The title of Thunderstorm not only points out the natural climate in which the dramatic plot takes place: It's getting darker and hotter. The low and humid air is extremely irritating. " This weather finally led to lightning and thunder at night, and it was stormy. Parallel to this bad weather, a devastating "thunderstorm" was brewing in this feudal family and finally broke out: four winds and Zhou Chong were electrocuted and Zhou Ping shot himself ... The "thunderstorm" in Nature and Family actually symbolizes the increasingly acute social contradictions. The author vividly tells people with the title "Thunderstorm": In the semi-feudal and semi-colonial China in the 1920s, a great social change is inevitable.
Creation background
Thunderstorm was written on 1933. Two years ago, the September 18th Incident of Japanese invasion of China just broke out. The whole country set off an anti-Japanese upsurge. Cao Yu also actively participated in anti-Japanese propaganda. Lu Dahai in Thunderstorm is the shadow of a thoughtful and intelligent young worker Cao Yu met in Baoding. At that time, many excellent plays by Ibsen, a famous Norwegian writer, which exposed social darkness and pursued the liberation of human nature and women, had been introduced to China. Ibsen's thought had a great influence on Cao Yu. His graduation thesis in Tsinghua University was on Ibsen written in English. In addition, the plays of Shakespeare and ancient Greece also had a far-reaching influence on Cao Yu.
abstract
In the early 1920s, one day and one night before and after a thunderstorm. In the mansion of comprador capitalist Zhou Puyuan. This heartbreaking tragedy happened. His wife, Fan Yi, can't stand her husband's bossiness and ruthlessness, and even more unwilling to be depressed for life in suffocation. She boldly broke through all oranges and pursued a new life. She pinned all her hopes on Zhou's eldest son, who was about her age. Surprisingly, Zhou Ping hated the affair with his stepmother and fell madly in love with the girl Lu Sifeng. This makes Fan Yi fall into love and hate, and longing and disappointment are intertwined with pain. At this time, Sifeng's mother came back from working outside and met Zhou Puyuan by chance. It turns out that she is Zhou Ping's biological mother, Shi Ping, who was abandoned thirty years ago, and Lu Dahai, the brother of Sifeng, who took the lead in the strike, is Zhou Puyuan's own flesh and blood. Shi Ping didn't want her daughter to repeat the fate of being insulted and hurt, so she made up her mind to leave Zhoujiayuan with her daughter and go to other places. On the night of thunderstorm, his drought-striken fields secretly came to see Sifeng. Due to Fan Yi's tracking, things got out of control. Shi Ping reluctantly helped a pair of children to fly away. Fan Yi, who had broken the last glimmer of hope, shouted out her children, Zhou Chong and Zhou Puyuan, who loved Sifeng, to stop them, and the old and new entanglements were thus exposed. The thunderstorm poured down, and three young people who were full of longing for life died instantly; Survivors are still struggling in the agony of destruction. ...
The Significance of Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm is Cao Yu's first artistic life, and it also marks the maturity of modern drama. The publication of Thunderstorm shocked the literary world. At this time, Cao Yu was only 22 years old. In addition, his four classic masterpieces Thunderstorm, Sunrise, Yuan Ye and Peking Man all appeared on thousands of stages in various ways and were deeply interpreted by different people. Thunderstorm makes full use of the "three unifications". The story of eight characters from two families in just one day involves past grievances, and it is still confusing. In the narrow stage, it not only highlights the contradiction between ethics and class, but also highlights the strong disharmony between individuals and the environment and the times, and completes the characterization in various fierce conflicts. In fact, tragedy has long been lurking in every line and every foreshadowing, and it only broke out at the last minute, turning into a downpour, which shocked everyone's soul extremely strongly. The script is characterized by gripping plot, concise and implicit language, distinctive characters and extremely rich subtext. Like a sharp sword, it glides slowly on the reader's heartstrings, and the lingering sound does not stop. Thunderstorm pays special attention to sound and color effects in the description of natural scenery and portraits, and does not hesitate to express it with strong colors. At the same time, pay attention to the exaggerated treatment of the voice, smell and eyes of the characters.
Structural characteristics of thunderstorms
First, the plot is tortuous, strong in story and legendary. The tragedy of two families and two absurd incest stories told in the play are all related to Zhou Mansion. The past 30 years ago and the reality 30 years later are all related. The complicated conflicts and personnel disputes between Zhou and Lu overlap and reflect each other, which makes the script full of drama and legend, suspense and gripping. Second, the structure is closely concentrated. The drama begins with the crisis of events, explains the complicated antecedents in the sudden outbreak of consequences, skillfully interweaves current events with the past, and promotes the drama with the past. Within 24 hours from morning till night, all contradictions and conflicts are concentrated in the living room of Zhou Mansion and home. The main line of the conflict between Zhou Puyuan and Fan Yi in the whole play is very prominent, and other clues involved involve all eight people in the whole play in the tense conflict, forming a concentrated and tight structure. Third, the double lines of light and dark are criss-crossed and fascinating. The conflict between Zhou Puyuan and Fan Yi is a bright line, while the relationship between Zhou Puyuan and Shi Ping is a dark line. These two clues coexist, interweave, influence and clamp each other at the same time, which makes the plot tense, tortuous and fascinating. Finally, on the basis of the reappearance of the old scene 30 years ago, the dramatic contradiction was pushed to a climax and a series of tragedies broke out. This ending has strong logic and irresistible persuasion. It not only vividly depicts the characters, but also profoundly reveals the theme of the work. The unique structure of Thunderstorm makes it an excellent drama with China characteristics, full of drama and explosiveness. This is an excellent creation made by the author on the basis of drawing lessons from the rich experience of excellent foreign plays and taking care of the art appreciation habits of the masses in China.