爱伦·坡短篇小说中的死亡主题_英语论文

The Theme of Death in Allan Poe’s Short Stories

摘要

埃德加·爱伦·坡是美国文学史上最有影响力的作家之一。他在仅40年的短暂人生中，创作了50多首诗歌、3篇重要诗论和70多篇短篇小说。他的作品风格独特，“死亡”是其大部分作品的主题，大量对死亡的描写是其作品的显著特点。

爱伦·坡短篇小说中“死亡”这一主题的产生受多方面因素的影响，本文从他的人生经历、性格特点、心理因素、社会背景、文化背景和宗教因素进行了分析。他在小说中创造了一种极端神秘、恐怖的环境，为“死亡”的发生制造氛围，“死亡”的具体表现为活埋、谋杀等。其小说中“死亡”的角色以及实施谋杀的角色都是精神困境的受害者，他们通过“死亡”寻求自我救赎，而最终都未能得到解脱。

通过对“死亡”的描写，爱伦·坡表达了他的美学原则，他认为任何美的极致都必然使敏感的心灵伤心落泪，他认为死亡与美有着不可割裂的紧密关系。而美女的死亡恰好完美地诠释了他的美学原则，透过描写美女的死亡，爱伦·坡塑造了他心目中极致的美，也表达了他的女权主义思想；爱伦·坡借由描写死亡，肯定生命，表达了其超越人生的哲学思想，唤醒人们在物质世界中对美的追求。

关键词：爱伦·坡；短篇小说；死亡

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential figures in American literary world. During his short lifetime which lasted for only 40 years, he wrote over 50 poems, 3 essays of poetics and 70 short stories strikingly featured by his unique style a great deal written about death. Most of his works deal with the theme of death.

The theme of death in Allan Poe’s short stories can be generated under the influence of several factors. This thesis analyzes Poe’s life experience, character, psychological factors, social and cultural backgrounds and religious influence. In order to settle an atmosphere for the occurrence of “death”, he creates an extremely mysterious and horror environment. And the representations of “death” are murder, being buried alive, etc. The victims of death and murderers in his short stories were those suffering from spiritual predicament. They attempted to realize self-salvation through death but failed in the end.

By means of writing about “death”, Poe expresses his aesthetic principles. In his eyes, any kind of extreme beauty will move tender people to tears. He once confessed that death and beauty are inseparable. The death of beauties is a perfect interpretation of Poe’s aesthetic principles. Through portraying the death of beauties, Poe does not only create the ultimate beauty but also expresses the advanced feminist ideas at his time; through writing about death, he makes sure of life and expresses the desire for transcendence of life and raises people’s pursuit of beauty in the material world in the course of industrialization and an era of cultural crisis. 

Key Words: Allan Poe; short stories; death