《莎乐美》内部心理结构研究英语语言文学专业论文.docx

In view of the currently rather superficial Chinese Salome criticism, this thesis delves into the text and analyses the inner psychological structure of the characters, hoping to contribute to a more profound and text-relevant criticism. First it categorises the characters in the play into three layers and attempts to prove that the title figure Salome confronts a web of centripetal and centrifugal forces from the three major male characters, Jokanaan the Prophet, the young Syrian Narraboth and the Tetrarch Herod. In the second part the analysis classifies the four characters on a spectrum of sensuality—the driving force behind the plot development progresses. The thesis proceeds to point out in the third part the close relationship between Salome and the other three, in which Salome’s original sexual position is consolidated by Narraboth and Herod on one hand and negated in her encounter with Jokanaan. Besides the motive of sex, there is another important link between these figures, namely the adhesive power of vision, which either confirms or negates the presence of a party in a relationship. Such a relationship in which Salome experiences two opposing forces and undergoes a drastic psychological transformation is named by the author as the ‘Centripetal-Centrifugal Psychological Structure of Characters’. In putting forth the above-named structure analysis, the thesis establishes Salome as the central character of the play, opposite to some critics’ persistence. The last section of Chapter Three sums up Salome’s transcendent position, who, in accordance with Wilde’s theory of self-expression, takes the challenge life offers in the form of an unrequited love and finally realises herself after ruthlessly manipulating her admirers and having the beloved beheaded. Through her perverse actions, Salome comes to a developed appreciation of both the limitation and the significance of love. Key Words: sensuality; inner psychological structure; reflection; transcendence iii