exploring the implied social reasons、 Hope this paper can not only be a supplement to the previous studies, but also help the readers better understand the deep connotations of this novel、
2、 parison of Becky and Amelia in Vanity Fair
Britain at that time is nothing short of Vanity Fair、 Therefore, to survive in such a cruel society, one must have certain life skills, especially people born in poor families、 So do Becky and Amelia、 In this part, the characters, attitude to love and marriage, as well as their fates will be pared、
2、1 Different Characters
In the Vanity Fair, the two heroines, Becky and Amelia, appear full blown, especially Becky who is one of the most successful and typical characters in novels、 In the following part, their different characters will be discussed、
2、1、1 Becky --- Breaking the Traditional Image of Women
Being doughty to pursue: In the Vitoria times, social culture and economic status determine the status of women、 In Victorian Britain, “women have no opportunity to get knowledge through education or work; they are only told to what kind of their behaviors are in conformity to norms, which bound the female’s characters”(Hagan, 1975: 479)、 Rebecca is a poor orphan, but she wants to win the respect, and obtains the economic status and social status、 Her independent personality is in conflict with her status conferred by the society、
Her desire of respect derives from her childhood experience、 Her father would beat his wife and daughter when drunk, and plained the society’s injustice、 Her father’s punishment intensified her anger, and her childhood experience made her realize she was living in in a cage of patriarchal society、 She wants to have a different childhood life, but the society imposed restrictions of females on her、 Therefore, in that society, to live with your own goals and desires is a great challenge for her、 In the Victorian times, only women in the upper class have the opportunity to accept the education about manners; for a girl like Rebecca such a girl from the bottom of the society, life is more bound、 Rebecca’s social status condemns her to rely on her own but no other way、 She will never accept the restrictions of gender and status imposed form the society, and she has her own plans and tries to realize her aspirations by herself、
Resisting Spirits: After his father died, Rebecca is allowed to stay in school, but has to teach other girls French、 Rebecca is angered by other students’ discrimination, and she begins to desire for prestige extremely、 The school life makes her more aware no one else can rely on but herself, so she begins to plan for her own future、 She can not bear other’s discrimination any more, so she determines to enter the upper society、 However, before graduation, she finds the challenge to the traditional concepts will only hurt herself, so she gets her own anger and ambition hidden, and pretends to surrender、 She has learned from Amelia that being submissive and naive will be more popular to people、 And the huge differences in Miss Pinkerton’s treating on Amelia and her, makes she realize that she has to hide her natural instincts, but to show elegant and polite manners、 Innate rebellion dooms her won’t change her behavior to achieve the social expectations of women、(Hammond, 2002: 26) She socializes carefully with people around her, and then laughs at them behind、 Lord Steyne’s humiliation lets her get the sense of satisfaction, because his noble status symbolizes for the cage set by her childhood social system、
Wit and Capability: In Victorian patriarchy traditional society, women can not leave the man alone, but the men only thinks themselves、 Rebecca has transforms woman’s inferior role through her intelligent manipulation or deceive men around her、 As a governess, she break the rules restricted by the society for women through being indispensable figures、 In the master’s home, although she is only a family teacher, but she finds herself actually dominating the family business to a great extent、 Rebecca’s words and deeds under the cover of innocence are very persuasive、 She controls others through her words and actions to make them believe she a woman like Amelia: obedient, and childlike innocent、
2、1、2 Amelia--- A Typical Traditional Female Image
Amelia plies with the requirements of being “an angel in the house”、(Hammond, 1992: 663) She not only acts as a qualified mother, but also acts as a docile wife and a filial daughter、
The social gender is not only determined by the physiological sex, but also constructed by the society、 Throughout the Victorian era, for most of the middle-class women, their life is shaped by both their family roles and the idea of what feminization is、 And their sense of self-concept is determined by their social status and economic conditions、 Females are described as caring, simple and ignorant groups、 According to the Victorian society, the ideal wife should be loyal, obedient, passive, self-denying and and pure and so on、 Amelia is such a representative、 She desires to be an “Victorian angel” which is consistent with the requirements of the times、 However, the society doesn’t support her sense of self-concept and limits all her independent awareness、 Beauvoir has ever said that when females rely on males to make a living and enjoy such a kind of lifestyle, they are willing to be others、(Zeng, 2006: 149) And this is a very exact description for Amelia、
During the six years of studying in Pinkerton girls’ school, Amelia has been also praised and loved by people around her、 When she finishes her studies, the headmaster Miss Pinkerton says that: “Amelia possesses the unique personalities that a qualified British woman should have、 She studies hard and has moderate temperament, winning the praise of teachers and classmates、 Thus, everyone in the school, young and old, loves her、” Amelia regards Becky as her most intimate friend、 Once, after Becky’s staying at her home for a week, she still wants her to stay at there for another week, which sounds extremely incredible、 The sentimental Amelia inherently tends to depend on people around her, making her be in a subordinate position in the patriarchal society, but she doesn’t mind at all、 She takes love and marriage as a lifelong career、 She is the embodiment of angels and her coward and gentle personalities are in accordance with the social norms of that time、 However, she is not perfect、 She also has the foolish and selfish side, with no thought, no insight, no talent and no fun、 She is a vulgar idealist and can be regarded as the representative of Utopians、 Amelia here is no longer synonymous with purity and goodness、 Instead, she is the best reflection of stupidity and selfishness、 In the end, when Becky shows her George’s betrayal to her, she decides to throw herself on William Dobbin, so as to find a new person to depend on、 Both Amelia’s unnatural self-sacrifice and her distorted purity are the products of the patriarchal society、
2、2 Different Attitude toward Love and Marriage
In the Vanity Fair, because of their different personalities and different backgrounds, the attitudes to love and marriage held by Becky and Amelia are pletely different、
2、2、1 Becky --- A Tool Leading Her to the Upper Society
As a poor painter’s daughter, Becky is willing to try all means to enter into the upper class and finally she successfully bees one member of it from having nothing at all with the good appearance、 Different from Amelia, Becky regards all the people as her stepping stones to the upper class、 And to her, to look for a rich husband is the true focus of life、 At first, she seduces Amelia’s brother---Joseph, a rich tax man, just to make herself bee rich、 Later, she gets married with a young officer---Rawdy who is likely to inherit a huge fortune、 Soon after the marriage, Rawdy’s mother dies, her father-in-law asks her to marry him、 Then she feels very regretful, since the dream of being a baroness seems so near, but meanwhile so far away from her、 Even later, under her unremitting efforts, she unexpectedly knows a bigger man---the Lord Steyne、 With his help, she naturally steps into the upper society and meets the King luckily、 When she is very placent, her husband finds her illicit relations and bees angry with her、 Her scandals are immediately made public and Lord Steyne abandons her at once、 Her dreams of living in the upper class gradually bedashed、 However, she doesn’t change her nature at all and still tries to enter into the upper class with her tricks、 Her purpose is very simple, namely realizing her dreams through men and getting the recognition of the world、 However, she cannot realize these dreams only by her own strength, which is a sadness of a woman、 Simone de Beauvoir has said that in The Second Sex: “Instead of saying that women are inborn, it would be better to say they are shaped、 There is no physical, psychological or economic factor which can determine women’s status in society, but the human culture as a whole create this intermediate called ‘women’ between men and asexual roles、”(cited in, Chen, 2010: 154)
Becky has ever said that “I think if I have five thousand pounds a year, I will also do a respectable woman、”(Thackeray, 2010: 173) In Thackeray’s description, Becky’s actions are forced by her living environments、 If she is born in a rich and noble family, there is no necessity for her to conquer the hypocritical men one after another to get wealth and status、
2、2、2 Amelia --- Devoted Herself to Love
Inherently, the sentimental Amelia would like to depend on people around her, making her be in a subordinate position in the patriarchal society, but she doesn’t mind at all、 She takes love and marriage as a lifelong career、 She can be regarded as the embodiment of angels and she is a faithful “martyr” of the patriarchal society、 (Yu, 2010: 127) Amelia’s love and blind worship for George make her ignore her own feelings、 Her helplessness and lowliness in emotions is primarily caused by the social customs which classify females into the passive and subservient group、 Thus, females in the life lose their self-esteem and and bee powerless、 In such a society, many behaviors of females are started from the point of love, leading them to have no right in economy, be dependent in psychology and be humble in emotion、 Amelia’s emotional fantasy of males’ virtues and females’ responsibilities make her be in a immature state of psychology、 She tries hard to believe that George is loyal and noble、 Her loyalty to George is based on her benevolence and trust, which is also her weakness, since she is lack of courage and strength to admit George’s true colors and she is aways insisting her beliefs of being a good wife、
However, Thackeray hasn’t shaped her as a perfect image、 She doesn’t possess her own thoughts, insights, talents and funs、 To some extent, she is only a vulgar idealist、 She doesn’t decide to throw herself on William Dobbin until Becky shows her a note in which George says he asks Becky to elope with him、 so as to find a new person to depend on、 In fact, Amelia’s distorted purity is the oute of the patriarchal society and it’s also the laws that imposed by males、
Thackeray has ever evaluated Amelia with such words: “What a person I want to shape is just like Amelia who lives in a world without god、 The only advantage of her is the endless love