Abstract
This paper endeavors to analyze the art of humor and satire in Mark Twain’s novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) by putting much emphasis on the writing skills such as the elaborate application of narrative perspective, rhetorical devices and the careful designation of novelistic elements in the novel as well as the important role they play in expressing the themes. Since Twain’s literary style of humor and satire has always carried abundant realistic meanings, this paper also aims to provide a new angle in the study of the correlation between the writing style and the themes in Twain’s novels as few studies have explored this area.
Keywords: Mark Twain A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
humor and satire themes
本文主要介绍了美国作家马克•吐温的长篇小说《康州美国佬在亚瑟王朝》(1889)，英语论文范文，从叙述视角、修辞手法的应用和小说要素的设计等写作技巧入手重点略论马克•吐温的幽默讽刺艺术在《康州美国佬在亚瑟王朝》中的具体应用，英语论文，并研讨吐温的幽默讽刺艺术在文章主题表达方面所起的关键影响。吐温式的幽默讽刺文学艺术风格一直有着丰富的现实意义，由于前人探讨较少，本文试图为吐温小说的写作风格与文章主题的关联性探讨提出新的视角。
关键词： 马克•吐温 《康州美国佬在亚瑟王朝》 幽默讽刺 主题表达
Mark Twain, one of the best authors and humorists in American realistic literary world, was praised as the “greatest American humorist of his age” as he had created many valuable short stories and novels in his lifetime, among which the most famous was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court finished in 1889 was also an important novel, which was called by Twain himself his “last swan-song”, meaning his last words of farewell.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is a satirical comedy which tells a story through the eyes of the protagonist Hank Morgan, a 19th-century American living in Hartford, Connecticut. After an accidental blow to the head in his factory, Hank awakens to find himself transported back in time to the 6th century medieval Britain when the legendary King Arthur rules. Using the natural eclipse as a trick, he outtricks the King and escapes a narrow death. After earning his title as “the Boss”, he then takes on the task of solving social problems and disseminating his knowledge thirteen centuries ahead in the future to civilize, modernize, and Americanize the whole medieval Britain by introducing modern applications like the newspaper, the telephone, the railway and so on. In the end, although Hank has defeated all the opposed aristocracies in the last battle, his dream of building a new republic fails as the magician Merlin finally casts a spell on him, making him fall asleep for thirteen centuries. |
