英语毕业论文超验主义视角重解小说《小妇人》.docx
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英语毕业论文超验主义视角重解小说《小妇人》
摘要:
美国著名女作家露易莎·梅·奥尔科特的长篇小说<小妇人>充分体现了超验主义思想.这部以美国南北战争为背景的小说包含着复杂的文化情境,可以从多重视角来解读。
本文试图从超验主义视角解读这篇小说,并尽力挖掘该小说中体现的超验主义思想,以拓宽人们阅读该小说的视野。
超验主义宣扬人、神、自然的精神统一,强调精神、自我和自助。
这些思想都在马奇姐妹的性格和成长过程中有所体现。
马奇姐妹具有不同的性格和才华,但都注重自己的精神提高和完善,并极力保持自助和自我独立的精神。
超验主义赋予了马奇姐妹人格魅力,使小说赢得了读者的喜爱。
此外奥尔科特在小说中把超验主义延伸到女性现实,这也增加了小说的可读性。
关键词:
《小妇人》;超验主义;个人主义;自助
Abstract:
Americanfamouswriter,LouisaMayAlcott’snovelLittleWomenfullyreflectsthetranscendentalideas.ThisnovelbasedontheAmericanCivilWarcontainscomplexculturalcontextsandthus,canbereadfrommanyperspectives.ThisthesisattemptstoreadthisnovelfromtheperspectiveofTranscendentalism,andtrytotaptheTranscendentalismembodiedinthought,inordertobroadenpeople'sperspectiveofreadingthenovel.Transcendentalismpromotestheunityofpeople,God,thespiritofnatural,toemphasizethespiritofselfandself-reliance.TheseideasarereflectedintheMarchsisters’growingupandcharacter.Marchsistershavedifferentpersonalitiesandtalents,buttheyfocusontheirownspiritimprovementandstronglymaintaintheself-relianceandself-independentspirit.TranscendentalismgavethecharismatotheMarchsistersandmadethenovelwonthereader'sfavorite.Inaddition,AlcottextendedTranscendentalismtowomenrealityinLittleWomen,anditincreasesthereadabilityofthenovel.
Keywords:
LittleWomen;Transcendentalism;Individualism;Self-reliance
ThesisStatement:
ThispaperdiscussestheimportanceoftheTranscendentalisminLittleWomenanditsinfluenceonthemindsofthefourMarchdaughters.
Outline:
Ⅰ.TheDevelopmentofTranscendentalism
A.TheConnotationofTranscendentalism
B.SomeImportantCommentsonTranscendentalism
Ⅱ.TranscendentalisminLittleWomen
A.ABriefLookatthePlotoftheLittleWomen
B.TheReflectionofTranscendentalismthroughtheCharactersinLittleWomen
1.TomboyishJo
2.BeautifulMeg
3.FragileBeth
4.RomanticAmy
5.JohnBrooke
6.Laurenceboy
Ⅲ.TheInfluenceofTranscendentalisminLittleWomenontheFutureLiterature
Ⅳ.Conclusion
ATranscendentalReadingofLittleWomen
Introduction
LouisaMayAlcott,theseconddaughterofAmosBronsonAlcottandAbigail“Abba”MaywasborninGermantown,Pennsy1vaniaonNovember29,1832.Herfamouswork,LittleWomenisanovelwrittenandsetintheAlcottfamilyhome,OrchardHouse,inConcord,Massachusetts.Itwaspublishedintwopartsin1868and1869.Thenovelfollowsthelivesoffoursisters—Meg,Jo,Beth,andAmyMarch—andislooselybasedontheauthor'schildhoodexperienceswithherthreesisters.Thefirstpartofthebookwasanimmediatecommercialandcriticalsuccess,promptingthecompositionofthebook'ssecondparttitledGoodWives,alsoahugesuccess.Bothpartswerefirstpublishedasasinglevolumein1880.AlcottfollowedLittleWomenwithtwosequelsreprisingtheMarchsisters,LittleMen(1871)andJo'sBoys(1886).LittleWomenhasbeenadaptedtoplay,musical,opera,film,andanimatedfeature.
SomescholarshavestudiedaboutimagesinLittleWomen.Theylayparticularemphasisonself-dependenceandself-disciplineinLittleWomen(许绮,2004:
122).Fromthestudies,wecanfindoutthatdifferentpersonalitiesreflectdifferentoutlooksonvalueandlife.ThestudiesonlydescribewhatthefemaleimagesinLittleWomen,whilethisthesisistoattemptstoreadthisnovelfromtheperspectiveofTranscendentalism,andtrytotaptheTranscendentalismembodiedinthought,inordertobroadenpeople'sperspectiveofreadingthenovel.
LittleWomentotallyreflectsthespiritsoftranscendentalism.TheMarchsistersinthisnovelweretheclassicreflectionsofself-reliance,individualismandfeminism.
Ⅰ.TheDevelopmentofTranscendentalism
A.TheConnotationofTranscendentalism
Transcendentalismwasagroupofnewideasinliterature,religion,culture,andphilosophythatemergedinNewEnglandintheearlytomiddle19th century.ItissometimescalledAmericantranscendentalismtodistinguishitfromotherusesofthewordtranscendental.Transcendentalismbeganasaprotestagainstthegeneralstateofcultureandsociety,andinparticular,thestateofintellectualismatHarvardandthedoctrineoftheUnitarianchurchtaughtatHarvardDivinitySchool.Amongtranscendentalists'corebeliefswasanidealspiritualstatethat'transcends'thephysicalandempiricalandisonlyrealizedthroughtheindividual'sintuition,ratherthanthroughthedoctrinesofestablishedreligions.ProminenttranscendentalistsincludedRalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,OrestesBrownson,WilliamHenryChanning,JamesFreemanClarke,ChristopherPearseCranch,JohnSullivanDwight,ConversFrancis,MargaretFuller,WilliamHenryFurness,FrederickHenryHedge,SylvesterJudd,TheodoreParker,ElizabethPeabody,GeorgeRipley,AmosBronsonAlcott,andJonesVery.OthersincludedAmosBronsonAlcottandA.E.Waite.
ThepublicationofRalphWaldoEmerson's1836essayNatureisusuallytakentobethewatershedmomentatwhichtranscendentalismbecameamajorculturalmovement.Emersonwroteinhisspeech"TheAmericanScholar":
"Wewillwalkonourownfeet;wewillworkwithourownhands;DivineSoulwhichalsoinspiresallmen."Emersonclosedtheessaybycallingforarevolutioninhumanconsciousnesstoemergefromthenewidealistphilosophy
Inthesameyear,transcendentalismbecameacoherentmovementwiththefoundingoftheTranscendentalClubinCambridge,Massachusetts,onSeptember8,1836,byprominentNewEnglandintellectualsincludingGeorgePutnam,RalphWaldoEmerson,andFrederickHenryHedge.From1840,thegrouppublishedfrequentlyintheirjournalTheDial,alongwithothervenues.Themovementwasoriginallytermed"Transcendentalists"asapejorativeterm,suggestingtheirpositionwasbeyondsanityandreason.
Thepracticalaimsofthetranscendentalistswerevaried;someamongthegrouplinkeditwithutopiansocialchangeand,inthecaseofBrownson,itjoinedexplicitlywithearlysocialism,whileothersfounditanexclusivelyindividualandidealistproject.Emersonbelievedthelatter.Inhis1842lecture"TheTranscendentalist",Emersonsuggestedthatthegoalofapurelytranscendentaloutlookonlifewasimpossibletoattaininpractice.
Bythelate1840s,Emersonbelievedthemovementwasdyingout,especiallyafterthedeathofMargaretFullerin1850."Allthatcanbesaid",Emersonwrote,"isthatsherepresentsaninterestinghour&groupinAmericancultivation".1
TranscendentalismwasrootedinthetranscendentalphilosophyofImmanuelKant(andofGermanIdealismmoregenerally),whichtheNewEnglandintellectualsoftheearly19thcenturyembracedasanalternativetotheLockean"sensualism"oftheirfathersandoftheUnitarianchurch,findingthealternativeinVedicthought,Germanidealism,andEnglishRomanticism.
Thetranscendentalistsdesiredtogroundtheirreligionandphilosophyintranscendentalprinciples:
principlesnotbasedonorfalsifiableby,sensuousexperience,butderivingfromtheinner,spiritualormentalessenceofthehuman.ImmanuelKanthadcalled"allknowledgetranscendentalwhichisconcernednotwithobjectsbutwithourmodeofknowingobjects."ThetranscendentalistswerelargelyunacquaintedwithGermanphilosophyintheoriginal,andreliedprimarilyonthewritingsofThomasCarlyle,SamuelTaylorColeridge,VictorCousin,GermainedeStael,andotherEnglishandFrenchcommentatorsfortheirknowledgeofit.Incontrast,theywereintimatelyfamiliarwiththeEnglishRomantics,andthetranscendentalmovementmaybepartiallydescribedasaslightlylater,AmericanoutgrowthofRomanticism.AnothermajorinfluencewasthemysticalspiritualismofEmanuelSwedenborg.ThoreauinWaldenspokeofthedebttotheVedicthoughtdirectly,asdidothermembersofthemovement.
NathanielHawthornewroteanovel,TheBlithedaleRomaine(1852),satirizingthemovement,andbaseditonhisexperiencesatBrookFarm,ashort-livedutopiancommunityfoundedontranscendentalprinciples.EdgarAllanPoehadadeepdislikefortranscendentalism,callingitsfollowers"Frogpondians"afterthepondonBostonCommon.Heridiculedtheirwritingsinparticularbycallingthem"metaphor-run,"lapsinginto"obscurityforobscurity'ssake"or"mysticismformysticism'ssake."Oneofhisshortstories,"NeverBettheDevilYourHead",isaclearattackontranscendentalism,whichthenarratorcallsa"disease".ThestoryspecificallymentionsthemovementanditsflagshipjournalTheDial,thoughPoedeniedthathehadanyspecifictargets.Transcendentalistswerestrongbelieversinthepoweroftheindividualanddivinemessages.TheirbeliefsarecloselylinkedwiththoseoftheRomantics.
ThemovementdirectlyinfluencedthegrowingmovementofMentalSciencesofthemid1800swhichwouldlaterbecomeknownastheNewThoughtmovement.NewThoughtdrawsdirectlyfromthetranscendentalists,particularlyEmerson.NewThoughtconsidersEmersonitsintellectualfather.EmmaCurtisHopkins"theteacherofteachers",ErnestHolmes,founderofReligiousScience,TheFillmores,foundersofUnity,andMalindaCramerandNonaL.Brooks,thefoundersofDivineScience,wereallgreatlyinfluencedbyTranscendentalism.
B.SomeImportantCommentsonTranscendentalism
Transcendentalismisanidealisticphilosophythatingeneralemphasizesthespiritualoverthematerial.Byitsverynature,themovementishardtodescribeanditsbodyofbeliefshardtodefine.ItsmostimportantpractitionerandspokesmanintheNewEnglandmanifestation,RalphWaldoEmerson,calledit"thesaturnaliaorexcessoffaith."whichis"popularlycalledtranscendentalismamongus,"hewrote,"isidealism;idealismasitappearsin1842."2