The Comparative Study On The Character Of Ying Bojue And Falstaff

In the glorious garden of the world literature of 16^th century two classical literary figures appeared in similar style and owned their particular characters,one of whom is Ying Bojue in “The plum in the golden vase”,the other Falstaff in the “Henry IV” of Shakespeare.In the western,the 16^th century was a significant period which was also a connecting link between the preceding Renaissance and the following Enlightenment epoch.Meanwhile,the eastern China was dominated by the Ming Dynasty with the much centralized feudal monarchy in the Chinese history.The western and China presented many differences in political,economical,and cultural realms and so on.Nevertheless,owing to the same background of the uncharted waters,both of them have emerged the characteristics of early stage of modernity.Some scholars like Georg Simmel,Marx Weber intended that the modernity was the transition not only of categories of society,culture,environment,regime,art,but also of all kinds of knowledge and the human being itself,and inherent formations of human body,desires,minds and spirits.According to the modernity theory of Hans Blumenberg,both Ying Bojue and Falstaff present the traits of “self-preservation” and “self-assertion”.Based on the edition of “The plum in the golden vase” criticized by Zhang Zhupo?namly the Chongzhen edition?and “Henry IV”,this thesis will apply the theory of literature semiology to give an analysis the traits of Ying Bojue and Falstaff:?1?The background code.“The falstaffesque background” and the social environment of Qinghe County were embodied respectively the seeds of modernity.?2?The character code.The two figures made various comedic effects because of the dislocation of their signified and signifier,which uncovered the transformation of existential dimension of human beings under this social background.?3?The emotional code.The authors have rated the two figures extremely low to the moral extent,however,they have displayed the complicated reasons why the two figures led a life like that,and showed their empathy and pity.The primary difference between Ying and Falstaff was implicit in their relationships with Ximen Qing and the Prince Henry,which resulted in their different endings.Ying was always obsequious to Ximen Qing and acted as a dependency,while Falstaff showed strong subjectivity before the Prince Henry.After the death of Ximen Qing,regardless of the friendship of “brotherhood”,Ying behaved still like one who depended on and served the rich and powerful,and became a follower of another rich man.On the contrary,when Henry inherited the Kingdom as Henry V,Falstaff was “rejected” by him.Shakespeare even just roughly mentioned the death of Falstaff.Compared to Ying,the tragic effects of Falstaff was more obvious and profound.Absolutely because the two figures contained fundamental traits of modernity and colorful characteristics,they turned out to be the classical literary signs in the world literature of 16^th century.