Araby英文讲义.doc

完整版)Araby英文讲义
Unit Seven
Setting， James Joyce’s Epiphany
Reading： James Joyce, Araby
Setting： Place and Objects in Fiction
• The stage against which the story unfolds we call the setting. In its narrowest sense， setting is the place and time of the narration， but eventually it contains the total environment of the work. Setting, therefore, in its broadest sense, contains the physical locale that frames the action， the time of day or year， the climatic conditions, and historical period during which the action takes place.
• As a basic function, setting helps the reader visualize the action of the work and thus adds credibility and an air of authenticity to the characters. It helps， in other words, to create and sustain the illusion of life， to provide what we call verisimilitude（貌似真实）.

Natural Setting
Nature herself is seen as a force that shapes action and therefore directs and redirects lives。 The open road may be a place where one person seeks flight， others face a showdown(一决胜负）, and still others may meet their fate。 Nature， in short, is one of the major forces putting under control the circumstances of characters who go about facing the conflicts on which the plots of stories depend。

Manufactured Setting
Manufactured things always reflect the people who make them。 A building or a room tells about those who built it and live in it, and ultimately about the social and political orders that maintain the conditions. A richly-decorated house shows the expensive tastes and resources of the characters owning it。 A few cracks in the plaster and some chips in the paint may show the same persons declining in fortune and power。 Ugly and impoverished surroundings may contribute to the weariness， insensitivity, negligence, or even hostility of the characters living in them。

Setting as a background for action
Everything happens somewhere。 Sometimes this background is extensive and highly developed。 In other cases， including many modern stories, setting is so slight that it can be presented with in a single sentence or must be inferred altogether from dialogue and action. When we speak of setting as background， then, we have in mind a kind of setting that exists largely for its own sake， without necessary relationship to action and characters， or at best a relationship that is only insignificant and slight.

Setting as antagonist
Often, the forces of nature function as a causal agent or antagonist, helping to establish conflict and to determine the outcome of events. Washington Square may be conceived of as an example of a setting that functions as antagonist, in that there were many other people getting in the way of the reconciliation between the two characters.

Setting as a means of creating appropriate atmosphere
Many authors manipulate their settings as a means of arousing the reader’s expectations and establishing an appropriate state of mind for events to come。

Setting as a means of revealing character
Very often the way in which a character perceives the setting， and the way he or she reacts to it, will tell the reader more about the character and his or her state of mind than it will about the setting itself。 This is particularly true of works in which the author carefully controls the point of view. The “blind" Richmond Street and the “”imperturbable” houses in the “cold" and “quiet" lanes perfectly mirrors the narrator’s growing sense of isolation, loneliness, frustration， and confusion。
An author can also clarify and reveal character by deliberately making setting a metaphoric or symbolic extension of character。 A case in point is found in the chicken raising farm， a setting of disaster, as shown in Sherwood Anderson's The Egg。 Setting and character are one: the house objectifies, and in this way serves to clarify， its master.

Setting as a means of reinforcing theme
Setting can also be used as a means of reinforcing and clarifying the theme of a novel or short story。 In The Egg, Hills Like White Elephants， Early Autumn， all the settings have contributed to the clarification of the themes of the stories。

James Joyce’s Epiphany
By an epiphany James Joyce meant a sudden spiritual manifestation. Writers reveal a search for meaning and identity by their characters, who often achieve awareness by means of epiphany, moments of sudden illumination or revelation。

Reading:
James Joyce， Araby

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce （2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist and poet， considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant—garde of the early 20th century.

James Joyce (1882—1941)
The stream of consciousness technique culminates itself in the novels of James Joyce. His psychological perceptions and masterly use of the interior monologue， as demonstrated in his novel Ulysses， win him a fame that very few other writers can achieve.
Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a landowner。 He was educated at University College， Dublin. He was deeply impressed by Ibsen’s new approach to drama。 Joyce once intended to become a priest, but he later rebelled against Catholicism and left Dublin when he was twenty。
Joyce's career as a writer started with a collection of thirty-six love poems entitled Chamber Music （1907). His first major work was Dubliners （1914), a collection of fifteen short stories dealing successively with events of childhood， youth and adulthood。 As the title indicates， Joyce made Ireland the focus of his stories. “My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country,” wrote Joyce to his publisher about this book, “and I chose Dublin for the scene because the city seemed to me to be the centre of paralysis."

Dubliners is about people's spiritual growth. All characters in the stories struggle, in one way or another, with oppressive morality， personal frustrations, or restless desires. They are ordinary people involved in various minor yet meaningful events in everyday life. Often， these characters are on the brink of discovering something， such as loss， shame, failure， or death。 These stories contain no melodramatic(情节剧的） conflicts； instead， they present those quiet moments in the characters’ lives when they come to a sudden realization of the meaning of their existence (an epiphany)。

Questions for Discussion
1. How do you look at the first paragraph?
2. A great part of the story does not directly concern itself with the boy’s love affair, but with the world in which he lives -—— the description of the street， the information about the dead priest， etc。 What function do these items have？
3. What are the chief qualities of the narrator’s character？ How are these emphasized by the feelings and behavior directed towards Mangan’s sister?
4. How do you understand the clause： “I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes"？
5. Children are supposed to have more imagination than adults。 What has happened when, for the boy， his previous occupations seem to be “ugly monotonous child’s play"?
6. What is the character of the uncle, and how does he affect the boy’s wishes and feelings？
7. Is anything gained by the narrator through his frustration and humiliation?
8. There is in this story a relatively small amount of dramatically rendered material. Can you say why? Is this fact consistent with the general tone and meaning of the story？
9. What do you find to be the theme of this story？
10. Mention one remarkable technique Joyce adopted in the writing and illustrate it with examples。

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