《纯真年代》中的“远离”

Three Kinds of Fleeing in The Age of Innocence

小说《纯真年代》中的三位主人公分别以不同方式表现出各自的"远离":艾兰.奥伦斯卡伯爵夫人因觉悟爱情的虚无本质而远离所爱,梅.韦拉德因承受自己在现实中的选择而远离丈夫与他人相爱的事实,纽伦.阿切尔因责任及保留内心虚幻而远离现实的感受。他们各自的选择表现了个人与社会、理想与现实间的深刻矛盾。小说借主人公的所作所为,点出了作者华顿的态度:人要在社会传统、责任与个人情感、自由之间做出选择是艰难的,甚或是不可能的。唯有"远离"可以走向与世界的和解。

The Age of Innocence illustrates three kinds of fleeing of the main characters. Countess Ellen Olens- ka flees because of awareness to the paradoxical nature of love, May Welland flees from the reality that love exists between her husband and Ellen and decides to keep on running her marriage against her own will, and Newland Archer flees for keeping his spiritual world filled with fantasy. The characters＇ choices prove they are contradictory not only individually but also socially, showing the difference between the ideal and the reality. This actually sug- gests the intention of the author; man can hardly make his choice between the outer world and the inner heart, and only fleeing, to some extent, can make one be reconciled with the complicated circumstances.