南开大学 外国语学院 美国文学课件Appreciation of Araby

1、Appreciation of Araby,Questions to think about:,Setting (physical/psychological) Characters Theme/themes Possible structure Major writing techniques,Major writing techniques,Setting,geographical psychological,Setting,Geographical: North Richmond Street Psychological: solitary, isolated, lonely, orph

2、aned: fatherless/motherless,Characters,Who are in the story?,Characters,The ghost of a previous tenant, a priest; the narrator (first-person narrator), nameless; the narrators uncle and aunt; Mangans sister ; Mrs Mercer ; a young lady with an English accent in charge of one of the stalls of the baza

3、ar. perhaps the bazaar itself should be mentioned among the characters North Richmond Street, which is personified（拟人化）: blind, quiet, with houses conscious of decent lives within them, gazing at one another with brown imperturbable faces.,Theme/themes （1 ）,Illusion ( oriental dreams, easy love) vs.

4、 reality (shabbiness of surroundings, in street and bazaar alike), hence some groups of words and phrases are used to make contrast with the amorous epiphany （对爱情的顿悟）during which the narrators heart “leaps”, his eyes feed on Mangans sisters figure, dress, and intimation of underclothes (petticoat) a

5、nd his whole body is “like a harp”.,Theme/themes （1） The groups of words and phrases contrasting with the amorous epiphany:,“wild” garden; “dark muddy lane”; Musty waste-room littered with old useless papers, the “high, cold, empty, gloomy rooms, the “ruinous houses”; pages of books “curled and damp

6、” and “yellow” pages of books “curled and damp” and “yellow” ; “rusty bicycle-pump”, “feeble lanterns”, the inanity(浅薄、愚蠢） of the conversation in the market; the pervading references to money （对金钱的不断提及）into which all splendour resolves（使光辉灿烂的事物消解）;,Theme/themes（2）,The theme of frustration, as the bo

7、y deals with the limits imposed on him by his situation. The protagonist (主人公) has a series of romantic ideas, about the girl and the wondrous event that he will attend on her behalf. * On the night when he awaits his uncles return so late that he can go to the bazaar, readers feel the boys frustrat

8、ion mounting. For a time, the boy fears that he may not be able to go at all. When he finally does arrive, the bazaar is more or less over. His fantasies about the bazaar and buying a great gift for the girl are revealed as ridiculous.,Theme/themes（2）,* On the night when he awaits his uncles return

9、so late that he can go to the bazaar, readers feel the boys frustration mounting. For a time, the boy fears that he may not be able to go at all. When he finally does arrive, the bazaar is more or less over. His fantasies about the bazaar and buying a great gift for the girl are revealed as ridiculo

10、us.,Theme/themes （2）,*For one thing , the bazaar is a rather tawdry (俗丽而不值钱的) shadow of the boys dreams. He overhears the conversation of some of the vendors, who are ordinary English women, and the mundane (世俗的) nature of the talk drives home that there is no escape: bazaar or not, the boy is still

11、 in Dublin and the accents of the vendors remind the reader that Dublin is a colonized city.,Theme/themes(3),Theme of first unrequited love (单相思）,sexual and sentimental awakening Theme of autobiography, an unnamed narrator with love for books and adventure, young peoples propensity (倾向,习性) for dream

12、ing, very sensitive, the setting is where the Joyces actually lived.,Theme/themes(4),Theme of autobiography, an unnamed narrator with love for books and adventure, young peoples propensity (倾向,习性) for dreaming, very sensitive, reflecting part of the author characters; the setting of this story is al

13、so used in other stories. The place is recognized as where the Joyces actually lived.,Possible structure,the dawning of love :from “Every morning I lay on the floor” to “my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires”. first rendezvous (meeting with the g

14、irl) and wait : from One evening I went into the back drawing-room to ugly monotonous childs play last wait and disillusion :Saturday,Major writing techniques(1),Literary illusions(对其他文学作品的影射） . Eg. the “wild garden (荒芜的花园）) behind the house contains a central apple-tree, clearly suggesting the tree

15、 of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps the rusty bicycle pump symbolizes the serpent.,Major writing techniques（1）,The above detailed correspondences (细节的比照), invoking (引发) the Christian myths of the fall (将有关人类堕落的基督教神话与男孩幻想破灭相联系) expands the significance of the boys disillusionment (扩展了男孩幻想破灭的意义).,Major writing techniques(2),Use of metaphors. eg. the name of the story itself and the bazaar-within-the-story, Araby is the most crucial object (最关键的