| Thematology is very important in the field of Comparative Literature and World Literature, in which"mother-killed-son"is the common motif in many different national literature. Since ancient times, mothers are regarded as"the embodiment of love", and the emotion between mother and child is always given praised by the writer whatever ancient and modern in China and abroad. However, the extremes phenomenon of"mother-killed-son"makes another abnormal mother's face. This thesis choose three well-known texts of the history of foreign literature—the ancient Greek tragedy Medea by Euripides, the modern tragedy Desire under the Elms by American playwright O'Neill's, and the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison who was the first black woman writer awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature—to research the common motif"mother-killed-son", attempting to reveal its literary form, psychological mechanisms, social and cultural causes, ethical paradox and aesthetic functions under the view of comparative study.This thesis consists of introduction, the text with three chapters and conclusion.Introduction Summarizing the universality and reality of"killed-son"phenomenon in the social history, and literature as a reflection of reality, can be seen the traces and motif of"mother-killed-son"everywhere. Thus brought up the research significance of this thesis, reviewed the present research on"mother-killed-son"phenomenon in China and abroad, defined the ideas and methods of thematology in this thesis.Chapter I Research on the cultural prototype and literary genre of the"killed-son"motif. By putting Jung's archetype theory as a starting point, analyzing the cultural prototype of the"mother-killed-son"phenomenon, and combining literary works to summarize three"killed-son"types of the"mother-killed-son"motif in the history of western literature, namely "revenge-style", "sympathetic-style" and "salvific-style". On this basis, this thesis focused on the analysis of the different"killed-son"types which represented by three mothers ( Medea, Abbie, Seth ).Chapter II The gender implication and female psychological characteristics of the"killed-son"motif. From the gender and female psychology point of view of women, we can seen that the tragedy of three mother is the interaction result of social environment and personal factors, and the crazy violence of Medea, Abbie and Seth reveals the light of human nature, which disclose the complex social and cultural issues and the personal psychological problems which hidden behind the acts of"killed-son".Chapter III The ethical criticism and aesthetic implication of the"mother-killed-son"tragedy. These three mothers showed another distorted motherhood to the world by their extraordinary gesture. Through their tragedy, people have a deep reflection of ethic and aesthetics on motherhood. The helplessness and sadness contained in the acts of killing child causes people's pity and heartache, brings Catharsis tragedy aesthetic effect, and causes tearing sense of life and promotes a cleansing of the human mind.Conclusion In the view of Cultural Poetics, we should explain issues by combining text analysis with broad historical and cultural context. The"mother-killed-son"motif in western literature contains rich cultural meaning and social connotation. Through its multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, we will have a better understanding of the human spirit and social issues which reflected in literature. It will encourage people to more consciously seek and cherish the harmony and healthy motherhood, meanwhile, effort to achieve the normal and healthy development of social and humanity. |
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