While Cao Xueqin created A Dream of Red Mansions in eighteenth, he shaped a series of female images, of which Lin Daiyu’s image is the most classic and the most popular。 Charlotte Bronte created Jane Eyre in nineteenth。 As the heroine, Jane Eyre had a distinct personality, which is very impressive。 Lin Daiyu was born in feudal society, and at that time women’s social status were very low。 Jane Eyre lived at a time when the capitalism was rising, and money, wealth were always the first。 Meanwhile, women’s rights were deprived。 However, Jane Eyre further awoke the female consciousness earlier than Lin Daiyu, for she dared to revolt。 As a leader in women, Jane Eyre succeeded and became a model for women through her practice。

     Lin Daiyu and Jane Eyre had a similar fate, similar experience。 They were both orphans, and they lived in relatives too。 They all had a certain sense of rebellion and rebellious spirit。 Also, they all dreamed of pure love。 However, they were different in many places。 Lin Daiyu was self-esteem and inferiority, because she thought that she was dependent on the Jia family。 The society had much oppression to women。 Although Lin Daiyu’s talent was very high, she was gradually rejected by the Jia family。 But Jane Eyre was different。 What her aunt gave her the most was abuse and insult, all of which stimulated Jane Eyre to rise to revolt, and strove for her own life and love。 This thesis mainly analyzes the similarities and differences between Chinese and English traditional female image through the comparison between Lin Daiyu and Jane Eyre。

2。 Literature Review

     The definition of female image is given in The Cultural Interpretation of Female Images。 Female image is not the female itself, it is a kind of cultural conception of man, a kind of discourse practice of human being, and it is “language sign” of symbolic meaning of the construction patriarchal ideology。 However, due to “the materialization of language and thought”, people tend to think that the female image is the female itself, and believe that the language description of women is the reality of women。 Therefore, once the female image is born, it will gradually become a stereotype or fixed concept, expressing the expectation of the whole society on the female gender role。 论文网

     There are many interpretations of female images at home and abroad, but there are not many articles from the perspective of traditional female images in China and Britain。 In the 18th century, Mary Wollstonecraft, a British woman, used to publish A Vindication of the Rights of Woman。 She believes that the primary goal of women's existence is to be a rational person, and rational practice is expressed through the identity of his wife and mother。 In the 19th century, John Muller, a British man, showed his view of women in the book The Subjection of Women。 He points out that the inequality of law makes the marriage under the system of marriage is like the relationship between master and slave。 

      Many Chinese writers have written articles in this area too。 In the article Disillusionment and Struggle- The Comparison between Lin Daiyu and Jane Eyre’s Image, Dai Feng thinks that Lin Daiyu and Jane Eyre have similarities both in terms of experience, personality, and the pursuit of love, but different in the view of life and the end of life。 He analyses that the fundamental reason of the difference is the work of Cao Xueqin has obvious disillusionment, and Charlotte Bronte's works reflect her strong fighting spirit。 In the article The Song of The Broken-winged Bird--The Comparison Between Jane Eyre and Lin Daiyu, Zhao Li points out that both of them are orphans with strong and precious resistance。 And another writer Dong Liping holds that Jane Eyre and Lin Daiyu are worthy to be praised。 Although their final endings are quite different, they are both the winner of the spirit。