Abstract:

The House on Mango Street is the masterpiece of Sandra Cisneros, a renowned contemporary Mexican American female writer and poet. By comparing and analyzing the diffident characters in The House on Mango Street and the corresponding fairy tale archetypes, this thesis not only reveals the theme of the novel and enriches the study of the connotation inside, but also enlarges the research scope of archetype theory at the same time. The thesis introduces the archetype theory in details, and discusses the application of the archetype theory in depicting the characters in the novel.

Key word: fairy tale archetype theory; Sandra Cisneros; lyrical novel

摘要:

《芒果街上的小屋》是当代颇具影响力的美国墨西哥裔女作家、诗人桑德拉•希斯内罗丝的一篇杰作。本文通过比较与分析《芒果街上的小屋》中的各色人物形象及其对应的童话原型，揭露了小说的主题，并帮助读者从多方面渗透理解《芒果街上的小屋》一书的深层含义。文章对原型理论做了深入和详细的介绍，探讨了作者是如何运用原型理论从不同角度刻画文中人物形象的。

关键词：童话原型理论；桑德拉•希斯内罗丝；诗小说

1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the Writer and Her Works
Born in Chicago on December 20, 1954, Sandra Cisneros is a descendant of Mexican-American (Chicano) immigrants. When she was only a Child, Cisneros migrated between Chicago and Mexico along with her whole family, including her six brothers and sisters. The wandering life made her reserved and shy, and she even cannot make true friends. In her early age, she showed a great aptitude in observing people and took a notebook with her to write down what she had seen. When Cisneros was old enough to go to school, she wrote a lot of poems and short stories with the sources collected from her notebook.
Educated in Catholic schools and at Chicago’s Loyola University, where she took a B.A. in 1976, Cisneros continued her study in a famous Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. Two years later, she was awarded the M.F.A. degree.