American Dream and Idealism in Death of a Salesman《销售员之死》中的美国梦与理想主义.docx

American Dream and Idealism in Death of a Salesman《销售员之死》中的美国梦与理想主义.docx

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AmericanDreamandIdealisminDeathofaSalesman《销售员之死》中的美国梦与理想主义

AmericanDreamandIdealisminDeathofaSalesman《销售员之死》中的美国梦与理想主义

Chapter!

Introduction

ArthurMiller’splay，DeathofaSalesman,whichwonthePulitzerPrizein

1949,wascomparabletoO’Neillathisbest.DeathofaSalesmanwasthatwonder

ofwonders，amasterpiecethatcameeasily.Theplaytellsthroughflashbacks

intercutintopresent-dayaction,ofthefalseaims，degradation，andfinaldeclineof

asalesmanwhobelievesheis“vitalinNewEngland”butwho，inreality，isa

failure—assalesman,asfather，andashusband.

Thedramatellshowitsprotagonist，WillyLoman，amiddle-classsalesman

whoseyouthisbutamemory，decidestoendhislifeinordertogettheinsurance

moneyforhisfamily.Heislovedbyhiswife,Linda,andhehastwosons,Biffand

Happy，whomhehastriedtoraisetobecomemenofinfluenceandpower.The

wholelifeofWillyLomanisfilledwithidealism.Thispaperisabouttoanalyze

thatidealismistherootofhistragedy.Idealismleadstohisultimatepsychological

downfall.Hislifeprinciples，snobbishsenseofprideandegoallstepfromhisidealism.IdealismisanaddictionthatmakesWillyLoman9sentirelifeatragedy

inwhichhecanneverharmonizehisdreamswithreality.Hisidealism,infact，is

thetragedyofhiswholefamily.Inotherwords，itistheidealismthatforceshimto

commitsuicidebecauseofhisfailureintherealworld.

Thispaperismadeupoffiveparts.Partoneistheintroduction，whichgivesabriefcommentonthethesis.Inparttwo,somebasicnotionsinvolvedinidealism

arepresented.Partthreemainlyinvestigatestheidealismthatisshowninthemain

charactersandtheirtragediescausedbytheidealismandPartfouraimstoexplore

therelationshipbetweenidealismandAmericanDream.Finally，theconclusionis

madeinPartfive.

Chapter2BasicNotionsInvolvedinIdealism

IdealismisthemainreasonofWillyLoman’stragedyaswellasthebasic

conceptofthepaper.Soinordertohaveabetterunderstandingofthisplay,some

basicnotionsaboutidealismarequitenecessary.

2.1InterpretationofIdealism

Idealism，theattitudethatplacesspecialvalueonideasandidealsas

productsofthemind，incomparisonwiththeworldasperceivedthroughthe

senses.Idealisminliteraryisaformthatemphasizestherepresentationofthe

subjectiveidealwithastraightfeelingexpression.Thebasicfeaturesofidealism

literaturearedesirability,performanceandunreality.Idealismliteraturemust

surrealreality，standoutsubjective.Thevaluesofidealismliteratureinthenew

periodshowanessentiallyaccordanttrendwiththatofthesocialmainstream

ideology.Since1990,withfurtherpracticeofsocialandeconomicreformsandthe

westernnihilism’simpactsonthesociety，thevaluesofidealismliteraturehencedeviatedfromthatofthesocietalmainstream，andmoreandmoresharpconflictsappeared.Thepositionofidealismisfullyshowninsuchaspectsastheir

oppositionofmarketeconomyvaluesandtheirmaintenanceofthestabilityof

values，andonenessofvaluetropism.

Inartidealismisthetendencytorepresentthingsasaestheticsensibility

wouldhavethemratherthanastheyare.Inethicsitimpliesaviewoflifeinwhich

thepredominantforcesarespiritualandtheaimisperfection.Inphilosophythe

termreferstoeffortstoaccountforallobjectsinnatureandexperienceas

representationsofthemindandsometimestoassigntosuchrepresentationsa

higherorderofexistence.Itisopposedtomaterialism.Platoconceivedaworldin

whicheternalideasconstitutedreality，ofwhichtheordinaryworldofexperience

isashadow.Inmoderntimesidealismhaslargelycometoreferthesourceofideas

toman’sconsciousness,whereasintheearlierperiodideaswereassignedareality

outsideandindependentofman’sexistence.Nevertheless,modernidealism

generallyproposessuperhumanmentalactivityofsomesortandascribes

independentrealitytocertainprinciples，suchascreativity,aforceforgood,oran

absolutetruth.ThesubjectiveidealismofGeorgeBerkeleyinthe18thcentury

heldthattheapparentlyobjectiveworldhasitsexistenceintheconsciousnessof

individuals.ImmanuelKantdevelopedacriticalortranscendentalidealisminwhichthephenomenalworld,constitutedbythehumanunderstanding,stands

opposedtoaworldofthings-in-themselves.RalfWaldoEmersonisa

representativeoftranscendentalidealism.Thepost-KantianGermanidealismofJ.

G.FichteandFriedrichvonSchelling，whichculminatedintheabsoluteor

objectiveidealismofG.W.F.Hegel，beganwithadenialoftheunknowable

thing-in-itself，therebyenablingthesephilosopherstotreatallrealityasthe

creationofmindorspirit.Formsofpost-Kantianidealismweredevelopedin

GermanybyArthurSchopenhauerandHermannLotzeandinEnglandbySamuel

Coleridge;formsofpost-HegelianidealismweredevelopedinEnglandandFrance

byT.H.Green，VictorCousin,andC.B.Renouvier.Morerecentidealistsinclude

F.H.Bradley，BernardBosanquet，JosiahRoyce,BenedettoCroce，andthe

neo-KantianssuchasErnstCassirerandHermannCohen.

2.2TheDevelopmentofIdealism

InthebooknamedtheCommentaryonthebackgroundoftheAmerican

Literature,theauthorsaidthatthetwowordsidealismandchancehadbeenalways

inthemindofAmericanpeople.AndAmericanisjustthecountrythatdeveloped

withthetheory.ThepeoplewhofirstimmigratedtoAmericanareChristian.They

cometothenewlandinordertorunfromreligiouspersecution.Tosomeextent，

theyaretheidealistwhoholdtheviewthattheycanbefreeinthisnewlandandtobesuccessful.JustastheirEnglishbrothers，theAmericanpeopleisalsothereal

idealist，theywantthechurchtobepureagain.Withoutdoubt，thefaithand

exceptionsofidealismfromthereligionhaveagreateffectontheirsons.

Thebeliefthatpersonalbeings（e.g.，God/s，angels&spirits）precededthe

existenceofinsentientmatterseemstosuggestthatanexperiencingsubjectisa

necessaryreality.Also,theexistenceofanomniscientGodsuggests，regardlessof

theactualnatureofmatter,thatallofnatureistheobjectofatleastconsciousness.

Materialismseesnoincoherenceinascenariooftherebeingacosmoswhereno

sentientsubjecteverdevelops;awhollyunknownuniversewhereneitherany

subject,noranyobjectofasubject’sexperienceeverexists.Historically，

MechanisticMaterialismhasbeenthefavoriteviewpointofAtheistphilosophers.

Still,idealisticviewpointsthathavenotincludedGod,supernaturalbeings,ora

post-mortemexistencehavesometimesbeenadvanced.

ThetheologyofChristianScienceincludesaformofsubjectiveidealism:

it

teachesthatallthatexistsisGodandGod’sideas;thattheworldasitappearsto

thesensesisadistortionoftheunderlyingspiritualreality，adistortionthatmaybe

correctedbyareorientation（spiritualization）ofthought.Suchareorientation，

ChristianScienceteaches，resultsinhealing,astheworldofappearanceadjuststo

approximatemorenearlytotheunderlyingdivinereality.ChristianScienceisconsequentlyaformofmonistic（theistic）idealism,sinceitteachesthatthereisin

realitynomatter:

allisSpirit（God）anditsmanifestation.InChristianScience

teaching,thereisnoultimatedivisionordualismbetweenSpiritanditsexpression

（thespiritualuniverseincludingthetrueidentityofeachoneofus）anymorethan

thereisbetweenthesunandthelightwhichshinesforthfromit.

In1776，theAmericanclaimedindependence.Thedeclarationof

IndependencesaysthateveryonewholivesintheAmericancouldbeequal.And

theyhavetherighttopursuithappiness,freedomaswellaswealth.Thoughthose

exceptionsdonotcometrue，thefaithofidealismbecomestheimportantpartof

theAmericanmythandalsofuelsthedevelopmentandsocialreformofAmerican.

RalphWaldoEmersonistheleaderoftranscendentalisminAmericanliterature.

Heoncefocusedonthenecessityofidealism,hefirmlybelievedthatidealismcan

makebadthingstogoodandcanalsomakegoodthingstobad.Thoughhis

idealismhasbeengottencriticized，lotsofauthorsarealsoonhisside.Walt

Whitmanisjustoneofthem.Hewelcomesidealism,respect，freedomand

hard-working.HisSongsofMyselftoconstructaidealismsocietywithout

class.

Inthe20thcentury,thewayofliveandthinkinghaschangedalot.Successis

measuredbywealth，thewealthypeopleislookeduponasheroes.Thedreamofbeingarichmanandgoingintothehighclassdevoursthesoulofmen.Deathofa

Salesmanjustcomeunderthecircumstance,Willyisjustoneofthevictimsin

idealism.

Chapter3AmericanDreamandIdealism

AlargenumberofcriticsagreewiththeideathatAmericanDreamisthe

mainreasonoftheprotagonistWillyLoman’stragedy.WhileAmericanDreamhas

inspiredAmericanpeopletofightfortheirdreaminglivesforcenturiesinthe

reality.ItisnotfairtosaythatthetragedyofWillyLomanallduestothe

AmericanDream.ThepersonalidealismofWillyistherootofhistragedy.Soa

betterunderstandingoftherelationsbetweenAmericanDreamandIdealismis

significant.

3.1TheFeaturesofAmericanDream

AmericanDreamisauniquephenomenoninthecultureoftheUnitedStates.

Broadlyspeaking，AmericanDreamisanationalidealismofdemocracy，equalityandfreedom.Itisadreamthatcouldberealizedthroughdiligenceandself

disciplinefromalimitedpointofview.

Itoftenpresentedtousastheidealisticvisionofamarriedcouplewithtwoormorechildren，owningahomeinthesuburbsanddrivingoneormorelargecars.

Everyoneissolventand