索默斯特•毛姆小说《面纱》中女主人公凯蒂的成长历程研究

A Study on the Growing Experience of Kitty in Somerset Maugham’s The Painted Veil

By Dai Yaxing

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B.A. degree

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2018

Acknowledgements

We may never have the chance again, to experience such an incomparable life experience in our best age, digging the most wonderful part of academic fields. As a milestone of my college life, this thesis contained not only my learning fruits in the past four years, but also the relentless help from my beloved people. Hereby, I would like to express my gratitude toall of them.

Firstly, my greatest appreciation comes to my tutor Professor Zhang Jun, who has constantly devoted himself to English teaching and has made great achievements. Without his enlightening instruction and help, I could not have accomplished my thesis successfully. Besides, necessary information and resources from my classmates also contribute a lot to my final work. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my beloved family, who always stand behind me whenever I was in ebbs or flows. Their sincere love without expectation of anything in return, together with their unconditional support, has guided me to be an integrated person that I always want to be.

CONTENTS

Abstract. 4

摘要. 5

Chapter One: Introduction 6

1.1Background of William Somerset Maugham 6

1.2 Background of The Painted Veil 6

Chapter Two: Main Factors Which Caused Kitty’s Depravity........ 8

2.1 Early growing factor: mother’ stern way of raising Kitty. 8

2.2 Wrong life-decision factor: An unfortunate marriage based on mutual need. 9

2.3 Direct unethical factor: “ideal husband” lead to adultery 10

Chapter Three: Main Factors Which Contributed to Kitty’s Self-awakening 11

3.1Charlie’s betrayal: The one Kitty loved the most abandoned her. 11

3.2 Walter’s dedication: the one Kitty hated the most rescued her 11

3.3 Life in Mei-Tan-Fu: something more important than her personal emotions. 12

Chapter Four: Analysis of Kitty’s Destiny in Maugham’s Perspective 14

4.1Maugham’s unfriendly attitude towards women 14

4.2Maugham’s negative attitude towards marriage 15

Chapter Five: Conclusion 16

References 17

A study on the growing experience of Kitty in Somerset Maugham’s The Painted Veil

Dai Yaxing

Department of English

School of Literature

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology, Nanjing 210044

Abstract: At present, there is a growing research on Somerset Maugham at home and abroad. As a representative of literature, Maugham has presented his understanding of freedom and marriage in his works. As the most controversial novel of Maugham's numerous works, The Painted Veil involving Chinese cultural elements, is very popular among people around the world, and has even been adapted into a film, which arises public’s great interests. The beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane is the main character. When her husband discovered her adulterous affair, he forced her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love. Therefore, scholars have been delving the novel from several relevant aspects: Chinese elements, Oriental culture, the existence of feminism, the embodiment of the marriage concept, women's self-awareness, Jung Psychology and other aspects of the study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the character experience of the protagonist Kitty on the plot development, and to pave the path for readers ' deeper understanding towards the novel.

Key words: The Painted Veil; Kitty; Somerset Maugham

摘要：目前，国内外对于毛姆的研究经久不衰。作为文学的代表人物，毛姆的作品很大程度上体现了他对于自由、婚姻的理解。而作为毛姆作品中为数不多的，与中国文化元素相关的 《面纱》更是炙手可热。故事发生在90年代的中国，美丽却爱慕虚荣的凯蒂,在家庭压力下嫁给了细菌学家瓦尔特，尽管她自始至终并不爱他。当瓦尔特发现她的出轨,愤怒之下强迫凯蒂陪他到霍乱流行的香港。离开英国社会的浮华喧嚣，凯蒂努力在香港重新立足,经历了修道院帮扶、情人反目、丈夫遭传染身亡等一系列事件后，凯蒂的良心不断觉醒。她开始重新审视她的生活, 并学会如何去爱。故事出版后，相关学者分别从其中国元素、东方文化、存在女性主义、体现的婚姻观、女性的自我觉醒、荣格心理学等角度展开多项研究。本文旨在从女主人公凯蒂成长历程出发，共分为四个部分:第一部分为作者和选作的简单介绍；第二部分简析了形成凯蒂前期堕落人格的几个因素；第三部分从促使凯蒂觉醒的各层面出发；第四部分分析了作者自身的因素对于女主人公的映射，从而在第五部分进行适当总结,通过分析其成长阶段不同因素对之造成的影响，探索人物经历对于情节发展的影响，并为读者的更深理解展开讨论。

关键词：《面纱》；凯蒂；索默斯特•毛姆

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