A Study On Characters In Jigokunohana

As one of the representative authors in school of aestheticism and the important author in modern Japanese literature,Nagai Kafu(1879-1959)made a figure in 1902 by virtue of his maiden work Jigokunohana since the novel received praise from Mori Ougai,the great master of literature,once being published.Nagai Kafu's aestheticism style is well-known,but his earlier literature creations were the works rich of naturalism under the edification of Zola's naturalism,including Jigokunohana.Finished in his age of 23,Jigokunohana reflects Nagai Kafu's concern about society and humanity in his youth,which also indicates his future creation tendency.Taking Jigokunohana as the major research objective,this paper combines with the social era of creating this work and associates with author's family background to analyze the character traits of 7 figures in this novel.By means of sorting out the story plot and analyzing figures,this paper looks for Nagai Kafu's view of society and humanity in his youth,along with the work's era significance.This paper mainly contains four chapters.The first chapter sorts out the author's life and creation course,and then summarizes domestic as well as overseas research achievements.The second chapter analyzes the major members in Kurobuchi's family,which is the figure interpretation of Nagayosi,Simako and Tomiko.The third chapter mainly interprets the images of figures related to Kurobuchi's family,including protagonist Tunehama Enko,her foster mother Toneko,Enko's superior president Mizusawa and her lover Sasamura Michizou.These figures are both independent and closely related to Enko.The fourth chapter generally introduces the character pedigree in this novel and directs to the conclusion—society is “hell”,where there also is flower of hope.Based on researching,collating and grasping in advance,this paper combines with the social reality as well as cultural background of creating the novel so as to rigorously interpret and analyze the figures in Jigokunohana.Meanwhile,from the perspective of author's family background and experience,it discusses the main idea inside the novel,reveals author's call for freedom and humanity,and uncovers his criticism of society as well as era.