On the Dramatization of Tragedy in Death of a Salesman开题报告

 2022-07-29 11:23:05

1. 研究目的与意义

Death of a Salesman is written by Arthur Miller, one of the most prominent modern American playwrights. Being the winner of Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Winning Tony Award for Best Play for three times, the drama is widely considered as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. The play depicts the last twenty-four hours in the life of a common salesman. The death of the protagonist Willy creates a tragic atmosphere, attracting the public attention to the broken American dream. Besides, there are also some other factors that contribute to the tragic mood of the play, which can be found through careful study. The play unveils its tragedy in its superb dramaturgy and theatricality. Therefore, the dramatic portrayal of the tragedy merits deeper research from several aspects such as plot, characters and images. What is drama? According to Oxford Dictionary, it is defined as #8220;assays or poems, under the assistance of body-language, customs and scenic set, can be performed as a real life through dialogue and action.#8221; Plots, characters, settings, dialogues and themes, these are the essential elements in drama, so are they in other literary works. However, drama is a comprehensive art form with characteristics of dance, literature, music and sculpture, which makes it different from other literary works (Dong [董建] Ma [马俊山], 2004).In On the Art of Poetry, the theoretical cornerstone of the Western realistic drama, Aristotle (384#8211;322 BC) defines tragedy as #8220;the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.#8221;

2. 研究内容和预期目标

This paper will focus on the dramatic presentation of tragedy in Death of a Salesman by carrying out a deep research to find some dramatic and theatrical elements that contribute to the revelation of tragedy. For one thing, theatrical techniques enhance the tragic atmosphere. Taking melody as an example, the flute music reveals Willy#8217;s disillusion of being a successful salesman. Moreover, the setting shows the contrast between business and agriculture. For another thing, dramatic elements enrich the tragedy from some aspects, such as dialogue, rhythm and narrative structure. The paper will begin with a brief introduction of the play Death of a Salesman as well as its author. Next, it will give some relevant information about tragedy. Then, here comes the body part, how the tragedy is shown through the dramatic depiction. Each dramatic elements and techniques will be given detailed illustration. Finally, a conclusion can be drawn.

3. 国内外研究现状

Since its first publication in America in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been on a road to success. The drama aroused a wave of research in China after about ten years when it made its first appearance here in 1971. The play received different comments from various angels.Many Western scholars have been argued on its tragic effect and even its author Miller himself. Some of the critics did not speak highly of the play for they regarded Miller not as a qualified playwright by comparing him with his contemporary Tennessee Williams. However, Dillingham (1967) pointed out that Miller#8217;s successful display of the living struggle of common people in the modern world is undeniable. Some scholars did not classify the play as a tragedy because of its protagonist who differs from the traditional Aristotelian heroes. Miller himself even mentioned that some regarded this work as a communist propaganda. On the other hand, many critics spoke highly of Death of a Salesman and appreciated the play as a tragedy of an ordinary man.The most frequently analyzed topics are theme, plot and character analysis. By analyzing the cultural and social influences that American dream exerts on, some researchers proposed that Willy#8217;s doom lies in his materialistic pursuit for American dream. Among studies of character analysis, for instance, Ben is found out to be not only the past memory of Willy, but also a symbolic representation of Willy#8217;s mind (Bettina, 1962). The study of Linda, the main female, led to the gender issue. Some critics believed that Linda#8217;s blind love and support for Willy contributed to the protagonist#8217;s death. As for the analysis of the protagonist Willy, Ding Jin (2014) pointed out the tragic life of Willy from the perspectives of society, family and Willy#8217;s own character. Besides, Hadomi (1988) believed that the personality of main characters is an invitation to the Willy#8217;s constant change between reality and dream.Some Chinese scholars and critics adopted certain literary critical approaches to analyze this play. For instance, Cao [曹雪姣] (2015) #8220;reminded people to realize that only by self-acknowledging and confronting one#8217;s inner world bravely can an individual obtain a healthy and steady development#8221; through her Freudian analysis of Willy Loman#8217;s tragedy. Moreover, from the perspective of eco-criticism, the tragedy represented in Death of a Salesman is more than Willy#8217;s, it is also the tragedy of the whole society and nature (Song [宋志华] Su [苏飞], 2009). Apart from the mentioned topics, comparative study of the play#8217;s different Chinese translation versions has also been the choice of many Chinese scholars. Wu [吴礼敬] (2007) analyzed the cultural color in drama translation by comparing the two versions from Ying and Yao respectively. Some researchers studied a particular version of translation by applying some theories. For instance, Li [李广欢] (2009) carried out a case study on performance-oriented drama translation of Ying Ruocheng#8217;s Chinese version.To sum up, there have been many researches of Death of a Salesman both at home and broad from different perspectives. Those studies do cover the tragic effect of the play as well as its dramatic form while there is no combination of tragedy and drama. Therefore, this paper discusses the dramatic expression of tragedy in Death of a Salesman.

4. 计划与进度安排

4．论文（设计）的研究计划或撰写方案:I. IntroductionII. An Overview of Tragedy 2.1 Traditional Tragedies2.1.1 Greek Tragedy2.1.2 Shakespearian Tragedy 2.2 Arthur Miller#8217;s View on Tragedy III. Dramatic Depiction of the Tragedy3.1 Theatrical Techniques 3.1.1 Melody 3.1.2 Setting 3.1.3 Light3.2 Dramatic Elements3.2.1 Dialogue3.2.2 Plot Rhythm3.2.3 Narrative structureIV. Conclusion

5. 参考文献

Ba Boulton, M. (1960). The Anatomy of Drama. London: Routledge Kegan Paul. Bettina, Sister M. (1962). Willy Loman''s Brother Ben: Tragic Insight in Death of a Salesman. Modern Drama, 4, 409-412.Bigsby, C.W.E. (1988). Arthur Miller: A Critical Study. New York: Cambridge University Press. Dillingham, William B. (1977). Arthur Miller and the Loss of Conscience. New York: Viking Press.Ding, Jin. (2014). A Brief Analysis of Willy Loman''s Tragic Fate in Death of a Salesman. Overseas English, 21, 189-191.Draper, Ronald P. (1980). Tragedy: Developments in Criticism. London: Macmillan.Evans, Gareth Lloyd. (1977). The Language of Modern Drama. London: Rowman Littlefied Publishers. Hadomi, Leah. (1988). #8220;Fantasy and Reality: Dramatic Rhythm in Death of a Salesman.#8221; Modems Drama, 31(2), 157-174.Miller A, Martin A R. (1994). The theatre essays of Arthur Miller. London: Methuen. Miller, Arthur. (1979). Death of a Salesman. London: Penguin Books.Miller, Arthur. (1984). Salesman in Beijing. New York: Viking Adult. Murphy, B. , Abbotoson, S.C.W. (1999). Understanding Death of a Salesman. Westport: Greenwood Press.Sanger, Keith. (2001). The Language of Drama. London; New York: Routledge.毕文娟. (2006). 戏剧艺术的升华. 山东大学,曹雪姣. (2015). 从弗洛伊德精神分析角度解读《推销员之死》中威利#8226;洛曼的悲剧. 曲阜师范大学.董健, 马俊山. (2004). 戏剧艺术十五讲. 北京: 北京大学出版社.李广欢. (2009). 以舞台演出为目的的戏剧翻译. 陕西师范大学.宋志华, 苏飞. (2009).《推销员之死》的生态解读. 文教资料(20): 24-25.王茹茹. (2016). 系统功能语言学视角下的剧场翻译与剧本翻译对比研究--以《推销员之死》为例. 成都大学学报(社会科学版) (03): 105-108.吴礼敬. (2007). 戏剧翻译中的文化色彩传递--《推销员之死》两个译本的对比分析. 合肥师范学院学报(2): 22-25.朱带娣. (2015).《推销员之死》中的戏剧节奏. 湖北文理学院学报(04):68-72 80.

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