《王子与贫儿》中讽刺与幽默

《王子与贫儿》中的讽刺与幽默摘要:本论文将幽默与讽刺作为对马克·吐温小说研究的切入点，集中探讨其小说幽默与讽刺的构成特征、内在品性。

马克·吐温的幽默, 既富有哲理意味，又具有强烈的艺术感染力。

《王子与贫儿》从表面上看似乎仅仅是一部写给孩子们的书，但实际上它给与读者一种深层次的影响。

这部小说取材于十六世纪的英国社会，但实际上它暗讽了十九世纪的美国社会。

同时，这部小说也体现了作者的民主思想，揭露并批判了封建统治者与人民之间的尖锐对立。

论文旨在求得对马克·吐温的小说做更为准确、深刻的理解和阐释。

关键词：幽默讽刺民主哲理satire and humor in the prince and the pauperli feiabstract: this thesis puts the satire and humor to the contact point of the study on the mark twain’s novels and intensively explores the constitutive characteristics and internal qualities of the satire and humor in the novel the prince and the pauper. mark twain’s humor is not only rich of philosophy but also boasts strong artful appeal. from the surface of this novel, it is only a story for children, but in fact it gives readers a profound reflection. the novel has drawn its materials from england society of 16th century, butactually it insinuates the american society of 19th century. at the same time, it embodies the author’s sense of democracy, exposes and criticizes the sharp contradiction of the peasants and the feudal rulers. the purpose of the thesis is to give more accurate and further explanation of mark twain’s novel.key words: humorsatiredemocracyphilosophycontentsintroduction (1)1. features of satire and humor (2)2. satire in the prince and the pauper (3)2.1 role-exchange of the two maincharacters (4)2.2 exposure of the unequal law and monarchism (5)3. humor in the prince and the pauper (6)3.1 the novel’s layout (7)3.2 sense of democracy (8)conclusion (10)notes (11)bibliography (12)satire and humor in the prince and the pauperli feiintroductionmark twain is a remarkable representative of american realistic literature in the 19th century, he is the first writer who had the literary creation “americanization” and had the literary language “nationalize”.with hard work, he finished lots of literature works in his life. in his works of literature, he laughed at, satirized and criticized the power of money, the hypocritical morality, corrupted politics, etc. his humor had great impact on the following men of letters；critics also attached significance to it and put forward various interpretations. mark twain’s humor is typical american humor; it is asymmetric, hypocritical and anti-traditional. “this kind of humor is not washington irving’s humor---his imitation target is addison or thackeray. twain’s humor is not implicit but direct and it is cordial but it also shows the author’s anger.”to conduct this research, the researcher is somewhat much helped by other researchers’ studies that have been done on the same novel. one of them is the researcher david laskin who wrote twain’s method of characterization. this research discusses only the prince and the pauper’s intrinsic elementsthat form the whole story in the novel. the research focuses on the study of mark twain’s way of characterization. it is said that the story in the novel is established not only by the extrinsic but also by the intrinsic elements. even though these intrinsic elements are not very often, however they sometimes play an urgent role in ascertaining the flow of the story rather than the extrinsic one. in addition, according to this research’s conclusion, mark twain participated dominantly an intrinsic element in his the prince and the pauper as mark twain shows it noticeably in tom’s and prince edward’s character. further, the researcher gets louis suarez-potts’ comparative study entitled: the erotics of government: hysteria and fin-de-siècle joan of arc. potts is seemingly more interested over and over to conduct comparative study for twain’s work. in potts’ secondly study, he compares two twain’s works, that are the prince and the pauper and personal recollections of joan of arc (1896). as potts notes that mark twain’s the prince and the pauper is twain’s sturdy commitment toward egalitarianism and government’s restitution. potts himself concludes in the end of his study: twain’s the prince and the pauper is his hagiography and his equal commitment to anti-imperialism andthe restitution of a legitimate governmentality, while his personal recollections of joan of arc is his representative of the iconic figure of manhood.furthermore, the researcher gets a critical essay “a critical essay on the prince and the pauper mark twain”. the author of this essay considers that twain has pictured wholly harsh experience of low-class society life through his novel around 1500-1800’s england.based on the above explanation, the researcher of this thesis is going to conduct research on mark twain’s the prince and the pauper under the title satire and humor in the prince and the pauper. this thesis emphasizes on the exploration of the satire and humor in this novel, through which you can have a thorough and profound comprehension about this master’s super writing skills.1. features of satire and humorone of the most effective and constructive kinds of humor is obtained by reducing a real-world situation, person, or idea to its absurd logical extreme, or magnifying its flaws by making obviously absurd statements. this kind of humor is at the core of satire and is often used to stimulate criticalthinking about current problems within a society. so does in mark twain’ articles. humor and satire are closely relative with each other in the novel.there is a general theory of humor elicitation that specifies the conditions in which humor is experienced in both social and nonsocial situations. the theory takes into account the interpretation of a stimulus event that is necessary to elicit humor, the difficulty of identifying the humor-eliciting features of this interpretation, and the cognitive elaboration of implications of the event. the influence of these factors is postulated to depend on information-processing objectives at the time a stimulus event occurs. the theory is used to conceptualize the humor elicited by jokes, witticisms, and social events that are neither intended nor expected to be humorous. particular attention is given to the cognitive underpinnings of responses to ethnic humor and to the humor that is elicited by one’s own behavior in social situations.voltaire basically invented the social satire as we understand it today. the most modern example of taking it to mainstream heights is gary larson’s absurd views on life in the far side. unfortunately, once his comic strip stoppedpeople appreciating satire and now you hardly see it use in mainstream circles without people misunderstanding dry comedy.in his new book, mark twain has so far divested himself of his usual literary habit, that the readers inclined now and then, as follows the quaint story, to turn back to the title page in the expectation of finding that the famous humorist and satirist has been writing.when mark twain wrote the prince and the pauper, the civil war came to an end not long ago. the bourgeois betrayed the principle of this war. the slavery in the south hadn’t been cleared off, meanwhile, bourgeois attempted to recover something on the base of so-called liberal, democratic capitalism in order to realize the aim to oppress vilely the black. although mark twain wrote about england in the 16th century, he criticized america in the 19th century. therefore, the prince and the pauper was written in 1882, its pertinence was transparent. more than 100 years passed, nowadays the prince and the pauper is still a good book to readers. it tells us how to fight against frustration with a smile. the prince and the pauper is a carefully structured historical romance with many humorous situations.2. satire in the prince and the paupersatire is witty, ironic, and often exaggerated. it uses extremes to bring its audience to a renewed awareness of its ethical and spiritual danger. if it does attack some by name rather than hoping to reform these persons, it seeks to warn the public against approving of them.下第五版接第四版in satire, vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. although satire is actually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon. the most light-hearted satire always has a serious “after-taste”. mark twain’s satire also first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.2.1 role-exchange of the two main characterssatire in general attacks types-the fool, the boor, the adulterer and the proud rather than specific persons. if it does attack some by name, rather than hoping to reform these persons, it seeks to warn the public against approving of them.sometime if the satirist is in danger for his or her attack, ambiguity, innuendo and understatement can be used to help protect its author.mark twain used comedy form to describe the lives in palace to expose its falsehood. this kind of writing method was filled with hyperbole but played a vital role in satire. in the palace, everything would be managed for tom. meanwhile, tom must be careful for everything lest there were any impolite and unsuitable actions. during tom’s first royal dinner, an episode happened to him, “i crave your indulgence: my nose itched cruelly. what is the custom and usage in this emergence？” [1]in front of his ministers, tom dared not to scratch his nose. after hearing tom’s words, none smiled, but all were sore perplexed, and looked one to the other in deep tribulation for counsel. but behold, here was a dead wall, and nothing in english history to tell how to deal with it. the master of ceremonies was not present, there was no one who felt safe to venture upon this uncharted sea, or risk the attempt to solve this solemn problem. alas! there was no hereditary scratchier. meanwhile the tears had overflowed their banks, and began to trickle down tom’s cheeks. his twitching nose was pleading more urgently than ever for relief.at last nature broke down the barriers of etiquette, “tom lifted up an inward prayer for pardon if he was doing wrong and brought belief to the burdened hearts of his court by scratching his nose himself.” [2] when the meal ended, a lord came and held before him a broad, shallow golden dish with fragrant rose water in it, to cleanse his mouth and fingers. from that we can see mark twain illustrated the satire and humor through details.tom’s normal actions were treated mad behavior, meantime normal tom couldn’t understand abnormal palace lives. so he spoke some “foolish words.” in fact, these “foolish words”reflected certain truth, sometimes cruel for people. taking a story for example, tom couldn’t understand why the whipping-boy would be whipped for faults of prince study well. he felt it ridiculous and decided to forbid it. but the whipping boy stopped him horribly. “my good lord! please don’t do it. my back is my bread, if it goes idle, i starve. and you cease from study, mine office is gone, thou’ it need no whipping-boy. do not turn me away!” [3] tom tumbled to the fact and promised that he would betake himself to his books again, and study so ill that the whipping boy received treble wage.what a ridiculous thing! mark twain used light language to express gloomy mood. once upon a time, tom often imagined himself a king when he lived in “offal court”. but now, he was disappointed and called the palace “golden cage”. this contrast reflected decay and absurdity of the palace lives. mark twain not only jeered at the lord’s foolery and bigotry but also portrayed peasants’ suffering during prince edward’s experiences in folk. especially it is necessary to point out that the prince and the pauper reproduced peasants’miserable situation at the beginning of capitalism. let’s look at real prince edward who encountered many things as soon as he got out of the palace. he was superficial andill-informed to the civil things and suffered from troubles. at the gate of palace, prince edward who was ragged was beat by the safeguard, boys bullied and laughed at him because of his ignorance. he claimed that he was prince edward unfortunately no one believed him and treated him as a fool. edward strolled here and there and showed his king’s majesty in the middle of beggars, peasants called him as “king of fool’s kingdom”.2.2 exposure of the unequal law and monarchismmark twain’s bitter satire on the palace lives exposed the bloody law and opposed to the monarchism reached the climax. the description of the seal was very important to push the development of the plot, and having a symbolic meaning. the seal was the symbol of power, it was lost in the palace aroused old king and the lords’ scare. edward identified himself to be a true prince with the seal stood for monarchism, owing noble power. but to our fun, the seal became a piece of useless iron, only was used to break chestnut. tom announced this news in public after edward’s recovery. so to speak, this news was a kind of indignity to noble power. this was a clever satire to monarchism.mark twain wasn’t limited in exposing the difference of material life between the two social statuses in the temporal society. the lord and peasant were absolute different in profit and life style, therefore the thinking and starting point were absolute different. observing the same phenomenon from the different standpoints, one class felt it common, another one thought it absurd. mark twain grasped this trait, and made use of native mentality of the children to reveal the contrary between the lord and the peasant, and to achieve the intense comedy effect for the first time. pauper tom metwith prince edward at the first time in palace. they did not know each other and had nothing in common. for example edward asked tom if tom’s two sisters forbid his servants to laugh like the lady elizabeth. tom said that his sisters hadn’t servants at all. thus, the prince was very surprised and couldn’t understand it.this book’s tendency against monarchism was based on enlightenment and democracy. the exchange of places between the prince and pauper was the main hinge of the development of the plot. as a fairy tale, it was full of imagination, implicating an opposition; kingship was given by god “advocating everyone is in equality”. mark twain believed that man was born equal, without the difference between the officials and average men. after edward changed his clothes with tom and said to him, “fared we forth naked, there is none could say which was you, and which the prince of wales.”[4] in fact that reflected the author’s view in that unequal society; clothes were a mark of social status. the lord took tom as the prince by mistakes; at the same time, real prince had’’t been admitted as a prince. mark twain thought the source of inequality lay in the difference of wealth and feudal power. therefore, he also criticized the system ofhereditary noble. during edward’s divagation in folk, miles protected him all the time although he also didn’t consider him as a real prince, treated him as a prince in order not to harm his soul. edward was accustomed to be treated as a king by miles and decided to reward him. miles regarded it as a play game and said to edward, “i hope our later generation and i will sit down in front of king of england for ever.”[5] edward knighted him as a duke and vouchsafes his requirement. so miles became a duke in his dream. this was very funny. meanwhile, the reward edward gave him had an effective meaning. from now on, miles would not stand in front of the king. so this vouchsafe was a false joke. mark twain described this detail vividly to criticize the monarchism and the noble. this paragraph was described distinctly, originally, to show author’s outstanding gift.notes[1] 吴伟仁. 美国文学史及选读[m]. 北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 1990. p.35.[2] james snead. white screens images [j]. new york: routledge, 1994. p.80.[3] mary rohrberger, et al. an introduction to literature[m]. new york: random, 1968. p.83.[4] james vinson, ed. great writers of theenglish language: novelists and prose writers [m]. new york: st. martin press, 1979. p.15.[5] 王长荣. 现代美国小说史[m]. 上海:上海外语教育出版社, 1992. p.107.[6] 刘敏. 浅析马克·吐温几篇作品中的讽刺和幽默[j]. 南京理工大学学报, 2004. p.125.[7] james hart. the oxford companion toamerican literature [d]. london: macmillampublishing company, 1980. p.80.[8] mark twain. the complete humoroussketches and tales of mark twain [j]. charles neider, doubledar & company, inc, 1982. p.95.[9] ibid., p.96.[10] ibid.bibliography[1] james hart. the oxford companion toamerican literature [d]. london: macmillam publishing company, 1980.[2] james snead. white screens images[j]. new york: routledge, 1994.[3] james vinson, ed. great writers of theenglish language:novelists and prose writers [m]. new york: st. martin press, 1979.[4] mary rohrberger, et al. an introduction to literature [m]. new york: random,1968.[5] mark twain. the complete humoroussketches and tales of mark twain [j]. charlesneider, doubledar & company, inc, 1982.[6] 陈小红. 马克·吐温和他的儿童艺术形象塑造[j]. 佛山科学技术学院学报, 2004.[7] 何东燕. 马克·吐温小说的幽默艺术[j]. 涪陵师范学院学报, 2002.[8] 刘敏. 浅析马克·吐温几篇作品中的讽刺和幽默[j]. 南京理工大学学报, 2004.[9] 王长荣. 现代美国小说史[m]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 1992.[10] 吴伟仁. 美国文学史及选读[m]. 北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 1990.。