欧·亨利短篇小说的艺术特点_英语论文

O. Henry’s Artistic Characteristics in His Short Stories

摘要

欧·亨利短篇小说的与众不同之处就在于其独特而又精妙的艺术构思，出乎意料的结局以及对人性的反映。欧·亨利运用幽默、讽刺和戏剧性的艺术手法以及出乎意料的结局揭示了不同的人性特点，引发了读者对于人性这一主题的思考。第一部分除了从整体上介绍欧·亨利的生平及其主要作品，还有对其作品的一些文学评价。欧·亨利的短篇小说不仅通俗易懂而且还能引发读者对人性的思考。第二部分是关于欧·亨利的写作技巧及其艺术性结尾的分析。欧·亨利善于对人物的心理活动进行细节描写，除此之外还有对在特定社会背景下的人性特征的展现和巧妙的谋篇布局。通过“含泪的笑”与“含笑的泪”这种具有讽刺意味的幽默对主题进行深化。艺术结尾激发了读者对人性特点的深思，影响了读者对人性的认识,而人性特点又升华了艺术结尾。第三部分是对欧·亨利短篇小说中所体现的人物的善与个人主义的分析。在资本主义社会的背景下，具有其独特的性格特征的人物都是当时社会的写照，不同的性格特征也预示他们最后的结局，将通过举例的方法来展现欧·亨利小说中体现人性特点的部分。第四部分是对全部内容进行概括总结。

关键词：艺术结尾；讽刺意味的幽默；人性；含泪的笑；含笑的泪

Abstract

It is the exquisite plot, twist ending and the reflection of humanity that make O. Henry’s short stories different from others. O. Henry uses his humorous, ironical and comic writing style to reveal the humanity in the twist ending which provokes readers’ thoughts. The whole thesis is made up of four parts. Except the introduction of the author and his work, there are also some literature reviews in the first part. O. Henry’s short stories not only make the readers easily understood, they also make us think of the humanity. Part two analyzes writing skills and the twist ending in his short stories. O. Henry is good at the psychological portrayal of characters. In addition, he also uses the specific writing background which lights up the humanity of characters and the plot-making technique of twist endings. Some critics considered wry humor as “smile with tears”, or “tears with smile”. O. Henry uses this way to elevate the theme of humanity. The twist ending leads readers to think of humanity and has the influence on the readers’ attitude to humanity. Meanwhile, the humanity elevates the twist ending. Part three is about the goodness and individualism in short stories. In the capitalist society, the specific characters can reflect the society and indict their final fate. This part will use some examples to show the humanity reflected in O. Henry’s stories. Part four conclude the whole content. 

Key words: twist ending; wry humor; humanity; smile with tears; tears with smile