從封建奇觀到喬治亞規範－－司摩利特的敘事之旅

Tobias Smollett's Narrative Journey from Feudal Spectacle to Georgian Norm

司摩利特於十八世紀寫成的小說宛如一場場精彩展演，不過其早期作品和晚期作品中的展演性質卻大相徑庭，本文主張此一轉變起因於小說中角色的處境所發生的劇烈改變。本文檢視司摩利特小說中展現的兩項奇觀：衝突和角色呈現。首先，本文描述作者如何揚棄動輒以決鬥來化解角色間衝突的早期敘事手法，改而安排各角色之間設法化解衝突。其次，本文分析司摩利特小說中的角色刻畫，探討其如何從一味彰顯誇張的肢體動作和極端情緒轉變為著重角色內省思緒的發展。本文結論指出，封建奇觀在新喬治亞時代已不復見，而全然獨立的自我也隨之消失。

Tobias Smollett puts on a show in all of his eighteenth-century novels, but the nature of that show is subject to transformation between his early and late works, largely, this paper claims, as a result of the radically altering circumstances with which the characters must contend. This paper examines Smollett's changing authorial use of the spectacular in two areas: conflict and character development. It first describes the author's move away from the duel as the prime narrative tool to resolve character conflicts. Second, the paper analyzes the portrayal of character and the strange mismatch between the very limited language of spectacular gesture and extremes of emotion designed to play to the gallery and the later introspective paths to character creation more familiar in the novels of the next century. Feudal spectacle has no place in the new Georgian establishment; nor does the fiercely independent self.