『虚栄の市』の主要人物の特徴--人物名の意味と言い換え表現を通じて--

概要

論文の詳細を見る
There are many interesting characters in William Thackeray's Vanity Fair whose names are allegorical, humorous, ironic, or meaningful. Their social positions range from the lower class to the nobility. Almost every name implies, reflects, suggests, or symbolizes the person's characteristics and such names seem to have been adopted with more or less attention to their meanings by the author. The main characters' behavior, occupations, temporary situations, or emotions, as well as the characters themselves, are often described in various paraphrases or metaphorical expressions, for example, "such a humble Cinderella; a pearl; a sunbeam; Venus; Mrs. Pride." The purpose of this paper lies in the following three items: first, to classify the main characters into two groups. One group consists of the meaningful names, and the other consists of the loose ones. The meaningful names in the minor characters are also examined. The second aim of this paper is to interpret the meaningful names and what they tell the reader. Finally, the writer hopes to make clear the important characters' features by reference to some paraphrases. It is safe to say that the vividness of Thackeray's main characters owes a lot to the effective use of their names and the paraphrases that accompany them. Such characters as Becky, Amelia, Dobbin, Rawdon, and Sir Pitt will be more comprehensible if we closely examine the expressions used to convey their outstanding features.
2010-04-01