摘 要

索福克勒斯的杰作《俄狄浦斯王》和中国著名剧作家曹禺的代表作《雷雨》是两部经典的戏剧作品，都生动地描绘了主人公的“恋母情结”。本文首先简要介绍了两部作品和“俄狄浦斯情结”的概念，继而分析了两部作品中俄狄浦斯情结的差异，以及造成差异的不同原因——命运观和封建主义，论文最后得出结论：虽然这两部伟大的作品都揭露了主人公“杀父娶母”的俄狄浦斯情结，但由于不同的社会和文化背景造成这两个悲剧的根本原因是截然不同的。

关键词：悲剧；封建主义；恋母情结；命运观

Contents

1． Introduction……………………………………………………………................7

2． Demonstration………………………………………………………….................8

2.1 Introduction to Oedipus Complex in the two books………………………………9

2.1.1 Oedipus Complex in Oedipus…………………………………………….……..9

2.1.2 Oedipus Complex in Thunderstorm....................................................................10

2.2 Difference in Oedipus Complex between Oedipus and Thunderstorm..................11

2.2.1 “Destiny” in Oedipus.....................................................................................11

2.2.1.1 Overlook on the “Destiny View” in ancient Greek........................................11

2.2.1.2 Predestined fate for Oedipus…………………………..................................11

2.2.2 “Feudalism” in Thunderstorm………………………………………………12

2.2.2.1 Overlook on the “Feudalism” in ancient China…………………………….12

2.2.2.2 “Oedipus Complex” in Zhou Ping …………………………………………12

2.2.3 Comparisons of the two root reasons for the “Oedipus Complex”…………14

3． Conclusion………………………………………………………………………15

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………….17

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………18

A Comparative Study of “Oedipus Complex”

in Oedipus and Thunderstorm

1. Introduction

Oedipus, one of the three great tragedies of ancient Greece, is the masterpiece of Sophocles, who was a Greek playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Classical Athens. Led by the fate, Oedipus, the king of Thebes, unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. When the truth of their relationship became known, Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile. His wife and mother Jocasta, the queen of Thebes hanged herself. Although Oedipus married his mother, he did not know the real identity of Jocasta until the exposure of the crime. Sophocles showed in Oedipus that the mortal fights bravely against his established destiny but fails, whose courage and determination are encouraging.

In 1934, the Chinese playwright Cao Yu’s debut drama Thunderstorm came out. It is of great significance in the history of modern Chinese drama, widely recognized as a symbol of the maturity of modern Chinese drama. Mr. Cao Yu is therefore known as "Shakespeare of the East" (Michael White 10). As a typical Chinese-style tragedy, Thunderstorm describes the collapse of an old feudal family in China in the 1920s. In the play, there are two families, eight characters, and 30 years of grievances, which form the main line. The hypocritical capitalist Zhou Puyuan, arbitrary and inexorable, sent his bastard son Zhou Ping to the countryside and expelled Shi Ping, his lover, from his house for the sake of reputation. Shi Ping later gave birth to Si Feng who served in Zhou’s Mansion. Resulting from the lack of maternal love in his childhood, Zhou Ping fell in love with his stepmother Fan Yi first and then his half-sister Si Feng due to his attempt to escape from the scandal between him and his stepmother. In Thunderstorm, Cao Yu depicted Zhou Ping’s Oedipus Complex, more to the point, affection for his mother consciously while describing family conflicts and the decay and stubbornness of the feudal family.

As the typical works focusing on the development of "Oedipus Complex", both works, Thunderstorm and Oedipus, have something in common. Firstly, the two plays have similarities in structure, theme and plot. Oedipus Complex refers to the boy's subconscious desire to kill his father and marry his mother. The famous psychology Freud believes that when children are at the age of 3-5, their personality development is in the stage of male genital worship. At this time, boys have strong attachment to their mothers. Freud believes, "According to a well-known view, killing one’s father is a basic and primitive sin of the individual” (Sigmund Freud 155). They regard their mothers as the first object of their love and their fathers as competitors, showing aggressive consciousness. In addition, fate is one of the important themes in the Chinese and Western literature, and it is the ultimate thinking of all human beings. Both works reveal people’s misery and tragedy brought about by fate. Despite its inspiration from Oedipus, however, Thunderstorm has its unique cultural background and theme—the sin of feudalism.