Why did Cao Yu use "Thunderstorm" as the title of his play? What's the unique purpose?

In 1933, Cao Yu completed his first multi-act drama "Thunderstorm". Published in "Literary Quarterly" Volume 1, Issue 3, July 1934. He extracted the theme of "Thunderstorm" from the social circles he was familiar with when he was a teenager. Through the historical and realistic entanglements of eight characters from the Zhou and Lu families, he reflected about 30 years from the 20th year of Guangxu (1894) to 1920. years of complex social life and conflict. The story tells that Zhou Puyuan, the chairman of a certain mine, abandoned Shi Ping, his maid who had given birth to two sons, when he was young. The eldest son Zhou Ping stayed in the Zhou family, but Shi Ping and her second son drowned in a river and fled away from home. Zhou mistakenly thought she was dead. Later, the Zhou family also moved north and lived in the same place as the Lu family who remarried Shi Ping, but they didn't know each other. Both father and daughter of the Lu family worked as servants in the Zhou family, and the second son Dahai worked in the mines. Zhou's wife Fanyi had an affair with his eldest son Zhou Ping. Later it was learned that Zhou Ping loved Lu's daughter Sifeng, so Fanyi wanted to send Sifeng away. When Shi Ping came to visit, the relationship between the two families was revealed. Zhou Ping and Sifeng Zhi were half-brothers and sisters, and both committed suicide. Fanyi's son Zhou Chong was also electrocuted to death while trying to save Sifeng. Dahai was humiliated and beaten as a strike representative at Zhou's house and ran away. Shi Ping and Fan Yi couldn't bear the heavy pressure and went crazy, leaving only Zhou Puyuan alone, looking at each other. The author unearths social tragedies with the characteristics of the times in the common social phenomena of "initiating chaos and ending up abandoning it" and "incest". He wrote about sharp ideological conflicts and class oppression and struggle in the play, but mainly described the struggles of three women of different classes and different personalities in the transition period between the old and the new against their fate in different ways and their tragic endings of destruction. . The richness and vividness of the plot, sharp dramatic conflicts, rigorous structure, rich and solemn style, and strong tragic atmosphere of "Thunderstorm" are deeply influenced by Greek tragedy and the plays of Ibsen and O'Neill. But what Cao Yu wrote was authentic "Chinese affairs, Chinese people's thoughts and feelings." He is the one who combines national content with foreign art forms most closely and gloriously. Therefore, "Thunderstorm" has brought China's young drama art to a new level. The characters in "Thunderstorm" have high aesthetic value. The achievements of "Thunderstorm" are multifaceted, but the success of characterization is its vitality. This is also the unique characteristic of Cao Yu's drama.

Artistic features:

Although "Thunderstorm" is Cao Yu's first play, it has initially formed the basic characteristics of his play style, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects: First of all, the dramatic contradictions are highly concentrated. In general, the whole play is intertwined with past dramas and current dramas. The eight main characters in the play mainly reflect three aspects of relationships; sex, blood and class relations. It also shows the lower-class women Shi Ping. The tragedy of being abandoned, the tragedy of upper-class woman Fanyi's suppressed personality; the tragedy of young men and women Zhou Ping and Sifeng not being able to find normal love; the tragedy of Zhou Chong's youthful dreams being shattered; and the tragedy of laborer Lu Dahai's failed resistance, Blood relations, sexual relations and class conflicts are intertwined with each other, and all tragedies are ultimately attributed to the "source of evil" - Zhou Puyuan, who is the symbol of the head of a bourgeois family with strong feudal overtones. The dramatic contradictions are highly concentrated. Secondly, it has a unique artistic structure, with Zhou Puyuan as the center, and the dramatic plot is unfolded through three contradictory clues in the complicated and sharp conflict. Through the conflict between Zhou Puyuan and Fan Yi, it focuses on portraying his tyrannical and cold face as a feudal patriarch. Through the conflict between Zhou Puyuan and Shi Ping, it fully demonstrates the selfish and hypocritical side of his character. Through the conflict between Zhou Puyuan and Lu Dahai, it fully demonstrates his cold and reactionary class nature as a capitalist. These complex contradictory clues are intertwined with each other. The interweaving and mutual influence make the plots interlocking and climaxing one after another, creating a thrilling and fascinating dramatic effect. Third, the characters’ language is highly personalized. It can be said that each of the eight characters in "Thunderstorm" can be a drama on his own, such as Zhou Puyuan's majesty and cunning, Zhou Chong's innocence and kindness, Fan Yi's crazy boldness, Sifeng's innocence and sincerity, Lu Dahai's integrity and bravery, Lu Gui's despicable and cunning characters are all vividly written, and these are all accomplished through personalized language. Zhou Puyuan's language is short and blunt, and cannot be argued with, which illustrates his status as a parent and his cold and domineering character. Fan Yi's language is warm and exciting yet cold and arrogant. This is the embodiment of her complex psychology of love and resentment, depression and doubt. Ping's language is subtle but sharp, tactful and sad, showing her self-esteem and strength as a lower-class woman. Lu Gui's language is vulgar, obscene, and often has insinuations. Fourth, the dramatic language is concise, clear, and rich in subtext. The author carefully refines the language and avoids the long lines of foreign dramas. He can truly and vividly show the characters' thoughts, emotions and attitudes in specific scenes. He is also good at using suggestive subtext to exaggerate the unique stage atmosphere and achieve an unexpected dramatic effect. For example: Zhou Ping ordered his men to beat Lu Dahai severely, and Shi Ping cried loudly: These are really a group of robbers! Walked up to Zhou Ping: You are Ping,...why...why should you beat my son! The first sentence shows that she is heartbroken, sad and angry, and the two words in the second sentence reveal the nature of maternal love and the sadness of being unable to recognize each other. It is full of subtext and the language is wonderful and expressive. "Thunderstorm" has further extended the tendency of focusing on external dramatic plot arrangements, consciously or unconsciously, since the birth of drama, into the inner world of the characters. This is a great progress in the development of Chinese drama, and it is also important for the success of "Thunderstorm" One of the reasons.