美国文学中的金童形象与“美国梦”-英语语言文学专业毕业论文.docxVIP

AbstractThe Abstract The American Dream is one of the essential subjects in American cultural studies。Generally speaking。it refers把the material and spiritual pursuit of the American people．It is not a fixed idea，but a dynamic and historical concept．The American Dream has exerted great influence on American society and life and has been one everlasting theme in the study of American literature．Not only have cultural studies scholars related the American Dream to broader cultura}issues，but literary critics have also concentrated on individual writers or works or characters so as to probe into the dream．These previous studies have offered numerous valuable interpretations of the American Dream and have contributed greatly to its study．Insightful and inspiring as their achievements are，they have obviously left some uncovered areas．A cultural approach to the American Dream from the perspective of a literary phenomenon--the portrait of a young man as the protagonist--is sure 10 be ofsignificance． The present study,therefore，concerns the interpretation of some golden youths．Three works of different literary genres，namely,Hawthorn’S协 Kinsman,Major Molineux。Benjamin Franklin’S Autobiography and Arthur Miller’S Death ofa Salesman are,selected for character analysis in order of the time these works present．‘lhese works are written by writers of diflbrent times，but their major characters are golden youths who embody the American Dream of different historical seUings，SO that a dynamic study is conducted conducted so as to(1)trace the formation and development of the American Dream in different historical periods，(2)reveal the continuity of the American Dream and its social significance．Through the discussion of the appeal，disillusionment，continuity and social significance of the American Dream，this thesis is expected to provide one more perspective to the understanding of American culture，society and people． Key words：the American Dream；the Golden Youth；character type American