Cognitive Interpretation Of Metaphors In Tess Of The D’Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy(1840-1928),a magnificent English novelist in the nineteenth century,is famous for his novels of character and environment.One of his greatest work,Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a gorgeous pearl in British and literature world,attracting national and international scholars’interests.One unique feature of Hardy’s works is his creative use of metaphors.Hardy skillfully arranges metaphor in different circumstances according to the plots.The novel produces its special intensive power and artistic charm with metaphors.Metaphor is more than a poetic technique,furthermore,it is a way of thinking or action and a cognitive model.The forming of metaphor is based on mapping from the source domain to the target domain.Understanding of metaphors depends on experiences and perception from life and certainly the context.This thesis aims to analyse Hardy’s writing skill based on metaphor and context from the category of "color","animal","plant","road","object" and "character&social background".This thesis attempts to explore the deep meaning of Tess of the D’Urbervilles from the conceptual metaphorical view,to find how country culture plays its part to render and maintain the theme of Hardy’s works,including the metaphors in its setting and characters;metaphors in traditional festivals and public activities;metaphors in folk ballads and proverbs;metaphors in manners and custom,superstition and taboo.Thomas Hardy has a intense insight into nature.He combines the fate of the heroes and heroines with nature,thus creating some everlasting artistic features.The thesis puts forward that metaphor has two major cognitive functions in the novel’s construction and interpretation.In the aspect of novel construction,metaphor functions as a cognitive device for writers to construct poetry,that is,Hardy utilizes other concepts to construct the concepts he intends to construct,which manifests a metaphorical process.In the aspect of novel interpretation,metaphorical thinking functions as a bridge joining the writer and the readers,that is,metaphorical thinking enables readers to approach and further decode the metaphors in the novel which embody most of the thoughts and emotions of the writer.