A Postcolonial Interpretation Of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a milestone in the history of English literature. Its overwhelming influence has not only made it one of the most classical works among English novels, but also an important research issue in the field of English literature.The thesis aims at carrying a postcolonial study of the novel by putting it in the frameworks of Edward W. Said's Orientalism and Gayatri C. Spivak's study of Subaltern. The study will focus on two issues: "Other" identity and the "Speaking" of Subaltern.This thesis consists of six parts, with four chapters coming between the introduction and the conclusion.The first part is the introduction. The background information of Jane Eyre is introduced in this part. In addition, this part also introduces the plot of the novel, the purpose and the organization of the thesis.Chapter one is about the literature review. This chapter focuses on the studies of Jane Eyre at home and abroad. There are mainly three kinds. Some scholars have studied it as an autobiography of the author; others have carried their research of the novel from a feminist perspective; and recently scholars have examined the novel in association with its relation to the British Empire. However, very few scholars have dealt with it from the postcolonial perspective. Chapter two concentrates on the main theories of postcolonial criticism, especially on the ideas of two postcolonial critics—Edward W. Said and Gayatri C. Spivak. Said's main ideas are expressed in his famous monograph Orientalism (1978), in which he puts forward the important concept of "Other". Spivak's studies always focus on the Subalterns. Her idea finds the best expression in her famous essay Can the Subaltern Speak? (1985)Chapter three, from Said's concept of "Other", deals with the "Other" identity of the heroine Jane Eyre and the mad woman Bertha Mason respectively. It deals with Jane Eyre's identity as a gendered "Other", who has gradually possessed the consciousness of rebelling against the male-dominance and finally achieves "Self by changing her "Other" identity. It also deals with Bertha Mason's identity as a racial "Other", who has been marginalized by the British Empire and then marginalized by the Victorian patriarchy and remains a racial "Other" forever because of the Eurocentrism which still exists.Chapter four explores the Subaltern problems in the story by starting from Spivak's famous interrogation "Can the Subaltern Speak?" In this part, Jane Eyre is a Subaltern who dares to break the oppressive silence and utters her own voice and finally changes her status as Subaltern. Jane's good friend at Lowood, Helen Burns, is a silent and obedient Subaltern, who has no resisting consciousness and ends her short life in silence. Rochester's mad wife, Bertha Mason, is a forever silenced Subaltern, who has been deprived of the right of discourse and has no means to break the oppressive silence and remains a silent Subaltern forever.The last part is the conclusion. This thesis has carried a postcolonial interpretation of Jane Eyre within the frameworks of Edward W. Said's Orientalism and Gayatri C. Spivak's theory of Subaltern. It has pointed out two issues: "Other" identity and the "Speaking" of Subalterns. The thesis has interpreted Jane Eyre's gendered "Other" identity and Bertha Mason's racial "Other" identity and dealt with the different attitudes of three Subalterns who are Jane Eyre, Helen Burns and Bertha Mason respectively, toward oppressive silence.The thesis can not only enrich the perspective of the novel's study but also shed some light on the construction of harmonious world.