Rebellion And Fusion

Ibsen was known as the "father of modern drama" and his dramas had a great influence to the world, especially to the Chinese living around the May 4th Movement. The core spirit of Ibsen’s drama is the individual pursuit and spiritual rebellion. The spiritual rebellion is an effective form to realize the individual pursuit, and the obstacles to individual pursuit are the objects of spiritual rebellion. Completely being oneself is at the expensive of some things, such as responsibility and social ethics, but people can’t get rid of the shackles of society totally because of their social natures. Individual pursuit and responsibility, rebellion and social ethics, which caused by the core spirit, are two pairs of contradictions we need to handle well. These two pairs of contradictions constitute the rebel dilemma in Ibsen’s dramas. Ibsen himself and Chinese writers who accept the core spirit of Ibsen’s drama both has their countermeasure about the rebel dilemma.There are five parts in this thesis.Introduction: Firstly the author analyzes the plight in Ibsen’s rebellious dramas, which caused by the core spirit, and the fusion and spread of Ibsen’s play in China can be revealed by this rebellious plight. The theme of domestic and foreign researches about his dramas is not so focused. Some people study the dialectical relationship between freedom and obligation; some people study the interpretation between ideal and the reality, self and the responsibility. But there is a lack of total review of the evolution of the author’s viewpoints. There are a lot of books about the doctrine of the mean. But the author found there were no researches which connected the spread of the core spirits of Ibsen drama with the doctrine of the mean. Therefore, the author will give a systematic elaboration on these two topics.Chapter One: The development of rebellious images in Ibsen’s dramas. Brand who follows the doctrine of faith supreme and Peer Gynt who believes libertarian comes first in the period of National Romantic are pure self-isolated. Their rebellion is total individualism which abandons all and they believe the individual pursuit is completely opposite to the responsibility. The playwright of realism begins to describe common people including their particular individual pursuit rather than to write personal epic records. Spiritual rebellion is not total opposite to responsibility and ethics. Rebellions with unknown future which never retreat and rebellions which fails because of weakness are replaced by rebellions with hopes. In the period of symbolism, Ibsen not only reveals the weakness which is showed when personal rebellion is faced with social problems, but also recognizes that rebellions are individual pursuit beneficial to social development. He even makes the hero balances the relationship between the individual pursuit and personal responsibility through AI Lida experience. He begins to realize the conflicts between the rebellion and responsibility. The relationship between personal pursuit and responsibility, rebellion and social ethics changes from opposition to fusion.Chapter Two: The early acceptance of Ibsen’s dramas in China: pure rebellion or reconciliation. After briefly introducing the translation and on-play situation of Ibsen dramas 10 years before or after the May 4th Movement in China, the author finds the acceptance of his dramas is mainly revealed by the rebel of Chinese traditional culture, which is embodied into two type: pure rebellion or consolidation. We will take Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren as the representatives. Lu Xun is committed to reforming the numb nature of the citizens and inherits the rebel spirit in Ibsen dramas to fight with the traditional culture. But he also has the humanity concerns, and does not blindly rebel. Absorption of Ibsen’s plays by Zhou Zuoren emphasis on individualism. His attitude towards the old culture is mild, and he does not agree to sacrifice too much to rebel. He tries to consolidate the drawbacks by using the doctrine of mean.Chapter There: The undertaking development of Ibsen’s plays in China. About ten years before the war of resistance against Japan, changes of social environment make the received type of Ibsen’s plays shift in China. Lao she absorbs the essence of Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren. This chapter by using the Four Generations as an example analyzes the benign evolution model which fuses the rebellion and rebel in China from the perspective of loyalty, filial piety and the overall view. From Feng Youlan’s improved doctrine of mean theory, this chapter discusses the Chinese spirit of working in and working out the government, and also analyzes its positive role in minimizing the contradictions between personal pursuit and responsibility, rebellion and social ethics. Combined with the specific theory of the doctrine of the mean, the author analyzes the application of the doctrine of mean by Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren and Lao She in their process of rebelling, which has a clear comparison between the Chinese midway rebellion and Ibsen’s rebellious plight solving.Summary: Give a conclusion. There is a process of improvement towards the rebellious plight in Ibsen’s dramas. The relationship between individual pursuit and responsibility comes from opposition to fusion when humanitarian makes up for the missing of social ethics and responsibility caused by rebellion. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, there are two stages about the spread and fusion of Ibsen’s dramas in the works of Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren and Lao She. From a pure rebel or harmonic rebel which centers on the doctrine of the mean to the fusion between rebellion and the doctrine of the mean, the rebel modals in China and foreign world changes with each other. Besides, this part also point out the deficiencies of this thesis.