清代章回小说《桃花扇》艺术批评

On the Artistic Style of Fiction Peach Blossom Fan in the Qing Dynasty

最早的《桃花扇》题材小说作品是乾隆初年刻本章回小说,共十六回。小说以《桃花扇》原剧为蓝本,保留了原剧四十二出的大部分情节关目。但对原剧剧情删繁就简,按事件发生的前后顺序加以贯串,既无法凸显情节之间的逻辑关系,又没有产生波澜。小说文笔庸弱,语言呆板,叙述文字过于简净,缺乏文采。

The earliest extant fiction is adapted from the drama Peach Blossom Fan. It retains most plots of the drama and tells thestory in sequential narration, However it can not reflect plots’logical relationships, neither can it make a dent in the narration, its monoto?nous language lacks polishing, and its ending can only reflect how vulgar and pedantic the adapter is.