阳明心学视阈下罗伯特的人物形象解读

Robert’s Character Image under Wang Yangming’s Philosophy of Mind

美国戏剧之父尤金·奥尼尔在其经典剧作《天边外》中塑造了一个被生活裹挟却始终坚守本心本我的人物形象。该剧主人公罗伯特命运多舛,但在不幸和苦难中仍然奋力追逐自己认定的理想与幸福,并且始终选择以善意的方式对待这个看似对其并不友好的世界。此种“世界以痛吻我,我却报之以歌”的强大精神内核与阳明心学所提倡的“致良知”“知行合一”等儒学核心理念完美契合。因此,将罗伯特的人物形象置于阳明心学相关理论的棱镜中加以发微审视,不仅能更深层次、更丰富地呈现出人性“百虑而一致,殊途而同归”的普遍特征,同时也使得读者充分体验一种东方哲思解码西方文学作品的审美感受。

Eugene O’Neill,the foremost American dramatist,depicts in his work Beyond the Horizon a character,Robert,who is down on his luck but never avoids staying true to himself.As the protagonist in the play,Robert,in trials and tribulations,has been a staunch dream chaser,unremittingly pursuing his happiness and wittingly rendering his benevolence to the malevolent world.Such a solid inner mind reflected by his good deeds for the vicissitudes of life tallies with the core Confucian theories of a philosophy of mind proposes as“the Extension of Innate Knowledge”and“Unity of Knowledge and Action”.In this case,analyzing Robert under Wang Yangming’s Philosophy of Mind will make a profound and multidimensional manifestation of the commonness of human nature,concomitant with a novel aesthetic sensibility of deciphering Western literature with Eastern philosophy.