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1、 本科學(xué)生畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計） 題目（中文）： 淺析《德伯家的苔絲》中的哥特式小說風(fēng)格 （英文）: On the Gothic Features in Tess of the d’Urbervilles 姓 名 學(xué) 號 院 （系） 外 國 語 言 文 學(xué) 系

2、 專業(yè)、年級 指導(dǎo)教師 Contents 摘要…………………………………………………………………… Ⅰ Abstract…………………………………………………………………Ⅱ Introduction …………………………………………………………….1 1 About Gothic Novel………………………………………………….. 3 1.1 Its Origin…………………………………………………………....3

3、 1.2 Its Feature……………………………………………………….......5 2 Gothic Features Reflected in Tess of the d’Urbervilles………….......8 2.1 Character Portraying………………………………………………..8 2.2 Environment Depiction…………………………………………… 12 2.3 Plot Development………………………………………………….18 2.4 Theme Representation……………………………………………..2

4、2 3 The Significance of Gothic Feature for This Novel………………..24 Conclusion………………………………………………………….…..26 Notes………………………………..…………………………………..28 Bibliography…………………………………………………………...29 Acknowledgements 摘 要 《德伯家的苔絲》（Tess of the d’Urbervilles,1891）是19世紀(jì)英國著名作家托馬斯哈代（Thomas Hardy,1840-1928）的一部經(jīng)

5、典悲劇性小說，它成功地塑造了一位勇于對抗世俗、富于反叛精神的農(nóng)村姑娘——苔絲這一形象。該小說繼承了哈代作品的一貫風(fēng)格，反映了資本主義入侵英國之后，社會、經(jīng)濟、政治、道德發(fā)生的巨大變化，造成的廣大民眾(尤其是婦女)的悲慘命運， 揭示了資產(chǎn)階級的道德、法律和宗教的虛偽性。以上特點和主題也早已成為國內(nèi)外該小說研究的焦點，在這些研究的基礎(chǔ)上，本文將從哥特式藝術(shù)風(fēng)格的角度重新審視這部小說，分析小說中哥特式風(fēng)格在人物塑造、環(huán)境刻畫以及情節(jié)主題描繪等方面的體現(xiàn)，以期有助于更全面地展示《德伯家的苔絲》的寫作藝術(shù)之美。 關(guān)鍵詞: 哥特式風(fēng)格；人物 ；環(huán)境； 情節(jié) Abstract Te

6、ss of the d’Urbervilles (1891) is a classic tragic novel authored by the famous 19th century British writer Thomas Hardy (1840-1928). This novel has successfully portrayed a poor girl named Tess who has the precious spirit of rebellion against the temporal stipulation. Inheriting the well-known writ

7、ing skill of Hardy, it not only presents us the enormous changes in British society, economy, politics and morality after the invasion of capitalism, but also shows us the miserable life of the common lower class, especially the women, revealing the hypocrisy of capitalists’ law, religion and moral

8、standard. The above theme and opinions have always been a center of research of this novel. Based on the previous researches, this paper will re-analyze this great novel from a Gothic angel, and will explain how Gothic features are reflected in the character portraying, in the environment depiction,

9、 in the plot development etc. Key words: Gothic features, character, environment, plot, theme. Introduction The Victorian era was a period of dramatic change that brought England to its highest point of development as a world power. The Industrial Revolution brought an enormous

10、increase in wealth and provided the tools for the development such as the rail way, engineering and steamship. In this period of rapid development, novel became the dominant form in literature. It was the ideal form to describe contemporary life and to entertain the middle class. Novelists took the

11、approach of realism, the truthful, accurate and objective description of the ordinary, observable world. When we think of the chief Victorian novelists, one of the names that come to our mind is Thomas Hardy, whose works reflect his pessimism and sense of tragedy in human life. They also reveal the

12、changes that took place in Victorian England: the decline of Christianity, the shifts from reticence to openness in matters of sex and from agricultural economy to modern economy, and above all the growing sense of the disparity between the enormous universe and tiny man. Among Hardy’s novels Tess

13、 of the d’Urbervilles which was subtitled A Pure Woman is now generally regarded as his best novel. Tess is the daughter of the poor John Durbeyfield who finds that he is the descent of a noble family—the d’Urbervilles and who asks Tess to Alec d’Urbervilles’ home to claim kin. Unfortunately, innoce

14、nt Tess is seduced by Alec. Latter, Tess is fall in love with Angel Clare, but the latter abandons her when he knows her past. In great desperation because of Angel’s leaving and the helpless situation of her family, Tess turns to Alec for help. But Angel comes back at that time. Finding Tess is wit

15、h Alec, he determines to leave again. Poor Tess kills Alec for revenge and gets her destination. This paper looks on the novel from Gothic perspective, striving to find out the Gothic beauty hidden in its character, environment, plot and theme, and to show what influences Gothic features have on th

16、is novel. The main body of this paper will be divided into three parts. The first part is an introduction of the origin and feature of Gothic novels; the second part is an exploration of how Gothic feature is reflected in the character, environment, plot and theme of Tess of the d’Urbervilles; the l

17、ast part is an analysis of the significance of Gothic feature for the novel. 1 About Gothic Novel Gothic novel, or Gothic romance, is a type of popular novel that mainly developed and flourished in the late 18th century and the early 19th century in British. Combined with th

18、e critics of reality, Gothic novel in this period reveals the evil side of the society, and cries for freedom, equality, and humanity. Generally speaking, Gothic novels are mysteries, terrifying, fraught with supernatural and superstitious events, thus attracting generations of readers with its uniq

19、ue charm. Gothic novel has exerted an extensive influence in both British and American literature history, and many great writers have successfully applied the Gothic artistic skills to their writing. In Britain, Gothic novels are usually against rationality and the predetermined logic by appreci

20、ating the pleasure of extreme human emotion. It usually takes Gothic castle as its background, and portrays two kinds of characters who are of distinct differences, namely the demon and the angel. 1.1 Its Origin It was about the Christmas Day in 1764 that a weird novel was translated and publi

21、shed in London, its author concealed the real origin of this novel and his own identity, unexpecting that such a short pamphlet of about 300 pages could turn a new chapter for human novel history, and could create such a tremendous influence on later generations. This grotesque novel is The Castle o

22、f Otranto written by Horace Walpole (1717-1794), becoming the first Gothic novel. The use of “a Gothic story” in the subtitle gave birth to the name “Gothic novel”. What has existed in literary works as auxiliary factors such as sentimentality, illusion, grave and death all suddenly became the most

23、important and also the most fascinating part with the creation of The Castle of Otranto What’s more, this novel set a fixed plot model and affirmed the most eternal theme for Gothic Novel--- good and evil must at last have their reward. Apart from this work ,there are many other excellent Gothic nov

24、els such as The Mysteries of Udolpho, Italian, Vathek，an Arabian Tale, The Monk Frankenstein and Melmoth the Wanderer. Although Gothic novels have nothing to do with the Gothic people, one of its important sources derives from Germanic nation’s (namely the Teuton) abundant folk tales or from Mediev

25、al romances which take these folk tales as reference. Another important source of Gothic novel is dramas in British Renaissance period. Deeply influenced by the Roman dramatist, Lucius Annaeus Seneca , British drama in this period is featured as fraught with revenge, conspiracy, violence, murder, a

26、nd even ghosts, therefore the drama’s plot is very nerve-jangling. In particular, Shakespeares plays and Jacobean Tragedies have a huge influence on Gothic novels’ birth and development. The Bible and Christian legends are also important sources of Gothic novel. The Bible contains many a fearsome sp

27、ectacle, and Christian legends has been always trying to create a hell of terror. 1.2 Its Feature As a special romantic literature genre called "Dark Romanticism”. Gothic Novel was mainly prevailed in the Romantic literature period. What the word “dark” refers to is mainly showed in two aspects

28、: first, the plot of Gothic novels usually emphasizes the creation of violent and terrifying atmosphere; second, unlike other romantic literature works which prefer to show directly the authors’ ideal society, politics and morality, Gothic novels strive to explore deeper into social, political and m

29、oral problems by revealing the evil side of the society, politics, religion and morality, and by revealing the dark side of human nature. Gothic styles of the 18th and 19th century literary works reflects in the following aspects. Firstly, one of the unique creations of Gothic novels is the Villa

30、in Hero. Being the most controversial characteristics in Gothic novels, these Villain Heroes are both vicious and enchanting, they are the chief culprit for bringing suffer to themselves and others. Their birth or background is usually unknown or obscure to others; their appearance is strange; their

31、 soul is contorted, which is accompanied with dark and death and being happy only when other are in torture. Goger Chillingworth in the Scarlet Letter, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, and Alec d’Urbervilles in Tess of the d’Urbervilles are all typical Villain Heroes. Generally, the author aims at d

32、igging out completely the dark side of human beings by portraying those Villain Heroes, and at arousing in the readers’ heart dual-dramatic feelings of horror and consonance. Secondly, the environment in Gothic novels is very scary and charnel. The story often happens in deserted places such as an

33、cient castle, old abbey, manor and cliff where there may be stone coffins, dead trees and grotesque animals, the time is usually at night or in a cloudy day, making the readers feel blood curding. Thirdly, the plot in Gothic novels is flaunt with suspence, tinged with the smell of death and decay.

34、In the novel, there are often descriptions about rape, violence, murder, persecution, supernatural power and superstitious phenomenon, which may caused by the efforts of satisfying one’s personal desires. But the truth is usually just hidden in the seemly romantic plot. Fourthly, the most typical t

35、heme of Gothic novel is the contrast between the good and evil, between the brightness and dark, and between angel and demon though the common themes in Gothic Novels involve killings among brothers, taking other’s wife, revenge, rape, incestum and homosexuality, thus revealing the problems of human

36、 nature and the reality. Andrew Sundas has generalized that the techniques for its success is the description of cliffs and abyss, torture and horror, witchcraft and necrophilia. It immersed in contemplation of soul haunting, sudden deaths, the dungeons, dreams, hex, hallucinations and predictions.

37、 As a masterpiece of Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles perfectly embodies his realism, fatalism and pessimism. In this novel, the readers can almost have a feeling of terror all the time aroused by the destroying power of the abnormal and weird character — Alec, by the grim and gloomy atmosph

38、ere, by the unpredictable plot and by the sharp contrast of good and evil. Therefore, this paper will analyze the Gothic features of Tess of the d’Urbervilles from the following four aspects: character, environment, plot and theme 2 Gothic Feature Reflected in Tess of the d’Urb

39、ervilles 　　　　　　　　　　　 When we think of characters in Gothic novels, the image of Villain Hero first come to mind. On the one hand, these Villain Heroes are solitude and proud, on the other hand, they are vulgar and wild because of his burning desire. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Alec d’Urbervilles

40、 is a typical Villain Hero. 2.1 Character Portraying Villain images are very common in Gothic novels, they can be divided into two types: the sheer villain and the Villain Hero. The former gives a feeling of sheer hatred to the readers, while the latter arouses a feeling of both hatred and sym

41、pathy in the readers’ heart. The Villain Heroes are pride, stubborn, dissatisfied with and rebellion against the reality; but at the same time, they seem to be lonely, melancholy, pessimistic, divorced from the masses, and persist their old ways. The eternal theme of Gothic novel of the contrast bet

42、ween good and evil determines that there must be some one evil, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Alec is obvious the evil. Different from other previous novels, in Gothic novels the most appealing image is usually the villain image. These villains often make readers anger and scared, arousing reade

43、rs’ interest. Weak in morality and short of the bondage of social norms, these villain heroes are paranoid wild, ambitious and has formidable destruction power. It is these images whose souls are burning with desire that become the most important factor for Gothic novels’ charm. Readers’ feeling tow

44、ards Villain Heroes is a mixture of hatred, fear, attraction, sympathy. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Alec d’Urbervilles is a typical Villain Hero. First, he is an individualist and liberalist. Different from the natives who know each other well because of having lived in the Chase area for genera

45、tions, Alec d’Urbervilles family is new and is behind mysterious veil, not clearly known to the natives. To the outsiders this family is weird because their surname is very old while their residence is new; the family is rich and noble, but there only live Alec and his old mother, both of whom are n

46、ot in the least like common dignity person. Thus, the d’Urbervilles’ can not integrate into the local community, in fact, they are the outsiders here. In this novel, Alec is always alone, that is in sharp contrast with Tess’ husband, Angel Clare, who always has companions. Alec lives in a big house

47、with his blind mother without any other relatives such as sisters or brothers; he dose not have a single friend to share his joys and sorrows; he is just like a lonely ghost appearing quietly beside Tess and seizing her. Alec is a liberalist in that he is unrestrained by any rules in religion or in

48、morality. When Angel’ father, the priest comes to persuade him to believe in God, Alec abuses him and drives him away rudely; he is weak in morality and lack self-discipline. He tries to get Tess by any foul means just because of loving her. The first time he meets Tess, he shows his love boldly, he

49、 calls her “my dear” “my pretty Coz” (P32,33) and gives her roses despite her embarrassment, all of these things will definitely not be done by another gentleman to a shyly girl. It is him that makes Tess no longer a virgin, which is an important factor that destroy Tess’s life,

50、and because of which, Tess hates him all her life. Looking from this angle, Alec is definitely a demon and a villain. Thus, Alec d’Urbervilles is deeply hated by the readers for his shamelessness, scoundrelness and cruelty, but on the other hand, the readers feel sympathetic to him for his deep

51、love to Tess. To some extent, compared with Angel, the one whom Tess loves wholeheartedly, Alec is somewhat braver, more sincere and more respectable. Alec d’Urbervilles loves Tess passionately and patiently. Though knowing that Tess dose not love him, he never gives up. He not only cares about T

52、ess, but also helps her families: buying toys for her brothers, bringing gifts to her parents, buying a new horse for compensation…all of which once bring rays of happiness to this poor family. But what about Angel? He even never comes to visit the family members. When Alec knows that Tess has marri

53、ed another person, he is sad, shocking and angry, but he never tries any extreme actions that could take revenge on Tess because he fears of hurting her. On the contrary, he loves Tess all the more. After Angel’s leaving and her father’s death, Tess is tortured mentally and physically. At that despe

54、rate time, it is Alec that comes to give her a hand. He loves her, no matter who she is, which can not be achieved by indifferent Angel, who leaves Tess after he knows her past. Even when Tess shows her hatred so obviously, Alec is still not angry with her, but continues to show his affectation. O

55、ne of her leather gloves, which she had taken off to eat her skimmer-cake, lay in her lap, and without the slightest warning she passionately swung the glove by the gauntlet directly in his face. It was heavy and thick as a warrior’s, and it struck him flat on the mouth. A scarlet oozing appeared wh

56、ere her blow had alighted, and in a moment the blood began dropping from his mouth upon the straw .But he soon controlled himself, calmly drew his handkerchief from his pocket, and mopped hid bleeding lips.(P302) He still loves her though in the end he is killed by her. Alec has introspected

57、himself and knows clearly his sin. He has confessed his wrong doings to Tess many times and has tried to compensate. Although he dose not want Tess to leave him, he respect her and does not force her to stay. When his effort is in vain to persuade pragnent Tess to live with him, knowing that he migh

58、t lose her forever, he says “I suppose I am a bad fellow —— a damn bad fellow. I was born bad, and I have lived bad, and I shall die bad in all probability. But, upon my lost soul, I won’t be bad towards you again, Tess.” (P69) And so he dose as he says. Latter, he even becomes a religious man to g

59、ive speech to others. Taking all the above factors into consideration, Alec’s life is as tragic as that of Tess, he is also a victim of the society and his own wrong doings. At the beginning of the novel, the old horse named “prince” of Tess’s family dies, Tess deems that she is the killer; at the e

60、nd of the novel, Tess stabs Alec to death. It might be said that Hardy tries to indicate that in fact Alec is a prince who shares some good characteristics of all princes. He can be called both Satan and angel. All in all, Alec is the chief culprit who brings disaster to both Tess and himself.

61、He digs himself a cold grave while brings Tess suffer. Hated and feared by the readers, Alec is also worthy of sympathy and admiration for his loyalty and persistence to love, for his courage to confess sin, for his bitter death…… 2.2 Environment Depiction Novels are reflection of reality. As one

62、 of the three elements of novels, environment has a very close relationship with character molding and plot development, therefore, environment depiction is not just decorations, but an organic part of determining a novel’s success, as well as an important means to shape the character, to promote pl

63、ot development, and to deepen the theme . In Gothic novels, there are usually gloomy and scary images such as wasteland, dead trees, mysterious castles, stone coffins, old monasteries, paradise to create an atmosphere of terror among the readers. Gothic stories often occur in dungeons, monaste

64、ries, claustrophobic castle or ghostly old houses. Its aesthetic basis is the grand and grisly beauty. In the 18th century, when talked about grandeur, British aesthetician Burke Edmund associated grandeur with fear, the most intense emotion of human beings. He has divided the beauty into exquisite

65、common beauty and sublime beauty. Generally speaking, exquisite things are tiny, delicate, harmonious, and are well known by most people. What they arouse in the viewer’s heart are sweetness, excitement and joy of safety. In contrast, when faced with the high mountain, great rolling river, time-hono

66、red wasteland, luxuriant forest and such natural phenomenon as thunder and lightning, we seem to be overwhelmed with feelings of awe and mystery. And that’s what Gothic novels always strive to achieve. Gothic novels’ psychological basis is the very human beings’ innate fear. But when reading the gothic stories, on the one hand, we feel unspeakable fear, on the other hand, we are convinced that we are safe. That is to say, we can not only be in a vision of danger, but also know that the dange