《卡斯特桥市长》中的法律思想变迁

The Mayor of Casterbridge and the History of Western Legal Thoughts

从法律思想史的角度对小说《卡斯特桥市长》进行分析,对其中隐含的罗马自然法、中世纪神法和近代法治思想进行阐释。古代罗马自然法思想曾是卡斯特桥社会秩序的基础,但早已被遗忘;亨查德的命运沉浮体现了中世纪神法观点对人们的影响;而伐弗雷的成功则代表了法制思想在现代的发展。小说中哈代将进化论和西方法律思想的演变结合在一起,揭示了西方法律思想如何随着社会的变迁而发展及其对哈代所在时代个人和社会的影响。

This paper analyzes the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge from the perspective of the history of legal thoughts and elucidates the concepts of ancient Roman natural law,divine law in Middle Age and the rule of law in modern society.The ancient Roman natural law which used to frame the social conventions in Casterbridge fades away;the change of Henchard＇s fate reflects the influence of divine law rooted in Middle Age;while the success of Farfrae is an illustration of the development of human law in modern society.In this novel,Thomas Hardy applies evolutionary theory to the history of western legal thoughts to show how western legal thoughts changes in accordance with the development of western society and their influences on the people and society of Thomas Hardy＇s time.