天使与荡妇-《喧哗与骚动》中凯蒂形象解读_英语论文

Angel or “Vamp”—A Study of Caddy’s Image in The Sound and the Fury

摘要

威廉·福克纳作为美国二十世纪文学史上最伟大的现代主义小说家之一，同时也具有重要的影响力，在其一生中创作了许多伟大的著作。这部《喧哗与骚动》是他的代表作之一，故事发生于杰弗逊镇上的康普生家。小说主要通过曾经的大家康普生家族中不同家庭成员的不同视角，对康普生家族的衰败及成员在此过程中的悲剧经历进行阐述。

本文主要研究凯蒂的形象蜕变，而她可以说是全书的中心，尽管整部小说没有以她的视角为中心的单独的一章，但书中其他一切人物的所作所为都与她密不可分。凯蒂的形象从古板高傲、规矩极多的旧世家闺秀逐渐沦为了杰克眼中的浪荡子女。用一位外国批评家的话说就是,太多的责任导致了不负责任。凯蒂从“南方女”的束缚下挣脱出来，却冲过了头，最终被迫成了一个令人同情的“荡妇”。凯蒂由天使最终不得不沦为“荡妇”，造就一场悲剧。同时，本文分析了凯蒂堕落的原因：家庭原因、自身原因以及社会因素。该论文研究的意义在于从凯蒂的形象蜕变出发，表现生活对凯蒂的压抑和扭曲，从而探究生活中各种因素的压迫对人的深远影响。

关键词：凯蒂；形象；根源；喧哗与骚动

Abstract

William Faulkner, who is known as one of the greatest modern writers of the 20th century in American literature, is also the most influential one. He produces a large volume of great literary works in his lifetime; The Sound and the Fury is one of his masterpieces, telling the story of the Compsons who live in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. It mainly describes the decline of the Compson family and its members’ tragedy, narrated from different perspectives of different family members.

This paper mainly studies Caddy’s change of image. Caddy can be said to be the focus of the whole novel. Although Caddy never appears in front of the readers with a separate chapter, but all the characters in the novel are related to her closely. It is a traditional rule that there is definitely an indulgent child from the old-fashioned families. As a foreign critic once said, too much responsibility leads to irresponsibility. Caddy rushes out from the closet of the “Southern woman”, and is forced to turn into a frivolous vamp from the perspective of Jason. Caddy, an angel, eventually has to become a “vamp”, ending up with a tragedy. At the same time, the thesis makes an analysis of the causes for Caddy’s change in image: irresponsible parents, rebellion failure and the southern patriarchy. The significance of this paper is to start from studies of the image of Caddy, to illustrate how Caddy’s image is ruined and distorted in life, so as to explore the profound influence of various factors in the daily life on people’s fates.

Keywords:  Caddy  image  causes  The Sound and the Fury

Contents

Acknowledgements I

Abstract II

摘要 III

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 William Faulkner 1

1.2 The Sound and the Fury 1

1.3 Literature Review 2

1.4 Thesis Structure 3

Chapter Two Change of Caddy’s Image 4

2.1 The Image of Caddy—Angel 4

2.1.1 The Symbolic Mother of Benjy 4

2.1.2 The Biologic Mother of Miss Quentin 4

2.2 The Image of Caddy—“Vamp” 5

2.3 Tragedy of Caddy 6

Chapter Three Causes for Caddy’s Changes 7

3.1 Irresponsible Parents 7

3.1.1 Distorted Maternal Love 7

3.1.2 Incompetent Father 7

3.2 Failure in Rebellion 8

3.3 The Southern Patriarchy 9

Chapter Four Conclusion 11

References 12