Herman Melville

赫尔曼•梅尔维尔赫尔曼•梅尔维尔 (1819-1891)(1819-1891)

•A brief introduction •Life•Major Works and achievements

•Moby Dick•Writing Features

Herman Melville 赫尔曼•梅赫尔曼•梅尔维尔尔维尔

• One of the most important writers in American Romanticism

• Poor childhood• Successful in his first period as a

writer• Didn’t draw much attention in his

lifetime• Became popular from 20th century

• ◆ 1819, Born in New York City into an impoverished family

• ◆ 1830, at 11, his father died from worry and illness • ◆ At 15, his restlessness and his tension with his mo

ther brought an end to his education.• ◆ 1839, signed on as a cabin boy on a British ship---S

t Lawrence, bound for Liverpool, an experience reflected in his romance Redburn.

• ◆ 1841–42, spent 18 months on a whaler--Acusbnet, bound for the South Seas.

• ◆ 1843, served as seaman on the man-of –war United States, which represented in White-Jacket. Discharged in 1844.

•

timeline

A whaling ship is my Yale College and my Harvard.

------Herman Melville

◆ 1847, married Elizabeth Shaw, the daughter of Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice of Massachusetts. ◆ 1850-1863, bought a farm near Pittsfield, Mass., and became friends with his neighbor Nathaniel Hawthorne. ◆ 1851, Moby-Dick was published, but received little attention.◆ died in 1891 in poverty and obscurity

.

Masters influencing him • He was deeply impressed by Hawthorne’s book. Hawthorne’s understanding of evil impacted Melville’s original design of Moby Dick.

• They were philosophically closely related, and they represented a position of tragic humanism in their time.

Others’ influence

• Melville was a prolific writer. In his whole life he enjoyed reading (a voracious reader: Emerson, Hawthorne, Thomas Carlyle, Shelley, Thomas Browne, Lyell’s Geology, and Shakespeare)

• His discovery of Shakespeare stirred him to the depths of his being. Carlyle and Hawthorne’s symbolism fascinated him. For Emerson he had mixed feelings of respect and repulsion.

Typee 《泰比》 (1846) Omoo, 《奥姆》 (1847) Mardi, 《玛迪》 (1849) Redburn, 《雷德伯恩》 (1849) White-Jacket, 《白外套》 (1850) Moby-Dick, 《白鲸》又译《莫比 . 迪克》 (1851) Pierre, 《皮埃尔》 (1852) Israel Potter , 《伊斯雷尔 · 波特》 (1855) Piazza Tales , 《广场的故事》 (1856) —— 中短篇小说集 The Confidence-Man , 《骗子》 (1857) Battle Pieces:Civil War poems, 《南北战争诗集》又译《战事集》 (1866 ) Clarel, 《克拉瑞尔》 (1876) —— 长诗 John Marr and Other Sailors, 《约翰 · 玛尔和其他水手》 (1888) — 诗集 Timoleon, 《梯摩里昂》 (1891) —— 诗集 Billy Budd, 《水手比利 · 巴德》 (1924) [ 于作者去世后出版 ] 　

Works

Moby Dick 《白鲸》

• Moby-Dick, Herman Melville's 1851 novel, tells the story of obsessed Captain Ahab’s quest for revenge on the White Whale as observed by a common seaman who identifies himself only as Ishmael.

• 白鲸记 ( 「莫比敌」 Moby Dick) 是世上伟大的小说之一。全书的焦点集中于南太平洋一条名叫莫比敌的白鲸，以及捕鲸船皮廓德 (Pequod) 号的船长阿哈 (Ahab) 如何对它有不共戴天的仇恨。阿哈在一次航行中被莫比敌咬掉一条腿，立志报仇，指挥皮廓德号环航全球追踪，终于发现了它。经过三天放下小艇紧追。虽然刺中了这条白鲸，但它十分顽强狡猾，咬碎了小艇，也撞沉了大船。它拖着捕鲸船游开时，绳子套住阿哈，把他绞死了。全船人尽皆灭顶。只有一个水手借着由棺材改制的救生浮子而逃得性命。整个故事以这个水手伊希梅尔 (Ishmael) 自述的方式展开。

To write a mighty book you must have a mighty theme. Here I have it----the rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome, sometimes merciless forces.

----Melville said in his Moby Dick

Writing FeaturesRomanticism

Vividness

symbolism

Realistic

symbolism• 1. Moby Dick: possesses various 1. Moby Dick: possesses various

symbolic meanings for various symbolic meanings for various

individuals.individuals.

• 1) Symbol of nature for human 1) Symbol of nature for human

beings, because it is mysterious, beings, because it is mysterious,

powerful, unknown.powerful, unknown.

• 2) Symbol of evil for the Captain 2) Symbol of evil for the Captain

Ahab.Ahab.

• 3) Symbol of good and purity 3) Symbol of good and purity

because of its whitenessbecause of its whiteness..

22. Voyage of the Pequod: Symbol of th. Voyage of the Pequod: Symbol of the pursuite pursuit of ideals, adventure, and the h of ideals, adventure, and the hunt in the vast wilderness. It also symbolizunt in the vast wilderness. It also symbolize American spirit.e American spirit.

3. Ahab: symbol of solipsism(3. Ahab: symbol of solipsism( 唯我论唯我论 )) , r, revenge and then evil.evenge and then evil.

4. Starbuck: symbol of good and noble.4. Starbuck: symbol of good and noble.

5. the Doubloon5. the Doubloon 达布隆（古西班牙金币）达布隆（古西班牙金币） :: symbol of the lure of evil and enticeme symbol of the lure of evil and enticements to greed.nts to greed.