『眠れる森の王子』に於けるラティガンの技巧 : 笑いとユーモア
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概要
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Early critics dismissed Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince (1953) as a trifling drama with qualities of farce, fantasy, and fairy-tale romance, and few scholars have fully acknowledged its significance in the Rattigan canon. This essay, however, will valorize The Sleeping Prince as an important transitional work illuminating the outstanding techniques Rattigan uses in his dramas which abound with humour. One of the devices he uses most often to generate laughter is the confusion caused by cultural and social differences between the characters. The Sleeping Prince is in this tradition just like his other dramas, but with completely different consequences. The Regent of the Carpathia, one of the main characters, is confused by the cultural gap between himself and the American actress, Mary, at the beginning of the drama, and is perceived by the other characters as a buffoon. After this confusion, however, the Regent deliberately adopts the role of the fool, unlike the characters in Rattigan's other dramas, who never realize they are seen as fools until the end of the plays. The Regent's theatricality frees him from his social obligations and allows him to express his feelings freely to others. His transformed character enables him to consider problems from various angles and accept reality as it is. That is, he starts to develop a sense of humour. Thanks to this, he is able to reach a compromise with the son he has been on bad terms with and a mutual understanding with Mary. Rattigan's prime concern is to show the importance in life of a sense of humour through the character of the Regent, a fool by choice.
- 日本英語文化学会の論文
- 2009-12-25