A Study On The Imagery Of "Dead Children" In British And American Plays Before And After World War Ⅱ

The war brought a series of social problems.Before and after World War II,the society,economy and culture of Britain and the United States were greatly impacted,and there was a shadow of the times in drama.Killing children now seems to be a very extreme and cruel phenomenon.By writing the imagery of dead children into plays,playwrights intuitively show cruel events before people’s eyes.This kind of display not only brings us impact,but also reflects the social culture of the times.There are eight scripts in this paper,which are Ploughs and Stars,Desire Under The Elms,Strange Interlude and Purgatory in the 1920 s and 1930 s,and Look Back in Anger,Saved,The American Dream and Who’s Afraid Virginia Woolf in the1950 s and 1960 s.Starting from the imagery of "dead children" in these eight plays,by grasping the imagery of dead children in the plays,combining the social and cultural factors of the playwright’s time and the growth experience of the playwright,this paper analyzes the connotation of the imagery of dead children set by the playwright and the psychological changes of people behind them,and further implements the significance of studying the modern and contemporary cultures of Britain and America cultures.This paper is divided into three parts.The first part explains and defines the imagery of "dead child";Starting with the scripts containing the imagery of "dead children" in the dramas before and after World War II,combining with the social and time background,the imagery of "dead children" set in British and American dramas before and after World War II is summarized into three categories according to the causes of children’s death: children who died naturally,children killed by their parents and children killed by their parents and others.Starting with the theme of the play,the era in which the playwright lived,and the playwright’s personal experience and ideas,this paper analyzes the symbol and connotation of the imagery of "dead child" written by different writers in different times,its relationship with the theme,and the purpose of setting this imagery by the playwright The second part looks at the connotation of the script from the angles of civilization,class and humanity,and draws the conclusion that class contradiction and morbid society are the essential reasons leading to various problems by comparing the two scripts.The fourth part discusses the tragic implication of the imagery of "dead children" from three levels:despair,sacrifice and annihilation.From these characters with common human weaknesses in the plays,we can see the tragedy of the times and the tragedy of "people",and finally learn through practice of katharsis.The study of the imagery of "dead children" in British and American dramas during the period before and after World War II is helpful for us to grasp the cultural characteristics of European and American societies at that time and have a better understanding of playwrights.