Abstract

As modern readers question the patriarchal dominance of heroes such as Rochester in Jane Eyre (1847) and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1847), a fresh look at Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey (1847) suggests that it may offer very different lessons about masculinity. A series of men and boys in the book interact with animals and lower-class people in ways that control, exploit, dismiss, and even destroy them. Read through the lens of animal studies, we see Agnes and others oppressed by privileged white men of the middle and upper classes who exploit and dominate animals, women, and working-class people. Edward Weston, though, appeals to Agnes—and the reader—precisely because he resists cruelty and destruction and instead values the affective attachments that Agnes and Nancy Brown have with their pets. Ultimately, through his humane relationship to animals and less-privileged people, Weston offers a more caring and compassionate model of masculinity.

摘要

当现代读者质疑《简·爱》（1847）中的罗切斯特和《呼啸山庄》 （1847）中的希斯克利夫等英雄的父权统治时，重新审视安妮·勃朗特的《艾格尼丝·格雷》（1847）表明，它可能提供有关男子气概的非常不同的教训。书中的一系列男人和男孩与动物和下层人民互动，以控制、利用、排斥甚至摧毁他们的方式。透过动物研究的视角，我们看到艾格尼丝和其他人受到中上层阶级特权白人的压迫，他们剥削和统治动物、妇女和工人阶级。然而，爱德华·韦斯顿之所以吸引艾格尼丝和读者，正是因为他抵制残忍和破坏，而是重视艾格尼丝和南希·布朗与宠物的情感依恋。最终，通过他与动物和弱势群体的人道关系，韦斯顿提供了一种更加关爱和富有同情心的男性气质模式。