A thick description of English middle-class women’s education in 18th century through jane Austin’s works
厚描简·奥斯汀作品中十八世纪英国中产阶级女性教育

摘要

本文运用新历史主义厚描阐释法，细读简·奥斯汀的六部作品，结合史料和奥斯汀个人的经历，重构18世纪英国中产阶级女性的教育目的、形式和内容。在男性统治的18世纪英国，中产阶级女性主要的出路是婚姻，她们接受教育的主要目的是为了成就体面的婚姻。在这样的教育观下，女性通过家庭教育或寄宿学校教育，学习读、写、计算、针线活、法语、音乐、绘画、诗歌等。但是，她们所学的一切像她们的服饰一样都只是装饰品，供她们在婚姻市场上展示，吸引恰当的结婚对象，一旦婚姻的目的达到之后所学的一切就被束之高阁。因此，18世纪英国中产阶级女性教育的实质是“为社会而非为女性自己，为展现而非为实用，为一时而非为永久”。

Abstract

With a thick description, a critical method used by New Historicists, this paper aims to reconstruct women’s education through a detailed analysis of Austin’s works, with the help of historical materials and Austin’s personal experiences. In 18th century England, a men-dominant society, middle-class women were expected to be “good wife, good mother” and the only way out for them is marriage. As a result, the purpose for women’s education was husband-hunting and a decent marriage. Since they were supposed to devote their whole life to family, middle-class women at that time was mainly educated at home, with some of them educated in boarding school. They learnt to read and write, needlework, French, music, painting and poetry, etc. However, what they learnt, like their dresses, was an ornament to show in the marriage market and to attract a decent husband. After wedding ceremony, most things that women had learnt turned useless, thus, left far behind. Therefore, the essence of English middle-class women’s education in 18th century was that “for the world and not for themselves, for show and not for use, for time and not for eternity”.