Female Gothic And Charlotte's Sense Of Dualities In Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the masterpiece of the England female novelist Charlotte Bronte. When it was published in 1847, Jane Eyre attracted the world's attention immediately. Many critics studied it as a feminist novel, believing Jane is a brave and upright woman and praising highly of her independence and indomitable fighting will as well as her continuous seeking for new life. However, it is easy to find that in the last two centuries only few critics focused on its female gothic in her writings. The author of this thesis wants to analyze the embodiment of female gothic in Charlotte's masterpiece, Jane Eyre, from four aspects:the noble, egoistic male protagonist, Rochester; the self-respected and independent female protagonist, Jane Eyre; the miserable female gothic villain, Bertha; and the hero's castle, Thornfield.Robert B. Heilman is the rare one who appraised Jane Eyre through its female gothic. He thought Charlotte's purpose of using female gothic was to discover and release a new pattern of feeling, the intensification of feeling. But the author does not agree with his view, she thinks Charlotte's using of female gothic was to allow the readers to live vicariously through the heroine's ordeals in a world of danger and mystery, and also provided women writers with an ideal medium to conceal their radical critiques towards the male-dominated society. Meanwhile, within the conventions of female gothic, Charlotte expressed her sense of dualities through devious strategies:one is submission to tradition; the other is reluctance to be concealed by the orthodoxy. Therefore, the thesis will attempt to analyze Jane Eyre from the perspective of female gothic, then try to discover Charlotte's sense of dualities behind the mask of female gothic, and finally illustrate its function and significance.