The Use of the Country House: 20(superscript th) Century British Writers' Continuing Victorian Depiction of the Rural Lifestyle

維多利亞文學與二十世紀現代小說之間的轉變趨勢，展現了風格的迥異及對於早期題材描述手法的不同。之後在二十一世紀的英國作家卻尋求及創新自己與眾不同之風格，而且與前人所不同之觀點。然而本文旨在說明田園鄉間別墅此一題材，遠從維多利亞時代後期到現代、甚至是後現代時期，皆貫穿於英國文學。本文藉由幾位主要之維多利亞時期及現代的作家所撰寫十九和二十世紀田園背景之作品，加以驗證鄉間別墅是英國文化認同的基石，不受限於時間的改變。

關鍵字

英國文學；文學中的鄉間別墅；田園生活描述；維多利亞與現代文學風格

並列摘要

The movement from Victorian novels to the modernist novels of the 20(superscript th) Century demonstrates a divergence from the styles and treatment of themes of the earlier period. The British writers after the turn of the century sought to etch out their own style to distinguish themselves; they sought to explore different perspectives than that of their predecessors. However, it is the stance of this paper to show that one theme, or perhaps element; that of the rural country house remains generally consistent in English literature from the later Victorian period through the modern and even into the contemporary post-modern novels of today. Chosen works from major authors of the Victorian and modern periods are used to demonstrate depictions and uses of this rural environment to support the conclusion that the country house and the mindset connected with this perception is a fixed part of the British identity not subject to the changing times.