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Modern novelists, who began writing after World War Two, conceive new ideas and literary techniques which are quite different from those of their modernist predecessors as well as those of the 18th and 19th century realists. Of the dilemmas with which modern novelists are facing today, the most crucial one is about how to represent artistically, in their fictions, the reality which is newly perceived in this postmodern world. Of the English novelists who started their literary careers in the 1950s, John Fowles is considered to be one of the most important ones both in his intense existential themes and in his innovative literary techniques. As for his art, Fowles can be well discussed in terms of both a traditional realist and an experimental metafictionist. As a modern novelist who lives in the age of “End of Novel,” “Death of Author,” and “Deconstruction,” Fowles tries to ensure the possibilities of the novel genre through various formal experiments. In The Collector, Fowles uses the double narration of one single episode so that the readers could obtain a more objective and inclusive perspective on the events and participate in creating the ultimate meaning of the literary work. The Magus is a story about the conflict between reality and fiction; the protagonist should go through an overwhelming “Godgame” in which a God-like figure, Conchis, manipulated the stage where “every truth was a sort of lie; and every lie a sort of truth” so as to “improvise realities more real than realities.” In The French Lieutenant's Woman, Fowles uses Victorian way of First-person authorial intrusion into an apparent third-person narration, challenges the traditional view of God-like status of the novelist and induces an creative participation of the individual reader by presenting multiple endings to the novel. All these endeavors of Fowles can be understood as his awareness and recognition of the responsibility of the artist, facing every dilemmas of the modern novelists.

본고에서는 <심청가>의 결말부를 규정하고, 창본 <심청가> 13종을 대상으로결말부의 변이양상을 살펴보았다. 이를 통해 <심청가>의 다양한 결말부가 어떻게 서로 다른 주제적 지향을 보이는지에 대해 논의하였다. <심청가>의 결말부는 심봉사의 목욕 장면이 끝나고 의관을 잃어버렸다는사실을 알게 된 이후부터 시작되며, 이에 따라 그 세부적인 단락은 1) 의복얻기, 2) 방아타령, 3) 안씨맹인(과의 결연), 4) 부녀 상봉, 5) 개안, 6) 후일담으로나눌 수 있다. 13종 이본은 이 단락들을 거의 다 공유하고 있지만, 이본에 따라장면의 유무, 길이, 순서 등이 다를 뿐 아니라 구체적인 내용과 분위기 등에있어서도 차이를 보인다. 각각의 단락을 기준으로 창본 13종의 변이 양상을살핀 결과, <심청가>의 결말부는 심청의 투신과 심봉사의 개안의 관련성을 의식하는 수준의 차이, 심봉사의 가장으로서의 지위 회복에 대한 관심의 크기 차이에따라 상이하게 나타나는 것을 확인할 수 있다. 이는 곧 심청의 희생을 의미화하려는 지향과 심봉사의 가정 회복(또는 권위 회복)을 이룩하려는 지향으로도 이해될수 있다. 다만 이 지향은 한 이본에서 어떤 특징이 두드러지게 나타나는 단선적인방식이 아니라, 창자에 따라, 때로는 바디(및 유파)에 따라 그 수준이나 정도가상이하게 나타나는 복합적이고 중층적인 양상으로 확인된다. <심청가>는 주제적인 면에서 다층적인 지향을 보이고 있는 것이다. 따라서 <심청가> 창본들이좀 더 개별적이고 미시적인 차원에서 음미되어야 할 것이라고 결론지었다.

This study aims to define the ending of Simcheongga and re-examine its varieties in 13 versions of the work. Furthermore, it aims to discuss how multiple endings of Simcheongga represent different meanings. The ending of Simcheongga begins after Simbongsa's bath part is over and Simbongsa realizes that he has lost his clothes. Accordingly, the ending could be divided into 6 parts: ‘Asking the governor of Mureung for clothes, “The mill song,” “Meeting Ms. An(a blind person),” “Reunion,” “Opening eyes,” and “Subsequent story.” The 13 versions of Simcheongga are similar because they share most of these parts, but are not identical because several details are different. When analyzing the variation in the 13 different versions based on each part, the ending of Simcheongga varies in awareness regarding relevance between Simcheong's death and Simbongsa's eyes opening, and the interest in reinstating Simbongsa's authority as a patriarch. Therefore, the different endings of Simcheongga create various meanings in the corresponding theme of works. It can be said that the theme of Simcheongga appears in multiple layers.