英语毕业论文超验主义视角重解小说《小妇人》.docx

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