Abstract

Emma may not be the most popular one of all Jane Austen’s novels, but undoubtedly it’s the most mature one in style and the most complete one in structure. In this novel, the author’s understandings of reality, reflections of life and the use of writing techniques are more profound and skilled than the earlier ones. Emma fully reflects Jane Austen’s ability to master language and shape the characters, and the skills of literary exploration. Her true and accurate portrayal of human nature, keen observation of British Regency society, as well as superb mastery of the art techniques still make us gasp in admiration.
Jane Austen has successfully created a series of female characters, who have their own characteristics, and each one in the novel occupies a different location and has a different role. Emma, the heroine, is the most prominent character, and is also the representative one among all of Austen’s characters. Emma describes how the heroine walks one error out to moral perfection and the process of emotional maturation.
The main research point of this thesis is the analysis of Emma’s view of values and the social causes. This thesis is divided into four parts. The first part is the synopsis for the novel and the brief introduction of Emma’s characteristics. The second part describes Emma's various values such as wealth, friendship and love, and uses concrete examples to demonstrate them. The formation of such values must have various causes, so in the third part of this thesis three social causes are analyzed, and I also combine these causes with the economic background at that time. Lastly, this thesis briefly narrates the reference significance of Emma to the development of modern women. What’s more, I also put forward my general ideas and thoughts on feminism and the growth of modern women.

Keyword: Emma, Feminism, Views of value, Views of marriage, Social Causes

摘要

《爱玛》或许不是奥斯丁小说中最受欢迎的一部，但却是风格最成熟、结构最完整的一部。在这部小说中，无论是作者对现实的理解、对生活的思索，还是小说所运用的技巧，均比早期作品更为深刻、娴熟、恰到好处。《爱玛》这一小说充分体现了奥斯丁对英语语言的驾驭能力、对人物的塑造能力和对人物性格的探索。她对人性精准的刻画，对当时英国社会的敏锐观察，以及对高超的艺术手法的把握，至今仍令读者和评论家们叹服。
简奥斯汀的《爱玛》塑造了一系列女性人物，她们有自己的性格特色、背景以及生活状态，在小说中起到不同的作用。其中当然以女主人公爱玛的人物形象最为突出，也是奥斯汀所塑造的女性形象中颇具代表性的一个。《爱玛》这部小说主要描述的就是女主人如何走出一个个错误而步入道德完善和情感成熟的过程。
本论文的主要研究内容为爱玛的价值观分析及其产生的社会成因，因此论文的结构主要分为四个部分：第一部分为小说故事梗概和爱玛人物形象的简述；第二部分详细讲述了爱玛的各种价值观，如财富观、友情观和爱情观，并加以具体的实例论证；形成这种价值观必然存在各种成因，因此在第三部分，论文就一些社会成因进行了分析，并结合了当时的经济背景进行论证；论文最后就《爱玛》这部小说对于现代女性青少年的成长的借鉴意义进行了简要的叙述，提出笔者对于女性主义和现代女性的成长提出了自己的思考和想法。

关键词：爱玛，价值观，婚姻观，社会成因，女权主义