珍．奧斯汀曾描述其作品為「兩吋象牙」，描繪「鄉村中的三、四個家庭」。在看似簡單的表相下，奧斯汀的小說卻隱含了自我與社會的權力糾葛。奧斯汀筆下的人物以「它」者的身分進入社會，擾亂原本社會結構，而社會中的象徵秩序亦試圖同化或異化這些「它」者。本論文旨在探討奧斯汀看似平和的小說世界中所隱含的「它」者政治。
在本文第一章，我簡述過去學術文獻對於奧斯汀作品中自我與社會的探討，並運用露西．伊瑞葛來(Luce Irigaray)對於父權社會中女性「它」者的討論，以及賈克．拉岡(Jacques Lacan)的「它」者理論，來剖析奧斯汀《曼斯菲爾德莊園》與《艾瑪》中的多樣「它」者。在第二章，我試圖分析《曼斯菲爾德莊園》中「它」者與象徵秩序的吊詭關係。「外來者」在象徵社會中一方面扮演次等「它」者或想像慾望之對象，一方面卻遮蓋「本地人」對生活之不滿。而曼斯菲爾德莊園一方面強調嚴格紀律與規範，一方面卻需要「它」者來維持表相和平。在第三章，我討論奧斯汀作品中婚姻以及婚姻對於「它」者與象徵秩序的影響。婚姻似乎是女性「它」者融入社會的唯一方式，但《艾瑪》中的女性想要的卻不只是婚姻。婚姻體制無法馴服所有女人；女性「它」者經歷婚姻仍繼續挑戰象徵霸權。第四章為結論，我概述《曼斯菲爾德莊園》與《艾瑪》中的「它」者政治，並點出女性「它」者在面對象徵秩序時所展露的「性別搬演性」(gender performativity)。女性慾望之搬演導致女人與社會之間永無止盡的抗爭，使我們得以窺見奧斯汀作品童話表相下的不穩定性與無限可能。

Jane Austen famously described her works as a “little bit of ivory,” featuring “three or four families in a country village.” Yet beneath the simple appearance of her novels lie the complicated power struggles between the self and the society. Austen’s characters are oftentimes “others” disturbing the peace and stability of a place, whereas her settings are in fact symbolic structures trying either to include or exclude these “others.” In this thesis, I attempt to reveal the politics of “otherness” inside Austen’s seemingly small and coherent fictional worlds.
In my first chapter, I review previous scholarship on the issue of self and society in Austen’s works, and employ Luce Irigaray’s argument of women as “others” in patriarchal society and Jacques Lacan’s other/Other dynamics so as to explore the multifaceted “others” in Austen’s Mansfield Park and Emma. Chapter two aims to untangle the ambivalent relationships between the “others” and the symbolic order in Mansfield Park. Cast as either inferior “others” or objects of fantasy, “outsiders” to Mansfield Park nevertheless help satisfy the discontents of the Bertram family. And despite being a place of strict order and discipline, Mansfield Park is in fact in need of “others” to maintain a surface stability. In chapter three, I move on to the issue of marriage and its role in the conflicts between “others” and the symbolic. Although marriage appears to be the only way for female “others” to settle into the society, in Emma we see cases of women wanting something beyond marriage. The marriage institute fails to tame all women; instead, women’s “otherness” could survive marriage and continue to challenge the symbolic authority. In the concluding chapter, while summarizing the politics of “others” in Mansfield Park and Emma, I point to the gender performativity of Austen’s female characters in their battle against the symbolic. The performative nature of female desire leads to the everlasting struggles between women and the society, allowing us to see the uncertainties and changing possibilities underneath the fairytale appearance of Austen’s novels.

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