（英语语言文学专业论文）福斯特对英国中产阶级的视野拓展.pdf

ii 摘 要 摘 要 爱摩福斯特（18971970）是二十世纪上半叶英国著名的小说家。他 是一位不同凡响的作家。他既是现代主义的开拓者之一，同时又是现实主义的 忠实维护者。他生活的维多利亚和爱德华时代，中产阶级的家庭背景，英国公 立教育及遍布欧亚非三大陆的广泛旅行都决定了他的作品的特殊性。 他生前发 表了五部重要的小说，分别是：两部英国小说最长的旅行 （1907）和霍 华德别业 （1910） ；两部意大利小说天使不敢涉足的地方 （1905）和 一 间可以看到风景的房间 （1908） ；一部印度小说印度之行 （1924） 。 作为英国中产阶级中的一员， 福斯特非常了解这个阶级固有的弱点及他们 “发育不良的心” ， 并努力寻找方法去拯救他们。因而，福斯特创作的五部小 说关注的共同焦点是英国中产阶级。 但是福斯特对中产阶级关注的视野并不是 静止的， 而是随着创作的经验积累和人生观与世界观的逐渐成熟而不断变迁和 拓展的：从两部英国小说关注的英国中产阶级的道德理念，到两部意大利小说 关注的以英国中产阶级为代表的英国现代文明与地中海古老文明的对话， 再到 一部印度小说关注的以英国中产阶级为代表的西方与东方文明的对话。 根据创 作时间的先后顺序， 小说背景地理位置的扩展， 及福斯特人生阅历的积累， 本 文会对这三类小说反映出来的他的创作视野的逐步拓展和转移， 一一描述和评 价。 福斯特把他自由人文主义的“连接”观，现实主义的批判精神，理性的反 思，以及理想主义的信念都融入到了他的小说艺术中。他对中产阶级关注的视 野拓展见证了他对终极真理与和谐世界的不懈追求。 他是对人性及人与人之间 关系的执著的探索者。 尽管有时候他要建立和谐人际关系的良好愿望不能成功 地实现，但是这也充分证明了他探索的艰难性和可贵性。福斯特，作为一个英 国中产阶级的学者，跨越了阶级、种族和民族的障碍，成为了一位具有国际战 略眼光的小说家。 关键词：关键词：爱摩福斯特，小说，英国中产阶级，视野拓展，交往 iii abstract edward morgan forster (1879-1970) was a famous british novelist in the early half of the 20th century. as a writer, forster had his own distinctive features. he was one of the forerunners of modernism, and also a firm adherent of realism. moreover, his living times, middle class family background, educational experience and traveling activities were all contributory to the particularity of his works. there were five important novels published before his death-two english novels: the longest journey (1907) and howards end (1910); two italian novels: where angels fear to tread (1905) and a room with a view (1908); one indian novel: a passage to india (1924). as a typical english middle class, he intimately knew the limitations of this class and their “undeveloped heart”, and endeavored to search for the way to save them out. therefore, the common focus of all his five novels is on the english middle class. however, forsters vision of the english middle class is not static and changeless, but constantly developing and expanding with the accumulation of his fictional composition, and his gradually maturing view: from the focus on the ethics and spirits of the english middle class (the two english novels), to the focus on the communication between the british modern civilization represented by the english middle class and the ancient mediterranean civilization (the two italian novels), then to the focus on the communication between the western civilization represented by the english middle class and the oriental civilization (the indian novel). according to the sequence of forsters literary production, the geographical extension of his novels settings, and the increase of his own experience, this thesis will discuss in detail the expansion of poetic and thematic vision reflected by the three groups of novels. forster mixed his liberal-humanistic view of “only connect”, realistic criticism, rational introspection, and fantastic utopian ideal into the art of novels. his expansion of vision on the english middle class recorded his persistent pursuit of iv truth and harmony. he was a persistent investigator of human nature and human relationships. although sometimes the aim of his investigation could not be successfully accomplished, it adequately proved the hardships and preciousness of his research. forster, as an english middle class intellectual, was transcending both his class and his nation. he was an international novelist. key words: e. m. forster, novels, english middle class, expanding vision, communication 上海交通大学上海交通大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下，独 立进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论 文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文 的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本 人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。 学位论文作者签名：魏晓丹 日期： 年 月 日 上海交通大学上海交通大学 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定， 同意学校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版， 允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权上海交通大学可以将本学位论文的 全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫 描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。 保密保密，在 年解密后适用本授权书。 本学位论文属于 不保密 不保密。 （请在以上方框内打“” ） 学位论文作者签名：魏晓丹 指导教师签名：索宇环 日期： 年 月 日 日期： 年 月 日 i acknowledgements first of all, i wish to earnestly show my genuine gratitude to my supervisor, professor suo yuhuan, who has given me so much significant guidance in the research on e. m. forster and in writing and revising this thesis. his instructive suggestions have been of much value in the formation of the present thesis. i am grateful to him for his insightful advice both in my study and in my life. i also would like to express my heartfelt thanks to other teachers in the school of foreign languages, shanghai jiao tong university, who have given me much help in my postgraduate study of english language and literature. in addition, my sincere thanks must be extended to my dear friends in my class for their precious concern and warm-hearted encouragement in my working on this thesis. last but not least, i feel indebted to my family for their gentle care and everlasting support which i will forever cherish. 1 chapter 1 introduction 1.1 introduction to e.m. forster 1.1.1 the middle class family background edward morgan forster (1879-1970) was a famous british novelist and essayist in the early half of the 20th century. he was born in a london middle class family. his father was an architect who died when forster was not yet two years old, thus he was left to be brought up as the only child of his widowed mother under the support of other relatives. the family environment made him fully understand the characteristics of the english middle class: they looked gentle, noble, indifferent and strong-willed in appearance, but actually they were hypocritical, peacockish, merciless and vacuous-minded. under their disguise, they had “the undeveloped heart” which was indicated in forsters characterization of the english in almost all the five novels published before his death-where angels fear to tread (1905), the longest journey (1907), a room with a view (1908), howards end (1910), and a passage to india (1924). 1.1.2 the painful experience at tonbridge school when he was eleven, in 1890, forster was sent as a day-boy to tonbridge school. day-boys were despised and looked upon as socially inferior; therefore, he came in for a great deal of bullying and was very miserable. full of prejudice, snobbery, mistreatment and punishment, the school gave him bitter childhood memories. thats why he developed a lasting dislike of the public school system. in the longest journey, he castigated the public school ethos and denigrated tonbridge in the guise of sawston school. with his keen observation, he later came to realize that the source of “the undeveloped heart” of the english middle class was not something else, but the public school system which forged thousands of innocent students into inexorable and freaky-hearted figures. 1.1.3 the happy and free life at cambridge university during his last year at tonbridge school, he won school prizes for both latin and 2 english and was offered a place at kings college, cambridge, where he entered in 1897. in contrast to the depressive and tedious life at tonbridge, life was much more attractive and enjoyable at cambridge, where he was blessed with the free academic atmosphere, making congenial friends and learning fresh ideas. he was enfranchised. he read widely, attended lectures assiduously and at the same time developed his interest in music and art. he now found himself in the company of a number of like-minded young men with whom he could discuss literature, philosophy or any other subject that took their fancy. this group was to be called “the bloomsbury group”. the organization was informal, and they shared common ideas-rebellion against the various limitations of the victorian times. it was during this period that forster primarily formed his humanistic and liberal view towards life and human relations, and he abjured christianity though he never lost his interest in religion in its widest sense. he was concerned with true friendship in a very stuffy and hypocritical world and with mutual understanding between human beings. he mentioned the cambridge experience in his partially autobiographical novel the longest journey. in his novels, he celebrated the importance of beauty, personal relationships, and the quest for harmony. especially in howards end, he offered the ideal of “only connect” as a solution to “the undeveloped heart” of the average englishman, the life of culture as a counterpoise to the life of “telegrams and anger” without, and “panic and emptiness” within. 1.1.4 the journeys to italy, greece, egypt and india travel made forster a writer. after graduation from cambridge in 1901, he visited italy and greece. he was fascinated by the mysterious mediterranean culture. he enjoyed the ancient greek mythology and the italian art of the renaissance period. the bright sunshine, exotic landscape and instinctive life of the two nations contrasted with the confining, repressive and hazy atmosphere in britain. this provided him with the inspiration for his two italian novels: where angels fear to tread and a room with a view. to equip himself with the confidence in producing a passage to india, his masterpiece, forster had intimate knowledge of the tensions between the rulers and the ruled and between muslims and hindus as the result of his two widely separated visits to india, the first in 1912-13, and the second in 1921. moreover, his red cross service in alexandria from 1915 to 1918 expanded the range of his personal relations and knowledge of eastern 3 thoughts. his journeys had widened his horizon, enriched his mind and nourished his soul. 1.1.5 forster as a writer in addition to the five important novels, forster also wrote short stories, essays, plays, reviews and broadcast speeches. his theories on novels were collected in his influential work aspects of the novel (1927). after 1924, his literary composition almost terminated, and he was ardently engaged in social activities. in his later years, he spent much of his time at cambridge, delivering lectures and writing essays. since 1946, he had lived as an honorary fellow of kings college of cambridge. he died in coventry in 1970. forsters life span extended from the 19th century into the 20th century. during this period, with the rapid development of science and technology, great changes took place in england and europe. the traditional value system that had supported the middle class was gradually replaced by the modern ideology. in the literary field, this turning period witnessed the transition from realism to modernism. “modernism takes the irrational philosophy and the idea of psychoanalysis as its theoretical base. the major themes of modernist literature are the distorted, alienated and pathological relationships between man and nature, man and society, man and man, man and woman, and man and himself.” 1 forster was one of the forerunners of modernism. in his novels, he endeavors to investigate the nature of modern human beings by placing them in various troubles, which were inevitable in the modern times. his novels were involved with the confusions of the lost modern people and tried to help them out. the complexities of his writing skills and the innovatory factors in his novels all proved the obvious tendency of modernism in his literary composition. especially, the skillful use of poetic rhythm and symbolism was the predominant characteristic of his last two novels. however, the feature that his novels always criticized the middles class values based on the keen observation of their life from different perspectives showed that his works had inherited the realistic tradition of the victorian novels. moreover, his living times, family background and educational experience and traveling activities were all contributory to the particularity of his works. as a writer, forsters distinctiveness determined him to be a distinguished figure in the 1 zhang, boxiang. a course book of english literature (volume two). wuhan: wuhan university press, 2005. p.340. 4 history of british literature. 1.2 introduction to the english middle class 1.2.1 the english middle class-a new concept the english middle class were a group of people to whom forster paid his main attention. the great britain in edwardian times was notably different from the one in the industrialized victorian age. in the early 20th century, the industrial revolution had already completed and the post-industrial and urbanizing period had come. urbanization brought about the increase of motor vehicles and the convenience of transportation. by the advanced network of railways and highways, the city people enlarged their area of activities to reach for the tranquil and pastoral life of the suburbs. the expansion of urban space resulted in the appearance of acres of suburbs between the city and the rural area. the suburbs took up a significant component part of the consubstantial urban culture. the citizens dwelling there around the cities formed a new social community differing from both the traditional yeomen and the pure urban population. they were new because they lived in the new cultural space and were dissimilar from the english middle class of the industrial capitalist times. as for their social positions, economic conditions and professions, they still belonged to the middle class with a widened connotation. they were composed of upper, middle and lower stratums according to their social and economic status, just like the wilcox family, the schlegel family and the bast family in howards end. forster was keenly concerned with these suburbanites living on the outskirts of cities, the newly-prosperous community of middle class. they were characterized in all his five novels: the elliot family in the longest journey, the three families in howards end, the herriton family in where angels fear to tread, the honeychurch family in a room with a view, and the english couples and individuals in a passage to india. they lived with their pride, but they were burdened by their insurmountable limitations. 1.2.2 the english middle class-the embodiment of “the undeveloped heart” and british imperialism the limitations of the english middle class owed to the public school system, and to 5 their long-term advantageous and stable economic condition and the accumulative values. their rich families provided them with the affluent life ever since their birth. they had the opportunity of receiving the best education at that time, which was just the extravagant hope for the poor yeomen class. during their childhood, they were unexceptionally sent to the public schools which were only open to the people with high social status and abundant possessions. the english public schools were private schools, but open to the public. “public school” was not only a title, but also the symbol of social position and reputation. the system aimed at cultivating the social elites and high-ranking officials. it could be distinguished from other schools by its unique curriculums, boarding convention and character training program. students must obey the vigorous disciplines and living regulations. strict restrictions fostered the students to possess gentle bearing, strong nature and endurant spirit. under the guide of such spirit, the younger students always put up with the insult from the elder ones, which was unavoidable in the boarding life. the pubic school education emphasized the effect of tough living conditions in the process of building the youngsters strong mind and self-control ability. therefore, the school always intentionally served the students with not so decent food in the cafeteria, and the students were often required to have their lessons and do sports wearing few clothes in the bad weather, to bath in the cool water, sleep with thin quilt and with window open in winter. after the rigid academic study and character training experience in the public schools, the youngsters were shaped into being the so-called “gentle men” who would be the mainstay of the british society, and who advocated fair play, self-control, endurance and circumspection. playing a significant part in the field of economy, politics and culture, the middle class influenced the whole nation with their values, so the spirit of gentleman became the remarkable national character of great britain. however, the public school systems harsh training program restricted the free development of the nature and some talents of the children, and resulted in the week points of the english middle class, which were meanwhile the week points of the british nation. they were gentle and brilliant in appearance, but cruel, unimaginative and hollow-minded in nature. they were satirized by forster for having an “undeveloped heart”. by their economic property, or political position, or cultural influence, they had their 6 own overwhelming superiority. it is common that they displayed their “undeveloped heart” when getting along with other classes and with each other, just as in the two english novels. but whats worse, their “undeveloped heart” was also exposed when getting along with other western nations and with the orient. there must be some other reasons. the victorian age was generally acknowledged as the zenith in the british history. during this effulgent period, great britain took the lead in the industrial revolution among the western nations and sprang up to be the strongest nation of the european continent. the rampant overseas colonization assisted it to be the overlord of the whole world. the following edward times was the transition period from the victorian age to the first world war,