An Analysis Of Jane Eyre And Wuthering Heights From Female Gothic Perspective

Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte, known as the famous women writers of19thcentury in Britain, wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, which have beenrecognized as the classic works of the literary history. For a long time, the study onBronte Sisters and their works never stop. Many critics study them from differentangles using different methods, and draw different conclusionsAs the concept of Female Gothic was brought up in1976, a new perspectiveoccurred for the research on Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. In the field of foreignliterary criticism, the studies on Female Gothic, which comes into being under thebackground of the Gothic genre and Feminism, are relatively mature and systematic.Comparatively, the domestic studies are nearly blank, or at best, at the threshold. Thestudies of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights from the angle of female gothic novel arevery few. This article is to interpret these two novels from the angle of Female Gothic,based on the former research, and to study them unique connotation and value.The thesis includes five chapters. Introduction embraces the literature review andthe purpose and significance of the study. Chapter Two introduces the livingbackground of Bronte Sisters---Victorian Era and their personal experience briefly，as well as the two classic works---Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Chapter Threefocuses on Female Gothic. The survey of its historical development is made fromGothic to Female Gothic, and analyzes the prominent characteristics of Female Gothicnovel.Chapter Four makes analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in the context ofFemale Gothic, mainly from the aspects of the female heroines, the female gothicenclosures, the villain heroes and the rising of female consciousness, showing JaneEyre and Wuthering Heights are typical Female Gothic novels, with characteristics of the feminism and gothic novels. Conclusion puts the analyses above into a nutshell,holding that Female Gothic perspective plays an important role for our deep andaccurate understanding on the theme, connotation and values of Jane Eyre andWuthering Heights.