Earticle

초록

영어

Owing to the reconditeness and sourness arising from the portrayal of the metaphysical world and his negative attitude towards the western society, Melville`s later works have long been alienated by his readers. In this vein, critics have focused on Billy Budd, written at the threshold of Melville`s death, wondering how he would react to the western society. But to put the conclusion first, Billy Budd can readily be described as the prolongation of his former books such as Moby-Dick and Pierre. The theme of Billy Budd is based on the opposition of good and evil between the Adamic hero with the image of nature itself and satanic character with that of a snake. This uncompromising confrontation finally brought about the death of the two characters, offering a significance to the development of the whole story. The protagonist, symbolizing good, died a transcendental death, showing new vision of revival, while the evil character met a satanic death struck by an angel. Also, even in the scene of death, Billy Budd, Melville`s anima, did not die a civilized christian, but a barbarian who kept his conviction unchanged to the last, even though seemingly receiving the Christian doctrine. Accordingly, putting together the way of the hero`s death, the polarity of conflict, the symbolism of color, etcetera, Billy Budd parallels his former works. Thus, Billy Budd is not `a testament of acceptance`, as some critics have insisted, but Melville`s last manifestation, which betrays his attitude of a seeker of truth and his embittered experience with western society. The ways of their death act on as an element to define the characteristic of two persons some critics insisted that it is `a testament of acceptance` different from his former works.

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 ABSTRACT

저자

• 황문수 [ Hwang Moon-su | 충청대학교 ]

참고문헌

발행기관

간행물

표지보기 관심저널 등록

• 간행물명

  영어영문학연구 [The Jungang Journal of English Language and Literature]

• 간기

  계간

• pISSN

  1598-3293

• 수록기간

  1968~2026

• 등재여부

  KCI 등재

• 십진분류

  KDC 840 DDC 810