论《名利场》中利蓓加的悲喜一生-开题报告

Literature Review

"Vanity Fair", as the name implies, is "fame and wealth market", it sells fame, status, conscience, and no matter what kind of buyer is, rascal, rascal, bastard, swindler, as long as you have money to sell to you. The title alone gives us an idea of how sharply critical the author is of the society he describes.

Many people devote themselves to the analysis of the novel's theme or female image, but there are few studies on the tragic and happy life of the heroine Rebecca from a dialectical perspective. 

Chinese studies on Vanity Fair can be categorized into the following types: Firstly, many researches on the theme of Vanity Fair have been made. For example, in Characters’ Analysis in the Book of Vanity Fair and Theme, Wang Xinchun studied characters in the novel and the theme that the British society in Victorian times. Liu Yunlei in his article, A Thematic Analysis of William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair -- The Rise of Middle Class made a research on the process of the rise of middle class in Victorian times. Secondly, scholars have studied the characterization in this novel. For instance, in An Analysis of the Characterization in Vanity Fair by Zhang Lijuan, she studied the characterization of Rebecca and Amelia. Tan Zongyan, in A Positive Redefinition of Rebecca Sharp shows in Vanity Fair, gave a reinterpretation of Rebecca. Another type is to study Vanity Fair based on the theory of feminism. For example, Xi Xulin compared Rebecca and Amelia to express Thackeray’s attitudes towards them in the article, Women in the Eyes of Thackeray--A Reading of Vanity Fair from a Feminist Perspective. In The Sexually Attraction and Modern Dilemma of ‘Androgyny’ -- Analysis on Rebecca of Vanity Fair from a Feminist Perspective, Hu Wen thought that Rebecca possesses gender charm, human vitality and male hostility. The author also points that Rebecca’s tragedy is restricted by the patriarchal thinking and thus female self-liberation will be fairly difficulty. Researchers have made all sorts of researches on this novel, rare of these researchers focus on the characterization in Vanity Fair and most of them are concentrating on the writer’s writing techniques, language, style and so on.

Foreign critical studies of Vanity Fair are mainly divided into several types Some researchers consider Thackeray to be a sentimentalist novelist. In all of his early works, there is a strong sense of grievance and little sweetness and joy. Other researchers consider Vanity Fair to be a realistic novel. In this novel, Thackeray describes some of the lifestyles of his time. Vanity Fair surprised the world for it describes the lives of the twenties of that time. Some researchers regard Vanity Fair as a masterpiece of satire. With the passage of time and the development of literary theory, the attention of critics has shifted to cover almost every aspect of the novel. Depending on the focus of the study, scholars’ researches can be divided into several categories, such as character analysis and feminism. In terms of character analysis, Harry Blamaires, in A Short History of English Literature, analyzed the characters in Vanity Fair. He thought that Rebecca is a cunning, sexy and intelligent girl, but he does not agree with the way she acquires wealth and power; as for Amelia, he thought that she is lovely, gentle and modest. John Foster analyzed the characterization of Vanity Fair in The Examiner. Foster saw Stane as the archetypal representative of the declining aristocracy, who seizes power and money by virtue of a predatory nature. The rapid development of feminist thought since the 20th century has caused a storm of influence in the field of literature. Of all the previous studies of Vanity Fair, feminist studies are arguably the most extensive and in-depth. At first, critics tended to think of the novel as having some kind of moral-critical stance. They thought Amelia is better than Rebecca. Amelia is considered to be a typical “family angel”, who is endlessly self-sacrificing and willing to be silent to her family. However, since the 1990s, some critics have reinterpreted the novel from a feminist perspective. They thought Rebecca is more charming for her vitality and tireless struggle.

Through the extraction and reference of the above documents, it can be found that there is a lack of in-depth and detailed analysis of Rebecca's life at home and abroad, which will give us a clearer understanding of the British society in the 19th century and enlighten us. I hope my research can make some contributions in this regard.

Outline:

1Introduction 

2Introduction to the novel and author of Vanity Fair

2.1Introduction of author Thackeray

2.2The storyline and characters of Vanity Fair

2.2.1Summary of the storyline and details of joys and sorrows

2.2.2Rebecca's character 

3 Analysis of Tragicomedy of Rebecca in Vanity Fair

3.1The Tragedy of Rebecca

3.2The Comedy of Rebecca

3.3Reasons for the Tragicomedy of Rebecca

3.3.1Analyzing the Reasons from the Macro Perspective

3.3.2Analyzing the Reasons from the Micro Perspective

4Reflection on Rebecca's sad and happy life and inspiration to us

5Conclusion

References

Blamires, Harry. A Short History of English Literature[M]. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1952.

Dodds, John W. Thackeray: A Critical Portrait. London: Oxford University Press, 1941.

Elkins, William R. Thackeray’s Vanity Fair[J]. Explicator, 1986.

Ferris, Ina. William Makepeace Thackeray[M]. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983.

Julia Kent. Thackeray’s “Marriage Country”: The Englishness of Domestic Sentiment in Vanity Fair[J]. Nineteenth-Century Contexts,2008,30(2).

Rachel Pietka. Thackeray’s VANITY FAIR[J]. The Explicator,2010,68(4).

Leila S. May. The Sociology of Thackeray's "Howling Wilderness": Selfishness, Secrecy and Performance in "Vanity Fair"[J]. Modern Language Studies,2007,37(1).

胡雯. ＂双性气质＂的性别魅力与现代困境——女性主义视角下的《名利场》女性形象利落加探析[D]．硕±学位^范文，，2012．

王新春,李沙沙. 《名利场》的人物分析及主题思想[J].黑龙江教育学院学报,2005(01):93-94.

席旭琳. 萨克雷眼中的女人——从女牲主义视角解读《名利场》[D]．硕±学位^范文，华中师范大学，2005．

张丽娟. 《名利场》中的人物塑造分析[D]. 硕±学位^范文, 哈尔滨工程大学,2009.