SelfhoodSeeking in The Moon and Sixpence_英语论文

摘要

《月亮与六便士》是英国作家威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆的三大力作之一。作品以法国印象派画家保罗·高更的生平为素材，描述了一个原本平凡的伦敦股票交易所经纪人查理斯·斯特里克兰德突然对艺术着魔，抛妻弃子，放弃本来安稳的生活，换以一种孤独而又辗转困苦的方式生存，只为追求绘画理想的故事。本文试图运用拉康的镜像理论，分析主人公三个生存状态的形象——世人眼中安分富足的股票经纪人、在巴黎作画的流浪汉和塔西提岛上自由满足的艺术家，探讨其追求自我的心路历程。想象界中的斯特里兰克虽然生活安逸，但却认同错误；由于忽略自我的躯体和过度沉溺精神生活，在追求艺术的过程中遭受挫折，使其无法进入象征界，而停留在实在界；最后，经过不断的探寻和努力，斯特里兰克在物质与精神、艺术与生活的象征界寻找到自我平衡，进入到艺术王国的自由境界。

关键字：威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆；《月亮与六便士》；镜像理论；自我

Abstract

The Moon and Sixpence is one of the three masterpieces written by W. Somerset Maugham, a British novelist. This novel, based on the life story of the French impressionist Paolo Gauguin, tells that Charles Strickland, the protagonist working for the Stock Exchange in London, is abruptly addicted to art and discards his family to pursue his ideal. This paper attempts, by applying Lacan’s Mirror Image Theory, to analyze Strickland from the three states of the Imaginary, the Real, the Symbolic, and to explore his adventure to seek selfhood. In the Imaginary, Strickland has a stable life and owns a decent job, but he has the misunderstanding that selfhood is the image in the gaze of others with secular ideas. In the Real, he encounters the setbacks during the process of pursuing art while he neglects his own body and is over addicted to the spiritual life, thus causing the disharmony, which makes him fail to enter into the Symbolic but degrade back to the Real. Finally, through constant exploration, Strickland finds the balance between material and spirit, art and life in the Symbolic, and then enjoys freedom in the realm of art.   

Key words: W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, mirror image, selfhood

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1. The state of the Imaginary3

2.1.1. Material family life 3

2.1.2. Confusion about career 4

2.2. The state of the Real6

2.2.1. Refusal of love 6

2.2.2. Focusing on spirituality 8

2.3. The state of the Symbolic 9

2.3.1. Ideal personal life 9

2.3.2. Freedom in the realm of art10

3. Conclusion 11

Note12

Works Cited13

Bibliography  14