戏剧界高度评价亚瑟·米勒遗作

 

Drama World Honors the Legacy¹ of Arthur Miller²

戏剧界高度评价亚瑟·米勒遗作

 

Although Arthur Miller wrote comparatively few plays, each one had an indelible impact on the American theater. His first successful play came just after World War II. In the 1947 drama All My Sons, it’s the story of an unscrupulous wartime contractor³ who knowingly shipped to the military a faulty batch⁴ of aircraft engine parts -– and who was haunted and eventually destroyed by guilt⁵.

 

Two years later, his powerful and most famous work, Death of a Salesman, also dealt with the struggles and moral dilemmas⁷ of the white working class. The play centers on Willy Loman, an aging traveling salesman, who is getting by -- in Miller’s words -– “on a smile and a shoeshine,” and struggling to find worth in the emptiness of his dreams. In desperation, he commits suicide so that his son might collect his life insurance money.

 

Here the play right rise the passage from his words.

 

Death of a Salesman won Arthur Miller the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949, when he was just 33. It also garnered⁹ the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Tony Award. Arthur Miller just described the play which has been translated into more than a dozen languages as a universal metaphor¹⁰.

 

Mr. Miller: The fact is the salesman is a metaphorical¹¹ idea in the play. We’re all salesmen in the sense that we have to convince others that we exist. And Willy is that kind of a salesman, among other things.

 

Miller’s third major play was 1953’s The Crucible¹², a story of the intolerance and mass hysteria that surrounded the infamous¹³ 17^th century witchcraft¹⁴ trials in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. But The Crucible was also an indictment¹⁵ of the political witch-hunt underway in America during the early 1950s, when extremist lawmakers tried to purge¹⁶ communist sympathizers from U.S. government posts and other positions of influence.

 

Arthur Miller was one of those accused of being a communist. But when summoned to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Mr. Miller refused to “name names”.

 

The 1950s also brought Mr. Miller unwanted notoriety for his tumultuous marriage to Hollywood’s most famous actress, Marilyn Monroe. In 1961, he wrote the screenplay for The Misfits, the film that would feature Ms. Monroe in her last screen appearance. Mr. Miller’s marriage also became the basis for his play, After the Fall, first staged in 1964.

 

In 1984, Arthur Miller received the prestigious¹⁷ Kennedy Center Honors Award for his life time contributions to American culture. During the Award ceremony, actor Karl Malden -- who appeared in Mr. Miller’s first play -- paid tribute to the playwright’s unique gifts.

 

Mr. Miller: I pulled out [the script for] All My Sons. And there, inscribed¹⁸, was: ‘For Karl, for whom I didn’t make it very easy in this one.’ Well, Arthur, let me tell you, you’re not supposed to make it easy for actors. You’re supposed to make it interesting, exciting, provocative¹⁹ and above all, challenging. And that you did in all your plays.

 

Arthur Miller continued to write plays, novels and travel essays well into his ninth decade. In 1999, 50 years after the Broadway debut²⁰ of a  Revival²¹ of Death of A Salesman, a new production of the drama opened to outstanding reviews. It won several Tony awards that year, including Best Actor and Best Revival of a Play.

 

Arthur Miller is being remembered as a writer who shared with American and international audiences a willingness to face major issues of the day with honesty and conviction. In doing so, he enriched the theater everywhere -- a respectable legacy for any dramatist.

 

This is Robin²² Rupli.

 

注释：

comparatively [kEm5pArEtivli] adv. 比较地，相当地

indelible [in5delibl] adj. 不能拭去的

dilemma⁶ [di5lemE] n. 进退两难的局面

emptiness [5emptinis] n. 空虚

desperation [7despE5reiFEn] n. 绝望

insurance [in5FuErEns] n. 保险

garner⁸ [5^B:nE] v. 收藏

hysteria [his5tiEriE] n. 歇斯底里

witchcraft [5witFkrB:ft] n. 魔法

indictment [in5daitmEnt] n. 控告

notoriety [7nEtE5raiEti] n. 声名狼藉

tumultuous [tju5mQltjuEs] adj. 喧嚣的

prestigious [7pres5ti:dVEs] adj. 享有声望的

 

1 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

7 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

8 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

9 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

10 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

11 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

12 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

13 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

14 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

15 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

16 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

17 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

18 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

20 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

21 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

22 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。