Spatialized History, Sphinx Factor, Ethics of Monarchial Power—An Ethical Literary Criticism of Wolf Hall

Foreign Literature Studies ›› 2017, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (2): 46-53.

• Ethical Literary Criticism • Previous Articles Next Articles

Spatialized History, Sphinx Factor, Ethics of Monarchial Power—An Ethical Literary Criticism of Wolf Hall

Yan Chunmei, Shu Shaojun

Online:2017-04-25 Published:2022-06-15
About author:Yan Chunmei is an associate professor at Foreign Languages School, Quzhou University (Quzhou 324000, China), specializing in British and American Literature. Email: 597251128@qq.com; Shu Shaojun is a Ph. D. candidate at School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University (Nanjing 210023, China), specializing in British and American Literature. Email: forward19@163.com

Abstract

Abstract: Contemporary British Writer Hilary Mantel intents to deconstruct the known understanding of the divorce case between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in Wolf Hall by using the narrative strategy of spatiality of time to reshape the divorce as an ethical matter of the unbalanced Sphinx factors. Due to Henry's double ethical identities, his animal factor is inflated, which not only unsettles him as a result of his desires, but reflects and intensifies British people's anxiety of national identity during their king's ethical choice. The final resolve of the divorce changes the monarchial system which once was a machine to fulfill Henry's desires. More importantly, it makes the people in the Tudor Dynasty change their worship from God to the monarch, thus, identifying the monarchial ethics and opening the way to modern British nation.

Key words: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, spatiality of history, Sphinx factor, ethics of monarchial power

Yan Chunmei, Shu Shaojun. Spatialized History, Sphinx Factor, Ethics of Monarchial Power—An Ethical Literary Criticism of Wolf Hall[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(2): 46-53.

References

[1] 曹莉:《历史尚未终结——论当代英国历史小说走向》,《外国文学评论》3(2005):136—144.
[Cao Li.“The History Doesn’t Yet End---the Trend of Contemporary English Novel.”Foreign Literature Review 3(2005):136-44.]
[2] 弗洛伊德:《弗洛伊德文集5:精神分析新论》,车文博译.长春:长春出版社,2004 年.
[Freud S.Freud Anthology 5: New Introductory Lectures On Psychoanalysis. Trans. Che Wenbo. Changchun: Changchun Publishing House, 2004.]
[3] Geoffrey of Monmouth. The History of the Kings of Britain. Trans. Lewis Thorpe. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966.
[4] Higgins, Charlotte.“Hilary Mantel Discusses Thomas Cromwell’s Past, Presence and Future.” The Guardian 15 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <“Hilary Mantel Discusses Thomas Cromwell’s Past, Presence and Future.” The Guardian 15 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/15/hilary-mantel-edinburgh-wolf-hall?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487.>
[5] 胡鹏:《离婚案下的政治:<亨利八世>与<真相揭密>》,《外国文学评论》2(2011):24—35.
[Hu Peng.“Politics in Divorce Case: Henry VIII and the Truth Inside.” Foreign Literature Review 2(2011): 24-35.]
[6] 蒋承勇:《西方文学“人”的母题研究》.北京:人民出版社,2005年.
[Jiang Chengyong.On the Mother Motif of “Man” in Western Literature. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2005.]
[7] 姜元奎王平贤:《都铎王朝历代国王婚事试析》,《山东师范大学学报》4(2002):90—92.
[Jiang Yuankui and Wang Pingxian. “Tentative Analytical Study on British Monarchy Marriages during the Tudor Dynasty.”Journal of Shandong Teachers’ University 4(2002):90-92.]
[8] Laing, Olivia.“The Tudors’ Finest Portraitist Yet.” The Guardian 26 April 2009. Web. 15 June. 2009.< “The Tudors’ Finest Portraitist Yet.” The Guardian 26 April 2009. Web. 15 June. 2009.< http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/26/hilary-mantel-wolf-hall.>
[9] 阿拉斯戴尔·麦金太尔:《伦理学简史》,龚群译.北京:商务印书馆,2004年.
[Maclntyre, Alasdair.A Short History of Ethics. Trans. Gong Qun. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2004.]
[10] Mantel, Hilary.“Father Figured”, The Telegraph. 24 April 2005. Web. 25 June. 2012. <“Father Figured”, The Telegraph. 24 April 2005. Web. 25 June. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3640930/Father-figured.html.>
[11] 希拉里·曼特尔:《狼厅》,刘国枝王婷译.上海:上海译文出版社,2010 年.
[12] [---. Wolf Hall. Trans. Liu Guozhi and Wang Ting. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2010.]
[13] 聂珍钊:《文学伦理学批评:伦理选择与斯芬克斯因子》,《外国文学研究》6(2011):6—13.
[Nie Zhenzhao.“Ethical Literary Criticism: Ethical Choice and Sphinx Factor.”Foreign Literature Studies 6(2011):6-13.]
[14] ——:《文学伦理学批评:基本理论与术语》,《外国文学研究》1(2010):14—19.
[15] [---. “Ethical Literary Criticism: Its Fundaments and Terms.”Foreign Literature Studies 1(2010):14-19.]
[16] Pollard A.F. Henry VIII. New York: Goupil, 1902.
[17] 尚必武:《交融中的创新:21世纪英国小说创作论》,《当代外国文学》2(2015):132—139.
[Shang Biwu.“Innovation through Intersection: Approaching 21st-Century British Fiction.”Contemporary Foreign Literature 2(2015): 132-39.]
[18] 谢纳:《空间生产与文化表征》.北京:中国人民大学出版社,2010年.
[Xie Na.Space Production and Cultural Representation. Beijing: China Renmin UP, 2010.]

Spatialized History, Sphinx Factor, Ethics of Monarchial Power—An Ethical Literary Criticism of Wolf Hall

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 2

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	Wang Yuehong, Yu Zongru. Ethical Choice and the Formation and Deconstruction of Ethical Complex in Henry James's The Ambassadors [J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(6): 114-121.
[2]	Tan Yuan. Sphinx Factor and Ethic Choice in Goethe's Faust [J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(5): 90-98.