殊途同归话涅槃——论盖茨比与于连精神幻灭后的相同抉择

Nirvana of Two Protagonists——A Comparative Analysis of Gatsby in The Great Gatsby and Julien in The Scarlet and Black

《伟大的盖茨比》和《红与黑》是西方文学史上两部重要小说,作品分别以美国爵士时代和法国波旁王朝复辟时期为背景,描绘出世态炎凉的社会百态。作者菲茨杰拉德和司汤达分处不同国家、不同时代,却不约而同地塑造出有着相似命运的主人公—盖茨比和于连。两位主人公虽蕴含着不同的文化背景和时代特征,却殊途同归、凛然赴死。通过对比两位主人公时代背景、个性特征、爱情经历的相似性,以及对作品中的意象进行分析,可见在特定的社会历史条件下,主人公的情感失意、梦想破灭具有客观必然性,也说明在特殊时代背景下,平民实现梦想的几率几乎为零,主人公最后只能以死谢幕,从精神上达到涅重生。

The Great Gatsby and The Scarlet and Black are the gems of the western literary history whose background are the American Jazz Age and the France Bourbon Restoration Period respectively. The authors, Fitzgerald and Stendhal, shape the aweless protagonists with the similar destiny-Gatsby and Julien who choose the aweless death with the same attitude. Through the objective analysis of the differences of the social back-ground, different images used, the similarities of the protagonists’personalities and their love affairs, it could be shown that their dreams in that specific historical circumstances will inevitably meet their doom. Gatsby and Julien have no other choice but to die, but they obtain the Nirvana rebirth in a sense.