[專題]Jane Eyre英文小說

費盡千辛萬苦，耗費諸多時日（三個禮拜吧），終於把 Jane Eyre看完，現在正座在電腦前面發呆，手邊有許多單字，花時間整理一下。


antipathy: strong dislike
thence: form that place
equilibrium: balance
totter: 跌撞
rummage: search clumsily
stem: stop the flow from
retrospective: looking back on the back
quail: feel or show fear or apprehension
aversion: strong dislike
deposit: 灰塵
turbid: 混濁
acrid: bitter
spite: malicious desire to hurt sb
captious and insolent carriage: 挑剔無禮的舉動
indemnity: protection against penalty
thwart

THE RIGHT WORD
These verbs refer to the various ways in which we can outwit or overcome opposing forces.
Thwart suggests using cleverness rather than force to bring about the defeat of an enemy or to block progress toward an objective (: thwart a rebellion; have one's goals thwarted by lack of education).
Balk also emphasizes setting up barriers (: a sudden reversal that balked their hopes for a speedy resolution), but it is used more often as an intransitive verb meaning to stop at an obstacle and refuse to proceed (: he balked at appearing in front of the angry crowd).
To baffle is to cause defeat by bewildering or confusing (: the police were baffled by the lack of evidence), while foil means to throw off course so as to discourage further effort (: her plan to arrive early was foiled by heavy traffic).
Frustrate implies rendering all attempts or efforts useless (: frustrated by the increasingly bad weather, they decided to work indoors), while inhibit suggests forcing something into inaction (: to inhibit wage increases by raising corporate taxes).
Both frustrate and inhibit are used in a psychological context to suggest barriers that impede normal development or prevent the realization of natural desires (: he was both frustrated by her refusal to acknowledge his presence and inhibited by his own shyness).

revile: criticize scornfully
opprobrium: harsh criticism
precocious: having developed earlier than is usual
transitory: lasting only briefly
instigate: bring about or initiate
expedient: a means of attaining an end, esp. ine that is convenient but considered improper or immortal
consternation: feelings of anxiety or dismay, typically at sth unexpected
insupportable: unbearable
insurrection: rebellion
vassal: 臣屬
bound to: certain to
temperament: disposition
propensity: inclination, tendency
sanguine: optimistic
complacent: showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievments
ember灰燼
ire: anger
bourn: limit
interloper: intruder
congenial: agreeable
congenital: innate
perjure: lie under oath
peternatural超自然
elicit: draw out a response
stifle: surpress

暫停整理，因為筆者筆記太多，打字太慢。只好先跳過（早該這樣了）。 之所以看Jane Eyre這本小說其實說起來還滿幼稚的。筆者手中的版本是由Oxford編寫的，資料詳實非常推薦。

記得是一年級的暑假，英文老師指派的閱讀心得作業（老師指的當然是精簡版的，通常都是Oxford或Cambridge針對各英文程度編寫）。在出去玩路上看到這本漂亮的書，就忍不住掏錢買下（最近類似衝動事件讓我在逛台南舊書攤，不小心買下Dubliner和Norton Reader。還有前陣子的高行建）。總之在旅途中真的要小心亂花錢的問題。

旅途結束後，書就被供在架子上。直到考完大學有閒了，再加上英文程度稍稍配的上這本書（結果還不是緊緊抱著字典不放）。真正開始看是因為同班同學在我還沈醉在Pride and Prejudice的時候就開始看「企鵝版」的簡愛，現在想起來滿好玩得，我們坐在一起，有的時候沒帶字典就借對方的。然後比賽（呵呵！幼稚的行為）。不過那個同學好像一天要做的事很多（我也是啦所以常常把書擱在一邊，但剩下來的時間為學校段考付出的也不多）。

今天我把它看完了，感想複雜（一部份因為不知道真正瞭解這本書多少，才有點猶豫該如何寫心得），wikipedia裡面列舉了三個元素：

The novel merges elements of three distinct genres. It has the form of a Bildungsroman, a story about a child's maturation, focusing on the emotions and experiences that accompany growth to adulthood. The novel also contains much social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, and finally has the brooding and moody quality and a Byronic character typical of Gothic fiction.

非常好，第一個當然就是小女孩的心酸血淚史，但就像維基百科後面提到他被認為是女性主義的先驅，有很大一部份在於主角身分的設定。她又是出身高貴不算低下，但是在故事結尾之前都屬於貧窮。論身分地位，對一名那時代的女性而言，她的個性在現代也不一定能受到認同。就我自己的看法，作者很用心經營許多男性角色，故事曲折的劇情也一樣襯托出一名女性的想法、成長，所以很明顯的看起來，並不是那麼正統的愛情故事，所謂的男主角的位子是空出來的，變成表現出一個人面對人生的心路歷程。其實書名本來就教做Jane Eyre An Autography，很明顯的就是在講一個人的故事。

那麼，以簡愛本人為核心，探討、批評的議題就很多，宗教信仰其實就佔去一大部份，不如用更籠統的詞，就是對她的思想信念。對於上帝的質疑（筆者非教徒），還有她的實踐，她對愛的態度。作者本身就博學多聞，對很多事情都有自己的看法和批評，但她並非異教徒，只是一步步去體會自己的經驗反覆印證自己的信仰。

小說的場景劇情部份據別人說（又是維基百科）都有很符合當代潮流的劇情（男主角陰沈乖戾，恐怖的大房子，鬧鬼之類等等），就不在多提。

最後在此提醒大家要看英文版的不要買企鵝版，因為簡愛裡面摻有很多法文（主要是對話拉，也只有Adele的部份會多到令人難以忍受）。但因為作者文學造詣實在太高（或是筆者才疏學淺）會常常用典。有註釋的版本會比較好。