-Comparison of tragic images between Medea and Liu Lanzhi.
Peacock flies southeast and Medea are typical works describing the image of abandoned wife in the history of Chinese and western literature. They described women's unfettered and unequal status in marriage and family in detail, condemned the abuse of women by feudal patriarchal clan system and husband power rule, and created a kind, loyal and resolute female image. In artistic expression, there are similarities and differences between them.
Medea and Liu Lanzhi are thousands of miles apart geographically and more than 600 years apart in time. They are artistic images of different cultures, different times, different colors, different personalities and different languages, but they share the same tragic fate.
Medea was a woman in ancient Greece (slave society) and Liu Lanzhi was a woman in ancient China (feudal society). They have the same underground identity, and their fate is decided by men, so they should follow the ethics of "husbands as wives". Moreover, it is the purpose and foundation of their marriage to have male offspring from subordinate women. This is deeply rooted in their thoughts. Liu Lanzhi was expelled because she had no children, and Medea was abandoned by her husband because of anger and injustice. Besides, both Medea and Liu Lanzhi have a spirit of resistance and are unyielding to their fate. Even though the final fate is tragic, they have fought and won.
Although Medea and Liu Lanzhi have many similarities, they are different based on different cultural influences and different aesthetic consciousness.
First of all, the reasons for being abandoned are different. Medea was married by her husband Jason to the daughter of King Clentos in order to get the right to inherit the throne. In other words, the reason why Medea became an abandoned wife was that her husband changed his mind. Liu Lanzhi is different. Liu Lanzhi was exiled mainly because Jiao Mu still loved Zhong Qing. Generally speaking, the reasons for Liu Lanzhi's dismissal are as follows: First, there is a stubborn force in Lan Zhi's bones that Jiao Mu can't tolerate, calling her "rude and independent"; Second, there was a great contradiction between Jiao and Liu. Jiao's mother changed her mind and drove her away to get married in Luofu. Third, Jiao's mother's husband died young, and she had an Oedipus plot, so she could not understand and tolerate the sincere love between Zhong Qing and Zhong Qing. Fourth, many years of infertility is also the most important point for Jiao's mother to carry on the family line. In this article, Lan Zhi is always referred to as the "bride", which shows that she has no children. The ancients said: there are three kinds of unfilial, and there is no big after. Infertility is the most grandiose reason why Jiao Mu exiled Lan Zhi. Because in ancient times, women were sent away for seven reasons, namely, "seven reasons": married women were childless, dissolute, unable to wait on their in-laws, gossiping, stealing, jealous and in poor health. Because they can't have children, Lan Zhi certainly can't drink and take medicine.
Secondly, their struggle against the fate of being abandoned is also different.
Medea devoted all her passionate feelings to Jason and gave everything, including chastity, relatives and the motherland. She has lost too much for love, and she is under great pressure physically, morally and psychologically. When she found that all these efforts were meaningless and her hopes were dashed, she became an angry lion, her psychology became abnormal and she took revenge actions that were difficult for ordinary people to understand. First, she confused Jason with an "apology", and then asked her two children to send the princess a dress coated with poison, which caused the princess and the king to burn to death. Finally, in order to get back at her husband, she personally killed two sons-which was the biggest blow to a man at that time. Medea's revenge is crazy and even cruel. She was condemned by the world for fighting poison with poison, which is contrary to what we call "tiger poison doesn't eat children." In fact, Medea killed her son, not only to get back at her husband, but also for fear that the child would be insulted by his enemies and die at more cruel hands. Perhaps this is also a conflict between revenge and maternal love. On the other hand, Medea's cruelty, rage and desire for destruction all broke out in the unjust social oppression, and she was crazy and desperate in the predicament of no choice. She held high a "banner of forcing Liangshan".
Liu Lanzhi, as a traditional woman in China, is rational, gentle and kind, and will definitely not take such extreme measures as Medea. After being expelled by Jiao's mother, he went home. When forced to get married by her brother, Lan Zhi, who still loves Zhong Qing, was unwilling, because she and Zhong Qing agreed that "you will be a rock and I will be Pu Wei; Pu Wei is as tough as silk, and the rock has not turned. " Seeing that her promise to her husband could not be realized, she chose the most traditional way of resistance of women in China-suicide, in order to achieve perfection by dying. Although I can't be together in this life, I hope I can marry Zhong Qing again in the next life. It seems too cowardly, but under the suppression of feudal paternalism, Lan Zhi and Zhong Qing could not dominate their marriage. Only in this way can we fight against the unfair fate.
Third, the characters have different personalities.
Medea is not a weak woman who obeys orders, but a strong woman who combines wisdom, witchcraft, strength, enthusiasm and vitality for collecting stamps from the sun, and cruelty and viciousness of the sun. Her wisdom enabled her to kill the princess who ruined her marriage and tired her father; Her cruelty made her determined to kill her son, tortured the ungrateful people with conscience, and finally achieved the goal of revenge. From this perspective, Medea is simply a terrorist, which makes people feel creepy. It should be said that her body embodies the "rigid" spirit of "controlling evil with evil" in western culture. However, as a mother, Medea also has a loving side. The play shows Medea's fierce ideological struggle and great mental pain before and after killing her son in great detail. In the fifth game, Medea had decided to kill her two sons, but when her eyes met those of the children, her heart immediately softened:
"Alas, alas! My children, why are you looking at me like this? Why did you give me one last smile? Oh, dear! What should I do? Friends, now seeing their bright eyes, my heart is soft! I can never! I have to cancel my previous plan. I have to take my children out. Why let their father suffer and let me suffer twice? This is definitely not possible, I have to cancel my plan. "
This shows that Medea still loves her children, and she is not a murderous demon.
Later, Medea killed her child, and Jason asked her to leave the child's body for him to bury. Medea refused. She said to Jason, "I will take them to the temple of Hera on the Cape of Good Hope and bury them myself, lest my enemies insult them and dig their graves. I will also stipulate that grand ceremonies and sacrifices will be held on the land of Sisyphus in the future to atone for my murder. " All these reflect the beautiful side of Medea's heart.
As a traditional woman in feudal society, Liu Lanzhi's weakness is her main character. At the same time, she is also a beautiful and hardworking woman. She has a "toe" and a lamp on her head. If the waist is flowing, listen to the bright moon. Refers to the external beauty, such as cutting onion roots, with dani in the mouth, and the delicate steps are unparalleled. There is also inner beauty, such as "caring for the public and keeping festivals". At the same time, hardworking, she "crows enter the plane, can't rest every night, and breaks five horses in three days", but she can't satisfy the scorched wood. In addition, Lan Zhi is also a man who despises Li Rong, is loyal to love and dares to pursue freedom and happiness. She has repeatedly refused to propose to the son of the county magistrate, as tenacious as Pu Wei, and stuck to her love with Zhong Qing. It should be said that Lan Zhi is the most typical representative of female character in feudal society.
Finally, the situation is different after they are abandoned. After Medea was abandoned, she could be said to be a traitor and had no way out. In order to help Jason steal golden fleece, she killed her own brother, and Korkas can't go back. They killed Jason's uncle with a knife, so Yorkos won't accommodate her; King Clentos also wants to get rid of Medea. It can be said that love with Jason is the spiritual pillar supporting Medea. Now that Jason has abandoned her, she really has nothing, so she can only beg Aegos, the king of Athens, to take her in. It can be described as tragic. In contrast, Liu Lanzhi is luckier. Although abandoned, she still has her husband's love to support her, and she can go back to her parents' home. However, her family can't live forever. When she was forced to get married by her brother, her inner pain was self-evident. It can be seen that the fate of abandoned wives is very tragic.
Generally speaking, Medea and Liu Lanzhi, two lovely and sad foreign sisters, have become abandoned wives under the unfair social system. Although I fought, I was finally swallowed up by the wild waves of the evil era, which is very tragic.
References:
1. History of European Drama Literature, edited by Zheng Chuanyin and Huang Bei, Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House, 2002.
2. Selected Works of Foreign Literature Volume I, edited by Zhou, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2003.
3. Peacocks fly southeast
4. Looking at the Western Women's Struggle with Destiny from the Tragedy —— A comparative appreciation of Medea and Dou E's Unfair,
Bao Dou, journal of changji university, No.4, 2002.
5. Copying newspaper materials "Foreign Literature Research",1No.998 1 1, "distorted mirror image", by Yang Lixin;
I can't find Dou E, I hope this will enlighten you.
1999 No.2 Medina and Reflections on Women's Historical Status, by Wu.