Abstract:As the two English women writers of the 19th century, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte coincidently followed the Cinderella plot in their novels Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre respectively. In the process of expanding and transforming the prototype story, both writers infiltrated their own concern for female identity and explored actively how to reconstruct female personality. At present, there are a lot of separate studies on Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre, but few of them link the two heroines with Cinderella, let alone compare their Cinderella fate. This thesis will interpret the two Cinderella, Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre, by analyzing their similarities and differences from the perspectives of their views of finance, love and marriage and personal values. Besides, it will explore the reasons for their differences from the social and family background and personalities of their authors. Through the analysis above, we can have a thorough understanding of how the two writers subverted the traditional Cinderella image and expressed their own female consciousness by applying and modifying the Cinderella plot.

This thesis consists of four parts. The first chapter briefly introduces the two writers and their representative works. Then it describes the Cinderella plot and makes a simple summary of the study status on this topic at home and abroad. The second chapter presents the similarities of the two heroines to prove that both of them are self-respected and self-relied with rebellious spirit and pursuit of true love. In addition, it compares their differences from their views of finance, marriage and spiritual pursuit. The third chapter focuses on the reasons for the differences between the heroines. Through analysis, it points out that their differences are resulted from the different social and family background as well as the different personalities of the two authors. The last chapter makes a conclusion.

Keywords: Pride and Prejudice  Jane Eyre  Cinderella image  comparison

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte-1

1.2 Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre-2

1.3 Cinderella Plot-2

1.4 Literature Review-3

Chapter Two Comparison of Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre-5

2.1 Similarities between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre-5

2.1.1 Self-respect and Self-reliance-5

2.1.2 Rebellious Spirit-6

2.1.3 Pursuit of True Love-7

2.2 Differences between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre-7

2.2.1 Different Views on Finance-8

2.2.2 Different Views on Marriage-9

2.2.3 Different Spiritual Pursuit-10

Chapter Three Reasons for the Differences between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre-12

3.1 Different Social Background-12

3.2 Different Family Background-13

3.3 Different Personalities-14

Chapter Four Conclusion-15

References-16