Symbolism in The Great Gatsby开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is an outstanding novelist in American Literature, whose masterpiece The Great Gatsby is one of the representative works of literature in the American Jazz Age. Symbolism is an important school in the late nineteenth century in European and American Modern Literature. In The Great Gatsby, one of the most important artistic characteristic is the use of symbolism, which is widespread and skilled. Almost every object is of symbolic significance, penetrating in the plot, character description and moral significance, etc. Through the symbolic images, Fitzgerald vividly presents to readers the social outlook of the United States in the 1920s, expresses his thoughts and reveals the theme of disillusionment of the American dream, which makes the subject significant. I will carefully read The Great Gatsby, analyze symbolism in it, in the hope that I can do thorough research on this topic comprehensively on the basis of previous research, and help readers like me understand the novel better.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

The Great Gatsby criticizes the disillusioning nature of the American Dream through a tragic love story. This thesis focuses on analyzing the writer#8217;s use of symbolism in scenes, objects and colors to discuss the source of Gatsby#8217;s tragic death and the nature of American Dream. This thesis intends to reveal the historical factors of the American Dream by analyzing the features of colors, objects, and characters. The disillusionment of Gatsby#8217;s American Dream has its social and historical reasons. It also relates to Gatsby#8217;s innocence and turpitude of morality in American society in the Jazz Age.

3. 国内外研究现状

it has been eighty one years since the first publishing of the great gatsby. a lot of research and comments has emerged continuously during these years.foreign scholars madeintensive analyses and study of this novel from such aspects as theme, structure, narrative techniques, writing skills, etc. giles mitchell analyzed gatsby#8217;s personality in his work #8220;the great narcissist: a study of fitzgerald''s jay gatsby#8221;. he thought that the greatness of gatsby is that he is a great narcissist and a platonic idealist (giles mitchell, 1991). douglas taylor published his essay #8220;the great gatsby: style and myth#8221;. he conducted analysis of symbolism between the character gatsby and jesus, with the knowledge of the bible (douglas taylor, 1955). then on the basis of douglas#8217; work, thomas dilworth pointed out that gatsby#8217;s tragic death to save daisy is similar to jesus#8217; death to save the human beings in the world, in his essay #8220;the passion of gatsby: evocation of jesus in fitzgerald#8217;s the great gatsby#8221; (thomas dilworth, 2010). richard lehan revealed that gatsby#8217;s dream was a dream of that age after analyzing the reasons for the disillusionment of the american dream in the great gatsby (richard lehan, 1989).

the great gatsby also enjoys great popularity among chinese readers. compared with the foreign research on fitzgerald and his works, domestic scholars mainly focus on the novel itself from artistic characteristics, narrative point of view, symbolic significance and so on.

symbolism is a very important device in the novel. through symbolism, fitzgerald manages to describe three completely different aspects of the human life. he conveys the glittery, magnificent life of the rich, the gray, ugly and desperate life of the poor, and the mundane struggles of those in between. tian xiaolin, from university of jishou, introduced the symbolic meaning of scenes and settings and the american dream in her essay an analysis of symbolism of colors in the great gatsby (tian xiaolin, 2008). wang shanshan, in her essay colorful symbolism in the great gatsby, conducted an in-depth research on the dr. t. j. eckleburg#8217;s eyes and the fancy house of gatsby#8217;s of the novel (wang shanshan, 2011). to study writing skills and theme, sang xiaoli explored the artistic value that rich symbolism gives the novel in the essay symbolism in the great gatsby (sang xiaoli, 2013). du ailing, in color symbolism in the great gatsby, studied most of the colors and thought that fitzgerald selected the colors elaborately with symbolic meanings (du ailing, 2014).

4. 计划与进度安排

1. an introduction of the great gatsby

2. symbolism in the scene

2.1east egg

5. 参考文献

[1] dilworth, thomas. the passion of gatsby: evocation of jesus in fitzgerald#8217;s the great gatsby[j]. the explicator, 2010, 68(2): 119-121.

[2] lehan, richard. the great gatsby[m]. farmington hills: gale group, 1989.

[3] mitchell, giles. the great narcissist: a study of fitzgerald's jay gatsby[j]. american journal of psychoanalysis, 1991, 51(4): 387-396.