雖然嚴格而言夏綠蒂(Charlotte Bronte)不是一位女性主義者，但是她透過《簡愛》(Jane Eyre)展現維多利亞時期女性受壓迫的想法。本論文探討中產階級的女性，透過自由學派女性主義觀念中的自我實現(self-fulfillment)與自主性(autonomy)闡述本小說中女性受壓迫的問題。
本論文共分為三章：第一章論述《簡愛》中產階級女性在維多利亞社會所受的壓迫，包括教育(education)、工作(employment)、性慾(sexuality)等方面。第二章敘述《簡愛》裡的八位中產階級女性對於主角簡愛正面與反面的影響。第三章剖析主角簡愛心理的矛盾，在四位帶著兩種極端個性的人物中(Rochester、St. John、Bertha Mason及Helen Burns)，他們的個性不是心靈的(spiritual)，就是肉慾的(sensual)。St. John與Helen Burns傾向於前者，而Rochester與Bertha Mason則屬於後者。主人翁簡愛就是在這兩種極端人物的影響下產生矛盾的心理。
最後，本論文要強調的是，雖然女性壓迫總帶給人們否定的看法，但是女性的壓迫卻也帶給簡愛心理上的成長。

Although Charlotte Bronte is not a feminist in the contemporary sense, she portrays the oppression of Victorian women by men in her novel Jane Eyre. Because middle-class women are the dominant characters in this novel, most emphasis is placed on this group. The analysis proceeds by taking concepts from liberal feminism, particularly those related to self-fulfillment and autonomy. The purpose of applying these ideas is to understand women’s oppression in Victorian society as shown in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
There are, in the thesis, three chapters, each with its own subdivisions: three forms of oppression affecting middle-class women in Jane Eyre, the impact of eight women characters in the novel, and Jane’s contradictory character. In the first chapter, the focus is on three forms of oppression, including education, employment, and sexuality, all of which appear in the novel. In the second chapter, eight women’s characters are discussed in light of their positive or negative influence on Jane’s development. In the third chapter, the emphasis is on Jane’s contradictory character. In this chapter, four characters – Rochester, Bertha Mason, St. John, and Helen Burns – are shown to exhibit two poles of extreme personality traits, namely, a spiritual or sensual orientation. They can be divided into two groups: Rochester and Bertha Mason are sensual, but St. John and Helen Burns are spiritual. Jane is ambivalent as a person who stands in the middle point between spirituality and sensuality.
Finally, my aim is to portray Jane’s development. Women were oppressed in Victorian society, and these oppressive forms negatively impacted women’s development. In Jane Eyre, however, oppressive social practices seem key for Jane to both articulate and achieve her goals.

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1
ChapterⅠ Three Forms of Middle-Class Women’s Oppression in Jane Eyre ..............................12
ChapterⅡ Eight Middle-Class Female Characters’ Influence on Jane Eyre .................................43
Chapter Ⅲ Jane Eyre’s Contradictory Character .........................................................................59 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................74
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