Who is the hero of Thunderstorm?

The film was produced by Shanghai Film Studio 1984. Sun Daolin directed and starred in Zhou Puyuan, but the protagonist on the poster was played by actress Gu. In this adaptation with the characteristics of the times, as the representative of the working class, Lu Dahai's plays have also increased greatly. Zhou Puyuan? Fan Yi? Or a thunderstorm without metaphor? There is no clear answer to this question, and China students have their own answers. Since then, the students' discussion on the question and answer has become more enthusiastic, which has led to thinking about how to read classics and literature teaching reform. Of course, it is probably very important for everyone to gain a multi-level appreciation and understanding of famous books in the "noise". This attempt by Professor Wen Rumin of Peking University provides us with a good example. Literature classes in universities are becoming more and more difficult to teach. Take China Modern Literature as an example. It is a compulsory course of Chinese Department, which is generally offered in lower grades. Because of the content, young students who have just entered the university campus are not prepared for the knowledge of literary theory and related disciplines, and there are many difficulties in learning this course. There is also a practical problem. Emphasis is now placed on quality education and general education, while undergraduate majors are neglected. Students have to spend a lot of time studying foreign languages, political courses and many applied courses that will come in handy when looking for a job. They spend little time on literature courses, including modern literature, and often can't finish reading the minimum works. It is said that some Chinese department students in some schools graduated from undergraduate courses, and even the classics such as A Dream of Red Mansions, Scream and Thunderstorm have not been completely read, only some excerpts or TV adaptations have been seen. It will really become a "fast food culture" and a "textbook culture". Although the situation in Peking University is not so bad, few students can't sit still and study the original. In view of this situation, the Chinese Department of Peking University plans to reform the curriculum, add a special intensive reading course, and require students to read through several classic works to sharpen their temper and gain preliminary academic experience. Of course, the course content and teaching methods must be reformed to meet the requirements of the times, and students should actively participate and cooperate. Last semester, I was a lecturer in the course of "Modern Literature" in the first year of Chinese Department of Peking University, and made some attempts at reform. Mainly to downplay the clues of "history", the knowledge of literary history should be mastered by students themselves by reading textbooks, and the classroom is mainly based on works; Reducing reading and emphasizing "classicalization" require students to combine reading experience, discussion and writing to get a preliminary understanding of different appreciation and criticism methods. In this way, students' interest in learning has been improved, the atmosphere of reading and discussion has become stronger, and the course of "Modern Literature" has been much more active. For example, when we talk about modern drama art, we choose Cao Yu's Thunderstorm as the focus. Before class, all students must read the script. Besides analyzing the works in class, it mainly introduces different critical angles and representative viewpoints to arouse students' imagination and aesthetic judgment. Facts have proved that this teaching method, which allows students to participate more, is far better than just introducing common sense and conclusions. In the final exam, 30% of the topics are about the basic knowledge of literary history, and 70% are about the reading, appreciation and analysis ability of classic works. It's no use just taking notes without reading the works. There is such a composition question on the test paper that there is no ready-made answer: "Who do you think is the hero of Cao Yu's Thunderstorm?" Tell me your reasons. "In this way, most students can express their opinions in combination with the content of the work and reading experience, and there are indeed many wonderful discoveries. This kind of examination is lively, which not only checks whether and how students read works, but also provides students with opportunities to "express themselves" and think independently, so that students' aesthetic criticism ability can also be improved in the examination. Not long ago, the Chinese Department of Peking University posted a summary of some students' answers to this exam on the website, which caused a heated discussion and involved the issue of education reform. Here, we might as well publish a summary of the representative answers to Cao Yu's questions in this exam, from which we can see how contemporary college students read classics and think about the teaching reform of literature courses. Of course, it is probably also very important for everyone to get a multi-level appreciation and understanding of such a famous book as Thunderstorm in the midst of all the noise. Who do you think is the hero of Cao Yu's Thunderstorm? Tell me your reasons. Cheng Wei: To be honest, I doubt the rationality of this question. Why does a play or a novel have a protagonist? The presupposition of the protagonist, as a self-evident premise, is just a classic view, which is undoubtedly invalid for modern works (especially modernist works) and may even be unsuitable for some traditional works. However, because this question needs to be answered, perhaps a slightly reasonable answer can only be "thunderstorm", although I admit it is a bit reluctant. But it seems better than that, because Cao Yu said that he likes Fan Yi best, and everyone thinks that Fan Yi is the leading role. Thunderstorm undoubtedly has the tendency of mysticism, and even implies a certain sense of religious salvation, which is particularly obvious in the preface and conclusion. Cao Yu has his own critical consciousness and wants to ask about people's situation. Thunderstorm is a temptation for him, and the problem of human existence has to be linked with "the highest existence". Cao Yu didn't set a god, but set a thunderstorm. Thunderstorm is the symbol of the highest existence, the Oracle of Oedipus, the boulder of Sisyphus and the clue of drama. The whole play moves forward in an indescribable atmosphere, and it is undoubtedly thunderstorm that affects the plot. When a thunderstorm comes, all tragedies will break out. Cao Yu's plays are poetic. Thunderstorm is the image of poetry. If we can find the central position of Thunderstorm in the poetic atmosphere, it is not difficult to find the central position of Thunderstorm in the drama. In the famous futuristic theatre's Here They Come, the protagonist never appears, and so does Godot in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. "Not present" is often more meaningful than being present. Yuan Yidan: I think the hero of Thunderstorm is a mysterious force in the unknown universe, hiding behind the drama and controlling everything. The author once said, "Thunderstorm is a kind of temptation for me, and the emotion that comes with thunderstorm has become my unspeakable yearning for the mysterious things in the universe." He not only pays attention to reality, people and things that are alive, but also transcends reality and pays attention to the mystery of human nature and life behind reality. All the characters in Thunderstorm are dolls of this mysterious force, and under its control, they perform scenes of sadness and joy. It gives everyone the hope of rebirth, but it cunningly sets insurmountable obstacles in their pursuit of dreams, turning people's struggle into a useless joke. They pulled one by one and twisted into a ball, like horses falling into the mire. The more they struggle, the more they fall into the swamp of death. How cruel the mysterious force is, Cao Yu sighed: "The universe is a well. Whoever falls in, no one can escape from this black pit. " Hu Yongzhi: Cao Yu once said that writing Thunderstorm was "a temptation" for him. More importantly, he said that these characters are "struggling", but they are only caught in the "mud" of life. So to say who the hero is, we need to look at what the author calls "struggling" and struggling people. At first glance, Shi Ping, Sifeng, Hai, ... They are all struggling feebly in the dreary thunderstorm weather. All dreams, hopes, hesitations and struggles are powerless, and it seems that human beings cannot escape under the control of some power. Since the struggle is doomed to be meaningless, then the struggle is miserable, and the most ideal person who struggles is also the most tragic person. We can define the protagonist of Thunderstorm as "the most struggling person". I think Zhou Ping is undoubtedly the "hardest worker". Before Shi Ping came to Zhou Mansion, she had planned to leave, breaking the deformed "mother-child love" and making a plan to meet Sifeng. It is his tragedy that Zhou Ping has his life goals and puts them into practice. As for Fan Yi, a dynamic figure, her struggle was irrational and crazy from the beginning, and she knew it would be futile. Although her tragedy is shocking, the audience has long known that its failure is reasonable. However, Zhou Ping's tragedy is unpredictable for people and audiences. Zhou Ping has weaknesses and shortcomings, but he also has hope and pursuit of a healthy life. It is because he is "the most struggling" that he is the most miserable. Tan Ting: Who is the biggest tragedy in Thunderstorm? Isn't that the woman Fan Yi who gritted her teeth and drank a big bowl of bitter medicine? She is the person closest to the thunderstorm center, and she is the protagonist. Maybe this is just my idea, not Cao Yu's. I don't think anyone in Thunderstorm is more painful than Fan Yi's heartbeat when listening to Zhou Ping go upstairs. She is the best embodiment of Cao Yu's style. Xiang Li: I think the hero of Thunderstorm is Zhou Puyuan. First of all, Zhou Puyuan is the beginning of the whole drama. Second, Zhou Puyuan is the center of all drama contradictions, and he directly or indirectly caused various contradictions. Thirdly, judging from the plot, he is the core of the whole family, and the tragic ending of the drama is produced under his single hand. Fourthly, from the author's point of view, I mainly want to portray Zhou Puyuan as a typical figure. The author focuses on the bondage and distortion of feudal patriarchal clan system to human nature, and also exposes the sharpness of class contradictions. Xiao Wei: I don't think the protagonist of Thunderstorm is present. Everyone present is just his slave, interpreting his absence, showing his strength by destroying himself, and expressing the author's yearning and fear for him in a tortuous way. "He" is the "inexplicable power" that Cao Yu himself can't explain clearly. There are "inexplicable forces" everywhere in Thunderstorm, and it is these "inexplicable forces" that promote and dominate the development of the whole drama. Without the "inexplicable power", the plot of Thunderstorm is only an incest description to cater to the curiosity of the audience. Zhou Ping and Fan Yi can be said to be the China version of Medea's tragic characters in Greek mythology, but the relationship between Zhou Ping and Sifeng has never been divorced from the "son and maid" model in the old novels. It is the author who controls this "inexplicable power" in the plot, which frees the whole drama from the vulgar pattern, so that people can not only appreciate the specific plot while enjoying it, but more importantly, ask the ultimate question about life and this power with the author. This is the great charm of Thunderstorm. It can be seen that this "inexplicable power" is the natural protagonist of Thunderstorm. Nie Yuting: I think the hero of Thunderstorm is Fan Yi, who has a restless soul. First of all, Fan Yi has a distinctive "thunderstorm" character, extremely thorough, dare to love and hate, and has a primitive "brute force" that can destroy everything. She is always associated with the background atmosphere deliberately set by the writer. From the beginning of "breathless" depression to the end of desperate "revenge", a "thunderstorm" vent, her emotional mentality has always been integrated with the atmosphere of her works. Fan Yi promoted the development of the drama plot and was at the center of the conflict. Because she led to Shi Ping, because she led to the blind alley of Zhou Ping and Sifeng. Fan Yi's complex and unique image makes her a hero. Her personality has two extremes: extreme repression and extreme revenge, which push her to the extreme. In the end, she struggled in the "well of despair in the universe" and was unable to save herself, which increased the level and depth of the tragedy. Wu: It seems that the usual protagonist-theme analysis method should not be applied to a work like Thunderstorm, which is intertwined with criticism and meditation. None of the characters in Thunderstorm are heroes. The real hero of Thunderstorm is fate. "Destiny" has become an invisible protagonist everywhere, participating in and creating the development of characters and plots in the play. Fan Yi is the most "thunderstorm" person, and the unknowable power is fully displayed in Fan Yi's character. All the other characters in the play embody a character controlled by desire in the depths of life. When Lu Shiping met Zhou Puyuan, Lu Shiping said, "This is fate. Unfair fate sent me here!" There is a "fate" here for the first time, but it is not abrupt in the development of the plot. In the process of the final tragedy, "fate" has acted as the maker of coincidence again and again. Wu Xiangting: I think the hero of Cao Yu's Thunderstorm is Fan Yi. Fan Yi is a thunderstorm. Fan Yi, Fan Yi, Duoyi, Fan Yi, water patterns. Fan Yi is a fierce wave, never-ending water, and a "thunderstorm" that cleans everything. Her pain is the deepest and her desire is the strongest, so it is also the fastest and most violent, just like a thunderstorm. She is the clue. Her angry words are often the breaking point of the script. Wang Ying: Everyone in Thunderstorm has his own unique position and has formed a complicated relationship with each other. On the contrary, it is difficult to judge who is a hero. This may be the author's original intention. He set up a hero who never appeared but always controlled the ups and downs of the plot-Thunderstorm! Violent thunderstorms symbolize the control of fate with great power. Under its gaze, a group of people caught in the whirlpool are performing a tragedy. The title of the work is Thunderstorm, and the arrangement in the hospital in the preface and conclusion is also for readers to look at it with compassion and make deeper reflection. Dany: Thunderstorm is the central hero, and all the characters in the play take it as the center of their life forms. No one in the play dares to "rob the play" with it, and there is no way to "rob the play" with it. Thunderstorm is beating, uneasy and anxious. Almost every character in the play is saying "boring", which is the "black box operation" of the protagonist. And this hero likes Fan Yi best, which makes this "thunderstorm" character fully reflected in her. ..... all kinds of life expectations are finally summarized in Thunderstorm (thunderstorm-like character, thunderstorm in nature). Everything comes from Thunderstorm, and everything ends in Thunderstorm. Guo: It can be understood from different angles. The protagonist of a drama is generally at the center of contradictions and conflicts, pulling the drama clues and occupying considerable weight in the whole drama. Considering these three conditions, Zhou Ping is undoubtedly the right candidate. However, in Cao Yu's works, profound thoughts on the fate of life are incorporated, and it is also appropriate to identify Fan Yi as the protagonist from the fierce struggle and conflict of fate. Zheng: The hero should be. From the preface to the end, Zhou Puyuan runs through, contributing to the occurrence and development of the whole tragedy, and it is Zhou Puyuan who is still suffering from the tragedy in a sober state. As a "cradle of tragedy", it has become a symbol that hangs over the group of people who staged the tragedy of Zhou Mansion. It was he who caused the "thunderstorm-like" hysteria, despair and weakness, the "gloomy" atmosphere in the play and the cruel theme in the struggle between Zhou and Lu families. Zhou Puyuan itself is the victim of this evil. Finally, the younger generation passed away, leaving Zhou Puyuan to watch two crazy women and chew their own pain alone. The dilemma of human nature and the unknowability of fate have also been deeply reflected here, and have been promoted to the height of "compassion".