中国文化对《鬣蜥之夜》中韩娜·基尔科斯的影响

摘要

This paper explores the Taoist influence on Hannah Jelkes in The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams,who creates Hannah Jelkes and Maxine Faulk as binary oppositions in the play.If Maxine metaphorically stands for physical reality,Hannah clearly represents spiritual reality,thus "in a pitched battle between the spiritual and the physical," Maxine is fighting mainly for the physical Shannon while Hannah is fighting chiefly for the spiritual Shannon,whois the fulcrum of the play.Williams creates Hannah as a spiritual savior whose appearance is serene and saintly,whose manner is refined and poised,and whose behavior is kind and compassionate.Hannah's dramatic function in the play is to save Shannon from his spiritual limbo,and her ways of helping him are not only spiritual but also multidimensional,and all her ways indicate the important influence of Chinese Culture in general and Taoism in particular.With her acquired Taoist concepts,Hannah is able to help Shannon to endure his mental suffering,to turn his misery inside out,to see the cold reality,to fight against his haunting "spook," to face the hard external world,and to finally come to terms with life.Thus Hannah's saintly appearance,her courageously poised manner,her unfaltering fortitude,her kind behavior,her compassionate actions and her serenely educational talks to help Shannon all can prove the important influence of Chinese culture and Taoism that help frame the larger dramatic structure and the main development of the play.%本文探讨中国文化对田纳西·威廉斯剧作《鬣蜥之夜》中韩娜·基尔科斯的影响.在剧中,玛克馨·福克和韩娜代表两种不同的世界.玛克馨代表物质世界,而韩娜则代表精神世界.在“争夺”剧中男主角鞝侬的过程中,玛克馨想得到物质生活中的鞝侬,而韩娜则想帮助鞝侬脱离精神折磨之苦海.在剧中,威廉斯从三个方面把韩娜描述为鞝侬灵魂的拯救者:韩娜具有圣贤的形象,稳重而高雅的风格及善良和同情的心.韩娜从四个方面来帮助鞝侬摆脱精神折磨,而且她帮助鞝侬的方法也充分证明她的确是受了中国文化,尤其是道教哲学的影响.她以自身在中国旅行中获取的经验及道教哲学理念,帮助鞝侬忍受精神痛苦,虚其心,冷静地认识外在世界,勇敢地和精神恶魔搏斗,最终能够面对艰难的生活.她的所作所为不但是剧中道教主题重要的有机组成元素,而且是全剧架构的基础,进而形成了全剧发展的主线.