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Abstract: The novel Pride and Prejudice is the representative works of Jane Austen, and 34 years later, there emerged another revolutionary book Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë. They create two female characters----Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre. Through the description of the characters’ conversations with others, their life, and their fighting against the feudalism paternal society to pursue true love and marriage, the two authors express their superior status of mind, which is the awakening of female consciousness.
Pride and Prejudice tells a love story between a wealthy, proud aristocrat----Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and an intelligent, beautiful young lady----Elizabeth Benet. Their acquaintance begins with insulting each other at a party, and eventually they realize their feelings for love. Overcoming obstacles of difference in social status, wealth, behavior of family members and the proud and prejudice to marriage, they understand and open their heart to each other. Through Jane Austen’s ironical writing style, Pride and Prejudice explores the moral and social condition in the early 19th century. Jane Eyre, on the other hand, talks about an orphan girl----Jane Eyre maltreated by her aunt and then continued her suffering in Lowood boarding school. Her employment by Mr. Rochester is both calamity and happiness. She falls in love with Rochester, then gives up, and finally rescues and marries Rochester, defeating the social norm and secular prejudice.
Although Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë share the same background of the early 19th century and both have a progressive status of mind, they also have some differences in writing style and different ideas reflected in the characters in their romance. This thesis first introduces the two authors and novels, and compare Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre in social background, family background, and main characters. Then it makes a comparative analysis of the awakening of female consciousness of the two authors and that reflects in the two main female characters. Finally, it critically analyzes the relationship between the two authors’ lives, the endings of the two heroines in the stories, and my reflections on their endings.
Key words: Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, comparison, female consciousness