This paper investigates the bildungsroman phenomenon as depicted in Jane Austen’s Emma (1817) by consulting Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development as a framework of analysis. The most two conflicting readings in this regard could be best seen in Buckley’s (1974) claim which excluded Emma from the bildungsroman, for the genre has always been associated with the protagonist’s physical quest seeking maturity and social integration. However, Kohn (1995) read Emma as a domestic bildungsroman when he argued that Emma did not have to travel physical distances to achieve her maturity. For Kohn, Emma matured within her social sphere. This paper particularly traced Emma’s psychological and social development since this type of development is the basic ingredient of any bildungsroman novel. This paper argued that Emma cannot be read as bildungsroman not because the protagonist did set on a quest, as Buckley claimed, but mainly because Emma did not develop a sense of psychological or social maturation. After placing Emma in Erikson’s developmental stages, the study revealed that she did not really mature neither she realized her own identity. This paper proposed that Emma should not be classified as bildungsroman because the heroine distorted the real meaning of maturity and social integrity.
Classified as a bildungsroman novel, Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) is a work of fiction which deals with the moral development of the main character as an essential ingredient of the genre. Jane's journey towards maturity and independence is a long rocky way that shapes her identity and finally harmonizes her with society. Through many stations in her journey, Jane has to make tough moral choices and decisions to obtain healthy moral reasoning. Thus, this paper is meant to trace the protagonist's moral development in the light of Lawrence Kohlberg's moral theory. Jane's journey starts when she is ten years old, and ends at the age of thirty. At the end of the novel, Jane is married and has a child aged ten. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Depicting the influence of the main and minor characters in the novel, this paper seeks to illustrate how Jane develops a sense of moral reasoning and acts accordingly.
Classified as a bildungsroman novel, Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) is a work of fiction which deals with the moral development of the main character as an essential ingredient of the genre. Jane’s journey towards maturity and independence is a long rocky way that shapes her identity and finally harmonizes her with society. Through many stations in her journey, Jane has to make tough moral choices and decisions to obtain healthy moral reasoning. Thus, this paper is meant to trace the protagonist’s moral development in the light of Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral theory. Jane’s journey starts when she is ten years old, and ends at the age of thirty. At the end of the novel, Jane is married and has a child aged ten. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Depicting the influence of the main and minor characters in the novel, this paper seeks to illustrate how Jane develops a sense of moral reasoning and acts accordingly.
Classified as a bildungsroman novel, Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) is a work of fiction which deals with the moral development of the main character as an essential ingredient of the genre. Jane's journey towards maturity and independence is a long rocky way that shapes her identity and finally harmonizes her with society. Through many stations in her journey, Jane has to make tough moral choices and decisions to obtain healthy moral reasoning. Thus, this paper is meant to trace the protagonist's moral development in the light of Lawrence Kohlberg's moral theory. Jane's journey starts when she is ten years old, and ends at the age of thirty. At the end of the novel, Jane is married and has a child aged ten. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Her twenty-year-journey locates her in the three consecutive stages of moral development. Depicting the influence of the main and minor characters in the novel, this paper seeks to illustrate how Jane develops a sense of moral reasoning and acts accordingly.
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