简_奥斯丁小说_傲慢与偏见_中的反讽艺术赏析_英文_

[作者简介 ]侯丽,女,山东潍坊人,聊城大学大学外语教育学院讲师,硕士,研究方向:翻译理论与实践。 Appreciation of Jane Austen. s Iron ic Ar t in P r ide and P rejud ice o H ou Li ( School of F oreign LanguageEduca tion, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, 252059 ) [Abstra ct] Jane Austen is the famous woman nove list of B rita in in the 19th century. Irony, as the most str ik ing feature in her nove ls, is a lso the artistic essence ofP ride and P rejud ice. Th rough ana lysis of structure and typical charac2 ters. speech and acts, the a rt of irony in P rid e and P rejud ice can be apprec iated. [K ey words] Jane Austen; P ride and P rejud ice; irony [中图分类号 ] I106. 4 [文献标识码 ] A [文章编号 ] 167228610( 2010) 0220031202 I. Intr oduction Jane Austen is the outstand ing woman nove list of Brita in in the 19 th century. H erworks display such shrewdw it, delica te irony, and accomp lished characteriza tions tha t Jane Austen now ranks as a master of the English nove l and contr ibutes a lot to literary world. Irony is a broad term referr ing to the recognition of a rea lity d ifferen t from the masking appearance. [ 1] 180 It is a contrast or a d ifference between the way th ings seem and the way they really are. That is to say, one says a th ing but means the opposite. There is always a gap between what he says and wha t he means, between the surfacemean ing and his real in tention. Irony is the most striking featu re in Jane Austen. s nove ls. As an ingenious work, the masterp iece of Jane Austen, P ride and P rejud ice em2 p loys the ironic techn ique in cha racte rization and structure, wh ich has made a grea t realistic com ic work of the nove.l Ò . Apprecia tion of Irony in S tructu re The opening sentence of the whole nove l procla ims, / It is a tru th un ive rsally acknow ledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. 0 [2] 1 H owever, the novel is about how young lad ies hunt husbands. In the 18 th cen2 tu ry in England, because handicra ft industry was rep laced by mach ine build ing, women. s soc ia l positions had dropped to an enormous exten t. Marr iage, which was taken as a means to change woman. s pos ition, became most importan t in the ir life. [3] 60- 63 In P ride and P rejud ice, M r. andMrs. Benne t have five daugh ters. Unfortunate ly for the ir daughters, M r. Bennet. s property is / enta iled in de fau lt of he irs male, on a distant re la2 tion0. [2] 23 Tha tmeans there w ill be no other guaran tee for the ir daughters. futu re lives, bu t the ir perspectivemarr iages. So, the so- ca lled / a singleman in possession of a good fortunemust be in wan t of a w ife0 is not a t a ll / a truth universa lly acknowl2 edged0, but onlyM rs. Bennet. s own w ish fu l th ink ing. Just as Zhu H ong pointed ou t, the rea l / truth universa lly acknowl2 edged0 is / awoman w ithout property must be in want of a hus2 band w ith a good fortune. 0 [ 4] 16 Thus the open ing sentence estab2 lishes the live ly and satirical tone of the whole book. Ó . Apprec ia tion of Irony in Cha rac ter iza tion In P ride and P rejud ice, both the wise ( E lizabeth, M r. Da r2 cy, etc. ) and the foolish (Mrs. Benne t, M r. Collins, e tc. ) be2 come the objects of Jane Austen. s irony. Irony is the marrow of this nove,l in wh ich no one is per fec t. 3. 1 F lat Cha racters Mrs. Bennet is themode l of the foolish. / Shewas awoman ofmean unde rstanding, little information, and unce rtain temper. W hen she was d iscontented she fanc ied herse lf ne rvous. The bus iness of her life was to ge t her daughte rs married; its solace was visiting and news. 0 [ 2]3 Mrs. Benne t herse lfproves this com2 ment true. She has not even seenMr. Bingley, but she considers h im as / the rightfu l property0 for her daughters and th inks of his marrying one of them when she hears about tha t he has one hun2 dred thousand pounds property. In addition, she is so ignorant and foolish that she can. t even realize her husband is mocking at her ) / you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. B ingleym ight like you the best of the party. 0 / My dear, you flatte rme. I ce r2 ta inly have had my share ofbeau ty, , 0. [ 2] 2 Le t. s move to another scene. W henM r. Bennet refers to M r. Collins, his cousin, / who, when I am dead, may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases. 0 [ 2] 54 Mrs. Bennet cried, / Oh, my dear, I cannot bear to hear that mentioned. P ray do not ta lk of that od ious man. 0 [ 2]54 But whenM r. Collins p lans to choose one of he r daugh ters as h is wife, she / treasu red up the h int, and trusted tha t she m ight soon have two daughters married; and theman whom she cou ld not bear to speak of the day be fore was now high in he r good graces0. [ 2] 63 Wha t a capr i2 cious woman she is! Jane Austen made few comments on her characters. W e know the characters gradually by listen ing to their voice and ob2 serving the ir behavior. Next, let. s takeM r. Collins for exam2 )31) 语文学刊 #外语教育教学 2010年第 2期 p le. H is each word, each movement and each attempt embod ies the b itter satire upon him. A fter he arr ives at M r. Bennet. s punctua lly, / he had not been long seated before he comp limen2 tedMrs. Bennet on having so fine a fam ily of daughte rs; sa id he had heard much of the ir beauty, but that, in th is instance, fame had fa llen short of the truth; and added tha t he d id not doubt her see ing them a ll in due time well disposed of in marr iage. 0 [ 2]57 H ow perfect and unr iva led gallantry. W hen E lizabeth refuses his proposa ,l he conc ludes / you a re not ser ious in your re jection of me, I sha ll choose to attr ibute it to your w ish of increas ing my love by suspense, according to the usua l prac tice of e legant fe2 males0. [2] 98 This scene fully disp lays Jane Austen. s ta lent for comedy. What. s more interesting and attractive is tha t JaneAus2 ten never stops r idicu ling Mr. Collins even though he has got married. When E lizabe th ca lls a t his pa rsonage, she / was pre2 pared to see h im in h is glory; and she cou ld not help fancying tha t in d isplaying the good proportion of the room, its aspect and its furn iture, he addressed h imse lfparticu la rly to her, as ifw ish2 ing tomake her fee l what she had lost in re fusing h im0. [ 2] 140 Thus, Mr. Collins. hypoc risy, self- deception and foolishness are portrayed most vividly. 3. 2 Round Cha racte rs Pr ide and P rejud ice was, for some time at least, Jane Austen. s own favor ite and shewrote her sister when it appeared: / I must confess that I th ink her ( the heroine, E lizabeth) as de2 lightfu l a creature as ever appeared in prin t; and how I sha ll be ab le to tolerate those who do not like her a t least I do not know. 0 [ 5] 345 Yet, JaneAusten spares no satire upon such a de2 lightfu l c reature. E lizabe th isw itty, inte lligen t and unconventiona.l She / has someth ing more of qu ickness than her s isters0. [ 2]2- 3 H owever, she a lso can. t avert herse lf from the influence of the / truth un i2 versally acknow ledged0. Moreover, she is too hasty in judgment and too easily taken in by appearances. On the one hand, she is slighted by Mr. Darcy at a ba ll and then safe ly prom ises her mother never to dance w ith h im. On the other hand, she is at2 tracted byMr. W ickham, whose appearance is grea tly in his fa2 vor. Then she / prepa red in the h ighest sp ir its for the conquest of all tha t rema ined unsubdued of h is heart0. [ 2] 80 The relationship between E lizabeth and Darcy is worsened by W ickham . s ill words to Da rcy. Sense is overwhelmed by sensib ility. On account of he r prejud ice aga inst Da rcy, E lizabe th tr ies to br ing down his pr ide and has the satisfac tion of refusing h is proposa l by saying tha t/ , you we re the lastman in theworld whom I cou ld eve r be prevailed on to marry. 0 [ 2]173 O f course, E lizabeth finally recognizes W ickham . s true face and revea ls that it is the a rrogan t Da rcy who saves the repu2 tation of the Bennet fam ily by a rranging Lyd ia andW ickham. s marriage. Then fa lse pr ide is humb led and pre jud ice dissolved. In the end, Darcy and E lizabe th a re un ited. Da rcy, as a wise man, is another ob ject of satire. A t first, he c la ims tha t E lizabeth is not handsome enough to tempt h im and says frank ly tha t/ itmust verymater ia lly lessen the ir chance ofmarrying men of any considera tion in the world0. [ 2] 31 H owev2 e r, he is the very man whomarries E lizabe th. Ô . Con clusion Through the subtle satire and irony uponMrs. Benne t, M r. Collins, etc. , Jane Austen shows her con temptuous feelings to2 wards snobbery, stupidity, world liness and vu lgar ity. Through the contrast irony of hero and heroine. s character deve lopment from beginning to end, Jane Austen seems to say our first im2 pressions are usua llywrong. To form good relationships, wemust first have good judgment. To be mentioned, as readers, we shou ld m ind Austen. s / trap0. Because, in the end, the / truth un iversa lly acknow l2 edged0 has been proved true: Mr. B ingley ma rr ies Jane, M r. Da rcy ma rries E lizabeth and Mr. Collins marr ies Charlotte. A l2 though the narrator and reade rs repeated ly ridicu le the / truth0, the nove l ends in the triumph of the / truth0. W hom on earth should bemocked? Is it true that in JaneAusten. s novel absurd2 ity and truth a re exchangeab le? H ere, by means of iron ic tech2 n ique, Jane Austen exposes the money - essence of bourgeois marriage system. Austen. s irony shows he r contempt and hu2 mor, and at the same time re flects her helplessness. = References> [ 1] 邵锦娣, 白劲鹏. 文学导论 [M ]. 上海外语教育出版社, 2003. [ 2] Austen, Jane. P rid eand P rejudice[M ]. New York: Bantam C lassic, 1981. [ 3] 朱小舟. 言语行为理论与5傲慢与偏见6中的反讽 [ J].外 语与外语教学, 2002( 8). [ 4] 朱虹. 英国小说的黄金时代 [M ]. 中国社会科学出版社, 1997. [ 5] (美 )鲁宾斯坦. 英国文学的伟大传统:从莎士比亚到萧 伯纳 [M ] .外语教学与研究出版社, 1988. 简 #奥斯丁小说 5傲慢与偏见 6中的反讽艺术赏析 侯丽 (聊城大学 大学外语教育学院,山东 聊城 252059) [摘 要 ] 简# 奥斯丁是 19世纪英国著名的小说家。反讽是其小说最显著特点,也是5傲慢与偏见 6的艺 术精华。通过分析小说结构和典型人物的言语和行为可以欣赏其反讽艺术。 [关键词 ] 简# 奥斯丁; 傲慢与偏见; 反讽 )32) LITERATURE Hou Li / Appreciat ion of JaneAusten. s Iron icA rt in P ride and P rejudice