《罗密欧与朱丽叶》和《梁山伯与祝英台》的比较研究.docVIP

A Comparison of Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers Ⅰ. Introduction Both Romeo and Juliet and Butterfly Lovers are the love tragedies which enjoy high reputations in the West and China respectively for a long history. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, written in 1595.But Shakespeare did not invent the story. This tragedy was adapted by him based on the story of Romeo and Juliet in a long and plodding poem by a poet named Arthur Brooks(Spurgeon,1979:315).However, this didn’t prove that Shakespeare lacked originality. His unique treatment of the story endowed it with the unparalleled charms attract people’s attention all the time. Butterfly Lovers, claiming to be“ Chinese Romeo and Juliet” ,is one of the great four folktales in China. It’s believed to be a tragedy reshaped from the historical story. So far many people still engage themselves in the research for its historical source. According to Fan Dai(2000:author’s note),most researchers agree that the story took place during the Jin Dynasty(906-960).Later it was put into writing and transformed into various artistic performances, such as drama, novel, film and a violin concert. It’s well-known that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about young love, hopes and dreams which are destroyed by the stupid family feuds. Its protagonists are the passionate young lovers from the rival families who show the amazing courage in pursuing their happiness even at the cost of their lives. Similarly Butterfly Lovers tells the Chinese lovers in the Jin Dynasty who are separated apart by the cruel feudal society because of their different social status. Under the great pressure from the authoritarian patriarchy society, the young couple has no choice but to commit suicide to resist the forced marriage. Both of these two tragedies end in the tragic death of the protagonists. Yet the lovers in Butterfly Lovers are reunited after death as a pair of butterflies. The tragedy is filled with the magical atmosphe