A Comparative Study Of The Death Motif In Tragedy From Juliet To Christine And Fan Yi

The origin of occidental literature is ancient Greek tragedy. When it came to the Renaissance, occidental tragedy peaked for the second time, during which period Shakespeare was a continuation. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries, occidental tragedy underwent New Classical period and the Enlightenment. In the 19^th century, the theory of tragic character image came out.In my thesis, I will select three typical female characters from the oriental and occidental literary works: Juliet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Christine from Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill and Fan Yi from Cao Yu's play Thunderstorm. My choice is of deliberation. First, all of them are females. Throughout the history, women have been entitled an unusual standing in the society; their ups and downs reflect to some extent the social and cultural practice. Second, the three selected are household names; their existence is not isolated cases, and as the archetype females, the study of them has social significance. Third, throughout the history of literary criticism, studies of females have long been popular, and the three selected females, as a micro-reflection of the then society, are witnesses of past culture and they also foresee the future. Finally, as a girl student, I can better understand the female characters from a female perspective, and thus I can perceive the authors'intention in the settings.The thesis is divided into six parts. The introduction part briefly talks about comparative literature and its applied significance to the thesis, and gives an explanation to the choice of the three study objects. Chapter Two talks about death motif and the birth of ancient Greek tragedy. It relates death motif to the Dionysian spirit and social life respectively. Chapter Three studies the transition of tragedy in the Renaissance period. In this part the continuity of Greek tragic spirit, the innovation of tragic spirit in Shakespeare's Juliet and Juliet's foreshadowing a new phase of tragedy theory are put forward phase by phase. Chapter Four makes a comparative study of Juliet, Christine and Fan Yi, from the perspective of personal and social factors, and the conflicts between the two. Juliet is an embodiment of occidental tragedy and resistant consciousness, from whom two threads can be drawn: Christine and Fan Yi. The two are the archetypes of the literary tradition and their fates are so similar to that of Juliet that theirs also bring far-reaching tragedy impact. Chapter Five studies the reflection of death motif in the three characters. Both the inheritance of Dionysian spirit and the embodiment of Oedipus and Electra complexes are studied in this part. In the sixth and conclusion part, with time going by, tragedy theories undergo various developments and the patterns of manifestation are varied and diverse. Even the cause and form of death have changed, yet the death motif of tragedy and its impact is as always.