本論文旨在揭露《浮華世界》中，威廉•薩克萊如何呈現給讀者一種不同於維多利亞時期主流道德標準的另類道德觀。本論文試圖指出，薩克萊在這本「沒有英雄的小說」中，所要批判的是維多利亞時期過度嚴謹的道德標準，此標準不僅常常使人們因難以恪守，而淪於虛偽；且反諷的是恪守此道德成規所帶來的卻是不幸。對薩克萊而言，唯有經由容許「過度」與「踰越」之適度的平衡，人們才得以追尋到他們想要的幸福; 當然，這些「過度」與「踰越」若沒有被適當的駕馭，也會導致災難－此即為薩克萊所謂的「黑暗道德寓意」。本論文以高登•雷、艾瑞•塞基爾、華特•胡頓、蘇珊•慶及安•薩克萊等人之論點為論述依據，藉此來分別地檢視文本中維多利亞時期的社會道德觀、鑲嵌倂加的敘述技巧、不一致且游移的敘述觀點，以及和文本所影射的作者生平事蹟；期許在小說中的主要角色和敘述者/作者的「過度」、「踰越」與「作者欲望」之相互對應中進行剖析、探討，藉以驗證本文中的「黑暗道德寓意」。總體而言，正是這些「過度」與「踰越」所創造出的巔覆主流論述空間，彰顯了作者欲望及自我蛻變的可能性，藉而建構了一個新的生命展望。

This thesis attempts to reveal how William Thackeray in Vanity Fair presents to its readers an alternative morality, which is different from the Victorian mainstream moral codes. I suggest that what Thackeray wants to criticize in this “Novel without a Hero” is the over-strict Victorian morality standard, which was difficult for the people to follow; this difficulty ironically caused their hypocrisy and led to misfortune. For Thackeray, only through adequate allowance of “excess” and “transgression” can people obtain their happiness. Of course, the excess and transgression could also lead the protagonists to catastrophes in life journey, if they do not properly manage the related practices－this vision is what Thackeray calls the “dark moral” in his novel. Many critics’ arguments, like those of Gordon Ray, Eric Trudgill, Walter E. Houghton, Suzanne Keen, and Anne Thackeray, are relied on as the interpretive framework of my thesis to respectively examine the Victorian moral attitudes, the novel’s strategy of “narrative annexes,” the inconsistency and ambiguity in interpolated narration, as well as Thackeray’s personal history. With these analyses, I can explore the characters’ or narrator’s/author’s excess and transgression and illustrate the “dark moral” in Vanity Fair. In general, the excess and/or transgression serves as the means of subversion that brings forth the possibility of self-transformation, so as to open up a new space for pursuing happiness.

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