Research On Metaphors Of “Decadence” In Lampedusa’s Il Gattopardo

Since 1958 published,the only novel of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa——Il Gattopardo has been the focus of Western academic circles.Lampedusa incorporated his own life into the plot of the novel,for this,Il Gattopardo is also considered as a semi-autobiographical novel.In the contemporary era,the study of literary theories has gradually moved toward pluralism,but the metaphor study has returned to the text,leading the study of literature to a new age.Metaphor studies has a long history in western countries,dating back to Plato and Aristotle in Ancient Greece.The discussion on metaphor has been going on for a long time.After the 20^th century,the turn of linguistics has had a great influence on it.Lakoff and Johnson’s theory of conceptual metaphor has released the essence of metaphor.These years some of the researchers realizes that the relationship between“context”and metaphor should not be ignored,so the study of conceptual metaphor has thus returned to literature.Using a large number of metaphors in Il Gattopardo,this paper,based on literary metaphor theories,deconstructs and reconstructs metaphors in Il Gattopardo.After analyzing the metaphors of animal symbols,religious symbols and images,this paper interprets the concept of“decadence”in both micro and macro viewpoint,combined the analysis with semantic and pragmatic contexts.Through a detailed analysis of the metaphors of“decadence”in Il Gattopardo.,this paper sorts out the author’s views on life and social and historical development,revealing the weakness and compromise of Il Risorgimento,and the novel is also given more profound practical significance.According to the research,in Il Gattopardo,Lampedusa not only recounts the history of the decline of the aristocracy,but also reveals the fact that neither the rulers nor the old aristocracy nor the bourgeois government can change the poverty of Sicily,expressing disappointment and disillusionment with capitalist society.