夏洛特˙史密斯於《哀輓十四行詩》與《老莊園》中的自我鏡像投射

Abstract

本論文以跨文類分析的角度來檢視夏洛特˙史密斯兩項作品：《哀輓十四行詩》與《老莊園》中的相似性與相互指涉。大多數研究史密斯的學者傾向於將她的詩作與小說分開解讀，然而跨文類的分析比對能夠提供更為靈活的觀點來檢視作者主體建構的過程。藉由研究史密斯挑戰文類規範的邊界，本論文旨在辯證其顛覆性與前瞻性的女性主義思維，承襲自朱迪絲˙帕斯科著作《浪漫時期的戲劇性展演：性別、詩，與群觀》當中的論點。 夏洛特˙史密斯作為一個高度自我覺知的作家，能在不同作品當中巧妙地運用變化多樣的意象、言語以及角色，來塑造其感染作者本身情感與思想的人格。在《哀輓十四行詩》中，史密斯透過不同的角色來描繪出各種孤寂苦難的人格意象，而其中有如歌德小說女主角般的角色塑造，呼應了她另一部歌德愛情小說《老莊園》。同樣地，小說中的男主角奧蘭多也散發著與《哀輓十四行詩》詩中與序中所呈現的「哭泣的史密斯」相去不遠的憂鬱氣息。此種鏡像投射般的人格塑造，與揉合不同文類的寫作手法，展現出史密斯對於自我的探討以及對於父權傳統的批判。

This thesis proposes a cross-genre study of Charlotte Smith’s Elegiac Sonnets and The Old Manor House to analyze their similitude and inter-referentiality. Most critics tend to separate Smith’s sonnets from her novels, while a cross-genre comparison offers a possibility to examine the author’s construction of subjectivity, which is fluid and volatile. By investigating this challenge against generic boundaries, this study aims to argue for Smith’s subversive proto-feminist stance, a notion foregrounded in Judith Pascoe’s Romantic Theatricality: Gender, Poetry, and Spectatorship. Charlotte Smith is a highly self-aware writer who skilfully manipulates multiple images, voices, and characters to shape a persona saturated with her own feelings and sentiments. In the Elegiac Sonnets, an image of a forlorn and suffering woman is portrayed through numerous roles, among which the depiction of a Gothic heroine resonates with Smith’s Gothic romance The Old Manor House. Similarly, in the novel, the hero Orlando is imbued with a melancholic hue not far from that of the “weeping Charlotte” performed and publicized in both the sonnets and its preface. This deployment of the mirroring symmetry of persona-making, as well as the mix of generic conventions, helps to reveal Smith’s exploration of selfhood and her questioning of the patriarchal traditions.