名利场讽刺手法分析

An Analysis on Satirical Devices in

How to Live Well on Nothing a Year, V anity Fair

In How to Live Well on Nothing a Year, Vanity Fair, a quite representative excerpt, Thackeray abundantly and appropriately employs the satirical device by elaborate description of the well-crafted and compelling features of the characters in profoundly cynical and trenchant words, which outright reveals his marvelous capability in writing satire.To achieve the ironic artistic effect, he used various methods such as making large quantities of literary comparisons, employing symbolism in naming, making sarcastic comments on the characters and using cultural allusions and etc.Moreover, the way Thackeray employs satirical device is never too deliberate but exceedingly natural and smooth, making the author’s sarcastic attitude between the lines peculiarly amusing to perceive by the readers.

In the second paragraph of How to Live Well on Nothing a Year, when describing the luxuriant and comfortable lives that Mr. and Mrs. Crawley led soon after their arrival in Paris, the author wrote, “who may have been disposed during this period of elation to slight the people”, in which the satirical tone was rather crystal-clear. The phrase “disposed to” vividly indicated that Mr. Crawley did or paid literally nothing but could still live well and be fervidly welcomed simply on the aristocratic prestige of the Crawley family, or more precisely, his aunt, revealing the hypocrisy and absurdity of the aristocrats of higher class. “This period of elation to slight the people” showed Mr. Crawley’ s genuine attitude towards the military and the war: he actually despised them and only wanted to make a great fortune from the war, no matter how despicable and abhorrent that was.

A s Thackeray put it in a satirical tone, “Our friend the Colonel had a great aptitude for all games of chance, and exercising himself, as he continually did, with thecards”, he described Mr. Crawley’ s tireless indulgence in gambling of all kinds as “exercising himself with the cards”, sneering at his pursuit of nothing serious or meaningful but indulgent pleasure in gambling. As Thackeray employed an omniscient narrator to tell the story, he even started with “our friend” to refer to Mr. Crawley in asuperficially easygoing tone, further heightening the effect of satire.

In this chapter of Vanity Fair, sometimes the satirical device Thackeray employed could be rather obscure in form but still efficient in conveying ironic meaning. While describing the days

when Mrs. Crawley committed fraud through her elaborately-set tricks in Paris, the author wrote, “this fatal amusement commonly was practiced much to good-natured little Mrs. Crawle y’ s annoyance”. In this sentence, Thackeray referred to Rebecca as “good-natured little Mrs. Crawle y”, apparently employing the method of antiphrasis to emphasize that she was, in truth, an evil-natured and go-getting woman who would seize any chance to get whatever she wanted by means of fair or foul. Furthermore, in a hypocritical tone, the author indicated that Mrs. Crawley was cheating people out of their money in those private gambling houses. The well-crafted sentences conveying intensely satirical meaning like this were abundant in How to Live Well on Nothing a Year, making the scenes in the work amazingly lively and the characters’ characteristics profoundly distinct.

Besides the satirical devices above, Thackeray made lots of comparisons to achieve an ironic literary effect as well. For instance, before the death of Mr. Crawley’ s aunt and their busy arranging the affairs of the inheritance, Mr. and Mrs. Crawley simply occupied a little entresol of a hotel, but soon after that they took the premier and made so much trivial and luxuriant request on decorations; Mrs. Crawle y never genuinely cared for her biological son, “she had not, to say truth, seen much of the young gentleman since his birth”, while the nanny of her son, the gardener’s wife, truly loved and took very good care of Mrs. Crawle y’ s young son, “for some time awaited quite anxiously his return”;

Mr. and Mrs. Crawley used to lead so luxuriant and munificent life among the aristocrats in Paris, however, some weeks after Crawleys’ departure, so many people including the landlord of the hotel, the milliner and even the nurse of Mrs. Crawley’s son hadn’t been paid a penny.

余威

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