|
new that Zhu would get marry with Ma Wencai, he accepted the fact, instead of taking some measures. He was not so brave to resist or elope with Zhu. He just showed his love sickness lonely, and died for his love in the end[14][P42].
By contrast, Zhu was more positive, in spite of the fact that she did not defeat the feudalism. But she tried and did make some decisions by herself. Her disguising up as a man was actually a revolt against the social bias. Later her determination to die for love with Liang deserved greater honor. She pretended to agree to the arranged marriage but on condition that the wedding procession must bypass her lover's graveyard. They were coming along when she all of a sudden jumped out of the bridal sedan and rushed to Liang's tomb, where she bitterly condemned the feudal ideology that had thwarted their love.
She was driven to despair completely and had to keep hope in the following life, by dreaming to become a butterfly and be together with Liang life after life.
The heavens took pity, and the tomb opened up itself as if to receive her. She threw herself in to join her loved one in death[6][P5].
What people saw next was a pair of beautiful butterflies flying out of the opening, dancing happily here and there in the free air signifying the happy reunion of the troubled two, but only in death.
3.3 The differences of the characters between these two pairs
As we know, a person’s behavior, thinking, and even the moral quality, are all formed by the influence of culture[15][P35]. The cultural discrepancy between western countries and China brought about different characterizations. The author of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, was the most outstanding writer in the period of the English Renaissance. And the feature of the English Renaissance was humanity, which encouraged human being to enjoy the happiness in this life[16][P31]. But in China, the feudalism suppressed humanity completely. Therefore, if we compare Liang and Zhu with Romeo and Juliet, we shall find the Chinese lovers were more reticent and the western pair more outspoken. Both the western and the Chinese heroines love the heroes, but Juliet was straightforward while Zhu was reserved. Zhu fell in love with Liang at first sight, and in the following three years, they both studied together, lived together, but Zhu was still chaste. Educated by the traditional ethics, she could not bravely express her love to Liang like Juliet. On the other hand, Liang complied with the ancestors’ instruction, and paid all his attention to study. He did not fight for his love and pursue his own and Zhu’s happiness like Romeo at all[17][P131]. However, Liang gave his life for missing and love finally.
4. Play construction
Finally, the study of the play organization or construction also opens a window for a better understanding of these two love tragedies. We will look into how each story developed, and how the pace of development conformed to their individual theme presentation.
4.1 The development of the conflict in Romeo and Juliet
After the dance party finished, Romeo sneaked into Juliet’s garden and expressed his love to her without reservation, even did not care that the members of Juliet’s family would kill him. Fortunately, his love gained Juliet’s reply. She also accepted his love without giving any thought to restraint. They made a solemn pledge of love to each other. Until now, their love had not been infringed and obstructed. But they not only pursue a temporary happiness, what they want was to love each other forever. Therefore, they decided to get married secretly and waited for a chance to leave their hometown. And with the help of Priest Laurence, they had their dream come true and held a simple wedding. If there were not any misfortune, everything would become quiet and go well. But something happened.
Two hours later, Romeo killed Juliet’s cousin without any choices, because he had to safeguard his family honor and protect his friend. This was the first sudden change, which formed a huge twister, involving all the roles into the conflict. Because of this, Romeo was exiled and had to leave Juliet. All of these made Juliet sorrowful. Her parents made a misunderstanding and thought that she was sad of his cousin’s death. Therefore, they ordered Juliet to get married with Paris. That was the second sudden change.
It was in vain for Juliet to stand against her parents. So Juliet had to turn to Priest Laurence for help. And Priest Laurence gave her a liquid medicine, which would make her sleep deeply, and look like dead. So long as Romeo came back and took her away, their love and lives would be saved. But unfortunately, the priest did not send the letter to Romeo in time because of the pestilence. That was the third sudden change.
After Romeo came to the Cemetery, he misunderstood that Juliet had died.上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] 下一页
|
|
