초록 열기/닫기 버튼
My purpose here is to view the characters-especially female characters-of And Then of Natsume Soseki on perspective of adultery. In preceding studies, And Then was usually interpreted in a way that put emphasis on obstinacy resulted from conflict between nature and social morality, nature and desire. Based on preceding studies, I’ll examine anxiety and guilt of characters. In Chapter 1, I noted the symbolic meaning of the ring. It explained why Michiyo and Daisuke couldn’t avoid committing adultery. And I contrasted the attitude of Michiyo with that of Daisuke. The attitude of Michiyo after she confirmed Daisuke’s love became enthusiastic and her love toward Daisuke was not changed. On the other hand, Daisuke became a little bit passive and grew anxious. In Chapter 2 and 3, I examined a possible point of contact between And Then and Scarlet Letter of Nathaniel Hawthorn. there was also different facet in their characters. Michiyo was a self-centered person. Her mind was only on achievement of love at the risk of her life. On the contrary, Hester was a rational and altruistic person. She tried to achieve love and happiness at once. The contrast between two women was explained by symbolic situation. In case of Michiyo, her personality was expressed when she was in the rain and in case of Hester, it was expressed when she was in the wood. In the conclusion, I concluded that Michiyo was a selfish woman who devoted herself only to achieving love and consequently destroyed two men and Hester was a self-giving woman who tried to cover her lover’s sin to the end. Moreover, in And Then, there remained only the aftermath of adultery-that is to say, a guilty conscience- and no attempt to solve the problem. But in Scarlet Letter, there was the perfect resolution through repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. And Then could be said that it has some weak points in constructing characters considering it treated adultery case. However, it showed that guilty conscience can not be easily waned.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
adultery, love, guilty conscience, egoism, altruism
