臺灣博碩士論文加值系統

狄更斯寫作【荒涼山莊】時的英國社會，勞動階層正為飢餓和疾病而受苦。由於貴族階級掌控了社會資源，窮苦人士的處境更形不利。社會階級的區分只是保護了中上階級，捍衛了他們的利益，使得下層階級幾無機會出頭。他們如欲擺脫既定階級命運的擺佈方式之一就是與中上階級結為親家。如此一來，上下階級間男女私通幽會情形層出不窮，而私生問題也隨之流衍出來。這樣的私生問題，仍因社會階級意識以及宗教信仰關係，嚴重地挑戰了當時的社會道德與價值標準。
置身於這樣的社會背景之下，私生女艾瑟兒註定出生就與他人不同。親身母親因為嫁給雷司特先生，得以晉身上流社會，於是，艾瑟兒便完全喪失了和生母重逢的機會。既缺父母的呵護，又無社會地位，艾瑟兒只能遵從教母的宗教信仰，用自我否定來彌補自己的原罪。既無母親形象以建構自我形象，又被迫接受無情嚴苛的教育，幾乎摧毀了艾瑟兒的自我認同，以致於邁向自我成長充滿了荊棘和艱困。所幸艾瑟兒的樂觀以及熱情天性，得以使其堅持自我。最後經過一連串的考驗，藉由融入婚姻生活完成自我的建立。
本論文以引言為開端，先介紹作者和小說的背景。此外，也說明研究動機與論文架構。第一章，「艾瑟兒的自我否定與自我貶抑之源起」主在探討艾瑟兒自我否定意識的形成以及其自我人格特質使她對自己仍存有希望。第二章，「艾瑟兒朝向自我建立」，女主角透過周遭人對她的關愛以及母親形象的呈現，開展自我認同之路。第三章，「艾瑟兒自我認同之形成」，則在闡述其在經歷大病，造成容貌貌的毀損，卻能藉此更加確定自我的存在，並在幸福的婚姻生活中，肯定自我。結論主在申述艾瑟兒透過反思書寫過程，才能追溯自己的成長歷程。

In Dickens's time, around his writing of Bleak House, the labouring population and the working class are suffering from starvation and disease. The bourgeois take control of the social substance and the disadvantage falls upon the poor. The distinction between social classes protects the upper and middle classes. Hence, they can fight for their benefit, but the low class has no opportunity to rise. One way for the low class to get rid of their predetermined fate is to marry to people in the upper class. Due to such a social background, the romances between the upper and middle classes increase. Most of these romances lead to the problem of illegitimacy instead of happy marriages. Illegitimacy begins to challenge the traditional morality related to social class-consciousness and religious faith.
Under such a social background, Esther's illegitimacy makes her different from others from her birth. Esther's mother gets married to Mr. Leicester and rises to the upper class. Esther has no chance to reunite with her real mother. Without parental protection and social position, Esther can only obey her godmother's religious faith, to self-deny, and to compensate for her inborn sin. Loss of a mother image and being forced to accept this earlier strict education for a little girl like Esther almost destroys her chance for self-identity construction and complicates her journey toward self-growth. Esther's true personality helps her stick to her self. Through a series of trials, she can fulfill her self-construction by integrating herself into a marriage life, a stable place she can belongs to forever in the end.
This thesis begins with an introduction, in which the background of the author and the novel are presented. Also, the motive and structure of my study are revealed. The first chapter is, "The Origin of Esther's Self-denial and Self-disparagement." In this chapter, as the title indicates, I will discuss how Esther's self-denial consciousness forms and her inborn personality enables her to keep hope of herself. The second chapter, "Esther's Progress toward Self-construction." Esther advances her self-identity construction through love from others and the appearance of her mother image. The third chapter, "Esther's Fulfillment of Self-identity," relates to Esther's awakened self-consciousness after her physical disfigurement and her integration into a reliable marriage life. In the conclusion, I talk over the necessity of Esther's reflective writing in finishing this book before she can track back the process of her own growth.

Tables of Contents
Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------1
Chapter One
The Origin of Esther's Self-denial and Self-disparagement---------------12
Chapter Two
Esther's Progress Toward Self-construction---------------------------------26
Chapter Three
Esther's Fulfillment of Self-identity------------------------------------------50
Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------74
Works Consulted--------------------------------------------------------------81

Primary Source
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. London: Penguin Books, 1994.
Secondary Sources
Axton, William. "Esther's Nicknames: A Study in Relevance." Dickensian. England: London. 62(1966): 158-163.
"Athenaeum: Review of Bleak House." Dickens Bleak House: A Casebook. Ed. Dyson A. E. London: Macmillan Education, 1969. 50-55.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Charles Dickens's Bleak House. New York: Chelsea House. vii ,1987.
Chesterton, G. K. Charles Dickens Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1935.
Currie, Richard A. "Surviving Maternal Loss: Transitional Relatedness in Dickens's Esther Summerson." Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunswick. 6:2(1989): 60-66.
Dyson, Anthony E. Bleak House: A Casebook. Tenn: Aurora, 1970.
Dunn, Richard J. "Esther's Role in Bleak House." Dickensian. England: London. 62(1966): 163-166.
Dever, Carolyn M. "Broken Mirror, Broken Words: Autobiography, Prosopopeia, and the Dead Mother in Bleak House." Studies in the Novel. TX: Denton. 27:1(1995): 42-62.
Eldredge, Patricia R. "The Lost Self of Esther Summerson: A Horneyan Interpretation of Bleak House." The Literary Review: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing. NJ: Madison. 24:2(1981): 252-278.
Frazee, John P. "The Character of Esther and the Narrative Structure of Bleak House." Studies in the Novel. TX: Denton. 17:3(1985): 227-240.
Gottfried, Barbara. "Household Arrangements and the Patriarchal Order in Bleak House." Journal of Narrative Technique. MI: Ypsilanti. 24:1(1994): 1-17.
Graham, Jenny. "Two Characters in Bleak House." Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunswick. 6:2(1989): 43-52.
Graver, Suzanne. "Writing in a 'Womanly' Way and the Double Vision of Bleak House" Dickens Quarterly. New Brunswick: NJ. (4:1 Mar. 1987): 3-15.
Hill, James. "Dickens's Bleak House." Explicator. DC: Washington. 47:3(1989): 21-22.
Harvey, W. J. "Bleak House: The Double Narrative." Dickens Bleak House: A Casebook, ed. Dyson A. E. London: Macmillan Education, 1969. 224-234.
Jadwin, Lisa. " 'Caricatured, Not Faithfully Rendered': Bleak House as a Revision of Jane Eyre." Modern Language Studies. RI: Providence. 26:2-3(1996): 111-33.
Johnson, Edgar. "The Anatomy of Society." Dickens Bleak House: A Casebook. Ed. Dyson A. E. London: Macmillan Education, 1969. 135-156.
Jolly, Diane L. "The Nature of Esther." The Dickensian. London: England. 86:1(1990): 29-40.
Kearns, Michael S. " 'But I Cried Very Much': Esther Summerson as Narrator." Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunswick. 1:4(1984): 121-129.
Moers, Ellen. "Bleak House: The Agitating Women." Dickensian. England: London. 69(1973): 13-24.
McCusker, Jane A. "The Game Esther Plays: Chapter Three of Bleak House." The Dickensian. England: London. 81:3(1985): 163-174.
Meckier, Jerome. "Double Logic versus Double Vision." Dickens Studies Newsletter. KY: Louisville. 14:2(1983): 14-21, 51-57.
Michie, Helena. "'Who Is This in Pain?': Scarring, Disfigurement, and Female Identity in Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend." Novel: A Forum on Fiction. RI: Providence. 22:2(1989): 199-212.
McLaughlin, Kevin. "Losing One's Place: Displacement and Domesticity in Dicken's Bleak House." MLN. MD: Baltimore. (108:5 Dec. 1993): 875-90.
Nicholls, Maria. "Lady Dedlock's Sin: 'Refusal to Live Up to the Obligations She Had Undertaken.'" The Dickensian. England: London. 89:1(1993): 39-44.
Newsom, Robert. "Villette and Bleak House: Authorizing Women." Nineteen Century Literature. CA: Berkeley. 46:1(1991): 54-81.
Polloczek, Dieter Paul. "The Marginal, the Equitable, and the Unparalleled: Lady Dedlock's Case in Dickens's Bleak House." New Literary History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation. VA: Charlottesville. 30:2(1999): 453-478.
Shatto, Susan. "Lady Dedlock and the Plot of Bleak House." Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunswick. 5:4(1988): 185-191.
Schwarzbach, F.S. " 'Deadly Stains': Lady Dedlock's Death." Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunswick. 4:3(1987): 160-165.
Sawicki, Joseph. " 'The mere truth won't do': Esther as Narrator in Bleak House." Journal of Narrative Technique. MI: Ypsilanti. 17:2(1987): 209-224.
Stoehr, Taylor. "Bleak House: The Novel as Dream." Dickens Bleak House: A Casebook. Ed. Dyson A. E. London: Macmillan Education, 1969. 235-243.
Sadrin, Anny. "Charlotte Dickens: The Female Narrator of Bleak House" Dickens Quarterly. NJ: New Brunwick. (9:2 Jun. 1992): 47-57.
Ward, John C. "The Virtue of the Mothers: Powerful Women in Bleak House." Dickens Studies Newsletter. KY: Louisville. 14:2(1983): 37-42.
Winslow, Joan D. "Esther Summerson: The Betrayal of the Imagination." Journal of Narrative Technique. MI: Ypsilanti. 6(1976): 1-13.
Wilt, Judith. "Confusion and Consciousness in Dickens's Esther." Critical Interpretation: Charles Dickens's Bleak House. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1987. 57-79.
Zwerdling, Alex. "Esther Summerson Rehabilitated." Critical Interpretation: Charles Dickens's Bleak House. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1987. 37-55.