The ancient Greek tragedy had a far-reaching influence on Roman drama and later European drama. It not only affects the development of drama in various countries, but also has a far-reaching impact on modern drama in China. The love story of Zhou Ping and Fan Yi in Thunderstorm can be found in ancient Greek tragedies.
Euripides's tragedy Hippolytus tells the tragic story that Hippolytus refused his stepmother's love, which led her to commit suicide and was exiled to death because she annoyed the god of love. Cao Yu was deeply influenced by western diversified drama concepts and aesthetic thoughts.
He wandered in Greek tragedies, and was fascinated by the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and euripides. He never imagined that there would be such a great masterpiece more than two thousand years ago. In the creation of Thunderstorm, the ancient Greek tragedy runs through Cao Yu's creation of Thunderstorm, especially his outlook on fate.
As mentioned above, the creation of Thunderstorm was created under the influence of western diversified drama concepts and aesthetic thoughts. Therefore, if Thunderstorm is compared with China's traditional drama, it is not difficult to see its rebellion against the traditional tragedy theory. In the traditional sense, most of China's tragedies come from villains and evil forces, or conflicts.
On the other hand, Thunderstorm is different. Its tragedy lies in the struggle between the irreversibility of fate and man's free will, and it adopts a plot arrangement full of coincidence. This fully embodies the fate view of ancient Greek tragedy. Aristotle believes that "tragedy imitates not only a complete action, but also an event that can cause fear and pity."
If this kind of thing happens unexpectedly, but it still shows causality, then the above effect can be achieved best. "Such a plot is both unexpected and understandable. Characters are eager to change their destiny through struggle, and inadvertently move towards the path guided by fate. This kind of plot setting can best meet the aesthetic needs of the audience, and it also produces tragedy.
In the first act of Thunderstorm, Cao Yu revealed the story of Zhou Mansion thirty years ago through the dialogue between Gui Lu and Sifeng. The arrival of Shi Ping in the second act officially opened the curtain of the story. Display of old furniture; A photo of the "old lady"; Go back to the house and be a servant of four phoenixes.
As if the tragedy happened again 30 years ago, the ambiguous relationship between Sifeng and the gentleman, and a series of foreshadowing, took a dramatic approach and gradually showed the face of tragedy. The confrontation between Shi Ping and Zhou Puyuan and the revelation of the half-brother relationship between Sifeng and Zhou Ping pushed the whole drama to a climax.