"Michael" as Pastoral

概要

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Pastoral is one of the literary genres highly bound by traditional literary manners. One of the characteristic motifs in this genre is the contrast between the country and city and the former is always described attractively because it is considered as an ideal place for urbanites to retreat. However, it is said that th Romantics ceased to regard the country as an ideal place and brought more reality into this genre. Among them was William Wordsworth who actually wrote pastoral poems and contributed to establish a new kind in this genre. It is true that his pastoral is more realistic than the classical one because the characters are real shepherds and their life is as severe as ani ordinary life. However, it is also true that this is not the exact record of real shepherds' life. Thus it is necessary for the readers to be careful about the border between the reality and the ideal in his works. In this essay, I would like to examine one of Wordsworthian pastoral in Lyrical Ballads, "Michael" and try to illuminate its feature. Since it seems to be peculiar that Luke, Michael's son, does not show his emotion, I would focus especially on this point and interpret his silence from traditional pastoral point of view.
奈良女子大学の論文
2005-03-31