Thunderstorm(Lei Yu)
《雷雨》
Thunderstorm，a four-act drama，is not only the masterpiece of Cao Yu but also the symbol of maturation of modern Chinese drama. Condensing the 30 years of anfractuous contradictions and imbroglios between the Zhou and Lu families into a matter of a single day and unfolding the story simultaneously on two scenes，the drama reflects the interlacement of the“past drama" with the“the present drama" and the entanglement of blood relationship with class contradiction. All staged herein are the tragedies of the abandoned lower class woman(Shiping)，of the repressed personality of the upper class woman(Fanyi )，of the failed pursuit of the young lovers(Zhou Ping and Si Feng)for justified love，of the disillusioned dream of the young people(Zhou Chong)，and of the lost resistance of the ordinary laborer(Lu Dahai).The drama exposes the atrocities and tragedies caused by the irrationality of the feudal familial relationships ;it also analyzes the inherent mixture of love and hatred in human nature. The tangled blood relation-ships among the characters in the drama and their fated life coincidences reflect with great authenticity the complexity of human nature and the hardship of human life，revealing the plight of subsistence for human beings and thus displaying a strong tragic color. Thunderstorm is thought to be an outstanding and realistic familial tragedy.
四幕剧《雷雨》是曹禺的代表作，也是现代话剧成熟的标志。剧本把周、鲁两家前后30年错综复杂的矛盾纠葛放在一天的时间、两个舞台场景内集中展开，全剧交织着“过去的戏剧”与“现代的戏剧”，纠缠着血缘的关系和阶级的矛盾，下层妇女(侍萍)被离弃的悲剧、上层妇女(繁漪)个性受压抑的悲剧、青年男女(周萍与四凤)得不到正常爱情的悲剧、青春幻梦(周冲)破灭的悲剧以及劳动者(鲁大海)反抗失败的悲剧，同时在这里上演，写出了封建家庭不合理关系所造成的罪恶和悲剧，剖析了人性中爱与恨的深刻交织。剧中人物的血缘纠葛与命运巧合真实典型地反映了人性的复杂性和人生的残酷性，揭示出人的生存困境，具有浓郁的悲剧色彩。《雷雨》是一部杰出的现实主义家庭悲剧。
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