美國(guó)文學(xué)課件4

1、 Negative Capability in 19th Century American Literature -Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan PoeI. Relationship with Transcendentalism: of the three, Poe was not associated with Transcendentalism or any other noticeable isms of his age. On the other hand, Hawthorne and Melville we

2、re marginally associated with the ideas of Transcendentalism, and they would often take a critical distance from that movement. II. Key concept: Negative Capability: 1. the origin of the phrase: negative capability was first used by John Keats. In a letter written in December 1817, Keats defined it

3、as the capability in good poets of including uncertainties and other negative emotions without stretching for reason and without losing reason. 2. classical expression: Keats wrote: “that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact a

4、nd reason.” The negative capability, by immersing us in ambiguities, doubts and other negative emotions, in fact strengthens us and improves our judgment by complicating our existing system of judgment. It is therefore a sign of the kind of aesthetic sophistication found only in good poets. 3. diffe

5、rent manifestation: Hawthorne, Melville and Poe were healthy skeptics. Their ability in doubts, irony and detachment enabled them to interrogate the innocence of the age. To put it differently, it is a way to question the basis of optimism so that optimism is not built on mere illusions. (1) Melvill

6、e: Melvilles skepticism about Transcendentalism is evident in what he says in Moby Dick : “he who hath more of joy than sorrow in himcannot be truenot true, or undeveloped.”(2) Poes interest in the complex dynamism of the human psyche made him a precursor to the 20th century phenomenon of psychoanal

7、ysis.(3) Hawthornes dramatizations of sin made him a deep explorer of human psyche and an examiner of optimism. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) The Scarlet Letter and Hawthornes Moral Vision: 1. the importance of Salem: Hawthorne was a native of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem was his birthplace. Salem

8、was a symbol of the Puritan past or the heritage of Puritanism in the “present”. For that reason, Salem, with its puritan heritage and its history of witchcraft, was the symbolic locale for Hawthornes creative imagination. Salem, together with the “all the puritan traits, both good and evil” found a

9、n unalienable imprint upon Hawthornes works. 2. The Scarlet Letter: (1) first Great American novel. The storyline, set 200 years earlier in the Boston area, is ostensibly focused on the adulterous love between Arthur Dimmesdale, a Puritan minister, and Hester Prynne, a married woman in his congregat

10、ion. (2)The focus of the novel is their moral situation in the long years in which they have to endure suffering., it is the consequence of the adultery and respective struggle of the two lovers that get us involved. 3. Hawthornes moral vision in short stories (1)“Young Goodman Brown” : A young mans

11、 initiation to realize the all-prevailing power of sin among the puritan community and their attempt to hide the sin. (2)“The Ministers Black Veil.” Reverend Hooper wears a thin black veil for life because he feels a sense of personal guilt not confessed. The veil is a symbol of universal guilt conc

12、ealed by hypocrisy. 4. An Analysis of the Main Characters in The Scarlet Letter : Hester Prynne: being the one penalized by the community for the adultery and thus the one bearing the scarlet “A” openly, gains a sympathetic knowledge of the existence of sin in other hearts. In that sense, Hester emb

13、odies this Hawthornian moral tenet: if the truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth from many another bosom .”. Arthur Dimmesdale : conceals his sin so deeply that he is eventually destroyed when Roger Chillingworth coldly probes his heart. But Dimmesdales weakness is in

14、 a sense also his healing power. a personal burden of guilt lends him special power in counseling those who are “sin-sick like himself. Roger Chillingworth: guilty of the unpardonable sin: the invasion into another persons soul in order to manipulate the other persons will for a very selfish purpose

15、. To Hawthorne, this is the worst sin and a person guilty of this sin is completely corrupt. The themes in The Scarlet Letter : (1) the juxtaposition between the puritan past and the present: nature seem to be a much higher moral force. (2) Doctrinarian morality is not the substance of Hawthornes mo

16、ral vision. For his characters, the moral vision is acquired through an inner struggle or exploration which first places them in unfamiliar territories. Another theme : withdrawal from marriage. Many of Hawthornes male characters live in isolation. It seems extraordinarily difficult for them to know someone else and to disclose themselves to another person. This kind of alienation, strangely, even becomes extrem