ABSTRACT:The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American film which written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. This thesis aims to explore the reason why film The Shawshank Redemption enjoys great popularity and a favorable reception in recent years from the perspective of thematic studies. It explores the effects of theme on The Shawshank Redemption’s greatness, by focusing on the themes of persistent hope, desire for freedom, salvation of the heart and profound friendship. In addition, the relations between the four subthemes and The Shawshank Redemption’s greatness are emphasized in the paper. 

This paper contains four parts. Part one is the introduction of the paper, including the research background, the purpose, the significance of the research and a brief introduction to The Shawshank Redemption. Part two is the literature review, introducing previous studies on the film The Shawshank Redemption. Part three is the main body of the paper, which analyzes four subthemes that this film implicated and expounds the relation between the theme and the greatness of the film from the perspective of dramatic theory, sense of substitution between audience and theme and unique Americans’ cultural interpretation. Part four is the conclusion of the study.

Analyzing The Shawshank Redemption’s greatness from the view of thematic study could give us a better understanding of the affirmation and meaning of life. The thematic study of greatness will give some hints that a thought-provoking theme could deeply resonates with audiences, and also some deeper insight of life. Furthermore, an in-depth and thoroughly study of the theme is helpful for us to study the movie’s audience group and development trend of contemporary films.

Keywords: The Shawshank Redemption; theme; hope; freedom; salvation; friendship

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

1-Introduction-1

1.1-Background of the Research-1

1.2-A Brief Introduction to The Shawshank Redemption-2

1.3-Purpose of the Research-2

1.4-Significance of the Research-3

2-Literature Review-4

3-Theme of the Movie-6

3.1-Persistent Hope-6

3.2-Desire for Freedom-7

3.3-Salvation of the Heart-8

3.4-Profound Friendship-9

4-Relation between the Theme and Greatness of The Shawshank Redemption-10

4.1-Dramatic Theory-10

4.2-Sense of Substitution between Audience and Theme-11

4.3-Unique Americans’ Cultural Interpretation-11

5-Conclusion-12

References-13