Marriage Legal System Of Victorian England-An Analysis Of Law Descriptions In Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte in 1847, brought a fresh air to the literary circle of Victorian EnglandC 1837—1901). With the overwhelmingly distinctive personality, Jane Eyre caught the attention and affection of the readers from all over the world. A great many literary reviewers have analyzed the deep meaning of Jane Eyre, most of whom were from the perspective of historical sociology - emphasizing that literature reproduces the social life, and exploring the social and historical meaning by analyzing the thoughts of the author and the historical background of the works. Feminists, in particular, spoke highly of Jane Eyre's rebellious questioning of the idea that women ought to confine themselves to be an ethereal angel-wife. According to Wolfgan Iser's receptive aesthetics, upon the text has been created by the author, it's already broken away from the original author, becoming part of the society. The individual reader can use his own view of expectation to interpret different meanings from the text, so that the explanation of the text is multi-faceted examination.Therefore, the thesis takes a brand-new perspective as follows:Firstly, the thesis makes use of the theory from law and literature, the trans-disciplinary study emerging in North America and Britain over the recent thirty years. The study about law and literature is around two parts: law in literature and law as literature. Law in literature emphasizes the legal descriptions or so-called "legal stories" in the literary texts and people's psychological response towards that. Law as literature devotes to in what way the writing, explanation and criticism of the literary text applies to the writing and analysis of the legal text as well as legal rules. Jane Eyre, as a love and marriage fiction, should bear the law descriptions like a mirror reflecting the legal system during the time when the story happened in the works. It is in this way that a clear and unique portrait of marriage legal system in Victorian age, especially the early Victorian age, could be successfully drawn out.Secondly, the thesis is indebted to New Historicism in representing the marriage legal system in the novel. Different from traditional historical methodology, The New Historicism does not confine the literary text to be a background supporter or describer, but an interacting discourse with other historical discourses at the front of hot discussion: those circulating in the whole era, at the time when it was published, and the novel's reception by critics and the reading public to discover the interaction between history and literature. Bearing this theory in mind, the thesis, based on the analysis of legal theories concerning marriage from the law descriptions in Jane Eyre, tries to explore the possible influence Jane Eyre has exerted upon the social movement as well as literature progress in the refinements of marriage legal system.With the great support from the above-mentioned theories, the thesis starts with the study of legal theories (Family Law, Succession Law) reflected from the law descriptions in Jane Eyre. As Jane Eyre was produced in the Victorian age, more particularly the early phase of the Victorian age, it should, on one hand, have incarnated mostly the characteristics of early Victorian age instead of the whole age's features; on the other hand, it could have mixed with Charlotte's personal representation of ideal marriage system. Following that, the thesis moves to the analysis of the characteristics of marriage legal system in the early Victorian era, including the investigation of the characteristics' reflection in the marriage legal system, namely, marriage, divorce, the spousal relationship, guardianship, property rights resulting from marriage, divorce and death, etc. in the Victorian age as well as changes in the marriage legal system of the mid-and-late Victorian age. Thus, after the analysis of the characteristics of marriage legal system in the Victorian era, the thesis explores the great influence of Jane Eyre on the society and literature circles upon its release. As a consequence, we could get a bird's-eye view of marriage legal system in the Victorian age, trace the development and changes in the system of the entire age as well as find out the possible influence Jane Eyre exerted during the development.What on earth is the marriage legal system of Victorian age characterized? What's the relationship between Jane Eyre and the marriage legal system of this period? Let's unveil the answers step by step.