从萨特的存在主义视角浅析《名利场》_英语论文

A Study of Vanity Fair from the Perspective of Sartre’s Existentialism Theory

摘要

《名利场》是19世纪英国著名批判现实主义作家萨克雷的成名作，也被称为“没有英雄的小说”。本文旨在从萨特的存在主义视角浅析名利场。首先本文将讨论名利场的荒诞性，在名利场上血统和金钱几乎主导了一切。人的异化和恶信是本文中的两大主要讨论点，文章中会举例分析名利场中人的异化和爱米丽亚身上体现的恶信以及对她造成的痛苦。萨特的存在主义中，强调人总可以通过自由选择及行动来塑造自身。本文从萨特的存在主义视角分析名利场中的两大主人公利蓓加和爱米丽亚，并着重体现利蓓加身上体现出的勇于替自己抉择所体现的积极意义，中国经济快速发展三十多年，像名利场中的利蓓加一样，这一代的人大都急于成功，透过以上的视角，希望能为当代的中国人提供一些合理和平衡的参考。

关键词：《名利场》；存在主义；恶信；异化；自由

Abstract

Vanity Fair was the work of William Makepeace Thackeray, one of the most representative British critical realist writers of the 19th century. Vanity Fair was known as “a novel without a hero” and it was also the beginning of Thackeray’s fame. This paper aims to study Vanity Fair through the perspective of Sartre’s existentialism theory. First is the discussion about the absurdity of vanity fair, a place where pedigree and money almost always dominate everything. The alienation and bad faith are two main factors in this thesis. Explanations will be given on alienations in Vanity Fair and how bad faith in Amelia makes her life miserable. In Sartre’s existentialism theory, people define themselves through their actions and they always have the freedom to choose what they do. From the perspective of Sartre’s existentialism theory, this paper analyze the two main characters, Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp in Vanity Fair, and want to emphasize the positive side Rebecca revealed through her willingness to make choices for herself. Considering all the points of view mentioned above, this paper wants to draw some implications for the current generation to seek better optimization and balance since China’s economy has grown too fast for over three decades and the current generation, like Rebecca in Vanity Fair, is in a rush to succeed.

Key words: Vanity Fair; existentialism; bad faith; alienation; freedom

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. The Absurdity of Vanity Fair 2

3.1 Pedigree’s role in Vanity Fair 2

3.2 Money’s role in Vanity Fair 4

4. Alienation and Bad Faith5

4.1 Definition of alienation and bad faith 5

4.2 Alienation in Vanity Fair 6

4.3 Bad faith in Amelia Sedley 8

4.4 Rebecca Sharp’s struggles against alienation 10

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14