Abstract:Martin Eden, an autobiographic novel, mainly tells us a story about Martin, a poor man, who falls in love with a rich girl and struggles to enter the upper class for her. However, when he finally succeeds, he finds all the things he runs after are false, so he finally chooses to die. Martin is a typical character with distinct personality in that period. Jack London reveals Martin’s tragedy by describing his pursuing of his dream and his failure as a lower-class person, making readers ponder over its deep meaning, which makes the study of the manifestations and reasons of Martin’s tragedy necessary. The author explores Martin’s tragedies and the main reasons of his tragedy from different aspects, namely the disillusion of love, the collapse of ideal and the confusion of identity. Then, the author will continue study the deep meaning of Martin’s tragedy. In that social environment, Martin’s tragedy seems to be a personal tragedy, but all his tragedy of love, ideal and spirit are affected by that society. Martin’s tragedy is the very epitome of that period and a tragedy of the whole society, which provokes our thinking about humanity and gives a warning to our current society.

Key words: Martin·Eden Disillusion Collapse Confusion

Content

摘要：

Abstract:

Introduction-1

1 The Disillusion of Love -2

1.1 The Manifestations of the Disillusion of Love-2

1.2 The Reasons of the Disillusion of Love-3

1.2.1 The Personal Characters of Martin and Ruth-3

1.2.2 The Different Values of Martin and Ruth-5

1.2.3 The Conflict of Two Classes-6

2 The Collapse of Ideal -8

2.1 The Manifestations of the Collapse of Ideal-8

2.2 The Reasons of the Collapse of Ideal-9

2.2.1 Ideal Based on Love -9

2.2.2 Idealism and Perfectionism of Martin -10

2.2.3 Clashes between Personal Value and the Mainstream Value -11

3 The Confusion of Identity -12

3.1 The Manifestations of the Confusion of Identity-12

3.2 The Reasons of the Confusion of Identity-13

3.2.1 The Desire for Entering the Upper Class -13

3.2.2 The Difficulty in Returning the Lower Class-14

3.2.3 The Failure to Involve in the Society -15

Conclusion -15

Bibliography -17

Acknowledgements -18