荣府的半奴半主们

The Semi-slavery Group in Rong Mansion

管家、姨娘、奶妈、大丫鬟等人在荣府地位较特殊,主子为保证自己的奢华生活及其有序,给其较高的待遇与一定的权限,他们在一般下人前则摆出了主子的架势,但其实质仍是没有人身自由的奴隶,故可以半奴半主相称。这些人不是《红楼梦》中主要人物,以往鲜有关注,但他们对故事情节有序展开,甚至矛盾的引发与解决都起过重要作用。以书中描写为依据,可以在群体意义上对其性质、作用及其变化状态来展开分析。

Stewards,maternal aunts,wet nurses,main servant girls have special positions in Rong Mansion. In order to maintain a luxurious life and keep it in order,the masters treat them well and endow them with certain rights. They put on airs as if they were masters in front of inferiors,but in fact they are semi-slaves with no personal freedom. These characters have not aroused much attention in the academic circle,for they are not main characters in The Red Mansion Dream. However,they play important roles in the development of the story line and even in the occurrence as well as the solution of conflicts. This paper analyzes the nature,roles and changes of these characters by regarding them as a group based on the descriptions in the novel.