试论清教主义对早期美国戏剧发展的阻碍

On the Obstacle of Puritanism in the Development of Early American Drama

综观美国文学史，不难发现美国戏剧较之小说和诗歌，发展相当滞后。当戏剧之花在欧亚大陆竞相绽放、争奇斗艳之时，美洲大陆却是一派满目萧瑟的苍凉景色。这一奇特的文学现象值得探讨和研究。本文以历史文献为依托，从清教主义和戏剧两个方面入手，对其本质进行分析。最终得出，历史的特定性和必然性使得清教主义与戏剧不可避免地发生了碰撞，从而在一定程度上阻碍了早期美国戏剧的发展。

Drama lags far behind novel and poetry in the development of American literature.This is quite different from the situation of drama in both Asia and Europe.Doubtlessly,the strange phenomenon of American literary history draws our attention and stimulates our interest.Based on historical documents,this essay tentatively analyses the essence of Puritanism and drama,pointing out that the particular historical context inevitably caused the conflict between the two and eventually resulted in the difficult situation of early American drama.