社会漩涡中挣扎着的集体道德——《爱玛》

在18世纪晚期到19世纪早期这一段时期,英国社会、经济、政治和意识形态处于急剧变化之中。著名的小说家简奥斯汀以这一时期的社会关系为素材,创作了六部现实主义小说。其中《爱玛》尤为著名。本文认为,小说《爱玛》中所倡导的理想社会——有序社会,它指的是生活于其中的人们在社会地位、经济地位、情感和道德标准上和谐共处。社会集体与个体之间的平衡是理解这一主题的关键。如果我们考查一下这个观点的内涵,一个更广泛意义的,和道德价值紧密相连的社会集体会更加加深我们对《爱玛》这部作品主题的理解。而生活中充满活力的不同角色的坚持传统价值观的活动是实现这个理想的动力。

During the period between the late 18^th century and the early 19th century, England was undergoing rapid changes in different field. The famous English novelist, Jane Austen has created six realistic novels based upon the social relations of that period, in which Emma was the most representative one. According to this paper, the ideal initiated in Emma is to build up an ordered society in which people live in harmony socially, economically, emotionally and ethically. The balance of individual and society is the key to understanding this theme. If we closely examine the idea intrinsic to the novel, a broad context of connunity in relation to the uoral values enhances the experience of reading Emma. and the vitality of the characters who persist in traditional values is the energy of the novel leading toward the fulfillnent of this ideal.