On Heroines in English Women Literature in the Nineteenth Century

Fu Jianli

【Abstract】The nineteenth century is a golden age of English women literature. A group of women writers publish a large number of great works， create a group of impressive images of women， which make up epic of the women literature. This article analyzes this phenomenon from the aspect of women in literary works-heroines. They stand for the women writers at that times and try to speak for the female sex for the unfairness of the world.

【Key words】femininity； heroine； rebellion； subjection

The women literature in the nineteenth century is iliad of the women of genius because women， in the nineteenth century in England， seized the pen， used literature as a unique weapon to speak for the female sex confronting misogyny around them. They found their potential genius and exposed the unfairness of the world with their pen in hand and brought us the greatness of women through the heroines in their works.

I. The Rise of Women Writers

The nineteenth century proclaimed a golden age of women literature. Jane Austen， Bront? sisters， George Eliot and the like spoke all they think， expressed their idea of the genius of women， created another group of women of genius in their first-rate works. But the rise of them was not all of a sudden. It must correspond with the development of the time， because literature must reflect the society at that time. Firstly，the society was moving forward at that time. Womens demands for womens rights was arousing. However， women in the early nineteenth century were excluded from social and political activity and writing was their only instruments of social action. Therefore， literature became womens parliament. As a result， the energies of women with intellectual superiority were directed into literature. Moreover， the ascending of Queen Victorian developed a rather open air for womens growth. Secondly， as the industrial revolution progressed， more and more cities were urbanized and became industrial cites. More and more women moved there， therefore they had more opportunities to observe the life around them. Thirdly， it resulted from the encouragement of some great men on women literary career. With the stimulation of all causes， the greatness of the nineteenth centurys women writers arises.

II. Heroines in Women Literature

In the nineteenth century of England， all women were still confined by law and custom in a secondary state. The cult of angel in the house was prevailing. Many heroines in male writers works were leveled， by meekness and docility， into one character of gentle compliance. Happily， women writers did not be subdued by the man constructed standard. They responded to the vindication voiced by Mary Wollstonecraft， killing the image of the angel in the house and creating a tradition to redefine the male preconceptions about femininity.

A new image of woman appeared in literary womens works. She has a capacity to think， feel and act for herself； she becomes the superior not inferior again； she is a heroine respectively： Emma（Emma）， a girl of self-love； Elizabeth Bennet（Pride and Prejudice）， a vivacious， charming and outspoken girl； Jane Eyre（Jane Eyre）， a plain and gifted girl， a rebel against the oppressions bravely. The heriones by George Eliot are not intellectuals as herself but large-souled and have the capacity to arouse readers admiration. Maggie（The Mill on the Floss） is a rebellious girl living in the struggle between the desire for intellectual stimulation and dutiful efforts a renunciation. Mrs. Gaskell lived in the industrial city， so was her heroines. Mary Barton （Mary Barton） is the first heroine working in a factory. They all rebel against the oppressions of the masculine society and for the independence and equality； they are against the image of the angel in the house； they ask for the equal love and marriage.

i. Rebellion Against the Subjection from the Male

Simone de Beauvoir wrote the ideal woman who was always the most exact embodiment of the other. There is no the Self. She is only an appendix of man， the second sex， the inessential opposite to the essential. Man is the Subject， the Absolute while She is the Other. In Britain， women were under the control of her husband at home. A work-class woman， for instance， has no claim on her own earnings. Nor does she have right to leave or divorce him. Moreover， if her husband was displeased with her， he had perfect right to beat her. “No slave is a slave to the same length， and in so full as sense of the word as a wife is，” John Stuart Mill wrote in his On the Subjection of Women（1869）. Outside home， women suffered the discrimination from the male-dominated society. A work-class womans salary was rather lower than mans. On education， women were trained to be submissive creature and household slaves. However， heroines by literary women speak out “Nos” to men and declare their independence.

Jane Eyre-the heroine in Charlottes Jane Eyre stands up and recounts the miserable life of women in Britain. Jane was a penniless orphan， but she spoke in her self-conscious “I”—the first person both as a person and as a female before she gave the reader her name or class or age.

ii. New Female Images Against Those Traditional-the Disappearance of the Angel in the House

As the feminist historian Ray Strachey wrote in The Cause（1928） “The true history of the womens movement is the whole history of the nineteenth century”. No doubt， the movement had a great influence on the rise of heroines by women writers. They would not follow the conception of the model woman constructed by man—being the angel in the house of good nature or sweetness of temper. As a result， the angel in the house disappeared. What we see are the women who have minds or wishes of their own. They are not passionless； they tell us they have many temperaments of joy or rage， optimism or pessimism， aggressiveness or submissiveness， meekness or impoliteness， as men have. It is also Jane Eyre. She tells the reader she is not an angel. Jane said “ I am not an angel， and I will not be one till I die： I will be myself”（Charlotte Bront?， 288）. Jane used the language that was even little used by male like “bullied”， “bleared”， “bilious”， “disgusting”， “ugly”， “menaces”， “insults”. These were all he words used by Jane at John Reed against his tyranny. Will the readers think of Jane as a docile， an angel when they read this？ Catherine Earnshaw（the heroine in Wuthering Heights） ，at the start of Wuthering Heights， opened with the words “ An awful Sunday”， moved on to rebellious threats and climaxed with Catherines hurling a dingy tract “ by the scroop” and “ vowing I hated a good book” （Emily Bront?，20）. It makes the reader feel she is talking to him face to face and tells him her feelings. Another woman， Maggie（ the heroine in The Mill On The Floss） told herself through her appearance-her dark hair. The conventional femininity was represented by the neat blond curls of her cousin Lucy， but what Maggie had was unruly mop of dark hair. Whats more， Maggie angry torturing of her doll and her running away to become Queen of the Gypsies and her strong desire for all knowledge and her better intellects in study than her brother all were against the model of women at that time. They told us they were human beings not angels in the house.

iii. Women in Love Marriage

Women in the nineteenth century were still dependent on men. Marriage was womens principal goal and the role of wife was her primary role. Therefore， womens demands for place should first be satisfied at home. According to this， love and marriage are the key-points and become one of their literary subjects.

Emma（ the heroine of Emma） admitted the passion of love， but she took it in a rather realistic way at the beginning. Money and social position were in her pursuit. She thought that woman without money or social rank should find a man of comfortably livings to get married. “It is a truth universally acknowledged” runs the celebrated opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice， “that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of wife.” It fits to the society in almost all the works by Jane Austen. Emma made a match for Harriet Smith and Mr. Elton and asked Harriet to refuse the proposal of Martin for his low social rank. However， Emma， finally granted the love between Harriet and Martin. She gave up her former obsession on love and supported the love based on passion. Especially， Elizabeth Bennet （the heroine of Pride and Prejudice） refused the proposal of Mr. Darcy- a man of great fortune for she thought he was an arrogant man. Ann Eliot（ the herione of Persuasion） refused the love of her fathers heir for he was hypocritical. Jane Eyre continues to tell her love story. She asked for a love based on equality. So their attention had turned to passion and away from money and position.

III. Conclusion

Therefore， women in literary works are not inferior to men. They are brave enough to rebel against the oppression and demonstrate that they are mens equals and speak out their love， though the road on which they walk is not smooth.

References：

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[4]Gibert，E.L.Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights.（Beijin：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.2013）.

[5]Eliot，George.Mill on the Floss，The.（Beijing：The Commercial Press.2011）.

[6]Bronte，Charlotte.Jane Eyre.（Beijing：Foreign Language Press.2014）.