Chinese Cultural Influence on Death in The Night of the Iguana

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Title:	Chinese Cultural Influence on Death in The Night of the Iguana
Authors:	王緒鼎
Keywords:	The Night of the Iguana;Chinese culture;Taoism;Western culture;death theme;influence studies
Date:	2016-06-30
Issue Date:	2017-02-24 02:11:32 (UTC+8)
Publisher:	外國文學研究編輯部
Abstract:	This paper explores the death theme of The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams with a comparative approach by arguing that the Chinese attitudes towards life and death are positively compared and contrasted with the Western attitudes. Among other things, all the Chinese allusions in the play do form a coherent and systematic pattern that is established with traditional Chinese culture rooted in Confucianism and Taoism, which not only helps shape the major themes of the conflicts "between belief and disbelief," but also affects the major characters’ attitudes towards both life and death. Comparing Western attitudes with Chinese attitudes towards both life and death, Williams forms a contrasting dichotomy suggesting that the Eastern attitudes of stoicism and fatalism are offered as a positive alternative to the Western preoccupations with guilt and suffering.
Relation:	Foreign Literature Studies=外國文學研究 38(3), pp.129-139
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute & Department of English] Journal Article

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