제국주의와 『제인 에어』 = Imperialism and Jane Eyre

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Imperialism in Jane Eyre may seem a peripheral topic. But Bronte`s work represents British coloniahst issues more strikingly than any other nineteenth century novel. Actually it is saturated with the concerns of empire: Jane`s inheritance, Rochester`s first marriage and fortune, and St John`s spiritual mission. Spivak argues that "the unquestioned ideology of imperialist axiomatics" informs Bront`s narrative. But her analysis of the workings of imperialist ideology is too simplistic This article examines the way imperialism is represented and how the female protagonist resists and colludes with the imperialist ideology. While Spivak regards imperialism as civilizing through social mission, Jane Eyre shows that colonial dominance is "at once a civilizing mission and a violent subjugating force" as Homi Bahbah said. A violent subjugating force is conveyed through the figure of Edward Rochester who is at the same time attracted to the colony and fears it. On the other hand, St John represents a civilizing mission. The novel`s critique of St John`s coercive mediation between God and Indian is also intrinsically a critique of his missionary imperialism. Race is a controlling metaphor to represent conflictual gender and class relation. But it is more than a metaphor simply because the oppressors of Jane are actual colonists The analogy Jane makes between her own oppression and that of harems and Hindu women suggests a solidanty with the outcasts of imperialist England. She also enunciates the oppressiveness of imperialism as a civilizing mission when she declares that` the sacrifice St John demands of her is nothing short of murder. Although Jane expresses sympathy for the colonized women she does not identify herself as one. Rather she empowers herself with the moral superiority of British impenalist by positioning herself as a missionary It is not simply a case of "native female" being excluded; Jane appeals to the mission of colonialism for claiming her moral superiority as a white middle class woman. While women may be shut out from the avenues of colonial advancement, the desire to dam mate is not limited to man. In Jane Eyre the ideology of imperialism is questioned and then reaffirmed.