On Guy's Disillusioned Chivalry In Sword Of Honour

Evelyn Waugh(1903-1966)is a very important satirist in English literature during the twentieth century.Waugh created Sword of Honour based on his own martial experiences during the Second World War.Through the description of Guy's chivalric journey,the novel presents the disillusion of the traditional chivalry in the chaotic modern world.Many literature critics pay much more attention to Waugh's excellent art of satire and Catholicism in the novel rather than its social significance and its critique of ethical values.This thesis would analyze Guy's disillusioned chivalry from the perspective of "Field-Habitus" through Guy's chivalric journey.The Field-Habitus theory was put forward by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.According to Bourdieu,the field is a setting constructed by social members according to the specific logics and it is the place where social individuals take part in the social activities.The habitus is the inner dispositive power human beings use to perceive,feel and behave.It is shaped by one's specific field.Guy is born into a noble Catholic family.Since a child,he has been edified by the chivalry.Gradually,Guy becomes a chivalric man eager for honour,loyal to love and pious to faith.The traditional chivalric field shapes Guy's chivalric habitus.But,Guy's chivalric habitus is incompatible with the chaotic modern social field.This thesis mainly analyzes the disillusion of Guy's chivalry in the modern social field.The introduction of this thesis summarizes the former studies on Sword of Honour and generally introduces Bourdieu's 'Field-Habitus' theory.This thesis attempts to explore three questions:Guy's chivalric habitus is shaped by which fields?How does Guy's chivalric habitus fail in the chaotic modern social field?And what causes the disillusion of Guy's chivalry?Chapter one mainly analyzes Guy's ridiculed honour.After the Second World War broke out,Guy enlists British army inspired by his chivalric habitus.However,Guy's chivalric habitus is incompatible with the chaotic reality of the English army.The English army's chaos and some English officers' inability and cunningness during the Second World War make Guy's journey for honour full of absurdity.Finally,Guy's heroism disillusions.Chapter two mainly analyzes Guy's failed love.The happy marriage of Guy's grandparents shapes Guy's habitus to pursue perfect love and meanwhile,Catholic doctrine shapes Guy's habitus to be loyal to love.But Guy's habitus to be faithful to love fails in the chaotic modern social field.Finally,Guy's quest for perfect love fails.Chapter three mainly discusses Guy's collapsed faith.The family field with so much religious sense shapes Guy's habitus to fight for his faith.However,in the chaotic modern social field,Guy's habitus to defend faith tragically fails.Guy's chivalric journey fails in the end.Through the analysis of three characteristics of the chivalry by virtue of Guy's personal experiences,this thesis points out that the decline and fall of the traditional values in a way leads to the chaos and disorder of the modern era so that the traditional chivalric habitus has no place in the chaotic modern social field,which reflects Waugh's satire and reflection on the decline of the traditional values and morality in modern human society.