摘要

  《纯真年代》被视为美国小说家伊迪斯•华顿最优秀的作品。这部小说故事背景设在19世纪70年代后期至20世纪初，描绘了旧纽约的上流社会风俗，它成功地塑造了两个富于个性的主要人物——纽兰、埃伦。主人公试图按照自己的道德标准生活，但不得已被禁锢于要求个人为了符合社会习俗而牺牲自我的社会准则之中。个人与社会之间产生了强烈的冲突。本文通过分析对比《纯真年代》中两位主人公纽兰和埃伦的思想、行为和当时纽约社会的秩序、种种道德规范来阐释个人与社会之间发生的冲突。论文将个人与社会之间的冲突细分为两个方面：个人在追求自由和幸福时与社会的秩序和道德规范之间的冲突；内在心灵和外在行为的冲突。第一部分解读了老纽约的社会价值观和小说的女主角埃伦在追求个人自由和幸福时遭受到阻力并最终向社会传统屈服的经历；第二部分探讨了内在心灵和外在行为冲突的原因以及小说男主人公纽兰在社会传统的压力下外在行为和内心真实想法的不一致。华顿通过向读者展示个人和社会的冲突，突出的说明了小说男女主角有着深刻的道德责任意识。

关键词：个人，社会，冲突，追求，社会传统，屈服，道德

Abstract

The Age of Innocence is known as Edith Wharton’s greatest work, which is set in the late 1870s to early 1900s. It describes the upper class’s customs of old New York. The author creates two characters successfully, Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska, who possess unique personality. The two protagonists try to live by their own moral standards, but they are constrained by social norms and values that require individuals to behave conventionally, even to make sacrifices for social conventions. As a result, there are sharp conflicts between individual and society. This paper analyzes the two characters’ thoughts, behavior as well as the social order and moral standards at that time. It also explains the conflicts between individual and society which is embodied into two specific conflicts: the conflict between Ellen’s pursuit of happiness, freedom and the values of old New York society and the conflict between Newland’s inner mind feelings and external behavior. The first part analyzes the values of Old New York society and the heroine Ellen’s experience of pursuing freedom and happiness, and her giving up to conventions; the second part introduces the causes of conflict between inner mind feelings and external behavior, and the hero Newland’s inconsistency between inner mind feelings and external behavior. In these conflicts, the characters choose to sacrifice their happiness and freedom for family honor and social responsibility. This tells that the characters have a strong sense of social morality.

Key words:  individual, society, conflict, pursuit, conventions, morality