『虹』における丘陵のモチーフについて

概要

論文の詳細を見る
There is a recurring motif in The Rainbow : the motif of hill. This paper deals with the function of the motif. Ursula sees a hill-top as a symbol of her self-realization. She craves for a "vantage point" there. The spot makes it possible for Ursula to escape from the reality of the industrialized society. It is, however, difficult to assert that Ursula can attain such a vantage point. The motifs of hill are interrelated in The Rainbow. While the bottom spreads as an industrialized society, the hill-top is presented as an ideal spot for her. Ursula is disenchanted with the bottom world. As she experiences social reality in Beldover, the dichotomy between the hill-top and the bottom is to be deconstructed. Ursula, as it were, wavers between the opposite points as in the threshold. She herself must create her rainbow imagery as an ideal landscape which gives her the vantage point. This process illuminates a new aspect of the individualistic commitment to the industrialized society, though the view point is often unstable. The curved line of the rainbow resembles that of hill. Metaphorically speaking, the rainbow becomes another hill slope and stretches out before Ursula at the end of the novel.
福井工業高等専門学校の論文
2003-11-25