《罗密欧与朱丽叶》和《梁山伯与祝英台》的比较研究

《罗密欧与朱丽叶》和《梁山伯与祝英台》的比较研究 A Comparison of Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers ?. Introduction Both Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers are the love tragedies which enjoy high reputations in the West and China respectively for a long history. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, written in 1595.But Shakespeare did not invent the story. This tragedy was adapted by him based on the story of Romeo and Juliet in a long and plodding poem by a poet named Arthur Brooks(Spurgeon,1979:315).However, this didn’t prove that Shakespeare lacked originality. His unique treatment of the story endowed it with the unparalleled charms attract people’s attention all the time. Butterfly Lovers, claiming to be“ Chinese Romeo and Juliet” ,is one of the great four folktales in China. It’s believed to be a tragedy reshaped from the historical story. So far many people still engage themselves in the research for its historical source. According to Fan Dai(2000:author’s note),most researchers agree that the story took place during the Jin Dynasty(906-960).Later it was put into writing and transformed into various artistic performances, such as drama, novel, film and a violin concert. It’s well-known that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about young love, hopes and dreams which are destroyed by the stupid family feuds. Its protagonists are the passionate young lovers from the rival families who show the amazing courage in pursuing their 1 happiness even at the cost of their lives. Similarly Butterfly Lovers tells the Chinese lovers in the Jin Dynasty who are separated apart by the cruel feudal society because of their different social status. Under the great pressure from the authoritarian patriarchy society, the young couple has no choice but to commit suicide to resist the forced marriage. Both of these two tragedies end in the tragic death of the protagonists. Yet the lovers in Butterfly Lovers are reunited after death as a pair of butterflies. The tragedy is filled with the magical atmosphere by adopting a happy ending. The magical happy ending does not reduce the tragic sense of the whole play but reinforces it by suggesting the impossibilities of their reunion through the unreal way. Because of their popularity in both literatures, the comparison of them is of great significance to understand the uniqueness of the western literature and Chinese literature. This will promote the cultural communication and further their mutual understanding. Based on the comparative studies of Western tragedy and Chinese tragedy, the thesis will compare these two love tragedies from the following aspects of the themes, characters, conflicts, images and structure from the cultural perspective. ?.A Comparison of Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers A. Themes a. Love The theme of love penetrates both Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly 2 lovers. Since both of these two tragedies claim to be famous love tragedies, love is naturally their dominant and most important motif. However, different types of love are explored under the distinctive cultural backgrounds. And the love is mild but unremitting enough to contend with all the overpowering forces. One striking similarity between these two great tragedies is the forcefulness of love which is so powerful that it triumphs over the overwhelming external forces and even the death. In Romeo and Juliet, love is a violent, ecstatic and overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyalties, and emotions. In the course of the play, the young lovers are driven to defy their entire social world: families, friends and ruler. The play concentrates on the intensive love sprung from the first sight. Romeo’s feelings for Juliet at the first sight are much stronger than his first love for Rosaline. Immediately he forgets Rosaline completely and falls in love with Juliet madly. When knowing Juliet’s identity, he says“ my life is my foe’s debt”(Shakespeare,1952:49).He even risks climbing over the Capulet’s garden without taking the warning from his friends. Meanwhile Juliet, a barely 14-year old girl, knows Romeo to be her only true lover after meeting him at the party. She also expresses herself to her nurse in a bold way: Juliet:”Go ask his name :if he be married .My grave is like to be my wedding bed”(Shakespeare,1952:50). 3 Even being informed that Romeo is the son of her family’s great enemy. Juliet: “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy”(Shakespeare,1952:50). Later at the garden driven by the passions of love, Juliet announces her minds, Then they exchanged their love vows in spite of their families ’age-old feud. It is apparent love for Romeo and Juliet is superior to anything else, even the bloody feuds. Before Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage, Romeo is challenged by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Romeo shows great respect for their love by refusing to duel with Tybalt. Romeo:“I do protest ,I never injured thee, But love thee better than thou canst devise ,Till thou shalt know the reason of my love: And so, good Capulet,--which name I tender As dearly as my own,--be satisfied”(Shakespeare,1952:69). Then the loss of his dear friend forces Romeo to take up the duel and he kills Tybalt. This shocks Juliet and she can’t accept the fact at first. She is tortured by the sense of family loyalty. Soon she realizes that her loyalty and love should first go to Romeo. She knows Romeo’s banishment causes more pain than the death of a family member. In a sense, love defeats the kinship. When being informed of the Prince’s edict of banishment, Romeo immediately loses the will to live, for the banishment means the separation from Juliet. As for Juliet ,the love is also the driving 4 force that encourages her to defy the commands of the family authority. She refuses to marry Paris, an ideal guy to marry according to her parents. Even the threats from her father, dissatisfaction from her mother and the opposition from the Nurse who supports her at the very beginning can not force her to abandon her love .All these combined only reinforce her love for Romeo. In order to reunite with Romeo, she shows no fear in taking the potion and being taken into the gloomy grave. And at the end their love even surpasses the death which is generally believed to be difficult to go beyond. In great distress, Romeo takes the poison he has brought to the crypt to hope to be with Juliet after death. To the great horror of Juliet, she awakes to find that her lover Romeo is dead beside her. Since Juliet can not bear the loss of her lover, she stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger, hoping not to be separated any longer. Love in this play is proved to be stronger even compared with other things, even the bloody feuds. Under the different cultural background, the lovers in China have to suffer more to seek their happiness. Unlike Renaissance period that advocates the humanity, the feudal China in which Confucian analects are highly regarded forbids the young to express their love openly. Women are expected to live by the “tenets of obedience and the four virtues”. They are required to obey their parents’ decision and enjoy no freedom in marriage. So the love of Liang and Zhu is quite rebellious and encouraging with regard to their specific culture. Unlike the love at the 5 first sight between Romeo and Juliet, the love between Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo is constructed on the basis of three years ’friendship .After studying and playing together for three years, Zhu Yingtai is more and more convinced of her own feelings for Shanbo. Only the intensive and permanent love can inspire her to defy the traditional ethics that she is taught since childhood. No matter how rebellious she is, she can not be brave enough to reveal her true identity and declare her love to him personally. She racks her brains to offer her own hand to him in marriage. On the whole, the initiative shown by Zhu Yingtai in pursuing true love is rather rare in the feudal China. To sum up, these two love tragedies rest on a common idea that love is a force of good vitality and it supersedes anything regardless of feuds, social distance or the feudal ethics. b. Fate Fate as a dominant force is evident from the very beginning to the very end of the play. Many instances in the play reveal that the love of Romeo and Juliet would have a tragic end. The first Prologue describes Romeo and Juliet as “A pair of star-cross’d lovers” Shakespeare,1952:31).“Star-cross’d”means a pair of lovers who are destined to die and eparate. Not only in the beginning but also throughout the whole text the term“ star ”is epeated. Apparently the play is doomed to be a tragedy by Shakespeare.“Two of the airest stars in all the 6 heaven…”(Shakespeare,1952:52)The two stars,representing Romeo and Juliet,meet each other by fate.In the balcony Romeo’s exclamation of the beauty of Juliet“The brightness of her cheeks would shame those stars”(Shakespeare,1952:52)is also interlaced with the star which predicts their tragic fate.When Romeo believes Juliet is dead,he expresses his extreme hatred towards fate.“Is it even so?Then Idefy you stars”(Shakespeare,1952:99).All seem to be destined by fate.The meeting of Romeo and Juliet is too unlikely to be coincidence.The love between them is controlled by fate.The fate seems to make a malicious joke and the messenger is delayed because of the plague.While Romeo get the false information that Juliet is dead.He comes to Juliet before her waking .The unfortunate timing directly results in the couple’s tragic death. Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo in Butterfly Lovers are destined to be ill-fated by the feudal society for their different social status.The great disparity in social status predicates their tragic end.Zhu Yingtai is the only daughter of a rich family while Liang Shanbo comes from a poor family.As in feudal China,the rank or status equality in marriage is generally agreed to be a law to abide by.Due to his social status,the father of Zhu Yingtai is determined to marry his daughter to a rich and powerful family for the sake of family honor.He will never be satisfied with the good-natured Liang Shanbo from disadvantaged background.Owing to 7 the different social status,Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo is doomed to be separated.Even worse the feudal society grants no freedom for youth in their marriage.They are expected to be obedient to their parents and elders according to the ethics and morality in the society.It seems quite ridiculous for Zhu Yingtai to seek her husband on her own according to the customs.Rebellious girl she is,she still feel ashamed to mention the marriage of her own to her mother.No matter how violently she protests later,her father,the representative of the patriarchy society,will never consent.The reality is rather harsh for the young couple in the course of seeking their free love. Some will argue that the character flaws also lead to their catastrophic destructions.No wonder free will plays a certain role in the plays.However,the free will in the two tragedies is the accomplice of destiny.Romeo’s impetuousness brings him to the party of Capulet where he falls in love with the only daughter of his great enemy.Since then they are in the hands of fate.Again that his impetuousness driven by anger kills Tybalt brings him closer to his destine.In the end,the fatal joke on him can succeed only because of his character.His impetuousness for committing suicide when supposing Juliet to be dead leads to their real tragedy.As for Juliet,her impatience to change their ill fate only accelerates the tragic death of her lover and herself.Many people believe that the tragedy of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai partly results from their 8 weak personality.It’s partially true,especially for the case of Liang Shanno. Liang Shanbo,a typically frail scholar,concerns only about his studies.When confronted frustration,he is too feeble to say a word but die brokenhearted.Although Zhu Yingtai never shakes under the great pressure of the feudal authority,she shows the astonishing courage only after Liang Shanbo dies.This is doomed to be a tragedy. B. Tragic Characters a. Juliet versus Zhu Yingtai After reading Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers,we will find that the heroines Juliet and Zhu Yingtai are far more complicated characters in these two works.Their inner conflicts reveal the greatness of love and the bravery,determination and strength of women who are generally regarded as the weak of the society. Juliet,a barely fourteen-year old girl,seems obedient and naive at the beginning of the play.Unlike many girls of her age,she never gives a thought about the subject of marriage.When Lady Capulet mentions Paris’possible marriage with Juliet,Juliet answers in an obedient way:she will see if she can love him.Compared with Juliet,Zhu Yingtai tends to be more rebellious than Juliet at the beginning.Under the patriarchy society,girls are not allowed to go to school.Yet Zhu Yingtai defies it and makes attempts to persuade her father to change his mind.The love at the first sight with Romeo propels Juliet to full maturity.Even having been profound in love with 9 Romeo,she is level-headed enough to offer Romeo the opportunity to think rationally about the love for her. Juliet:“Dost thou love me?I know thou wilt say‘Ay’;And I will take thy word.…If thou dost love,pronounce it faithfully.Or if thou thinkest I am too quickly won,I’ll frown and be perverse and say thee nay…”(Shakespeare,1952:54) These lines suggest Juliet has shown a maturity and an understanding of the seriousness of the state of matrimony.The shift from immaturity to maturity shows the great courage and wits that Juliet possesses.However Zhu Yingtai seems to be rather conservative in expressing her love for Liang Shanbo for in ancient China it’s disgraceful for a girl to do so.After close observation and contact with Liang Shanbo,she draws a conclusion that he is good-natured and reliable man for her.Since she is a girl disguised as a man,it’s improper for her to reveal her affections to him directly in that situation.However she is witty and courageous enough to give hints to Liang Shanbo of her true identity on the way home as well as ask help of Mrs.Zhou,the wife of her master. Facing the great pressure during the course of seeking their happiness,both Juliet and Zhu Yingtai shows their amazing determination.In Romeo and Juliet the feuds of the two eminent families are so bitter that even the servants of the two families are incompatible as suggested in the first scene of brawls between them.And then Romeo’s 10 killing of Tybalt,As a heroine in the Chinese love tragedy Butterfly Lovers,Zhu Yingtai shows striking similarities with Juliet in resolving to stay with her lover Liang Shanbo.She displays immense courage and determination when challenging the parental authority and the foundation of the feudal doctrines for her future happiness. b. Romeo versus Liang Shanbo Romeo,the son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague,is a handsome,intelligent and sensitive young man.Liang Shanbo is also a handsome and refined and cultivated young man with humble origin.Although with different temperament,both of them play an indispensable role in these two well-known tragedies.Compared with heroines,the heroes of Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers are relatively weaker and more passive characters in fighting for their free love.Before Romeo meets Juliet,he is a melancholy and apathetic youth.He feels despaired at the indifference of a girl named Rosaline at him for he believes he loves her.Then Juliet’s appearance changes his belief and he forgets Rosaline completely.True love propels from immaturity to maturity quickly.He is no longer melancholic but dynamic and courageous youth.Family feuds can not prevent him from his lover.When challenged by Tybalt,a rash Capulet,he begs Tybalt to hold off the duel for his love for Juliet. His rage for Tybalt kills the latter and he receives banishment for whichhe nearly kills himself.Again his 11 imprudence brings him the real tragedy for him and his lover.Later in Mantua he receives the false information of Juliet’s death and breaks the banishment order which threatens death for him to see his Juliet.His eagerness to be with her makes him commit suicide in the quickest way.Despite of his impudence,his love for Juliet is powerful and can not be denied anyway. Liang Shanbo is exactly the opposite of the dynamic,courageous and even rash Romeo.He is a typical Chinese scholar who is sincere and honest but slow in action.His dumbness is well explained by the fact that he has no idea of the true identity of Zhu Yingtai after three years’friendship.However his love for Zhu Yintai can not be denied.When informed of Zhu Yingtai’s true identity,he is entranced with joy.Then the news of Yingtai’s arranged marriage is like a chill shooting through his body and his chest has a dull pain as if someone had hit him hard.He even has to hold on himself to the desk.After a month’s torture with a sense of helplessness and depression,his heath rapidly deteriorates and soon dies of a broken heart.He is too weak as a man to stand strains and he doesn’t shown any courage and determination to protect Zhu Yintai.The bad news is enough for him.As the outcome of the teachings of traditional doctrine,he has lost the confidence to fight for their happiness by taking it as an inevitable result.The tragedy of his character lies in his cowardice to challenge the feudal arranged marriage by making attempts to fight with 12 Zhu Yingtai or giving her some confidence. C. Tragic Conflicts a. Conflicts in Romeo and Juliet Roughly speaking,the conflicts of Romeo and Juliet are more intensive and violent than those of Butterfly Lovers although the latter has its own criteria for the strife of the characters in accordance with its traditional customs.As a love story Romeo and Juliet,conflicts penetrate it throughout the whole play.It is constantly interrupted by and entwined with various conflicts between the characters and themselves.The conflict of love and hatred rather than that of good and evil predominates the whole tragedy and even leads to the protagonists’death.This thesis will make some studies on how the two irreconcilable forces love and hatred build up their fierce conflicts. Their bitter feuds are vividly depicted from the prologue about the brawls between their servants which indicates their incompatibility.Their strife goes on regardless of the decree of death made by Prince of Verona of the one who disturbs the future peace.Even at the threat of death,Tybalt is ready to fight against the Montague for Romeo’s appearance at the Capulet’s feast enrages him.The tension between the two families is again built up as it suggests the potential increasing conflict of the two families in the Capulet’s house.Their enmity seems uncontrollable even under the pressure of being sentenced to death.But hatred is not the most striking force and it meets love this 13 time.In order to see Rosaline,Romeo risks his life at the Capulet’s party only to find Juliet is his true lover.At the party,they fall in love with each other at the first sight.Both of them are filled with the strong mixed feelings of love and hatred when informed each other’s identities.Romeo utters“my life is my foe’s debt”(Shakespeare,1952:49).The love for Juliet is so intensive that Romeo doesn’t care whether at the cost of his own life.He seems totally in the control of his enemy’s only daughter’s hands.And Juliet expresses her inner conflicting feelings in more details: Juliet:“My only love sprung from my only hate～Too early seen unknown,and known too late!Prodigious birth of love it is to me,That I must love a loathed enemy”(Shakespeare,1952:50). The violent mental conflict is depicted through the sharp contrast of the antonyms:“early”and“late”,“known”and“unknown”and“love”and“hate”.Her mental struggle of love against hate is reinforced through the adjective“only”.She has to admit her minds that she has no choice but love her enemy.Later in the orchard,the love vows between the youths indicate love triumphs hate again.Through the earlier mental struggle,Juliet clearly knows that she loves Romeo for he is himself.Montague is just the name of her enemy and has no relationship with him.She will abandon the hatred of the two families if Romeo gives up his name.Hearing the soliloquy of Juliet,Romeo answers he will not be Romeo but her lover.Love is more of vitality and power compared with 14 the long-standing bitter hatred.True love never runs smooth.Their love meets the new challenge and faces the unprecedented pressure.The love for Juliet tells Romeo that he has to tolerate with this loathed kinsman.He responds that he loves him and values the name of Capulet which once is the synonym of hatred.Love apparently shows the unimaginable tolerance towards its sworn enemy hatred.However the two incompatible forces are reversible for each other.The love for the slain dear cousin fills Romeo with hatred and provokes him to duel with Tybalt and kills him finally.The conflict of their two families culminates at the death of Tybalt.Even Juliet who loves Romeo deeply feels betrayed and uneasy at the news.She is tortured by the conflicting forces of family loyalty and the wifely duty.All these antonyms are the exact expression of her mixed feelings for Romeo.She loves him as well as hates him to some extent for her slain cousin.However it is not long before her love for Romeo and her sense of wifely duty cause her to worry about the safety of her husband.She is even bold enough to defend Romeo by rebuking the Nurse for her ill words for Romeo.The strife between Juliet and her Nurse is the transformation of the conflict of family loyalty and love.Facing the accusations from Nurse for her indifference to her cousin,she answers that the result of the death of her cousin comforts her better than the loss of Romeo. Indeed Romeo and Juliet is full of the heart-stirring conflicts ranging 15 from the violent brawls and blood shedding of the feuding families to the fierce strife of love and hatred of the various characters,especially of the protagonists.No space seems to be free of the shadow of the conflict even the humorous joke. b. Conflicts in Butterfly Lovers Butterfly Lovers is a refined love story with rather simple plots which leave little space for the developing of the complex conflicts between the tragic characters. Generally speaking,Butterfly Lovers follows Chinese traditional treatment of conflict in tragedy.The basic conflict is the protagonists’pursuit of true love between the feudal marriage system,feudal ethics and patriarchic authority.It is unfolded mainly through the heroine Zhu Yingtai against the forced marriage.The moral nature of Chinese tragedy determines the degree of strife between the protagonists and the feudal society.At the very beginning of this popular tragedy,there is a vivid description of the contradiction of Zhu Yingtai and the feudal ethics.Unlike other girls,Zhu Yingtai has her own way of doing things.In order to go out for some formal education,she comes to her parents for their consent.Actually women are not allowed to go out for education at that time.As a saying explicitly expresses that“a virtuous woman should be one without any talent”(Fan Dai,2000:author’s note),Of course,Zhu Gongyuan,a spokesman of the feudal society doesn’t grant the permission.His firm position seemsunchangeable no matter how 16 eagerly Zhu Yingtai shows for an education.As a girl,withgreat determination,Zhu Yingtai makes continuous attempts to persuade her father.Finally the conflict is resolved with the compromises made by the two sides.Zhu Yingtai can go out for education on the condition that she should disguise as a man and keep the secret.After falling in love with Liang Shanbo,Zhu Yingtai becomes shy and timid in deciding whether to reveal her true identity to Liang Shanbo or not.In feudal China,it’s forbidden for a girl to express her love to a man,for it is regarded as disgraceful and scandalous. As we have observed that so far the conflicts in Butterfly Lovers are rather mild compared with those of western tragedy that emphasizes on the violent clashes of two sides,the Chinese ones prefer to be resolved with a compromising approach. In this play,Zhu Yingtai is the focus and she is more vividly depicted than any other characters through the detailed description of her defiance against the authority of patriarchic society.As the cruel society gradually devours her beautiful dream with Liang Shanbo,she becomes firmer at her decision and shows the unimaginable courage and determination to fight for her happiness.Driven by the belief to change her ill fate,she is resolute to make another attempt.She begs her father to cancel the wedding and return all the gifts to Ma family for she and Liang Shanbo have sworn that they would not marry anyone except each other.Zhu Gongyuan is appalled and annoyed at her mentioning the relationship with Liang 17 Shanbo so openly.Zhu Gongyuan is in fury and commands her to marry Ma Wencai whether she likes it or not.Defiantly Zhu Yingtai grabs a pair of scissors and cuts off a bunch of her hair by declaring that she will cut off her hair and go to nunnery if her father refuses to return the gifts.In this scene,the conflict between the daughter and the father finds its expression in a violent way.The last conflict of Zhu Yingtai and the feudal society is highlighted in the scene of her committing suicide at the tomb of Liang Shanbo.Zhu Gongyuan’s stubbornness smashes Zhu Yingtai’s dream into pieces..And the death of Liang Shanbo reinforces her determination to cut off from her family.The world now means nothing to her for the world had cruelly depraved the life of her lover and destroyed their happiness.To protest the injustice she decides to join her lover in another world.She pretends to agree to the arranged marriage but on condition that the wedding procession must bypass her lover's graveyard. She also insists on donning the white mourning garments over her red wedding dress. These are too much for Zhu Gongyuan who threatens to bind her to the sedan.Zhu Yingtai declares to commit suicide if his father does so.Knowing the resoluteness of her daughter, Zhu Gongyuan makes a concession and asks the matcher to persuade Ma Wencai. Upon the insistence of Zhu Yingtai, Ma Wencai has to order the procession to pass by Shanbo’s tomb. Zhu Yingtai’s jumping into the tomb of Liang Shanbo pushes the tragedy at its climax. She bitterly condemns the feudal 18 morality that has thwarted their love by committing suicide. ?. A Comparison of Value Dimension of Western Culture and Chinese Culture: Individualism,Collectivism a. Western Culture and Individualism In terms of the western social values,the top values are the personal ones,such as personal freedom,rights of the individual,self-reliance and personal achievements.In short,the core of Western values is individualism.In a general sense,individualism refers to the doctrine that the rights of the individual are the most important ones in a society. Individualism,which is conceived by ancient philosophy of Greece and Rome and Christianity, is fully developed for the first time in Renaissance and thereby,has gradually grown into the core of Western Culture.As a general feature of Western culture,it finds its manifestations in the eulogy to individual heroes.Greek mythology and tragedy gives us dramatic and powerful stories of radical individuals.Tragedy like Sophocles’Antigone,the rebel woman and Euripide’s Medea are all the character prototypes that challenge the absolute powers of the State even if such a challenge means death and agony.In the epic poems the individual’s heroic exploits and contributions are placed above collective efforts.Christian tradition elevates individualism.In Christianity traditions,individuals are important not only to each other, but also to the society and God.Individualism has been a virtue handed down from their 19 ancestors.The sentence“God helps those who help themselves”voices the high position of individualism in Christianity.The core of individualism is the pursuit of personal achievements.It is highly valued and well appreciated as a fundamental social virtue.Most westerners believe that each person has his own separate identity and personality,which should be recognized and reinforced.Therefore,one cannot comprehend the western and its people without understanding individualism.Only with the cognition of individualism can we understand how westerners conceptualize family,friendships,and privacy. b. Chinese Culture and Collectivism Chinese culture is characterized by collectivism.As far as collectivism is concerned,Chinese culture,especially the Confucianism emphasizes the subordination of the“self”to society by formulating the hierarchical relations between the individuals.Confucianism holds that society is made up of five relationships of husband and wife,of parent and child,of elders and youngsters,of Ruler and subject and of friend and friend.They should do things according their own social status.When being asked what a good government is,Confucius said“There is government,when the prince is prince,and the minister is minister;when the father is father,and the son is son”(“君，君;臣，臣;父，父;子， 子”).The young are supposed to show respect and obedience to the old,especially in the family where children should show absolute 20 obedience to parents.Chinese family stresses coalition.Family members depend on each other for support and they are required to show loyalty to the family.In such a culture,individuals belong to groups or collectivities,which are supposed to look after them in exchange for loyalty and are required to fit into the group(Gudykunst,1997:56).Generally speaking,Chinese culture emphasizes the collective quality in the nature of individual’s life and behavior.The Chinese have a stronger sense of family honor than the westerners.The meaning of“face”should be viewed in relation to the gain or loss of the social status of the family,not just of the individual. ?.Conclusion In this thesis the writer has made an endeavor to explore Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers by detailed parallel studies.It is quite apparent that the cultural differences lead to their distinctions in the three aspects,namely,themes,characters,and conflicts.Owing to the cultural environment and the traditional philosophy,Western people differ from Chinese people greatly in the character. One is of obstinacy,courage,self-reliance and strong self-consciousness and the other is the obedient andtolerant people with weak self-consciousness.Chinese people attach great importance to collectivism by regarding themselves as a part of the interconnected whole.Furthermore,their philosophy of life is quite opposite.One is 21 founded on conflict and division and the other traditionally stresses harmony. Concerning the way of expressing love,Romeo and Juliet show great courage to express their fervent love to each other while Zhu Yingtai is too shy to reveal her love to Liang Shanbo directly.The love between Romeo and Juliet is fervent and the love between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is mild.Western culture has traditionally entitled people to enjoy earthly happiness especially in the Renaissance period.And their emotional reservation throughout the whole play can also find the answer in its culture.Different cultural backgrounds distinguish Romeo and Juliet sharply from LiangShanbo and Zhu Yingtai.Romeo and Juliet show more initiative than Liang Shanbo andZhu Yingtai in defending their love.In Romeo and Juliet the hero and heroine especially the heroine shows amazing courage to pursue their happiness regardless of the great pressurefrom her family.In order to pursue their love,they would rather abandon their family names.Yet in Butterfly Lovers,the protagonists do not take the effective measures to defend their love when informed of the forced marriage,for they have been taught to be obedient to the decision of the parents since childhood. Under the influence of their traditional cultures,Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers differ from each other in conflict.Western culture regards conflict as the driving force of everything.As a result,conflicts 22 penetrate Romeo and Juliet from beginning to end. However, the Chinese culture traditionally lays stress on harmony and adopts a consistently negative attitude toward conflict,for it is regarded as evil,chaos and irrationality.Hence there are few head-on confrontations in Butterfly Lovers and they are much weaker in intensity compared with those in Romeo and Juliet. 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