| In the1970s and1980s, the European academic field set off a "metaphor-mania" which then pervaded the Chinese academia and in particular, its circle of foreign languages. At the end of the20th century and the beginning of the21st the research on metaphor began to gain its momentum. And ever since, this impelling force has been involving more and more scholars to go for it. This is all due to the following two factors:Metaphor itself is tremendously rich in its variety and fascination and metaphor is known to many as by no means a kind of rhetoric that the traditional study used to regard as, but a cognitive phenomenon which is closely pertinent to our thinking modes and perceptions towards the world. Metaphor is a bridge that links cognition and language. In the recent years, many psychologists and linguists have been engaged in the experimental work to try to prove metaphor has an influence on our thinking and behavior. With the development of cognitive linguistic theory in China, the research on metaphor is growing, expanding and enriching.According to the cognitive theory of Topological Psychology put forward by German Jews psychologist Lewin, the universe is singular while the psychological space is plural. Rubra, a Romanian poet commented,"All the scientists together explore one world, which can be accomplished by only one philosopher; whereas, one poet has the power to create many diversified worlds." It is in these worlds that the poets reveal to the readers their own perceptions and views, which, if analyzed, are nothing but reflections of their own psychological space. And it is this psychological space that helps the readers develop and enlarge their mental perceptions. It is generally observed that different people might engender totally different impressions on the same thing and the same scene. Such is the case the readers of Shakespeare’s sonnets would run into and that can be well explained and understood in accordance with the variety of psychological spaces. The world that poets aim to unfold for the readers can assume different outlooks in virtue of different readers. That’s why it is often said that one thousand perceptions might be produced out of the same scene when one thousand readers appreciate it when reading Shakespeare’s sonnets. If illustrated more specifically, this is all due to the fact that different readers can obtain different comprehensions of the same metaphor utilized in Shakespeare’s poems. And what’s more, the worlds in Shakespeare’s sonnets are constructed by dint of a unique, fascinating and magnificent language.With the help of Lewin’s theory, it is not difficult to find that the psychological spaces described in Shakespeare’s sonnets are metaphorical. Reflected in a variety of prototypes, they are multi-dimensional, open, and dynamic. More specifically, the metaphorical cognition graphics are reflected in a multiple descriptive concept; and within a certain range, they are equivalent, that is to say, they explain, elaborate and describe one concept but with the same theme discussed from different points of view. This is where the aesthetic effects of his sonnets lie. In Shakespeare’s sonnets, the themes such as love, friendship, time, eternity and so on so forth are mostly expressed and illustrated with metaphors. And with the aid of Topological Psychology, all these metaphors and metaphorical expressions can be observed protruding from their superficial level of the words. If Shakespeare’s words and expressions are compared to a stereoscopic sphere, the theme of each sonnet may be easily comprehended by the metaphors used. And we acquire this comprehension in an omnibearing perspective while standing in the center of the sphere.Resorting to Lewin’s Topological Psychology Theory, this thesis organizes and classifies all the metaphors that Shakespeare applies in his154sonnets. And with a psychological metaphorical space, an analysis is made on them. The thesis regards Shakespeare’s sonnets as a multi-dimensional meaning space constituted by a metaphorical net, with the help of which there occurs a break-through in appreciating them since the reading of them is not at all carried out on a two-dimensional level. This is the effect the transformation of theoretical visions engenders. The thesis believes that the transformation is conducive to the readers in their perception of the images reflected in the poems. The images embraced in the metaphors are not singular, closed or static, but multi-dimensional, open and dynamic. If the readers appreciate the sonnets merely for a visual sense or a superficial understanding of the images, there will be no point in the poet’s creative utilization of the images. Whereas, reflected in the psychological metaphorical space, they are able to be transformed into a unique and multi-dimensional system of meanings on the condition that the readers are smart enough to organize and reconstruct the imagery with their imagination. In virtue of the dynamic and open features of psychological metaphorical space, the psychological metaphors stirred by those images are also indefinite and changeable. They develop along with the times.There are as many as611metaphors in Shakespeare’s154sonnets, each containing4of them on average. These metaphors are mainly associated with LOVE, HUMAN BEING, LIFE, BEAUTY, and TIME, with PLANT as the most frequently occurring vehicle and TREATURE as the one most widely used. Shakespeare is a master in applying the Metaphor Group, which means that one metaphor encompasses two or three metaphors. The poet presents his profound and abstruse thoughts not overtly but latently by concealing them in the epithets between the lines in a metaphorical net. The change of myriad things in nature is thus illustrated (alternation of seasons; flourishing and withering away of plants; cycle of day and night), and all of them are, for sure, associated with the vicissitudes of life. The status, values and life meanings of the human beings are what is repeatedly explored and discussed in Shakespeare’s sonnets. It is one of the main themes for the readers to notice and study. Here comes again the metaphorical net that is elaborated above. Profound and complicated as the theme is, the concerned metaphorical cognition graphics can vividly portrait and manifest the poet’s view of life and its significance. The themes such as universe, time, eternity, love, body, music, harmony etc. are all employed in the sonnets to reflect his inner world; meantime, he communicates with the outer world by embodying the metaphorical cognitive meanings in the poetic lines. The depth and profundity of Shakespeare’s innermost world is thus amply demonstrated. His world is the one that holds not a singular physical space, but a plural psychological space. |
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