4.1 The Differences in Social Background 7
4.1.1 Social System 7
4.1.2 Marriage System 7
4.1.3 Status of Female 8
4.2 The Differences in Family Background 9
4.2.1 Family Life 9
4.2.2 Family Education 10
4.3 The Differences in Personalities 11
4.3.1 Emotional Lin Daiyu and Rational Elizabeth Bennet 11
4.3.2 Sentimental Lin Daiyu and Optimistic Elizabeth Bennet 11
4.3.3 Jealous Lin Daiyu and Broad-minded Elizabeth Bennet 12
5 Conclusion 13
References 15
The Same Pursuit, Different Fates--A Comparative Study on Elizabeth Bennet and Lin Daiyu
1 Introduction
1.1 An Introduction to Jane Austen
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was a famous English novelist. She was born in a comfortable and happy family and her father gave her good education in cultural aspect. Austen never married. Since living in the rural town, she was accessible to small and medium landowners, the clergy, and their quiet, comfortable living environment. Therefore, her works did not have major social conflicts. She began writing at about 20 years old, and 6 novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Sanditon) were published. She wrote a lot of books of romantic novels about the social situation at that time. She was good at creating various kinds of woman characters to express her own ideas. Her works made her one of the most famous and beloved writers in English literature. She was one of the great masters of the English novel. In the late 18th century, Austen’s works mainly criticized sentimental novels and were part of the change to nineteenth century realism. She wrote a lot about typical people in daily life. Austen often wrote stories in comic perspective, but they also showed how women depended on marriage for social standing and economic security. Her works were also about moral problems. Austen's writings were historically written during the period of British Romanticism leading to British Idealism. Austen was sympathetic to a number of the British Romantic poets of her time including William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Lord Byron whom she quoted through her characters in her novels such as was done prominently in Persuasion.
1.2 An Introduction to Cao Xueqin
Cao Xueqin (1715 or 1724 – 1763 or 1764) was born to Han Dynasty that was brought into personal service to the Manchu royalty in the late 1610s. Cao Xueqin grew up in “Qin Huai Feng Yue”. His ancestors distinguished themselves through military service in the Plain White Banner of the Eight Banners and subsequently held posts as officials which brought both prestige and wealth. Cao was a Chinese writer and poet during the Qing dynasty and he was known as the author of A Dream of Red Mansions, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literatures. In the early years of his life, he grew up in a wealthy family. However, his family suffered from many things, and then he moved to Beijing with his family members. Since then, the rest of his life was hard and poor, and in that situation he had a deeper understanding of the society. Cao died some time in 1763 or 1764, leaving his novels in a very advanced stage of completion. The main reason of his death was poverty and illness. Cao achieved posthumous fame through his life's work. The novel (A Dream of Red Mansions), written in "blood and tears", as a commentator friend said, was a vivid recreation of an illustrious family at its height and its subsequent downfall. 伊丽莎白•班内特与林黛玉比较(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_47746.html