末代骑士的抗争及其失败——对斯特莱切《伊丽莎白女王和埃塞克斯伯爵》的一次细读

The Struggle and Failure of the Last Knight:A Perusal and Interpretation Strachey's “Elizabeth and Essex”

利顿·斯特莱切是英国20世纪最重要的传记作家之一,出版于1928年的《伊丽莎白女王和埃塞克斯伯爵:一部悲剧性的历史》作为其代表作,在世界范围内享有盛誉。作为主人公的埃塞克斯出身高贵,是"被吞没的古老阶级最后一名代表",坚持以中世纪的骑士精神对待君主、朋友和政敌,但他身处英国宗教与社会大变革的时代而不自知,饱受"末代骑士"与"女王廷臣"二重身份的折磨并最终走向毁灭。通过埃塞克斯的人生悲剧,小说描绘了"一个被摒弃的世界中形形色色的痛苦"。

Lytton Strachey was one the most important British biographers in the 20 th century,whose Magnum opus ＂Elizabeth and Essex：A Tragic History＂has enjoyed an extremely high reputation among readers,critics and researchers in the whole world ever since being published in 1928. The protagonist,Duke Essex,regarded as ＂the last representative of a swallowed ancient class＂by the author,abode by the spirit of the medieval chivalry in treating his Queen,friends and enemies. However,he could not cope with the great social revolution where new values and rules had been developed,nor could he solve the conflicts of his dualidentities being ＂the last knight＂and also the Queen＇s courtier,and thus perished. By uncovering the tragedy of Essex,the novel describes ＂various types of miseries in a forsaken world＂.