Abstract: George Eliot, as a female writer, paid much attention to women’s life in the hope of awakening the sleeping feminist consciousnesses in them. She urged women to break the secular moral barrier and pursue the spiritual and material freedom. Besides, she believed women should obtain their rights to education and occupation to achieve happy marriage and life. Yet on the other hand, she claimed that women should be submissive and make self-sacrifice for their families, weaken the power of men under patriarchal society and exert huge influence on the men around them with concealed and indirect methods. Over years, her ambivalent feminist consciousness has been controversial. This paper, through analyzing George Eliot’s feminist consciousness as well as the ambivalent part of her feminist consciousness in Middlemarch, points out that feminist consciousness really exist in Eliot and her work, and causes of her feminist consciousness are explored. 

Key words: George Eliot; Middlemarch; feminist consciousness; ambivalence

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction-1

1.1 Brief Review of George Eliot and Middlemarch-1

1.2 Brief Introduction of George Eliot’s Feminist Consciousness-3

2.George Eliot’s Feminist Consciousness Revealed in Middlemarch-5

2.1 Feminist Consciousness in the Main Characters in Middlemarch-5

2.1.1 Feminist Consciousness in Dorothea Brooke-5

2.1.2 Feminist Consciousness in Mary Garth-8

2.1.3 Feminist Consciousness in Mrs Bulstrode-10

2.2 Ambivalence of George Eliot’s Feminist Consciousness  in Middlemarch-11

3. Causes of  George Eliot ’s Feminist Consciousness and Her Ambivalence in Middlemarch-13

3.1 The Social Environment in Victorian Age -13

3.2 George Eliot’s personal experience-14

3.3 George Eliot’s Religious Brief-16

4.Conclusion-18

Renferences-21