解析《弗洛斯河上磨坊》中生命哲学蕴含-an analysis of the philosophical implication of life in mills on the floss.docxVIP

ABSTRACTGeorge Eliot is an outstanding female novelist in the history of British literature, and The Mill on the Floss is one of her most popular novels. Although critics interpret this novel by applying different theories from different perspectives, few scholars analyze this novel from the perspective of the philosophical thoughts reflected in the characters of the novel. In light of Henry Bergson’s life philosophy and the theory of dialectic materialism concerning change and development to explore the implication of life philosophy reflected in two types of characters in George Eliot’s novel The Mill on the Floss. Tom and Maggie represent the first type, while Mr. Deane and Bob belong to the second one.It is argued that the tragedy of Tom and Maggie shares a close similarity for they both live in the shadow of the past and want to recapture their glorious past. However, their tragic fate has some differences as well. In Tom’s case, his obstinate and blind wish to return to the past time causes his behaviors to be dominated by a downward impetus. Although he lives now in a fast changing world with the rise of modern industry, because of his value and the emergence of inferiority complex, he is still deeply obsessed with the values of yeomen era in which he spent his childhood. In order to recapture the past time, he hides his true self and devotes all of his time and energy into work, which lead to his mental illness. His act to recapture the past makes him blindly reject the progressive social changes, stick to the remnants of outmoded values and things, and decline to emerge into the new world, which finally makes him an outsider of the progressive society.As regards Maggie, although because of the collapse of both emotional and economic foundation due to the bankruptcy of her father, her childhood lifestyle has changed substantially, she is still attaches to it. But in fact, Maggie’s childhood is not as beautiful as she fancies. On the other hand she longs for