摘要

詹姆斯.瑟伯是20世纪美国著名的幽默作家, 其短篇小说大多以家庭和职场为场景反映现实社会中男女之间的关系和矛盾冲突这一主题。瑟伯小说里的男女主人公都具有鲜明的性格特点，男主人公在现实生活中表现出柔弱、胆怯的性格，处处受到强势的女主人公的欺压；然而小说的结尾往往以男人占上风而告终。本论文以瑟伯的代表作《猫鹊之席》、《花园里的独角兽》和《瓦特.米蒂的私生活》为素材，详细分析这三篇短篇小说所揭示的男女冲突的主题，并从瑟伯的生活经历和时代背景剖析了小说主题思想形成的个人及社会原因。

关键词：詹姆斯•瑟伯，男女冲突，主题

ABSTRACT

James Thurber is one of the famous humorists of America in 20th century. The battle between women and men is an important theme of his short stories with family or working places as the background. In his short stories, both the female and male characters have their distinct personalities. The male protagonists are described as meek, little men, dominated by such women as their wives or colleagues who usually seem strong and aggressive in daily life. However, at the end of the stories, men tend to be the winners of the battles between sexes. Based on Thurber’s three famous short stories The Catbird Seat, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and The Unicorn in the Garden, this paper intends to make a comparison and contrast of the theme between men and women, and further analyze Thurber’s life experience and the historical context at his time so as to explore the origin of the theme his short stories intend to illustrate.

Key words: James Thurber, battle between sexes, theme

1  Introduction
James Thurber is one of America’s best known humorists of 20th century. The conflict between men and women is an important theme of his short stories. According to the portrait of the little men and the strong women, his works reflect the ridiculous phenomenon existing in the society.
1.1    The significance of the research
Considerable research has been done on Thurber and his works both in America and China. Some studies focus on his humorous writing style，while some others make a detailed study of his life experience. Besides these, some researchers also discuss the battle between men and women in Thurber’s short stories.