並從作者陳森的生平經歷,來探討作者自身的情慾是否影響到書中人物的情感發展,以及書中的故事脈絡是否有所寄託或是另有涵義。且獨立章節分析書中幾位重要角色,他們在面對同性與異性時的情感慾望有什麼異同,而這又與作者本身的情慾觀有何關聯,章節間看似獨立,其實環環相扣,希望能在交叉分析中,更清楚《品花寶鑑》一書裡的男性情慾為何會如此呈現。 Pin Hua Bao Jian is a novel from the late Ching Dynasty, whose subject matter is the Chinese opera xiao dan. The novel not only describes interaction between the xiao dan and the gentry, but also the darker side of humanity, officialdom, and society. The author, Sen Chen, wrote the novel using material from the authentic social situation during that time period. He desired the plot of his novel to reflect the society and culture of that time and cause future generations to know more about the society and culture of the Ching Dynasty.
The focus of this research will be male sexual passion. Sen Chen makes a clear division between two emotions the characters experience: one is pure love and the other is carnal desire. This research will concentrate on pure love to analyze the sexual passion interaction between males. In reference to pure love instead of carnal desire, the researcher defines sexual passion as an affection that only emphasizes psychological thought and the revealed behavior and excludes physical sexual passion or physical touch. Therefore, pure love can be said to belong to the psychological plane, overriding the physical, placing importance on the interaction of mental and psychological between two males.
Additionally, the researcher will explore the life experience of Chen Sen to see if the author''s own sexual passion affected the development of those characters in the novel and whether the novel''s plot has an inner meaning. This paper will also analyze important roles in the novel in each plot to discover the difference in affection when facing the same sex and the opposite sex and to see whether that also is related to the affection aspect of the author. Each plot seems independent, but they are actually mutually connected. The researcher hopes this cross analysis will allow readers to have a clearer picture of the presentation of male sexual passion in Pin Hua Bao Jian.