"Thunderstorm": With the most obscure pen and ink, write about Cao Yu's most real family affairs

Art originates from life, is higher than life, and eventually returns to life. As the crystallization of human thought and culture, art, as a part of the spiritual form, cannot be separated from real life and become a castle in the air.

Just as materialist dialectics says, matter determines consciousness, and consciousness is the reflection of matter, and only by proceeding from reality and seeking truth from facts can we enrich and fill the core of consciousness.

The same is true of art, if it is entirely the product of the imagination of the human brain, then it is a dead shell and will never be recognized and accepted by the masses – people cannot have a sense of favor for works of art that are difficult to find resonance.

In the author's view, the "people's artist" is the highest honor for an artist, and readers may wish to think about it: Aren't the honors of thousands of professions all derived from the realization of their social value, that is, the high degree of recognition of society? The highest value of art is not its ornamental value, but its social value, which gives it immortal vitality.

Cao Yu is recognized by the society as "the master of modern Chinese drama", and his debut work, "Thunderstorm", which can also be called the crown, is known as a symbol of the maturity of modern Chinese drama. This article is a brief analysis of "Thunderstorm" to explain why it can enjoy such an honor, and through the analysis of Cao Yu's life experience, with the most warm words, trying to present readers with a flesh-and-blood image of a drama master.

"Thunderstorm" was a blockbuster

"Thunderstorm" shows a terrifying but not lacking in real tragedy of life, showing the cruelty of fate to people. The characters have different personalities and values, showing the world, from the numb and hypocritical parents, to the enthusiastic and simple youth, to the son-in-law who hates sins but unknowingly commits greater sins, and is deeply victimized by feudal etiquette and wants to pursue pure love but cannot get it.

Along with it, there are also family secrets, life secrets, all of which suddenly erupt on a thunderstorm night. Whether it is a guilty persecutor or an innocent victim, no matter how many joys and sorrows there are in the past and now, they are all going to destruction in an instant on this night of lightning and thunder.

It is precisely because of the profundity of the theme of the drama and the fierce attack on feudal etiquette that "Thunderstorm" has been performed dozens of times at home and abroad, and later generations have also adapted it into TV series and movies, which shows its far-reaching influence.

It is so true that it reflects the hot and cold state of the old feudal Chinese society and the ugliness of feudal etiquette and religion, which makes people's sadness overflowing. And all this is inseparable from Cao Yu's depressed childhood.

踟蹰难出——幼时的悲伤旧梦

Cao Yu was born in a feudal family in Tianjin, his mother died of puerperal fever very early, and was replaced by his stepmother - his mother's twin sister, because the stepmother did not have any offspring, so Cao Yu was actually not bad, and took care of his daily life, the young Cao Yu always thought that she was his biological mother, but Cao Yu's brother and father often suppressed it with patriarchal authority.

His father was a typical feudal bureaucrat, he used to be Li Yuanhong's secretary, and later he was idle at home, depressed, and often used feudal etiquette to strictly restrain Cao Yu. In addition, Cao Yu's brother is different from Cao Yu, he is a man who is often strong and even somewhat arrogant, and often has a strained relationship with Cao Yu and his stepmother, which is a typical example of traditional feudal machismo.

However, I have to mention a small incident that has a particularly big impact on Cao Yu's psychology, which mainly comes from family disputes. Once, Cao Yu's wet nurse and stepmother had a big conflict, the former wanted to raise his salary but the latter did not agree, so he wanted to sow discord between Cao Yu and his stepmother.

Cao Yu

She privately called Cao Yu aside and whispered to him: "Your mother is not your own mother, she is your stepmother, and your mother will leave three days after giving birth to you." It is difficult for the author to imagine how much impact this had on Xiao Cao Yu's psychology, because in ancient Chinese stories, stepmothers seem to be synonymous with viciousness.

In addition to his family, the social environment in which Cao Yu lived was also turbulent and war-tortuous, and when Cao Yu, a well-born "son-in-law", was studying at Nankai Middle School, he saw many homeless refugees struggling for survival pouring into Tianjin, which made him break the barriers between classes very early and further understand the hardships of life.

In this way, the intrigue between family members, his father's ups and downs, officialdom frustration, and the social environment is very sinister, Cao Yu has been surrounded by a depressed and depressed environment, which makes him depressed and uncomfortable, and also creates Cao Yu's own introverted, sentimental, and sentimental character.

These childhood memories were like nightmares, lingering in Cao Yu's mind, vividly in his mind, and accompanied him throughout his life. And all these feelings and experiences laid a solid foundation for his life and spiritual preparation for him to become a famous theater master.

In terms of the typical characters in "Thunderstorm" and their chaotic relationship chains, it is difficult to fabricate them out of thin air, because these things seem to really happen around Cao Yu.

For example, Fanqi - the most contradictory female character in "Thunderstorm". She is frail and sickly, and although she lives in the upper class, she has the same tragic fate as the women in the lower class. Her marriage was dull and bleak, and some of her actions with her stepson were unethical, but it was the only light that came through his dark life.

Cao Yu's stepmother seems to be the prototype of this character. And Cao Yu's brother and father, like Zhou Ping and Zhou Puyuan in "Thunderstorm", are representatives of using feudal machismo to suppress these kind and tragic women. All in all, "Thunderstorm" is the most real family affair written by Cao Yu with the most obscure pen and ink.

A long-cherished wish is not fulfilled - a humble and ashamed heart

The real experience of childhood has created Cao Yu's personality, and it has long been the drama works that shook the past and the present. Cao Yu did not have a carefree childhood, his entire childhood was almost covered with a bleak haze, and a sentimental personality accompanied him throughout his life.

And his ups and downs in his creative career also brought him a lot of depression.

It is well known that most of Cao Yu's most popular plays, such as "Thunderstorm", were completed in his young adulthood, but in his middle and later years, he never created a work that surpassed the influence of his predecessor.

It can be said that Cao Yu's life was depressed, and it was initially his depression about life and childhood perception, which was also the source of his creation. However, what plagued him all his life in middle and later years was also depression, the depression that he had to meet the outside world and his own views and requirements but could not realize, which became a stumbling block to his creation.

This also became his regret on his deathbed. During his eight-year stay in the Beijing hospital, he often had books such as "Tolstoy's Commentary" in front of his pillow, and sometimes when he read it, he would say loudly: "I'm just ashamed, you don't know how ashamed I am." Indeed, depression is the deepest imprint of his soul, and his depressed life and thoughts have created his legendary works, and in his life, his childhood and old age may be his most depressed period, and the experience of his childhood has created his works at his peak, and in his later years, what haunts Cao Yu is not his distant past family memory, but depression and physical and mental exhaustion.

If Cao Yu, who was sad in his later years, can he once again use his sad life as the material to reshape the glory of the past and complete his unfinished masterpieces?

It's a pity that the day is not a holiday, people don't fulfill their wishes, Mr. has already driven away, and any assumptions are meaningless.

epilogue

The reason why true artists create classic works that are called classics is that these works of art, in the face of people with different social experiences and values, can still evoke the collective memory and resonance of all people in the presence of these differences, not just the response of a few people and a few classes.

Cao Yu lived in that era of depression and anxiety, and based on the depression of his own life, he created works that analyzed the depression of people in the old feudal society, which aroused the recognition and admiration of the depressed public.

It can be said that Cao Yu's works are not only to vent some emotions in his own heart, but also to bring spiritual warmth or inner relief to others. Such a work must have its own thoughts. Isn't that what Cao Yu's works are?

He writes dramas not only to express his long-pent-up indignation and think about his own fate and predicament, but also to make his works play a role in transforming national character and reshaping national identity. His works embody the spiritual realm that a playwright should have. However, on the other hand, Cao Yu himself has always been depressed by the ups and downs of his life and creative career, and finally died depressed.

A generation of people has devoted their lives to the cause of Chinese theatre and made outstanding contributions to the healthy development of China's modern art, but the end of their lives has not been fulfilled in the end, how can they not make the world sigh.

Si people have passed away, meditation lasts forever, please let us remember this name - Cao Yu.