今年是英國作家簡(jiǎn)·奧斯?。↗ane Austen）逝世兩百周年。在1817年7月18日，年僅41歲的簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀在英國溫徹斯特因病去世。1775年12月16日，她出生于英國漢普郡史蒂文頓的牧師家庭，終生未婚，起初和父母在鄉(xiāng)間生活，父親過世受到兄長的庇護(hù)，是家里子侄輩尊敬愛戴的“簡(jiǎn)姑媽”。簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀的一生沒有跌宕起伏的人生經(jīng)歷，然而她卻為英國貢獻(xiàn)了豐富的文學(xué)遺產(chǎn)。她所出版的六部長篇小說，即《理智與情感》（Sense and Sensibility）、《傲慢與偏見》（Pride and Prejudice）、《曼斯菲爾德莊園》（Mansfield Park）、《愛瑪》（Emma）、《諾桑覺寺》（Northanger Abbey）、《勸導(dǎo)》（Persuasion），每一部都體現(xiàn)了她對(duì)人性深刻的洞察，對(duì)英國人的性格、禮儀、風(fēng)俗等的精細(xì)呈現(xiàn)以及對(duì)英文的精妙運(yùn)用。她是英國人最喜愛的作家之一，作品被數(shù)十次翻拍為電影或電視劇。她也是世界讀者最喜愛的英國小說家之一，在21世紀(jì)的當(dāng)代，她的作品依然擁有廣泛的讀者群，被視為英國文化的瑰寶。

Excerpts1）

Mr. Bingley2） was good looking and gentlemanlike； he had a pleasant countenance， and easy， unaffected manners. His sisters were fine women， with an air of decided fashion. His brother-in-law， Mr. Hurst， merely looked the gentleman； but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine， tall person， handsome features， noble mien3）； and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance， of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man， the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley， and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening， till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity； for he was discovered to be proud， to be above his company， and above being pleased； and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding， disagreeable countenance， and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room； he was lively and unreserved， danced every dance， was angry that the ball closed so early， and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend！ Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley， declined being introduced to any other lady， and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room， speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest， most disagreeable man in the world， and every body hoped that he would never come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet， whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged， by the scarcity4） of gentlemen， to sit down for two dances； and during part of that time， Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley， who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.endprint

“Come， Darcy，” said he， “I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.”

“I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it， unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this， it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged， and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”

“I would not be so fastidious5） as you are，” cried Bingley， “for a kingdom！ Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life， as I have this evening； and there are several of them， you see， uncommonly pretty.”

“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room，” said Mr. Darcy， looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.

“Oh！ she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld！ But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you， who is very pretty， and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you.”

“Which do you mean？” and turning round， he looked for a moment at Elizabeth， till catching her eye， he withdrew his own and coldly said， “She is tolerable； but not handsome enough to tempt me； and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles， for you are wasting your time with me.”

作品賞析

簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀在寫《傲慢與偏見》的初稿時(shí)，原草擬的標(biāo)題是《第一印象》。女主人公伊麗莎白·貝內(nèi)特與男主人公菲茨威廉·達(dá)西相識(shí)于一場(chǎng)舞會(huì)。當(dāng)時(shí)達(dá)西的好友賓利剛剛搬到內(nèi)瑟菲爾德，第一次參加當(dāng)?shù)氐纳缃晃钑?huì)，他選中了全場(chǎng)最美麗的姑娘簡(jiǎn)與自己共舞。為了怕同行的好友達(dá)西落單，賓利向達(dá)西推薦了簡(jiǎn)的妹妹伊麗莎白。達(dá)西打量了伊麗莎白一番后，敬謝不敏：“她還過得去，但是還沒漂亮到能夠打動(dòng)我的心。眼下，我可沒有興致去抬舉那些受到別人冷落的小姐。你最好回到你的舞伴身邊，去欣賞她的笑臉，別把時(shí)光浪費(fèi)在我身上?！边_(dá)西說這番話的時(shí)候，當(dāng)事人伊麗莎白就在他旁邊，她立即將這位先生拉入了黑名單，在伊麗莎白看來，達(dá)西先生的目中無人之舉實(shí)在是荒唐可笑。

擅長設(shè)置情節(jié)的小說家往往會(huì)預(yù)埋伏筆，巧設(shè)沖突，為未來故事的峰回路轉(zhuǎn)做鋪墊。在《傲慢與偏見》中，男女主人公對(duì)彼此第一印象不佳，便是這種富有戲劇性沖突的情節(jié)預(yù)設(shè)。我們會(huì)好奇愛情如何萌生于這一對(duì)充滿了“傲慢與偏見”的主人公。從開場(chǎng)來看，“傲慢”顯然屬于達(dá)西，“偏見”的持有者則是伊麗莎白。

達(dá)西眼高于頂，伊麗莎白則據(jù)此對(duì)他的性格進(jìn)行了誤判：她將達(dá)西態(tài)度上的倨傲解讀為道德上的冷漠。然而，我們?nèi)绻纯辞楣?jié)的發(fā)展，又會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)“偏見”不是伊麗莎白的專利，達(dá)西也有狹隘之處：他認(rèn)為貝內(nèi)特一家人都十分粗俗，不值得交往，不僅初識(shí)的時(shí)候忽視伊麗莎白，而且日后還曾奉勸好友賓利遠(yuǎn)離簡(jiǎn)，扮演了棒打鴛鴦的角色。

伊麗莎白也是傲慢與偏見兼具：她對(duì)達(dá)西的偏見來自于受了傷的驕傲。她是個(gè)自負(fù)的姑娘，認(rèn)為自己看穿了達(dá)西的傲慢，忘記了自己也可能有同樣的問題。

為了傲慢與偏見，達(dá)西和伊麗莎白各自付出了代價(jià)。達(dá)西的偏見和驕傲讓他沒有在第一時(shí)間意識(shí)到貝內(nèi)特家族內(nèi)可能會(huì)有一個(gè)與他志同道合的姑娘。他自作主張拆散了簡(jiǎn)和賓利，更讓伊麗莎白對(duì)這個(gè)傷害了自己姐姐的人深惡痛絕。因此他在第一次求婚的時(shí)候，遭到了伊麗莎白的斷然拒絕：“你的言談舉止就使我充分意識(shí)到，你為人狂妄自大，自私自利，無視別人的感情，這就導(dǎo)致了我對(duì)你的不滿，以后又有許多事，致使我對(duì)你深惡痛絕。我認(rèn)識(shí)你還不到一個(gè)月的時(shí)候，就覺得哪怕我一輩子找不到男人，也休想讓我嫁給你。”

對(duì)于伊麗莎白，她的驕傲和偏見使她受到了蒙蔽，不肯客觀地看待達(dá)西的人品，冷靜地體察達(dá)西的行為動(dòng)因。她固執(zhí)己見，一旦將達(dá)西打入另冊(cè)，就寧可相信花言巧語的軍官威漢姆對(duì)達(dá)西名聲的污蔑，也不愿意聽聽達(dá)西的解釋。她在第一次拒絕達(dá)西求婚時(shí)把理由說得有多么理直氣壯、擲地有聲，在日后等她了解真相之后就有多么追悔和慚愧。endprint

這部小說中達(dá)西與伊麗莎白的沖突模式在第一次求婚中達(dá)到頂峰，隨后就戛然而止，轉(zhuǎn)入了更為深刻的反省模式。小說的后半程中我們看到了達(dá)西與伊麗莎白的改變。

達(dá)西經(jīng)由這個(gè)過程認(rèn)識(shí)到自己沒有資格目空一切、高高在上。在第一次求婚時(shí)，驕傲的他將愛情當(dāng)做施舍，絲毫沒有考慮到自己會(huì)被拒絕，也沒有想到要檢討自己的行為。被伊麗莎白拒絕后，他正視自己對(duì)世界的誤解，學(xué)習(xí)如何替他人著想。此前的他視與貝內(nèi)特家發(fā)生聯(lián)系為羞恥，是需要勉為其難的紆尊降貴，在此之后，當(dāng)伊麗莎白的妹妹莉迪亞與軍官私奔，他主動(dòng)提供幫助，默默幫貝內(nèi)特一家度過了最大的名譽(yù)危機(jī)。

對(duì)于伊麗莎白來說，她不再是一只驕傲的刺猬。她認(rèn)識(shí)到自己的視野是狹隘的，只愿意聽耳順的話，不愿意接受不同的觀點(diǎn)：“我還一向自鳴得意地認(rèn)為自己有眼力，有見識(shí)呢！我還常?？床黄鸾憬愕膶拺汛蠖?，為了滿足自己的虛榮心，總是無聊或是無稽地胡亂猜疑。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)真讓我感到羞愧??！然而我也活該感到羞愧！……我抱著偏見和無知，完全喪失了理智。”為此她真誠地向達(dá)西道歉，謙卑地請(qǐng)求達(dá)西的原諒。

《傲慢與偏見》中男女主人公身上最為感人的是他們都具有坦誠而正直的心，會(huì)為做錯(cuò)事而羞恥，也愿意采取行動(dòng)補(bǔ)救。他們有自己的傲慢與偏見，卻沒有被偏見禁錮，深陷其中，固執(zhí)己見，也沒有被傲慢帶累，驕傲得不肯承認(rèn)錯(cuò)誤，拒絕改變。這是真誠交流的基礎(chǔ)，也是愛可能萌芽的土壤。對(duì)比小說中的另外四對(duì)婚姻：老貝內(nèi)特夫婦一個(gè)尖刻，一個(gè)浮夸，兩個(gè)人隔膜甚深；伊麗莎白的好友夏洛特因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)利益嫁給了自以為是的柯林斯先生，前者的心態(tài)既無奈又世故，后者則狹隘愚蠢，兩人沒有共同語言；賓利和簡(jiǎn)的性格溫和，為人善良，可是他們都缺乏主見，有愛有情卻不能彼此促進(jìn)、共同成長；伊麗莎白的妹妹莉迪亞與威漢姆的婚姻則徹底建立在欲望之上。在這些婚姻的對(duì)比下，我們可以看到簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀對(duì)達(dá)西和伊麗莎白的愛情所傾注的欣賞。

如果只能用一句話總結(jié)《傲慢與偏見》的情節(jié)，它會(huì)聽起來特別像灰姑娘故事的翻版：多金而傲慢的貴公子愛上了聰慧潑辣的平民姑娘。在數(shù)個(gè)影視劇版本中，我們都能看到對(duì)達(dá)西的傲慢以及伊麗莎白的機(jī)敏自負(fù)的一再渲染，兩個(gè)人的唇槍舌劍的交鋒得到了充分展示。其實(shí)，小說中這對(duì)有情人之所以能夠終成眷屬，不是貴公子為愛放下了身段，平民姑娘為愛放下了一身利刺，而是因?yàn)樗麄儍蓚€(gè)人在接觸與交往中認(rèn)識(shí)了自己的局限性，不再傲慢，也克服了偏見，愛才成為可能的選項(xiàng)。《傲慢與偏見》是一部經(jīng)典的愛情小說，然而，它首先是一部成長小說：智性上平等的兩個(gè)人，在深層的思想和情感交流基礎(chǔ)上共同成長。因?yàn)槌蔀楦玫娜?，所以懂得了如何去愛?/p>

1. 英文節(jié)選選自小說的第三章，主要描寫的是小說男女主人公達(dá)西（Darcy）和伊麗莎白（Elizabeth）參加當(dāng)?shù)匚钑?huì)，第一次見面的場(chǎng)景。

2. Mr. Bingley：賓利先生，達(dá)西的好友，喜歡伊麗莎白的姐姐簡(jiǎn)。

3. mien [mi?n] n. 風(fēng)度；儀表；（尤指）神態(tài)

4. scarcity [?ske?（r）s?ti] n. 缺乏；不足；短缺

5. fastidious [f??st?di?s] adj. 過分嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)模豢燎蟮膃ndprint