An analysis of Personality and Interpersonal Relationship Shaping in The Hospital Window from the Perspective of Sartrean Existentialism_英语论文

摘要

《窗》是一篇未署名的小小说，文章以小见大、短小精悍、寓意深刻。故事发生在一个禁闭的空间里——一间没有窗户的病房，主人公是病房里的两个病人。故事的场景和人物设置与萨特的戏剧《禁闭》有相似之处，都是禁闭空间里的人物关系，在《禁闭》里萨特提出了“他人即地狱”的观点。本论文受此启发，从萨特存在主义的两个观点：“存在先于本质”、“他人即地狱”出发，从存在主义的角度对《窗》中人物个性和人物关系的塑造进行文学分析解读，深化对人性的认识，并试图挖掘小说更深刻的涵义和文学价值。

关键词：萨特 存在主义  存在 本质  他人  地狱  人性  

Abstract

The Hospital Window is an anonymous mini story of extremely rich connotation. Actually, this article is short, concise but profound. The story takes place in a confined space - a ward without a window but with two patients in it. The scenes and characters of the story share similarities with Sartre's drama No Exit which also demonstrates the relationship between the characters in the confinement. In No Exit, Sartre proposes the idea of "Hell is other people." This thesis, therefore, is inspired by the two viewpoints of Sartre's existentialism: "Existence precedes the essence" and "Hell is other people" to literally analyze and interpret the literary personality of and relationship between the characters in The Hospital Window from an existentialistic point of view with a deepened understanding of human nature and the literary value of the novel as its aims.

Keywords: Sartre Existentialism  existence  essence  others  hell  humanity

Contents

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1  A Brief Introduction to The Hospital Window 2

1.2 Purpose of the Thesis 2

1.3 Structure of the Thesis 3

Chapter Two Literature Review 4

2.1 Previous Studies on the Works 4

2.2  Previous Literature Studies with Sartre’s Existentialism 5

2.2.1 "Hell is Other People. " 6

2.2.2 "Being and Nothingness” 7

2.3 Summary 7

Chapter Three Theoretical Framework Sartre’s Existentialism 9

3.1 Presence Precedes Essence 9

3.2 Hell is Other People 10

Chapter Four Essentialistic Interpretation of The Hospital Window 12

4.1 Personalities of the Protagonists 12

4.1.1 Existence and Essence 12

4.1.2 Free Choice and Essence 14

4.2 Character Relationships 21

4.2.1 Alienating the Other 21

4.2.2 Conflicting Beings 24

Chapter Five Conclusion 28

5.1 Major Findings 28

5.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Study 29

Bibliography

Appendice

Acknowledgements