牛虻presentation.ppt

By Ethel L. Voynich
The Epilogue from The Gadfly
About the Author
Brief Introduction of Her Life
Ireland, born in 1864
1885, graduate from the college of music
1887-1889, worked as a governess in a Russian family
Contacted some revolutionary groups and work
1892, married a Polish scholar and revolutionary
1920, went to the USA
1960, died.
About the novel
First came out in 1897
Widely read books of 20th century
Translated to more than 20 languages
Adapted for the screen and stage
A large Chinese readership won in 1950s
Character introduction:
Background Introduction:
Italy in the first half of the 19th century
The naming of the novel
《牛虻》是爱尔兰的女作家艾捷尔·丽莲·伏尼契所作的。它反映的历史背景是19世纪的意大利。在1815年,维也纳会议把意大利分割成多个小国,一部分划入奥地利帝国,其他的小国也受到奥地利的控制和奴役。为了赶走奥地利人,统一意大利,意大利人民进行了不屈的斗争,一些爱国的仁人志士建立了烧炭党,并在二三十年代举行了多次起义,但是都被奥地利人给***了。1830年,意大利当局把烧炭党人玛志尼放逐到国外。一年以后,玛志尼在法国马赛组织了一个秘密团体“青年意大利”。至于青年意大利党的宗旨,用牛虻的话来说就是“献身于意大利,帮着把她从奴役和苦难中解救出来,并且驱逐奥地利人,使她成为一个共和国,没有国王,只有基督”。
小说题名《牛虻》,是因为作者自幼尊敬古希腊哲学家苏格拉底。苏格拉底曾被诬告用哲学腐蚀青年而被宗教法庭判处死刑。临刑前他对审判官说:“真正意义的行为是不应当考虑生命危险的,我被神派到这个城市里来,好比是马身上的一只牛虻,职责就是刺激它赶快前进。”这种坚持信仰,宁死不屈的崇高精神,被伏尼契移植到她的作品的主人公身上,所以给亚瑟取了“牛虻”这个外号,小说即因此而得名。
Text Analysis:
How to read fiction
Elements of a typical fiction
Detailed analysis into the Gadfly
Two levels of meaning:
Literal or surface meaning
(how to obtain the surface meaning?)
b. Deeper meaning underlying the human experience of the story
(what is the point of getting the second phase of meaning?)