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1、汤显祖的牡丹亭和莎士比亚的威尼斯商人中女性形象的比较研究A Comparative Study of the Image of Womenbetween Tang Xianzus The Peony Pavilionand Shakespeares The Merchant of VeniceAbstract: Both Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare were the greatest dramatists in the same age. Tang Xianzu was called “Chinas Shakespeare”. Du Liniang in The P
2、eony pavilion was one of the most successful, typical and impressed woman in Tang Xianzus works, so is Portia in The Merchant of Venice in Shakespeares works. They were both beautiful, clever and brave enough to seek the true love; they also had to come to terms with the social system at that time.
3、There were many differences between their character features, experiences of life, love opinions, etc. Such as Portia didnt obey her fathers rules blindly, but Du Liniang did it; Portia had met many men in her early life, but Du Liniang only met two men before she met her lover, one was her father,
4、the other was her teacher; Du Liniang had did nothing for her love but Portia did her best to protect her love. Anyhow, they were the new women in their age. The womens self-awareness of them helped them found their true love and acquired their happiness.Key words: comparative study; the image of wo
5、men; Du Liniang; Portia 摘要：汤显祖和莎士比亚是同一时期著名的剧作家。汤显祖更被称为“中国的莎士比亚”。 牡丹亭中的杜丽娘是汤显祖塑造的最成功，最典型，最令人印象深刻的女性形象之一；威尼斯商人中的鲍西娅在莎士比亚塑造的女性形象中有同等地位。她们美丽聪慧，敢于追求真爱，都同样被当时的社会制度所束缚。但同时她们在性格特点，生活经历，爱情观等方面却有所不同，比如说杜丽娘盲目地遵从父亲的命令，鲍西娅没有；杜丽娘在碰到她的爱人之前，只见过她的父亲和老师两位男性，但是鲍西娅在碰到她的爱人之前就已经认识了很多异性；鲍西娅用尽全力的保护她的爱情，杜丽娘却只是听天由命，等等。但是不管如何
6、，她们都同样是她们那个年代的女性先驱。女性自我意识的觉醒让她们寻到了自己的真爱，获得了幸福。关键词：比较研究；女性形象；杜丽娘；鲍西娅ContentsI. Introduction.1A. Introduction to Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare.1 1. The introduction to their living age12. The introduction to Tang Xianzu13. The introduction to Shakespeare2B. The background of The Peony Pavilion and The M
7、erchant of Venice.3 1. The background of The Peony Pavilion.3 2. The background of The Merchant of Venice.3C. The main characters in the two works.41. The main characters in The Peony Pavilion4 2. The main characters in The Merchant of Venice.5II. Character Analysis .5A. The analysis of Du Liniang.6
8、B. The analysis of Portia.6III. Comparative Study between Du Liniang and Portia.8A. From their character features.8B. From their experiences of life.8C. From their lovers.9D. From their love opinions.10. Conclusion.10Works Cited.11I. IntroductionA. Introduction to Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare1. The i
9、ntroduction to their living ageIt is a literary miracle that Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare, peaks of the world drama, emerged in China and England simultaneously in the late sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century. Tang Xianzu was called “Chinas Shakespeare”. “The two ma
10、n had no communication, but they both died in 1616” (Li 327). The age when Shakespeare lived was a period of political and religious stability on the one hand and economic prosperity on the other.（Wang Zhuoliang 169）The period when Tang Xianzu lived was a prosperous period in Ming Dynasty. “This per
11、iod was a time when drama was very popular both in China and in Europe” (Liu). They both lived in an age when old feudal social and economic order was being destroyed and a new capitalist society was being born. At that time, democratic liberation campaign in the field of thoughts was springing up.
12、Under such circumstances, Shakespeare and Tang Xianzus dramatic aesthetic thoughts came into being. After the dark Middle Ages of Europe, Shakespeare was greatly influenced by Christian doctrines. Tang Xianzu who lived in the later part of Ming Dynasty was influenced by the doctrine of Confucius and
13、 Mencius and also affected by Buddhism and Taoism.Tang Xianzus China and Shakespears England witnessed the emergence of individualism and humanism. The lives of the two masters were quite different. Tang Xianzu made an attempt to actualize his political dream in the officialdom but ended up frustrat
14、ed. Shakespeare, creating plays and dramatizing his dreams on the stage in London, enjoyed a great success in his Theatrical world. Comparatively, Tang Xianzu was not compatible with his social context, creating his plays as an outlet for his despair and indignation. But Shakespeare was in tune with
15、 the times, writing dramas as his profession.2. The introduction to Tang XianzuTang Xianzu, alias Yireng, one of the 100 International Cultural Celebrities nominated by UNESCO, was a great writer and dramatist with a legendary life and the quality of a profound thinker at the end of Chinas Ming Dyna
16、sty. He styled himself Ruoshi, Hairuo, Qingyuan Taoist and Hermit of the Jade Tea Studio. Born in an intellectual family in Linchuan on September 24, 1550, he was known for his intelligence in his childhood. At the age of 12, he made his poems known; when he reached 14, he passed the imperial examin
17、ation at the county level; while he was 21, he passed the imperial examination at the provincial level; not until he was 34 did he pass the imperial examination on the national level. He served in Nanjing successively as adviser of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, secretary of the Office of Tuition
18、, and administrative aide in the Sacrifice Bureau in the Ministry of Rites. In 1591, he was demoted to the position of a clerk in Xuwen Country, Guangdong Province. In the next year he was transferred to be the magistrate of Suichang County, Zhejiang Province, where he formed some direct contact wit
19、h the common people and took some enlightened measures. After five years in office, he returned to his hometown, gradually gave up the idea of an official career and devoted himself to writing. On July 29, 1616, he died in the Tea Studio in Linchuan. Tang Xianzu has left behind him 2200 odd poems, e
20、ssays and verse essays, with his chief achievement in drama. His masterpiece The Peony pavilion (also entitled The Return of the Soul), The Handan Dream, The Nanke Dream and The Purple Hairpin are known as the “four dreams of the Jade Tea Studio”.3. The introduction to ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare
21、, a great poet and dramatist of the English Renaissance period, was surely one of the greatest writers the western world has ever produced. William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of seven, Shakespeare was sent to the local grammar scho
22、ol where he studied for six years; besides reading and writing he was taught Latin and Greek. When Shakespeare was fourteen, his father fell into debt, and the boy probably left school and became a country schoolmaster to help support his family. In 1582 Shakespeare married a farmers daughter Anne H
23、athaway. Shakespeare arrived in London in the year 1586 or 1587. At that time the drama was rapidly gaining popularity among the people. Shakespeares activities as a dramatist, poet, actor and proprietor, lasted till the 1612 when he retired from the stage and returned to Stratford. Shakespeare died
24、 on 23rd of April, 1616. During the twenty-two years of his literary wok he produced 37 plays, two narrative poems and 154 sonnets. The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer-Nights Dream and Twelfth Night are known as the “Four Great Comedies”. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbet
25、h were known as the “Four Tragedies”. B. The background of the Peony Pavilion and the Merchant of Venice1. The background of The Peony Pavilion Tang Xianzu wrote this work after he gave up the idea of an official career. Tang Xianzu was influenced by the doctrine of Confucius and Mencius and also af
26、fected by Buddhism and Taoism. This story happened in the early days of the Southern Song Dynasty, at the time of Confusion school of idealist philosophy of the Song and Ming Dynasties worldly. At that time, woman had no position and the world was a male-oriented one. Gender differences in patriarch
27、y society were beneficial for males. In the eyes of a male, females whole value lied in her sexual function. So a womans chastity was the most important factor in her life. Du Liniang was the daughter of Du Bao who was a magistrate of Naan. Du Bao was a typical man in feudal society. Because of this
28、 father, in days when “the oriole is fond to sing at such a lovely time of spring”, Du Liniang stayed in her chamber, “now drawing a picture of the swing. Then weaving the lovebirds on the wing” and often “takes a nap during the day”, but love of beauty was her natural design. And when her father fo
29、und her took a nap during the day, Du Bao was very angry and blamed Du Liniangs mother. As Du Liniangs parents hoped that she will be learned and known the rites when some day she was married, they employed the pedagogue Chen Zuiliang as her tutor. Du Liniang lived there for there years but she had
30、not know that there had a beautiful garden, this time for all her life , she only met two men, one was her father, one was her teacher. At that time, had a lot of girls life like Du Liniangs life.2. The background of The Merchant of Venice The Merchant of Venice belongs to the early period of Shakes
31、peares work. In the beginning, Shakespeare was a frantic humanist, and he put mans natural gifts in a conspicuous place. He was sure that love can triumph over everything and wisdom is all. The birth of Portia is an example. She was one of Shakespeares ideal women. This time was a time of great soci
32、al changes. The Protestant Reform took place and established Protestantism as the state religion; the Renaissance movement spread into England, and humanism and humanist education became popular. Yet the actuality of womens role remained unchanged despite these great changes. The Protestant Reformat
33、ion may have encouraged womens emancipation, but then in reality withdrawn much of that encouragement. The women of the period of the Renaissance were totally uneducated. Of course, those women were not allowed to study at the universities, or even at the local grammar schools. However, quite a numb
34、er of the women of nobility were given private education for various reasons. According to historical data, many women of the middle-class did read. Girls did not attend grammar schools but did attend-“petty”-schools, along with boys. On the other hand, bourgeois women apparently were not often skil
35、led in reading. High-ranking women may receive humanist education, which was, however, mostly regarded as an ornament. In that period, the advancement about females was still bogged down; womens marriage was still on the basis of the money and interests. Parents had rights to decide childrens marria
36、ge, so before Portias father was dying. Her father makes full use of gold, silver and lead box to select marriage for Portia, and she must choose her husband by her fathers rules. Portias intelligence and wealth can do nothing to prevent her final obedience to the patriarchy. During the Renaissance,
37、 women of the court and of the nobility had often shared in the intellectual and artistic ferment of the times. There were in England as well as on the continent women of brilliant intellect and wide and profound learning. What was even more remarkable was that there was a common feeling among men o
38、f higher status that intellectual accomplishments were both proper and even desirable in a woman.C. The main character of the two works1. The main character of The Peony Pavilion In the early days of Southern Song Dynasty, the magistrate Du Bao of Nanan had a pampered single daughter Du Liniang. Du
39、Liniangs naughty maid Chunxiang persuaded her to have a stroll in the back garden. The stroll in the garden in the bright spring day rouses Du Liniangs aspiration for love. She felt so fresh and so happy that she could hardly control herself, singing and dreaming of a young man named Liu Mengmei whi
40、le going to bed again at mid-night. She was brave enough to make love with the young man in the Peony Pavilion during her amorous dreaming, and she had never found such comfort and excitement before visiting the garden. She wished to dream of the same dream again but failed. Thus all day long she fo
41、und herself uneasy and unhappy and uncomfortable in her own chamber. She was getting weaker and weaker in health. She predicted that the young man would try to seek for her before she died to the world so that she tried to paint a picture of herself as a hint to be left to the human world. Nearly th
42、ree years later, accidentally the young man also dreamed a strange dream that a beautiful girl had fallen in love with him at first sight in the garden with the Peony Pavilion. On his way to the capital city for taking part in an imperial examination, he stopped at the garden, by chance finding out
43、a girls portrait in a box under a plum tree near a lake. He thought that it was an exact portrait of the girl he had dreamed of. Hence he hung her picture in the nun temple built by the girls father near the pavilion. “He dreams a dream that Du Liniang says that she can be relived. On another day, h
44、e opens the grave and revives Du Liniang” (Wang Rongpei 57). Then they leave for the capital Linan. Du Liniang asked Liu Mengmei to acquire her fathers agreement. At that time, Du Bao has been moved to Huaian and tells his wife and Chunxiang to go to Linan. On their way to Linan, they meet with the
45、received Du Linang. On hearing about the news of her father, Du Liniang told her lover to learn more about her father when Liu Mengmei was waiting for the imperial examination. After the enclosure has been relived, Du Bao was about to return to Linan when he met his son-in-law and thinks that he was
46、 a liar. Liu Mengmei was brought to Linan and was being interrogated when report came that he has been selected as Number-one Scholar. Du Liniang explained everything in the court and the couple was happily reunited by imperial decree.2. The main character of The Merchant of VeniceAn impoverished yo
47、ung Venetian, Bassanio asked his friend, Antonio, for a loan so that he could win Portia as his wife. Portia was a rich and beautiful heiress of Belmont. When Bassanio and Portia met, they fell in love at the first sight, but before she could surrender herself, Bassanio had past the test of the caskets ordained by he dead father. “The test is to choose among gold, silver and lead casket the right one that contains her portrait. Portias joy is as great as that of Bassanio when he has chosen correctly. But their rejoicing is interrupted by the arrival of a letter from Antonio” (Zhang 90
