摘 要

《爱玛》是著名的英国女性作家简˙奥斯汀的代表作之一。她的大多数作品以中产阶级的家庭生活为背景创造了一系列会独立思考的女性人物。本文试图通过女主人公的性格，婚姻观以及家庭地位等三方面分析简的女性意识，进而反映父权社会下女性对平等和自由的渴求。

关键词：《爱玛》，女性意识，性格，婚姻，平等

Contents

1. Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

2.Demonstration---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1 A brief introduction to feminist consciousness------------------------------------------2

2.2 Feminist consciousness reflected in Emma----------------------------------------------2

2.2.1Feminist consciousness reflected by the heroine’s character------ ------------------3

2.2.1.1 Consciousness of being independent-------------------------------------------------3

2.2.1.2 Consciousness of being self-aware---------------------------------------------------4

2.2.2 Feminist consciousness reflected by marriage views --------------------------------5

2.2.2.1 Love—the foundation of an ideal marriage-----------------------------------------5

2.2.2.2 Property—the guarantee of an ideal marriage--------------------------------------6

2.2.3 Feminist consciousness reflected by family position---------------------------------7

1. Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

Works cited----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

A Study of Feminist Consciousness in Emma

1. Introduction

Jane Austen (December 16, 1775—July 18, 1817) was a very great female British writer, born in a family with strong cultural atmosphere. The era Austen lived in was not only the rise of British Industrial Revolution and Industrial Bourgeoisie, but also the transformation from feudal society to modern capitalist society. Her father was a pastor of considerable social influence and her mother was good at words. Influenced by this family background, Jane Austen had deep affection for reading, writing poems and acting with her sisters. Her works, contrary to the tradition of romantic novels and Gothic novels, focused on describing the daily life of middle-class families, expressed social values from trivial matters and created a number of women characters of independent thinking. Early in 1816, Sir Walter Scott, a famous contemporary writer of Jane Austen, affirmed Austen’s artistic talent and stated: “That young lady (Jane Austen) had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with” (Scott 3). Her representative novels are Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.

Emma was written in 1816 as Jane’s fourth publication, which was said to be one of Jane Austen’s most successful works and one of the greatest feminist novels in the world literary history.