The Research Of Pleasure In The World

Pleasure In The World is a novel about a love story of the bel-esprit and beautiful woman, who called Xu Xiuhu and Ju Zhangzhu. It must be one of the masterpieces of Ming and Qing Dynasties although it may not be the most prominent one.Pleasure In The World narrates the so-call pleasure in the world. The bel-esprit delights in free courtship of the talent and beauty, public success, resigning from office and leading a life of ease in seclusion while the beautiful woman wanna marry the person of their own choice to please their parents. However, things behind these pleasures are thoughtful. The author, like those who fail in an imperial examination at that time, wanna write some novels to reflect the harsh reality intentionally or unintentionally for consolation, including the public morals of advocating the imperial, the feudal marriage, in addition, his own "reclusion complex". Xu xiuhu and Ju zhangzhu are models of the bel-esprit and beautiful woman as their character is so distinctive and prominent in the novel. In addition, the functional character Lai childe has his own characters, arbitrary, simple and honest. From the perspective of narration, the author used circular narrative mode in the novel, and plenty of poetry played an assistant role in the narrative. The plot "woman disguised as man" which popular in the bel-esprit and beautiful woman novels during Ming and Qing also seen throughout the novel. The reason transvestites disguised as man reflects the self-awareness of the woman while they finally give in to feudal ethical code in the ending of the novel. The greatest value of the transvestites serves as a reference for the creation of the later generations. There are some limitations in Pleasure In The World which decrease its artistic value such as the stereotype of the character, pale language expression and rough details. Pleasure In The World present the thought that marriage should be arranged by parents’ order and the matchmaker’s word. It also beautifies Polygyny and emphasizes marriage between families of equal social rank. Despite of these shortcomings, Pleasure In The World, along with similar novels, has ineradicable value and status in the history of literature.