CHARLOTTE BRONTË: A MODERN WOMAN
现代女性夏洛蒂·勃朗特
文/ 梅利莎·洛斯
译/ 钟梦圆 审订/ 钱多秀
By Melissa Lowes
Without a doubt, Charlotte Brontë was progressive in her beliefs. In a time when women were considered little more than[1] social adornments and bearers of offspring, Charlotte Brontë bravely contradicted society through her writing. Her novels speak volumes for[2] the oppressed woman; thus establishing Charlotte Brontë as one of the first modern women of her time. To refer to Charlotte Brontë as a feminist would, however, be an insufferable misrepresentation. Unlike George Sand[3], who by appearances and her standard of living epitomized the nineteenth-century feminist, Charlotte Brontë withdrew from a society that would not entirely accept her, and expressed her stifled ideals through her words.
毫无疑问，夏洛蒂·勃朗特是个思想进步的人。在那个仅仅把女性当成是花瓶和生育工具的年代，她用自己的文学作品大胆地批驳社会。她在小说中对受压迫的女性进行了充分描绘，本人也因此跻身于当时首批现代女性之列。不过，把夏洛蒂说成是女权主义者，就过于曲解了她的形象。19世纪女权主义者的代表乔治·桑喜欢在社会上抛头露面，追求世俗生活的品质。而夏洛蒂和她不同，她无法完全被社会接纳，便远离了社会，用文字来表达自己受压制的理想。
[1] 只不过是，仅仅是。
[2] 充分说明。
[3] 乔治·桑：19世纪法国著名浪漫主义女作家。在定居巴黎期间，她和当时文化界的众多名人来往密切，还穿男装出入各种公开场合。她追求享乐，靠写作获得舒适的生活。其大胆的言行中包含着女权主义思想的萌芽，被认为是女权运动的先驱。
Slight in size, perpetually modest, she often likened herself to others in her oppressed situation; the ugly daughter or poor spinster, which she equated to slaves imprisoned by circumstances beyond their control. It was Brontë’s suppressed spirit that gave way to her literary fantasies.
夏洛蒂身形瘦小，总是那么谦厚恭顺，她经常将自己比作那些跟她一样身受压迫的人; 相貌丑陋的女儿或是生活穷苦的老姑娘，在她看来，这些人无法左右外界环境，像奴隶一样被禁锢其中。勃朗特这种压抑的个性在她幻想的文学世界里得到释放。
The options for the proper yet impoverished woman during the time were limited to being a governess or teacher, roles Charlotte Brontë considered forms of bondage, as well. She believed that a governess had no existence, and was not considered a living or rational being except in connection with the wearisome duties she was forced to perform.
在当时，一个不失体统但家境贫寒的女性只能选择去做家庭女教师或是教员。这类工作在夏洛蒂看来同样带有束缚性。她认为，家庭女教师根本没有存在感，除了那些不得不做的枯燥工作，别人不会把她当作一个活生生的或有理性的人。
Marriage was always a viable solution, yet Charlotte Brontë would only marry a man she respected, no matter his status or fortune. She resigned to live in the role society placed upon her, yet no one, not even a stringent society, could hamper her burgeoning emotions. It was through her words that Charlotte Brontë created a woman of free thought, intellect, and strong moral character; the same traits Charlotte herself possessed.
夏洛蒂一直可以选择结婚，但她只希望嫁给一个自己尊敬的男子，而并不在乎对方的地位和钱财。虽然她接受了社会强加于她的角色，但任何个人，哪怕是严酷的社会，都无法阻止她汹涌澎湃的情感。借助文字，夏洛蒂塑造出一位思想自由、才华出众、品德高尚的女性，这些特质同样也是她本人所具备的。
It was a dreary existence[4] on the Yorkshire moors for the Brontë children. Charlotte was an intelligent youth, who took an early interest in politics. Her interest, solely on her own accord, was self-taught by reading the newspapers her father left lying about. By the age of nine, she knew more about politics than most grown men.
勃朗特家的几个孩子在约克郡荒野之地的生活非常沉闷。青年时期的夏洛蒂十分聪慧，很早便开始对政治产生兴趣。这种兴趣完全是自发的，她阅读父亲四处散放的报纸，自学政治知识。9岁时，她已经比多数成年男性更懂政治。
[4] 指一种生活方式。
The Brontë children were all avid readers, and since they were isolated children, plagued often by illness, death, and desolation, they frequently retreated into a world of literary fantasy, spawned by the works of Sir Walter Scott[5], as well as other romantic authors of the time. Spurred by their vivid imaginations, the children invented role-playing games, at times with the aide of wooden toys, other times in provisional costumes.
勃朗特家的孩子都热爱阅读。因为时常遭受疾病、死亡的折磨，感到孤寂荒凉，他们便经常沉浸在文学幻想的世界里，最初是受到沃尔特·司各特的小说和当时其他一些浪漫主义作家的启发。在那些活灵活现的想象激发之下，孩子们发明了角色扮演的游戏，他们有时会借助木头娃娃，有时还会穿上临时做的戏装。
[5] 英国著名历史小说家和诗人，出生于苏格兰，英语历史文学的鼻祖。
It was during these imaginative dramas that the girls portrayed legendry figures, figures of strength throughout history: Bonaparte[6], Caesar, Hannibal[7], and the Duke of Wellington[8]. It was the archetypical male hero who interested the girls, not weak or impressionable females. Even female historical figures who appeared strong, such as Cleopatra[9], did not interested Charlotte, for Cleopatra used her sexuality to attain greatness, instead of achieving it on her own. Charlotte rejected the use of sexuality to attract men in any form, and criticized women who resorted to this female characteristic as lacking self-respect, a fate she deemed worse than death.
在这些虚构出来的戏剧里，女孩们得以扮演许多传奇角色，都是些历史上的强悍人物，比如拿破仑、凯撒、汉尼拔和惠灵顿公爵。能够吸引她们的是典型的男性主角，而非软弱无力或是敏感脆弱的女性角色。即使是像埃及艳后克莱奥帕特拉这类看起来强势的女性历史人物也不能引起夏洛蒂的兴趣。她觉得埃及艳后获得成就靠的是美色而非自己的力量。夏洛蒂反对一切利用美色去吸引男性的方式，批评这种以女性特质为手段的女人不自重，在她看来，这种命运比死亡还要糟糕。
[6] 指拿破仑·波拿巴。
[7] 北非古国迦太基的名将和军事家，是欧洲历史上最伟大的四大军事统帅之一。
[8] 滑铁卢之战中大败拿破仑的反法联军的指挥者。
[9] 埃及艳后克莱奥帕特拉七世（Cleopatra Ⅶ，公元前69—前30），埃及托勒密王朝最后一位女王。她才貌出众，擅长手段，一生极富戏剧性。
It was Charlotte who provided the noms de plume that were deliberately ambiguous in gender for her and her sisters. It is a fact that woman authors during the time were not received as seriously as men; however, as Currer Bell, Charlotte had the freedom to create her characters the way she wanted. Concealed by anonymity, she created heroines with genuine ideas and erudite views, who, above all, respected themselves, and weren’t afraid to declare it. For Charlotte Brontë, it was the ideal emotional outlet.
夏洛蒂故意给她自己和妹妹们取了性别模糊的笔名。当时，人们不会像对待男性作者那样认真对待女性作者。不过，顶着“柯勒·贝尔”这个笔名，夏洛蒂得以自由地按照个人想法进行人物创作。借助匿名的掩护，她塑造出众多女性主角，她们有真正的思想，博学多才，最重要的是自尊自重且不惮于表现出来。对夏洛蒂来说，这是释放情感的绝佳途径。
A woman who revealed an independent spirit was rare, if not non-existent during Charlotte Brontë’s time. Such feelings were typically concealed beneath a stoic exterior, suppressing the creative, emotional, and spiritual self. Such suppression had dangerous consequences—an unhappy, unfulfilled life. Charlotte Brontë wrote that imagination was a restless faculty which needed to be heard and exercised. “Are we to be quite deaf to her cry and insensate to her struggles?”
在夏洛蒂身处的时代中，表现出独立精神的女性不能说完全没有，却也委实罕见。这类情感通常隐藏在坚忍的外表下，自我的创造力、情感和精神都受到压制。这种自我压抑危害无穷，会使人生活不幸，没有成就感。夏洛蒂写道，想象力是躁动不安的，需要得到释放，不断运用。“难道我们要对她的叫喊充耳不闻，对她的挣扎无动于衷吗？”
Charlotte Brontë withdrew into the world she created. It was through her writing that she was allowed to breathe life into her suppressed self and dreams. Charlotte Brontë spoke of the evils of the condition of women, deep-rooted within the structure of the social system. Charlotte Brontë urged women not to linger on such problems; though the literary world must be grateful she did not heed her own advice. It was through her discontent that the characters of Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe were born.
夏洛蒂退回到自己创造出来的世界里。通过写作，她才得以给备受压抑的自我和梦想注入生命的活力。她说过，女性恶劣处境的根源在于社会制度的结构。她敦促女性不要纠结于这些问题。文学界一定很感谢她没有听从自己的这个建议，因为正是这种不满的情绪催生出了简·爱和露西·斯诺这样的人物。
Jane Eyre, arguably Charlotte Brontë’s tour de force[10], intermingles autobiographical elements with romantic notions of the period. In the character Jane, Charlotte Brontë created a slight woman, in all respects plain, modest, morally strong and intelligent. Like the author, Jane’s isolation created her persona, providing her with the necessary survival skills. Jane does not need a man to make her feel worthy; instead, she carries her selfworth in her mind and determination. Through Jane, Brontë exhibits resentment toward a society that has scorned her, while maintaining a detachment toward humanity as a whole.
《简·爱》可说是夏洛蒂的一部力作，融合了一些自传成分和那个时代的浪漫理念。对于简这个人物，夏洛蒂把她塑造成一个瘦小的女人，从各个方面来说都平平无奇，道德感强，且聪颖智慧。和作者本人一样，简的孤立造就了她的人格形象，也成为她必要的生存手段。她不需要男人来肯定她的价值；相反，她的自我价值存在于她的头脑和决心中。夏洛蒂通过简向蔑视过她的社会表达出自己的愤恨，同时又保持了一种超脱于人性的态度。
[10]〔法语〕杰作。
When Jane ultimately falls in love, she embraces the notion of love itself, not the label or profits derived from it. However, Jane will not sacrifice her morals[11] or self-respect for any man. In essence, she will not sacrifice herself. It is imperative to her to remain true to herself. Nothing can tempt Jane in this respect: wealth, status, or love.
在简最后坠入爱河的时候，她信奉的依然是爱情这个事物本身，而非爱情的名号抑或它带来的好处。简不会为任何男人牺牲自己的道德观或自尊。本质上说，她不会牺牲自己，必须忠实自己。即便是财富、地位或爱情这些东西，也不会令她受到诱惑。
[11] 品行，道德。
I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.
我爱我自己。我离人群越远，越无亲无故，越无以为继，我就会越尊重我自己。
……
（选自《英语世界》2016年第4期）
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