《红楼梦》胥吏形象论

On the Image of Xuli (clerks) in the Dreams in the Red Mansions

胥吏在清代社会普遍存在。《红楼梦》描写的胥吏形象多而生动:他们挟持主官、包揽词讼、贪赃枉法。薛蟠致人死亡案中,胥吏的形象更是被作者揭露得淋漓尽致。胥吏形象的刻画,对《红楼梦》中主要人物的性格具有明显的铺垫作用,同时,胥吏形象的刻画,将爱情掩盖下的《红楼梦》的政治主题、社会主题彰显出来,是《红楼梦》群像刻画的成功体现。

Xuli, the clerks in the Qing Dynasty, have been vividly delineated in the Dreams in the Red Mansions . with the support and help from their boss,implicitly or explicitly, these clerks did nearly all sorts of misdeeds. In the case of the Xue Pan＇s murder, the images of the clerks have been carved to the bones. The descriptions of the clerks foreshadow the main characters of the Dreams in the Red Mansion. At the same time ,the delineation of the clerks reveals the political and social themes of the novel, which are under the cover of the love stories.