An Analysis On The Tragic Thought In The Mayor Of Casterbridge From The Perspective Of Binary Opposition

Thomas Hardy is one of the most prominent novelists and poets in the Victorian age.Among his famous series of novel “character and environment”,the background of which is set in Wessex,The Mayor of Casterbridge has drawn wide concern and discussion upon its publication.And considerable research achievements have been made by the scholars abroad and at home from the perspective of formalism,feminism and psychoanalytic criticism to make analysis on its theme,main characters and writing techniques.As an important principle of structuralism evolved from linguistics,binary opposition is applied to literary criticism to find out different pairs which are opposite but dependent in a text,and probe into the opposite pairs to decode the meaning of them in order to interpret the profound implication underlying in the text.By applying this theory of literary criticism,a more thorough and deeper insight into the literary works can be achieved.And it is of great significance to make a study on The Mayor of Casterbridge from the perspective of binary opposition for the fact that it is abundant in pairs of binary oppositions.Based on the previous researches made on this novel and the core principle of structuralism-binary opposition,this thesis makes a relative in-depth and systematic analysis on three main pairs of binary oppositions in The Mayor of Casterbridge with an attempt to figure out how the author ingeniously applies this principle to strengthen his tragic thought so as to enhance the tragic atmosphere.Three pairs of binary oppositions are to be analyzed to create a new understanding of The Mayor of Casterbridge in this thesis.At first,there is an analysis of the binary opposition between man's pursuit and fate.With the probation into Henchard and Lucceta's tragedy in their pursuit for happiness against the cruel fate,the thesis tries to reveal Thomas' pessimistic thought on fatalism that man's pursuit is doomed in the face of the wicked fate.Then there comes the binary opposition between man and woman.Based on the analysis on their opposite situation in family status and the right and freedom for love and marriage,the tragic fate of woman under man's authority and the persecution of social opinion in a male-dominated society is disclosed.At last,a study on the binary opposition of both material and spiritual culture between the agricultural and industrial civilization is made to indicate the historical tragedy of the traditional civilization under the strong impact of the modern one.Through the research on these three pairs of binary oppositions,it can be concluded that the crafty application of binary opposition successfully sheds light onHardy's tragic thought in The Mayor of Casterbridge.Put it more specific,the analysis of the novel from the perspective of binary opposition makes it easier for readers to understand Hardy's tragic thought on man's tragedy and failure when faced with the tricky fate,woman's persecution under man's overriding domination and authority as well as the decline and destruction of the traditional civilization under the powerful impingement of the thriving new civilization.In a word,this thesis makes a study on the tragic thought of The Mayor of Casterbridge with the focus on the principle of binary opposition in an attempt to provide a new perspective for readers,through which Hardy's excellent writing skill can be fully recognized and a better comprehension of this novel can be achieved on one hand,the inspiration to apply this theory of literary criticism to appreciate his works,including Jude the Obscure,and other literature works where binary oppositions are applied can be drew on the other hand.