A Contrastive Study Of The Values In Pride And Prejudice And Little Women From The Perspective Of Fragment Theory

The United States and the United Kingdom are two countries with similar cultures.Moreover,when people talk about British culture and American culture,they often refer to them in terms of British and American culture.American traditions are inextricably linked to those of the original country,the United Kingdom;so for a long time,American cultural traditions were,in a sense,a replica of British cultural traditions.However,as the American "fragment" has been separated from the UK society for a longer period,the differences in political structure,economic structure,lifestyle,environmental settings,ethnic structure,and historical development path have gradually led to many differences in cultural values in these two countries.Therefore,it is necessary to analyze and explore the differences between the American culture and the British culture in terms of the value of love,marriage,family,and money by using two famous British and American literary works,Pride and Prejudice and Little Women,as the objects of the study.Both novels,Pride and Prejudice and Little Women,were written in an era of social stratification,where people’s social status and wealth determined their lifestyles and futures.At the same time,a focus on the concepts of marriage and family was present in the background of both novels.In the same transitional period,both novels were based on the lasting affection of boys and girls;however,the values embodied in the two novels were significantly different.Therefore,based on the existing literature,this study examines the differences between the two novels in terms of the concept of love,marriage,family and money,as well as the reasons for the differences,from the perspective of “Fragment Theory”.In terms of the concept of love,Pride and Prejudice emphasizes the importance of love,but cannot ignore the consideration of financial reality;while Little Women emphasizes the first priority of love.In the view of marriage,Pride and Prejudice believes that love and property are the foundation of marriage,and that one cannot be without the other,while Little Women breaks the limits of wealth,in which love and character are most important and property is optional.In the family view,the Bennett family in Pride and Prejudice does not focus on the moral and intellectual education of their daughters;they are concerned with finding rich,handsome husbands for their daughters;whereas in Little Women,on the contrary,Mrs.March patiently teaches her daughters that unity among family members is most important.In terms of the concept of money,Pride and Prejudice believes that money is essential and is obtained primarily through the path of marriage,while Little Women believes that money is important but not essential and is obtained primarily through education and hard work.Based on the “Fragment Theory”,although the British culture and American culture with a special mother and child relation are regarded as a whole,they also present different characteristics,and even those similar aspects are different in terms of depth and breadth.Therefore,as far as modernization is concerned,there cannot be a single modernization path that is suitable for all nations and countries because of the different national conditions and cultures in the world.As an oriental country with a long history of 5,000 years,it is necessary for China to explore a Chinese modernization path that fits its national conditions and culture,rather than copying the Western modernization model.In addition,this study not only enriches the study of Pride and Prejudice and Little Women and helps readers to deepen their understanding of both the British culture and American culture but also brings important insights into how the majority of young readers in China can establish a correct view of love,marriage,family and money.