Abstract

Peter Shaffer is a contemporary British playwright. In 1958, he created Five Finger Exercise, which brought him a high reputation. His play, Five Finger Exercise won the Evening Standard Drama Award and when it screened in America, it won the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. The play reveals the ethics by using the compact sections.

This thesis deeply analyzes the characters in drama from inter-generational ethics, marriage ethics and gender ethics, through analyzing the compact plot to discuss the contradictions and conflicts that Peter Shaffer wants to express about characters’ inner. Study the complex relationships between characters to explore the barriers between people and the human nature, indifference and hatred of people’s heart. By analyzing their relations, the anger, inner distortion, and self-loss are worth thinking and exploring.

Key words: Ethics; inter-generational relations; marriage relations; gender relations

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-2

3 An Overview of the Theory of Ethics-3

4 An Analysis of Three Kinds of Ethics-4

4.1 Relation between Generations-5

4.2 The Marriage between Stanley and Louise-9

4.3 Gender Ethics-12

5 Conclusions-14

References-16