A Catharsis of Guilt: A Comparative Study of Male Responsibility in the Novels of John Fowles

對於多數的當代英國文學讀者而言，約翰傅敖思向來是位具有挑戰性的作家。如同許多後現代作家的手法，他作品裡的主旨是錯綜複雜且隱晦不清。儘管可以主張道德訓誡一直都是小說裡內在的題旨，但時至今日，傅敖思似乎讓道德訓誡融入自私自利凌駕於內疚的男性角色刻畫之中。內疚向來是作家的利器，因為這個情緒能夠帶來個人和文化建立價值與道德抉擇的動機，同時讓角色在反省自我與過去的行為之中營造張力。本文探討約翰傅敖思的作品傾向於呈現男性角色徹底逃避內疚的現象，事實上也就是不願對女性角色負責的行為模式。藉由研究他的小說裡男女之間的關係，能夠了解傅敖思作品主旨裡女性的孤立與屈服，以及他對於一個人如何了解自我過程的見解。

關鍵字

約翰傅敖思；心理文學理論；男性角色分析；沙文主義

並列摘要

John Fowles has always been a challenging author for many readers of contemporary British literature. The themes within his works are, as in the case of many Post-modern writers, complex and hidden. Though it can be argued that moral lessons have always remained an underlying purpose of the novel, even into our own time, Fowles seems to let the moral lesson fade in that the psychology of selfishness prevails over that of guilt for his male characters. Guilt has always been a powerful tool for writers as it provides personal and cultural motivations to make value and moral choices as well as providing tension in a character's introspection of his or her self and past actions. This paper explores the idea that the works of John Fowles have a tendency to demonstrate a complete escape from guilt for male characters from what is in fact a pattern of refusal of responsibility towards a female character. An investigation of the interpersonal relationships between men and women in his novels helps to illuminate Fowles's version of the themes of isolation and subjugation of women along with his conceptual idea of what constitutes a journey of understanding oneself.