摘 要

简爱是夏洛蒂•勃朗特的小说《简•爱》里的女主人公。起初，人们觉得简是勇于奋斗，维护人格尊严的典范，后来就有评论家指出简的性格具有复杂性。近些年，越来越多的学者通过对简的性格分析后发现简其实是一个有自卑情节的人。幼年时期被虐待的经历让她产生了强烈的自卑感。国内外许多的专家学者都对《呼啸山庄》中希斯克利夫的性格进行了分析。许多的专家学者从不同的角度分析了希斯克利夫性格形成的原因，越来越多的评论家认为希斯克里夫隐藏的自卑心理是希斯克里夫性格因素中不能忽视的一部分，希斯克利夫后期的报复行为和他的自卑心理有关。本文将从自卑心理的角度对简和希斯克里夫进行分析对比，通过小说中的心理描写和细节描写，分析隐藏在他们内心深处的自卑心理，探究他们自卑心理形成的共性，以及面对自卑心理采取的不同的补偿行为。

关键词：简爱，希斯克利夫，自卑情结，补偿行为

Contents

1. Introduction...................................................................................................7

2.Demonstration.................................................................................................8

2.1The causes of inferiority complex...............................................................8

2.1.1Appearance................................................................................................8

2.1.2 Abuse and poverty....................................................................................9

2.2. The appearance of inferioity complex......................................................10

2.2.1 The appearance of Jane Eyre’s inferioity complex.................................10

2.2.2 The appearance of Heathcliff’s inferioity complex................................11

2.3.Different compensation behavior of inferiority complex............................12

2.3.1 Compensation behavior of Jane Eyre......................................................12

2.3.2 Compensation behavior of Heathcliff.....................................................12

2.4 The difference between Jane Eyre and Heathcliff’s compensation behavior.......................................................................................................12

3. Conclusion...................................................................................................12

Works Cited ..............................................................................................15

Bibliography ..............................................................................................16

A comparative analysis of the inferiority complex of Heathcliff and Jane Eyre

1.Introduction

The famous psychologist Adler proposed inferiority complex in 1932. Adler says that inferiority complex is subconscious and it brings out either spectacular achievement or extreme asocial behavior( Adler, 1932). As we all know, everyone has a sense of inferiority because we all feel that we are not good enough and not satisfied with our own situation. There are descriptions about inferiority complex in literary works. Heathcliff is the protagonist of the novel Wuthering Heights written by Emily Bronte and he is often regarded as a tragic character. Heathcliff is an outcast and is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw. Mr. Earnshaw’s son insults Heathcliff when Heathcliff is young. When Heathcliff grows up, he falls in love with Catherine but Catherine marries Edgar because of Heathcliff’s humble status. After suffering from the abuse of Hindley and the betrayal of his beloved Catherine, Heathcliff chooses to take revenge to compensate for his sense of inferiority. Scholars hold the view that the crazy revenge of Heathclif is related to his inferiority complex. Jane is an orphan and is adopted by her aunt Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed abuses Jane. The childhood of Jane is full of darkness. When she falls in love with Rochester, Jane feels that she has no right to love Rochester. But when Rochester becomes poor and disabled at the end of the novel, Jane Eyre truely gets rid of the sense of inferiority. In fact, in order to prove her own excellence and compensate for inferiority complex, Jane makes more efforts than others in all aspects during the growth. This thesis focuses on the inferiority complex of Heathcliff and Jane Eyre and tries to find the similarities between Heathcliff and Jane Eyre’s inferiority complex and the differences between Heathcliff and Jane Eyre’s compensation behaviors.

2.1 The similar causes of inferiority complex

2.1 .1Appearance

In fact, the formation of the inferiority has a great relationship with one's appearance. Jane Eyre initially has a sense of inferiority because she thinks that she is plain looking. Jane thinks that people’s love for Georgina is precisely because of her beautiful appearance. There is a psychological description of Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre:

“Georgiana, who had a spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage, was universally indulged. Her beauty, her pink cheeks and golden curls, seemed to give delight to all who, looked at her, and to purchase indemnity for every fault” (Jane Eyre,1846)