敬畏生命 梭罗《瓦尔登湖》的主题分析.docx

1、敬畏生命 梭罗瓦尔登湖的主题分析敬畏生命： 梭罗瓦尔登湖的主题分析 2012届 分类号:I106 单位代码 :10452 某某大学 毕业论文(设计) 敬畏生命: 梭罗瓦尔登湖的主题分析 姓 名 某某某 学 号 200804690943 年 级 2008级10班 专 业 英语 系 (院) 外国语学院 指导教师 某某某 2012年4 月 20 日 Reverence for Life:A Thematic Analysis of H. D. Thoreaus Walden A Thesis Submitted to Foreign Languages School of xxxx Universi

2、ty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsByXxxxSupervisor: xxxxApril 20, 2012Acknowledgements Many people have contributed to the writing of this dissertation by providing me their invaluable time, feedbacks, comments and critiques. First and foremost, I would

3、emphasize my greatest debt to Professor Gu Huiping, my advisor, who painstakingly went through the early drafts and provided generously detailed criticism. Without her advice and constant encouragement, it would be impossible for me to achieve the completion of this dissertation. Her expertise and p

4、atience gives this thesis more chances to be improved and polished. Deeply impressed by her kindness and strict style, I believe that her influence on me will be lifelong I would also like to express my appreciation to my classmates for their selfless assistance and patience in helping me at any tim

5、e At last, I feel much obliged to my dear parents, who have brought me and support me all the time. No words can fully express my sincere love and gratitude for them.Abstract At present, the ecological crisis is becoming more and more serious and it is a fact that people are chasing material wealth

6、blindly with no attention to the needs from heart, therefore, it is of great educational significance to explore Thoreaus attitudes towards life embodied in his works Walden. Here the paper attempts to illuminate Thoreaus life philosophy from three perspectives: returning to simplicity, eco-centric

7、equality and pursuit of spiritual independence, which points out that Thoreaus idea of a good life is to live a simple, free life and to live with nature harmoniously. Thus, it provides a good way for people to get rid of spirit crises and to deal with nature correctly.Key Words: Thoreau; Walden; si

8、mplicity; equality; spiritual independence摘要 面对生态危机日益严重以及人们只顾追求物质利益忽视心灵需求的现实,探讨梭罗瓦尔登湖中所蕴含的对待生命的态度具有重要的教育意义。本文通过回归简单,万物平等,精神独立三个方面阐述梭罗的哲学人生观,指出梭罗所追求的理想生活是简单自由,与自然和谐共处的生活,这为当代人摆脱精神危机, 正确处理好人与自然的关系指明了道路。关键词:梭罗;瓦尔登湖;简单;平等;精神独立Table of Contents Acknowledgements iAbstract ii摘要 iiiIntroduction 1Chapter One

9、 Henry David Thoreau and Walden 31.1 Thoreaus Life Experience 31. 2 A Brief Introduction to Walden 4Chapter Two Thoreaus Views of Life 62.1 Returning to Simplicity 62.2 Eco-centric Equality 82.3 Pursuit of Spiritual Independence 9Chapter Three The Legacy of Walden 123.1 Influences on Ecological Lite

10、rature 123.2 Influences on Peoples Life Concept 14Conclusion 16Works Cited 17Introduction Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 is an outstanding American nature writer, philosopher, and environmental scientist. His masterpiece, Walden, depicts the beauty of nature and is not only a personal experiment with

11、 a natural life but also a holistic philosophy of the relationship between man and nature. At present, the ecological crisis is becoming more and more serious and it is a fact that people are chasing material wealth blindly with no attention to the needs from heart; therefore, it is of great educati

12、onal significance to explore Thoreaus attitudes toward life embodied in his Walden After the mid-1990s, some important research monographs on ecocriticism were published in America, such as, Rebecca Stefoffs The American Environmental Movement, Lawrence Buells The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau,

13、 Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture and The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology collaborated by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm and Jonathan Bates Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and Environmental Tradition, Christopher Belshaws Environmental Philosophy: Reason, Nat

14、ure and Human Concern , Which points out that Thoreau is today considered as the first major interpreter of nature in American literary history, and the first American environmentalist saint. The research development on ecocriticism in England could be represented by Laurence Coupes The Green Studie

15、s Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism. And recent critical work includes David M. Robinsons Natural Life: Thoreaus Worldly Transcendentalism 2004 and Greg Garrards Ecocriticism and David Mazels A Century of Early Ecocriticism. Not until 1949 was Walden introduced into China. Its first Chinese v

16、ersion was translated by the famous Chinese writer Xu Chi, who regarded it as both a book full of life wisdom and a book embodied with vivid and beautiful description about nature. Thoreauvian study in China mainly focus on Thoreaus idea about nature, highly praising his respect for nature and furth

17、er affirming his important role in eco-literature such as Chen Kais The Ecological Ideology: Thoreaus View on Nature, and Guan Chunhuas Thoreau and Nature: Reflections on Thoreaus Walden Pound. The first monograph on Euro-American Ecological Literature in China by Wang Nuo was published in 2003 by B

18、eijing Press University. However, up to now, most of the studies are just focus on the interpretation of Thoreaus works on ecology but do not make deep exploration concerning the life philosophy in his Walden, which can give people direction of the way of living in which people should take in the fu

19、ture and how to respect humans life and nature, So, the present paper will specifically analyze this point in Walden. This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction. Chapter Two deals with the general knowledge of Thoreau and his Walden. Chapter Three is mainly about Thor

20、eaus life philosophy from three aspects: returning to simplicity, eco-centric equality and pursuit of spiritual independence. Chapter Four is an analysis of the legacy of Walden. The last chapter is the conclusion of the thesis. Chapter One Henry David Thoreau and Walden1.1 Thoreaus Life Experience

21、Henry Davie Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817, in what he thought “the most estimable place in the world, and in the very nick of time, too.”Harding, 1982:3 Concord, some twenty miles northwest of Boston, is located on the plains surrounding the juncture of the Assayed and

22、 Sudbury Rivers which forms the Concord Rivers, one of the principal tributaries of the Merrimack. In 1817, it was a quite little town of two thousand, devoted chiefly to agriculture. The towns citizens knew neither great wealth nor extreme poverty and the town was essentially a democracy, no man fe

23、lt the need of kneeling to his neighbors. Thoreau grew up very close with his older brother, John, Jr., who first show an interest in ornithology and Thoreau later learned much of his bird from Johns notebooks. They opened a private school with the principle of “learning by doing” and devoted a cons

24、iderable part of its program to field trips, which proved successful. Because of Johns poor health, the school was brought to an abrupt close on April 1, 1841.the worst thing is that John died because of lockjaw in his brothers arms in January 1842. Soon after Johns death, Thoreau returned to live w

25、ith Emerson, and eventually he resumed his normal pattern of life, Thoreau lived there for more than two years. He tutored Emersons children, kept Emersons garden and also contributed to The Dial, an important magazine. Inspired by Emerson, he began to write his journal. In 1845, he moved to a cabin

26、 built by him on the shore of Walden Pound and stayed there for more than two years. He lived a very simple life in it and enjoyed the greatest happiness in spirit. He devoted most of his time to reading, writing and he kept a detailed journal of his observations of nature, activities and thoughts.

27、Yet he was quite enjoying that life and solitude. And there, he finished his most famous book Walden or Life in the Woods, which was commonly regarded as his masterpiece. Thoreau loved nature very much. He enjoyed walking in the woods and studied various birds, animals, trees and flowers. He collect

28、ed various interesting things in nature, which was sent to his mother and young sister Sophia. In his late life, he made several journeys to Maine Woods and Cape Cod. He admired Indian and liked oriental philosophy very much. He died of tuberculosis in 1862, at the age of 44, after his death, he and

29、 his book got a profound understanding and widely attention. He left ten books, numerous essays and a huge journal, published later in 20 volumes.1. 2 A Brief Introduction to WaldenWalden, written by Henry David Thoreau, was published in 1854, it details Thoreaus sojourn in a cabin beside Walden Pou

30、nd where he lived for more than two years, but Walden was written so that the stay appears to be a year, with expressed seasonal divisions. Walden consists of 18 chapters. Chapter one is an attack on the American lifestyle along with Thoreaus alternative solution. He does this, he says, in order to

31、illustrate the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle and he easily supplies the four necessities of life food, shelter, clothing, and fuel. In Chapter two and three, Thoreau describes his cabins location and discusses books and what he felt that people should be reading. In Chapter four, Thor

32、eau continued his description of his life in the wood and describes the sounds of nature around his home and describes his solitude in the woods and ends with his recipe for good health in Chapter five. In Chapter six and seven, Thoreau writes about the visitors to his cabin and explains his work in the bean-field in detail. In Chapter eight, Thoreau visits the small town of Concord every day or two to hear the news, which he finds “as refreshing in its way as the rustle of the leaves.” In Chapter nine, in au