假如給我三天光明英文賞析

3/3假如給我三天光明英文賞析LiteraryanalysisinThePilgrim’sProgress

Abstract:JohnBunyanisoneofthegreatwritersandevangelistsoftheperiodoftheEnglishbourgeoisrevolutiononthe18thcentury.ThePilgrim’sProgressishismasterpieceasareligiousallegory.ThePilgrim’sProgresswaswrittenintheBedfordprison.Bunyan’svariedspiritualexperienceashisexclusivereadingoftheBibleinprison,furnishedhissensitiveimaginationwithprofoundimpressionandvividimages.Hewrotethemdown.Theresultishisbook,ThePilgrim’sProgress,whichwaspublishedin1678,afterhewasreleasedfromprison.IthasbecomeoneofthemostpopularbooksintheEnglishlanguage.

KeyWords:evangelistsreligiousallegoryspiritualexperiencetheBiblesensitiveimagination

Introduction

JohnBunyan’sThePilgrim’sProgress,whosefulltitleisThePilgrim’sProgressfromthisWorldtothatwhichistocome;DeliveredundertheSimilitudeofaDream,isanimmediateandenormoussuccessandhasbecomeoneofthemostwidelyknownallegoriesandtranslatedintomorethan200languagesanddialects.JohnBunyanthusbecomes“amodelforthereligiousexperienceofDissentersthroughoutEngland”,thegreatestnovelistinEnglishliterature.Thestrikingfeaturesofhislanguagearenaturalnessandfrankness.Inhisworks,heuseseithersymbolicexpressionswhichenhancethethemesofthestoryandrepresenthisideaswithvividness,orthebiblicalwordswhicharecommonandeasyforthosehumblepeopletounderstand.Hisnarrativemethodsaredirectandstraightforward.Bunyanhasdoneagreatcontributiontothenovelwritingofthe18thcentury.

SoThePilgrim’sProgressattractshighattentionfromagreatmanyreadersandlotsofresearchershaveanalyzedthisallegoryfromdifferentperspectives.ThomasBabingtonMaculay(1800-1859),aBritishpoet,historianandWhigpolitician,classifiesJohnBunyanandJohnMiltonas”theonlytwogreatcreativeminds”ofthe17thcentury.

Andin“ThelifeofJohnBunyan”,writtenbyEdmundVenablesM.A,Mr.Edmundusehisdelicate

wordstogiveahighprideforThePilgrim’sProgress.InMr.Edmund’sarticle,hesays“Thatbook,ifhehadwrittennoother,wouldstampBunyanasoneofthegreatestmastersoftheEnglishlanguageofhisownoranyotherage(2004:82).”and”Thisworkofthetravelingtinker,asaspiritualhistory,hasneverbeensurpassed(2004:82).”Concerningtotheeffectofthisbook,Mr.Edmundgiveushishighlyevaluation,

“Neverhasthehistoryofasoulconvincedoftherealityofeternalperditioninitsmostterriblefromasthemostcertainofallpossiblefacts,andofitsown

imminentdangerofhopeless,irreversibledoom-seeingitself,toemployhisown

image,hanging,asitwere,overthepitofhellbyathinline,whichmightsnapany

moment-beenportrayedinmorenervousandawe-inspiringlanguage(2004:82).”

Tosumup,differentresearcheshavedifferentviewpointsandtheyanalyzethestoryfromthedifferentperspectives,andallgivefruitfulmaterials.What'smore,therearealotofscholarswhoeverhavemadeathoroughstudyoftherhetoricanalysisinThePilgrim’sProgress.ThereforethefollowthesiswillsumupsomeanalysesofThePilgrim’sProgress’srhetoricanalysissoastomakeabetterunderstandingaboutthisnovel.

I.TheLiteraryAttributeofThePilgrim’sProgress

ThePilgrim’sProgressisabookthatcombineswiththeologyandliterature,butatfirst,itisaworkofreligiousliterature.BecauseofJohnBanyan’sreligion,heisCalvinism,soinThePilgrim’sProgress,itisfilledwiththecharacteristicoftheCalvinism.Bunyanisareligiousfanaticismatthattime.Atthispoint,hisworkcan’tputupwithouthisreligion.SotheBiblebecomeshisoriginaltocreatethismasterpiece.InH.ElvetLewis’sopinion,thelifeexperienceofBunyangivesBunyanalotofcreationmaterialtohavethechancetoreleasehisThePilgrim’sProgress,what’smore,theEnglishBiblemodelsthetypeofThePilgrim’sProgress,atlast,hemakesitwithhisgenius.Inprison,hecompanieswithTheAuthorizedVersionandTheBookofMartyrs.SotheBiblicalStyleisalmosttheuniqueunderstandingliteraryform.InThePilgrim’sProgress,youcanfindtheshadowandlingeringcharmofTheAuthorizedVersion.Thus,alotofscholarscallBunyanas“themanofonebook”.ThelifeofBunyanisthebestannotationforTheBible,justasBuffonsays,“styleistheman”.

II.TheLiteraryAttributeofAllegoryofThePilgrim’sProgress

AccordingtoThePilgrim’sProgress,wecanclearlyfindthatthisis“astoryontheway”,itbelongs

tothestructureofdreamvision.Bunyanusuallyusesthesentence“inthedream,Icansee…”topromotethestory'splots.

InMedievalPeriod,theliteraryformofallegoryandthestylenarrationindreamareverypopular,itissosuitabletoexplainthereligionandthetheologysothattheallegoryplaysaveryimportantroleinThePilgrim’sProgress.

InThePilgrim’sProgress,allthenamesofcharactersandbackgroundsareconceptualized.Inthisstory,thereare94namesofpeopleandplacesinall.Itdividesallthecharactersintotwoparts-thegoodorthebad.Inthisway,Bunyancandescribethementalactivitiesofallcharactersandtheabstractconceptionofreligionmorevividlysothathecanachievetheproposeofrevelation.

HerearesomeexamplesusedinThePilgrim’sProgress:

Thenamesofcharacters:thePerils,theTemptation,thedemonAppollyon,theSorrow,theSickness,theAffliction,theDeath,theChristian,theFaithful,theTruth,theEnvy,theSuperstition,thePickthank,theMr.Badman,theMr.No-good,theJudgeHate-goodandtheMr.Malice.

Thenamesofplaces:theCityofDestruction,theSloughofDespond,theDoubtingCastle,theDelectableMountains,theCelestialCityandtheVanityFairthathasainfluenceforalongtimeandfamiliartoallofus,andintheEnglishcriticalrealismperiod,themasterpieceofWilliamMakepeaceThackeray,theVanityFairisbasedonthecharacteroftheVanityFairfromThePilgrim’sProgress.Conclusion

Inconclusion,throughtheliteraryanalysisofThePilgrim’sProgress,readerscanhaveadeepimpressionthatThePilgrim’sProgressisavividreligiousallegory.Thoughitisanallegory,itgivesthereadersanimpressionofitscharacterslikerealperson.OneofthemostremarkablepassagesisthatinwhichVanityFairandthepersecutionofChristianandhisfriendFaithfularedescribed.Bunyancherishesadeephatredofboththekingandhisgovernment.Hisproseisadmirable.ItispopularspeechennobledbythesolemndignityandsimplicityoflanguageoftheEnglishBible.Throughtheplots,themesandstyleofthisallegory,andaccordingtothesocialbackgroundofthatera,JohnBunyangivesusaclearandvividhorizonofthattime.Thisallegorytellsusastoryabouthowthehumanbeingtriestheirbesttoearntheforgivenessb