品读本 | 王尔德:爱,始于自我欺骗,终于欺骗他人
【半 城 大 话】他既为宗教所吸引、赞美上帝,又无情批驳神父、牧师的浅薄无知。他在赞美爱情的同时,又表达出对爱情的不屑,甚至是贬斥。他对美的追求近乎狂热,但内心对其并不完全持乐观态度,又总是亲手摧毁自己塑造的一系列美的事物。他反对文学创作涉及道德和生活的内容,但作品中充满了道德说教,以及对生活的深刻揭露。
他是奥斯卡·王尔德,英国十九世纪维多利亚时代最伟大的作家和艺术家之一,唯美主义的代言人,倡导“为艺术而艺术”。他留下的小说、戏剧、童话、诗歌,皆成后世经典。
爱,始于自我欺骗,终于欺骗他人
半城编辑部整理
/王尔德/
维多利亚时代是一个多重矛盾已达极限的时代,也是一个承上启下的时代。顽固而僵硬的维多利亚道德观,在占领英国社会的同时,也不可避免地显示出其滞后性和消极性。适时而生的唯美主义代表作家王尔德,正是高举反叛大旗,以一种颓废的姿态对传统道德进行了批判和颠覆。
王尔德的作品体裁非常广泛。他的童话体现了一颗纯真心灵对真善美的执著追求,而喜剧则于嬉笑怒骂中揭露了虚伪、庸俗、利己的维多利亚丑陋现实,并重新界定了“罪”与“恶”的内涵。在他唯一一部长篇小说《道林·格雷的画像》中,我们感受到一个在美与善之间痛苦挣扎的灵魂;而在他用法语创作的著名悲剧《莎乐美》中,我们看到唯美主义者在追求肉体与精神平衡的过程中所作出的艰苦探索。
△1890年版7月《道林·格雷的画像》首次出版(也同时在伦敦出版),初版本封面。
王尔德力求以美对抗现实的丑恶黑暗,用不道德的言论来表达道德的思想,用旧道德的沦丧来求得新道德的回归,用纨绔子弟的姿态表现一种唯美主义式的极端道德批判。
尽管唯美主义最终走向没落,王尔德也以深陷囹圄,结束了盛极一时的创作道路,但是唯美主义对维多利亚时代道德的另类批判,实际上是现代主义摧毁一切神圣性、颠覆一切严肃性的先声。之后的表现主义、象征主义以及荒诞派等现代主义诸流派,都在不同程度上受到唯美主义的影响。
王尔德在一百年前就是一个备受争议的人物,现在也是。
王尔德不是道德家:“书无所谓道德的,或不道德的。书只有写得好的,或写得糟的,仅此而已。邪恶与美德,是艺术家创作的素材。”
他为一些戏剧角色设计的语言,精练透辟。
1/34 When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self,and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls aromance.
爱,始于自我欺骗,终于欺骗他人。这就是所谓的浪漫。
2/34 The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer.
逢场作戏和终身不渝之间的区别,只在于逢场作戏稍微长一些。
3/34 When a love comes to an end, weaklings cry, efficient ones instantly find another love and wise already had one in reserve.
当爱情走到尽头,软弱者哭个不停,有效率的马上去寻找下一个目标,而聪明的早就预备了下一个。
4/34 Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other.
人生就是一件蠢事追着另一件蠢事而来,而爱情则是两个蠢东西追来追去。
5/34 Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.
男女之间不可能存在友谊,有的只是爱恨情仇。
6/34 There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
生活中只有两种悲剧:一是没有得到我们想要的,另一则是得到我们想要的。
7/34 It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly
个性善良不如长相美丽,不过个性善良总比生得丑好。
8/34 What is the chief cause of divorce? Marriage.
什么是离婚的主要原因?结婚。
9/34 Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious; both are disappointed.
男人因疲倦而结婚,女人因好奇而结婚;最终,他们都会失望。
10/34 The happiness of a married man depends on the people he has not married.
已婚者的快乐,来自那些他没有娶的人。
11/34 Wicked women bother one. Good women bore one. That is the only difference between them.
坏女人给我麻烦,好女人令我厌烦,这就是她们唯一的不同。
12/34 Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.
结婚是想象战胜了理智,再婚是希望战胜了经验。
13/34 Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.
女人代表着物质战胜了理智,正如男人代表着理智战胜了道德。
14/34 There is only one real tragedy in a woman's life. The fact that her past is always her lover, and her future invariably her husband.
女人的生活中只有一个真正的悲剧:她总在缅怀过去,却必须活在未来。
15/34 Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.
经验,是人类给自己所犯错误取的名字。
16/34 It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.
把人分成好的与坏的是荒谬的,人要么迷人,要么乏味。
17/34 Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others
邪恶是善良的人们编造出的谎言,用来解释其他人的特殊魅力。
18/34 The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
世上只有一件事比被人议论更糟糕,那就是没有人议论你。
王尔德对美敏锐,喜欢浪漫,向往纯真世界,怀揣赤子之心。
他笔下有最美的星空和最纯净的花园,心碎感人。
19/34 I don't want to earn my living; I want to live.
我不想谋生,我只想生活。
20/34 The very essence of romance is uncertainty.
浪漫的精髓,就在于它充满种种可能。
21/34 Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.
女人是用来被爱的,不是用来被理解的。
22/34 If I may not write beautiful books, I may at least read beautiful books , and what joy can be greater?
即使没有写出好书来,至少也可以读些好书,还有比这更令人愉悦的事吗?
23/34 Don't be afraid of the past. If people tell you that it is irrevocable, don't believe them.
不要惧怕过去。如果人们告诉你,过去的事情无可挽回,别相信他们。
24/34 A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
梦想家只能在月光下找到前进的方向,他为此遭受的惩罚是比所有人都提前看到曙光。
25/34 What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.
看似痛苦的试炼,往往是伪装的祝福。
26/34 What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
一个愤世嫉俗的人,知道所有东西的价格,却不知道任何东西的价值。
27/34 Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
每个圣人都有过去,每个罪人都有未来。
28/34 To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
生活是世上最罕见的事情,大多数人只是活着,仅此而已。
29/34 No man is rich enough to buy back his own past.
没有人能富有到赎回自己的过去。
30/34 No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did he would cease to be an artist.
伟大的艺术家所看到的,从来都不是世界的本来面目。一旦他看透了,他就不再是艺术家。
31/34 All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction
我想所有迷人的人,都是被宠爱着的,这是他们吸引力来源的秘密。
32/34 Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.
艺术并非模仿生活,而是生活在模仿艺术。
33/34 I love acting. It is so much more real than life.
我喜欢看戏。与人生相比,戏剧更加真实。
34/34 A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
一个人倘若不为自己思考,那就从未思考过。
半城荐书
《这是我最好的爱:王尔德经典童话选》
王尔德的童话被誉为“世界上最美的童话”。故事“有一种稀有的、丰富的想象,中间贯穿着微妙的哲学”,散发浓厚的理想主义色彩。孩子从中可以读出天真、淳朴和美好,成人可以体会美丽童话背后凄婉唯美的实质。
“真正美的东西,都是让人忧伤的。”王尔德的童话中,有对底层民众的怜悯、贪婪人性的批判、无暇童心的颂扬。走进他的世界,有欢愉、伤感和难以言状的怦然心动,如同和灵魂深处的自己狭路相逢。他笔下爱的九种姿态,甜蜜又苦涩,坚硬而透明,温柔且执著,带领我们穿越暗夜的星光,让纤细柔软的灵魂在高处飞扬。
文编:张鑫 车俊铭
美编:陈茜茜
音乐:范丽甍
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