论《苏格兰玛丽女王被斩首》中的仪式书写

On the Representation of Rituals in Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off

苏格兰剧作家丽兹·洛克海德的《苏格兰玛丽女王被斩首》再现了苏格兰女王玛丽·斯图亚特的悲剧传奇。本文借人类学家特纳的仪式理论,探讨剧中婚礼、刺杀、枭首三起历史事件背后的仪式书写策略。在王室婚礼的通过仪式中,玛丽借苏格兰语的身体叙事走出了伊丽莎白一世女性君主的身体阈限。荷里路德宫的刺杀案在地位逆转仪式中与《莎乐美》的“戏中戏”交融,完成了玛丽在父权制下君主权威的重塑。古今交融的“角色叠置”将古老的斩首仪式化为现代孩童的狂欢游戏,反映撒切尔时代苏格兰的社会问题和女性困境。剧作家借仪式书写重塑了作为苏格兰文化符号的玛丽女王,传达出对当代苏格兰民族生存境遇的深刻思考。

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, written by Scottish playwright Liz Lochhead, recreates the tragic saga of Mary Queen of Scots. Based on anthropologist Victor Turner’s ritual theory, this paper explores the ritual representation of three historical events in the drama, namely, wedding, assassination, and decapitation.Through the royal wedding and its associated rites-of-passage, Mary transcends the liminal phase of the female monarch imposed by Elizabeth I with a more corporeal narrative in the Scottish language. As a ritual of status-reversal, the assassination in the Palace of Holyroodhouse blends with the “theatre-within-theatre” of Salome and remolds Mary’s sovereign authority within the bounds of the patriarchal system. Applying a “doubling of roles,” the “decapitation” of the 16th century itself is juxtaposed with the carnival game of modern children, presenting the plight of Scottish society and women during the Thatcher era. The representation of rituals throughout this lively and challenging narrative reshapes Queen Mary as a cultural symbol of Scotland, and conveys to readers a profound refection on the existential conditions of the contemporary Scottish nation.