论欧·亨利作品中的人性之美-以《最后的常春藤》、《麦琪的礼物》为例_英语论文

Analysis of the Beauty of Humanity in O·Henry’s Works——Take The Last Ivy,The Gift of the Magi for Examples

摘要

欧亨利是美国著名的批判现实主义作家，他的短篇小说构思精巧，风格独特，以表现美国中下层人民的生活、语言幽默、结局出人意料（即“欧·亨利式结尾”）而闻名于世。他的作品构思新颖，语言诙谐，结局常常出人意外。他描写了社会中的众多人物，被称作“美国生活的幽默百科全书”。人性问题是他作品所关注的重要主题。而他的作品经久不衰、魅力无穷的重要原因之一就是因为其揭示出的人性主题。

《最后的常春藤》和《麦琪的礼物》是他所有作品中最具代表性的两部，分别从友情和爱情的角度阐释了人性的温暖。他笔下的小人物都具有同样的品质，他们有一颗善良的心，他们自我牺牲，他们将人性的光辉洒满这个残酷的社会，让读者品读时“含泪的微笑”。本文旨在通过对这两部代表作的解读，以及从欧亨利的作品特点，影响他创作的因素等方面来探索欧亨利小说中美好人性的形成。

本篇论文共分为三部分，分别为引言，主体和结论。引言部分概括介绍了欧亨利和他的这两部代表作，以及中国外学者对他的评价。主体部分从影响他作品的因素，他的写作特点和内容中的人文精神等方面阐释了他作品中蕴含的人性美。最后结论部分概括了以上的叙述，并提出了本文研究的不足及对以后研究的期待。

关键词：欧亨利；最后的常春藤；麦琪的礼物；人性美

Abstract

O·Henry is American’s famous critical realistic writer, and his novels have delicate design and unique style. His works are famous in the world for the humorous language and outcome beyond all expectations ( “O·Henry's ending”) to show life of the lower people in the USA. His works have novel idea, humorous language and unexpected ending. He describes many characters in the society, known as the "Humorous Encyclopedia of American life". The problem of human nature is an important theme of his works. And one important reason for his works’ enduring charm, is their revelation of the theme of human nature.

The Last Ivy and The Gift of the Magi are two of the most representatives of all his works, which illustrate the warmth of human nature form the perspective of friendship and love separately. The little people under his writing all have the same quality, they all have a kind heart and sacrifice themselves to make the cruel society full of the glory of human nature, and make the readers “ tearful smile”. This paper aims to explore how human nature forms in O·Henry's works by interpreting the two representative works as well as from the aspects like features of O·Henry's works, the factors influencing his creating, etc. 

This paper is divided into three parts, namely introduction, main body and conclusion. The first part briefly introduces O·Henry and the two representatives, as well as Chinese and foreign scholars’ evaluation to him and his works. The main part explains the beauty of human nature in his works in terms of factors influencing his works, features and the content of humanistic spirit. Finally, the conclusion part summarizes the above description, and puts forward the shortcomings of this study and the expectation for future research.

Keywords:  O·Henry  The Last Ivy  The Gift of the Magi  the beauty of humanity