摘 要

死亡诗社作为教育类电影，其体现的追求自由反对传统的教育精神一直对教育制度的变革起着不可磨灭的借鉴意义。以往的研究重点在于浪漫主义与现实主义之间的关系、教育制度的变革、情感教学的意义等。而本文在阅读与借鉴先前文献的基础上进一步从人物微表情，动作， 语言等角度研究人物的心理变化与情感特征，进而探索出悲剧人物形象产生的根本原因。本文共分为四部分，第一部分为简介，第二部分分析电影主要人物的性格特征，第三部分分析电影次要人物的性格特征，最后总结。结论认为尼尔死亡的真正原因在于不愿向传统主义屈服,基廷的悲剧原因在于其有限的能力无法改变整个局势,传统主义代表们的悲剧原因在于思想上的悲哀，面对新思想的崛起，仍然固守制度，不懂得变革。

关键词：死亡诗社；微表情；浪漫主义；传统主义；悲剧人物

Abstract

Dead Poets Society as an educational film, the pursuit of freedom and the opposition of traditional spirit in the film play the role of indelible reference in educational system reform. Previous studies have focused much on the relationship between romanticism and realism, the transformation of educational systems and the significance of emotional teaching. On the basis of reading and referring the preceding literature, this paper further studies the psychological changes and emotional characteristics of characters from the perspective of micro-expression, gesture and language. Then the paper explores the root causes of the tragic characters This part has been divided into four parts. The first part is an introduction. The second part mainly discusses the main characters. The third part analyzes the supporting role. The last part is a conclusion. In conclusion, Neil's death lies in the reluctance to submit to traditionalism. The tragedy of Keating is that his limited ability cannot change the whole situation. Narrow mind causes the traditionalists’ tragedies, facing new concepts, traditionalists still stick to the old-fashioned system and do nothing to change.

Key Words: Dead Poets Society; micro-expression; romanticism; traditionalism; tragic characters

Contents

1.Introduction 1

1.1 The movie Dead Poets Society 1

1.2 Literature review 2

1.3 Layout of the paper 3

2 Interpretation of Major Tragic Characters 4

2.1 On Neil and his father 4

2.1.1 First clash: the union conflict 4

2.1.2 Second clash: drama conflict 5

2.1.3 Third clash: freedom conflict 5

2.2 On Keating and Nolan 6

2.2.1 Keating’s class 6

2.2.2 Nolan’s obstacle 7

3.Interpretation of Other Characters 10

3.1Cameron’s traditionalism 10

3.2 Other’s realism 10

3.2.1 Charlie’s free soul 10

3.2.2 Tod and Knox’s change 11

3.3 Role of the minor characters 11

4 Conclusion 13

References 14

Acknowledgements 15

Interpretation of Tragic Characters in Dead Poets Society

1 Introduction

1.1 The movie Dead Poets Society

The movie Dead Poets Society is based on the novel of the same name in 1989. It was directed by the director Peter Weir, mainly performed by Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and so on. When firstly screened in America, the movie strongly shocked the audience and won several high-profile awards such as Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Best picture, Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Original Score Motion Picture. Meanwhile, it was widely claimed as one of the most well-know and influential educational movies of the twentieth century, and its dialogues are always quoted in teaching.

Characters are the vital factors in a movie, and the hero's emotions often resonate with the audience and have a few impact on the real world. Dead Poets Society is an educational-themed movie which includes the conflict of realism and idealism, tradition and freedom, education system and individual development. All these conflicts lead to the tragedy of the characters.

The movie Dead Poets Society is the story occurred in the late 50s in the United States, Florida. Wilton College is a school which is famous for the high rate of enrollment and its strict teaching mode. "Tradition, honor, discipline and excellence" is the motto of the school. About 75 percent of the graduates entering the Ivy League, nevertheless, in college, students just feel old-fashioned, boring and tense of learning and life. The monotonous, fixed the education model, greatly bound and strangle the students' thoughts and personality. However, the situation is changed when Keating, a unique and passionate teacher appeared. He led the students embarked on a real way to their own. He got rid of the traditional teaching method, abandoned these old-fashioned dogmas take the place of an interesting way. Meanwhile, he encouraged the students to think independently and “seize the day”. Quite a few students are attracted by his unique teaching way and they found an old union called "Dead Poets Society" that organized by Keating and his classmates in their student era. Neil and his classmates found courage and passion that they never had before in Keating’s class, and encouraged their passion to reorganize the “Dead Poets Society”. However, in a traditional college, such like this inspired union is prohibited, thus they paid a great price for this action, and the movie ended with Neil’s suicide and Keating’s dismissed.

The heroes of the movie are Neil and Keating. They have distinctive personalities. Keating, a teacher full of romanticism, is keen on breaking tradition. Neil is an excellent boy who studies in Walton College, he likes to write and action, however, his father wants him to be a doctor. Other main characters also have their special personalities. The paper will discuss in the next part.

The social background of the movie is that the time of Cold War, after Mccarthyism had just been eliminated. However, the conservative is still current in the U.S.A. In the course of that time, a drastic battle occurred between libertarian and traditionalist.

The traditionalist thought radical revolution is unnecessary. They pay more attention to the importance of experiences and historical tradition. In their opinions, whatever the theory or experiences, only the old tradition which has been tested so many times can be accepted. However, in the judgment of libertarian, the real freedom means you can pursue the thing you like and choose what you want. They didn’t want to under the control of tradition. They prefer the social Darwinism, the survival of the fittest, old cannot always be the right.

The literature background is that the beat generation existed in the 1950s. Because of the Mccarthyism, American writers can be divided into two parts, some intentionally avoided the political and social problems. Others touted American political system blindly. The new generation cannot bear the sight of them. Thus they began to challenge the old tradition. The movie was created in this situation.

1.2 Literature review

This part is intended to introduce the previous research of this movie both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, point the significance of this movie and later indicate the importance of the current study.