An Feminist Interpretation of Beyond the Horizon开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

Eugene O''Neill, a famous American playwright and founder of modern American drama, is known as the 'father of American drama'. He has created more than 50 plays in his life. His work includes Beyond the Horizon, The Emperor Jones, Anna Christie, Desire Under the Elms, Marco Millions, Long Day’s Journey into Night, A Touch of the Poet and so on. In drama creation, O''Neill found the meaning of his life. Although O''Neill become so famous, life was difficult for him. O''Neill has been miserable since he was a kid. These experiences made him feel the despair and pessimism of living conditions, the alienation and indifference between people. At the same time, he deeply felt the powerlessness of the fate. These experiences had a profound influence on his writing career. Due to the changes of ideology in different periods, his works are not widely accepted in some periods. However, many people say it''s no use watching American drama without reading Eugene O''Neill works. The creation of Beyond the Horizon is a great success. With Beyond the Horizon O''Neill won the Pulitzer Prize, which established his position in American drama. Nowadays, it is still meaningful to think about. It is often said that life is like a drama, full of the color of dreams. In fact, the drama is the interpretation of different lives and endless stories related to dreams in life. It is also often said that most dreams cannot stand the test of reality. Under the pressure of reality, people tend to lose their dreams and become slaves to reality. They are mediocre and complain for a lifetime. However, people can also have a vision and hope for life because of their dreams. Dreams can also make people fearless of the cruelty of reality, dare to pursue bold attempts, and then make it, so that life can be sublimated. The play Beyond the Horizon tells the story that dreams and reality alternately affect life. What''s more, through three short scenes, the play describes the unfortunate life of an American peasant family, reflecting the author''s pessimistic attitude towards life. By analyzing character images in the play and figuring out similarities and differences between women based on feminist interpretation can help to understand the thoughts of author.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

the article will first introduce the eugene o''neill''s achievements and make a detailed description of different stages of author''''s experiences. it also includes the influence of his experience in different stages on the theme of his works. next, the article will make an overview on the feminist interpretation, introduce the formation and development of this theory and focus on the results of scholars at home and abroad on this work. then, the article will analyze different characters in this drama and compare their similarities and differences through various meanings. based on this analysis, the article will explore women''s way out. everyone is able to ponder over is there a real road for women beyond the horizon. finally, the article will sum up whole thesis and figure out the inevitability of female tragedy in the patriarchal society.

in this article, through the combination of theory and text analysis, from the perspective of feminism, i will analyze the image and fate of the male and female protagonists in the play, and explore the survival and freedom of women. this drama contains not only the tragic fate of women, but also the awakening of women''s self-consciousness. they begin to be not satisfied with the present status and struggle to get away from the current situation. one of my themes to show the contradiction between women''s dreams and reality. moreover, through this article, i also want to understand the characteristics of early o''neill''s creation, interpretation of the female world from a male writer.

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3. 国内外研究现状

The study on Beyond the Horizon has a relatively long history at home and abroad since it was published. The play has been researched from a great deal of aspects such as idealistic spirit, metaphor of women and nature, image of the sea in play and poetic. Frank R．Cunninghanl explores the theme of the play in his work Romantic Elements in Early O''Neill as follows：O''Neill''s exploration of value embodies a perspective of mythological quest. When it comes to the use of dramatic techniques, Virginia Floyd has a comprehensive understanding of the play in his work The Plays of Eugene O’Neill: A New Assessment. He considers Beyond the Horizon as a big landmark in his career. The whole play have laid a foundation in modern drama.As for the study at home, Liu Xianghong of Hunan Institute of Engineering reveals the symbolism in his work 'The Archetypal Interpretation of Beyond the Horizon'. He analyzed different scene arrangements and ingenious intention of time selection in three scenes. The farm, like a cage, represents reality. And the boundless sea signifies freedom, happiness and adventure. The farm is within reach, as the sea is far away. This shows not only the conflict between reality and ideal, but also the ideal is unreachable. The protagonists in the play are all representatives of ordinary people. Although having tragic lives, they are not tragic figures of ancient Greece. They are romantic, free, and realistic. The author shows distinct traits of human beings on ideal, reality, and love from the perspective of archetypal criticism. Liu Yongjie of Zhengzhou University studies in his article “A Feminist Interpretation of Beyond the Horizon”. In his opinion, the play does not show the disgust and contempt for women. On the contrary, the author sympathizes with and understands the tragic experience of women. The heroine in the play, Ruth, is not only dependent on men, but also unwilling to yield to fate. According to the author''s description of Ruth''s appearance and clothes, it''s not hard to see she is lovely and charming. In addition, Ruth''s white dress has a profound symbolic significance. This is her active struggle, which is different from the performance of traditional women.Feng Pengpeng also explores from point of feminism in her paper “The Dependent Second Sex-A Feminist Interpretation of Beyond the Horizon”. She did not highlight Ruth''s tragic life, but more emphasized her influence on Robert. The author turns her attention to women''s independence, arguing that women have failed to live up to men and made men''s fate more miserable, not that men have constrained women''s freedom.

4. 计划与进度安排

1.the article will introduce the eugene o''neill''s achievements and make a detailed description of different stages of author''s experiences. it also includes the influence of author''s experience in different stages on the theme of his works.

2.the article will make an overview on the feminist interpretation, introduce the formation and development of this theory and focus on the results of scholars at home and abroad on this work.

3.the article will analyze different characters in this drama and compare their similarities and differences through various meanings. based on this analysis, the article will explore women''s way out. everyone is able to ponder over is there a real road for women beyond the horizon.

5. 参考文献

beauvoir, simone de. (1956). thesecond sex. new york: vintage books

cunningham, frank r. (1984). criticalessays on eugene o’neil. boston: g. k. hall amp; company, 1984.

floyd, virginia. (1985). theplays of eugene o’neill: a new assessment. new york: frederick ungarpublishing company.