Comparative Study On The Theme Of The Handan Dream And Life Is A Dream

'Life is a dream' theme has been a significant theme in Chinese literature since ancient times.The relationship between dreams and individual lives almost goes through the whole history of literature.From Zhuangzhou Dreamt of Butterfly to Zuozhuan and Han Fu,the intension of aesthetics was constantly enriched and developed in both narrative and lyric literature.Till the Tang and Song dynasty,large numbers of works started to express their emotions and life experience through dreams,such as Li Bai's and Li Shangyin's poems,and Su Dongpo's 'Life is but like a passing dream,I'd drink to the moon which once saw them on the stream',as well as legendary novels like Zhen Zhong Ji and The story of Nan Ke Tai Shou.In the Yuan and Ming dynasty,more than any other forms of literature,the drama became flourished and dreams even replaced the whole plots.Tang Xianzu's dramas "Lin Chuan Four Dreams" deputized the peak of drama creation which tied dreams and lives together.Additionally,in the west,the tradition of dreams could date back to The Epic of Gilgamesh.In the Renaissance period,Shakespeare created some plays related to dreams such as A Midsummer Night's Dream,Macbeth and Tempest.Nevertheless,the number of western works about dreams is far less than Chinese literature,not to mention literature based on 'life is a dream' theme.However,interestingly,among these few works,in 17th century,the drama named Life Is A Dream created by Pedro Calderon de la Barca,a Spanish renowned playwright in the Golden Age,and The Handan Dream,one of "Lin Chuan Four Dreams",almost appeared at the same time.In the same form,in the similar period of time,through thousands of miles,according to totally different cultures,these two dramas express the same theme.This thesis will compare the different meanings and ways of 'Life is a dream'theme in these two plays by way of parallel study.In consequence,I will try to explore interactions and relations between this theme and dramas.In this thesis,the study is linked close with different cultures between China and the west.Thus,the comparability of these two texts is foundation and premise of the study,as well as the main content of the first chapter.The comparability,including similarity,heterogeneity and complementarity,also lead another chapters of the thesis.Similarity and heterogeneity are auxiliary to each other.The similarity is the basement.The heterogeneity asks to explore the cultural reasons behind appearances as deeply as possible to reveal their unique charms.In the second chapter,I will compare the similarity and heterogeneity of meanings of 'Life is a dream' theme and analyze the reasons.Firstly,it is helpful to understand better the theme of The Handan Dream,which totally denies the philosophy of life lasted thousands of years in China.Secondly,it also can be understood as a sort of historical ambivalence about human reason and religion.From these two plays,it assists to find out that both their playwrights stood in the embarrassed crevice of the times to make difficult choices.In the third chapter,two heroines will become the main object of study.Compared with the two dramas,coincidentally,they choose female roles,which have various identities,to fill the heroes' dreams.They are wife or love,phantoms of dreams,and even the feminized heroes.Their life styles and paths reflect the heroes',just like a mirror.Only with them,can the theme show its complete intension.Complementarity is the highest standard and also the most important factor to make the parallel study meaningful.Therefore,in the forth chapter,I will manage to explore some interactions and relations between this theme and dramas based on these two dramas,such as how dramas to express and develop meanings of the theme,and how the theme to reveal charms of dramas.I deeply realize that it is far away from being perfect only through these two dramas,yet because of their representativeness and specificity,they may still offer help for readers to know and understandsomething in common from the perspective of general literature.