"Stage Career" became the peak of Chaplin's genius, in a positive sense, because it shaped the two protagonists Cavallo and Tilly. A tragic figure of great and eternal significance. If the tragic figure Cavallo's incisive preaching on the question of the meaning of life is the climax of all Chaplin's genius thought (as previously analyzed), then the tragic figure Tilly, this daring to traditional customs The successful shaping of the admirable and lovely female image that challenges and leaves an unforgettable impression on us can be said to be the highest achievement of the creative artistic thought that Chaplin focused on in the film.
In Tilly's tragic image, we seem to see the shadow of the image of the tragic heroine Desdemona in Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. Tilly was as kind, loyal, and brave as Desdemona, and in a sense she was braver than Desdemona. For love, Desdemona transcends the barriers of race and skin color, and Tilly is desperately trying to cross the deep gap of age. Desdemona's feelings for Othello began with praise and sympathy, while Tilly's feelings for Cavalo began with understanding and gratitude; but neither of them stopped there, but developed a real love. Of course, true love requires sacrifices, but sacrifices made for the ones you love can be regarded as an obligation in the eyes of ordinary people, but a right to enjoy in the eyes of true lovers. is a real happiness. After reading "Liang Zhu", no one thinks that Zhu Yingtai jumping into Liang Shanbo's tomb alone is a simple and unnecessary sacrifice; it is sacrifice and destruction, but it also fulfills a common wish of both parties, at least Spiritually so. In the film "Stage Career", Chaplin buried Tilly's confession to Cavalo in the bottom of her heart, until she returned to real life and reappeared on the art stage under the encouragement of Cavalo about fighting in life. And the moment of extraordinary success was poured out, which determines that we cannot regard her confession as a simple reward. why? For only the specific price of paying in return with another thing similar or more or less equal to what is obtained can be called a real positive reward. The return should be the "cost" price rather than the "original" price. Tilly got artistic and physical youth and life from Cavallo, and got everything except love. Now, Tilly proposes to marry Cavallo again, so is this because Tilly wants to give back part of her artistic and physical youth to Cavallo again? If so, wouldn't it be a negative offsetting return? Can't it be understood that Tilly has essentially rejected Cavallo's kindness? Of course the problem cannot be understood in this way. In a sense, this is not only not Tilly's return, but it is even the only thing Tilly asked from Cavalo in the end that he had left and never gave her, and that was A kind of human love, a kind of sex between men and women, that is, the love of the flesh. But love or sex is never a unilateral achievement. Tilly knew Cavarro and knew that he loved her deeply, because it was Cavarro's unconditional love for her that constituted the existence of their emotional connection with each other. Therefore, the marriage that develops from this love to the union of the flesh is also Cavallo thought what he wanted, but what he could not understand or dare not understand in concept. The disparity in age between men and women is the obstacle that caused Cavallo, a person with incisive insights on the meaning of life, to be obsessed with it. Tilly, who fell and got up, dared to face the bleak life and strive for happiness from it, enlightened Cavalo with her final enlightenment. From the moment Tilly regained her physical and artistic life with the help of Cavallo and reappeared on the stage, all of her highest efforts were to continue to fight against Cavallo's ignorance on this issue. Persuade and enlighten. Saying that Tilly wants to marry Cavarro is a kind of pity and reward, and a cruel and cruel injustice to Tilly. As soon as Tilly met the audience, she was a person who had to be pitied by others and could not survive. She never felt that she was a person who could be qualified to show mercy to others, especially to Cavarro; I am willing to leave Cavallo, and always see myself as a relationship with Cavallo as one rather than the opposite, so there is never a relationship of pure return. All she wants is the right that every human being should have, an unmarried woman with sexual function and an unmarried man who is also sexually able to love and marry freely. The conditions on which such rights depended exist for both Tilly and Cavallo despite their age difference. Tilly knows this clearly, she understands that her efforts should not become fantasy and fantasy, despite repeated protests from customs and ridicule from the environment, and even the repeated rejections from Cavallo herself, she still desperately pursues her. Self and Cavalo's happiness and brave struggle. The noble spiritual realm of Tilly, the thoroughness and bravery of her pursuit of happiness, and thus the admiration of her; of course, her great tragic nature, the tragic nature of her struggles, which is not sympathetic but misinterpreted by the social environment, also lies in this. this. It was a cruel and cruel injustice to Tilly. As soon as Tilly met the audience, she was a person who had to be pitied by others and could not survive. She never felt that she was a person who could be qualified to show mercy to others, especially to Cavarro; I am willing to leave Cavallo, and always see myself as a relationship with Cavallo as one rather than the opposite, so there is never a relationship of pure return. All she wants is the right that every human being should have, an unmarried woman with sexual function and an unmarried man who is also sexually able to love and marry freely. The conditions on which such rights depended exist for both Tilly and Cavallo despite their age difference. Tilly knows this clearly, she understands that her efforts should not be fantasies and fantasies, and despite repeated protests from customs, ridicule from the environment, and even the repeated rejections from Cavallo herself, she still pursues it desperately. Self and Cavalo's happiness and brave struggle. Tilly's spiritual realm is noble, her pursuit of happiness is thorough and brave, so it is admirable. Of course, its great tragedy, the social environment does not sympathize with her struggle but misinterprets it, also lies in this. this. It was a cruel and cruel injustice to Tilly. As soon as Tilly met the audience, she was a person who had to be pitied by others and could not survive. She never felt that she was a person who could be qualified to show mercy to others, especially to Cavarro; I am willing to leave Cavallo, and always see myself as a relationship with Cavallo as one rather than the opposite, so there is never a relationship of pure return. All she wants is the right that every human being should have, an unmarried woman with sexual function and an unmarried man who is also sexually able to love and marry freely. The conditions on which such rights depended exist for both Tilly and Cavallo despite their age difference. Tilly knows this clearly, she understands that her efforts should not be fantasies and fantasies, and despite repeated protests from customs, ridicule from the environment, and even the repeated rejections from Cavallo herself, she still pursues it desperately. Self and Cavalo's happiness and brave struggle. Tilly's spiritual realm is noble, her pursuit of happiness is thorough and brave, so it is admirable. Of course, its great tragedy, the social environment does not sympathize with her struggle but misinterprets it, also lies in this. this.
The film's amazing performance in portraying Tilly, the tragic figure who made every effort to realize the union of herself and Cavallo, lies in the shaping of the character and the character of Neville. The intervention of the relationship puts Tilly in a love triangle to show it, so that Tilly has the most severe test of the authenticity of Cavallo's love. It cannot be considered that Tilly had no feelings or love for Neville; the film also made a specific image depiction in this regard. Just look at the expression on Tilly's silently listening to the sound of his piano playing at the door of Neville's apartment, and you can testify. But I am not afraid that Tilly has loved 10 young men like Neville in general, but I am afraid that from this kind of love, when I want to enter into a clear love relationship and have to make a final choice for the object, I am not afraid of the kind of love that I show to myself. Unshakable, uncompromising steadfastness of choice. Neville in the film is of course a character with a personality, and from his standpoint, he certainly thinks that it would be unfair to combine Tilly with Cavarro. But Neville is, after all, an ordinary artist, a representative of common sense ideas, a personification of the rigid formulas of life. He could not reach the height of Tilly's ideological realm, so the demands he put forward that he thought were practical but did not meet Tilly's actual requirements could not but be rejected by Tilly (of course, this is also worthy of sympathy - this is exactly what Another aspect of the film's tragic structure). Incidentally, there is a stage in the film where the actors on the stage of the film, when they listened to Baudalink's talk about the "Arlegen show", showed that Neville was behind Tilly and Cavallo, pretending to be listening, but keeping his eyes open. Looking at the scene where Tilly put her hand on Cavallo's hand because of her excitement, it really showed Neville's heartache of lovelornness to the point of admiration. In the film, Neville is arranged to hire a car to take Tilly home, and the scene of the triangular relationship inside and outside the house is very good. Tilly stood still in the face of Neville's "attack", and made a righteous rebuttal and explanation, refusing to admit that the surrounding environment, including Neville, believed that she loved Cavarro only a kind of pity rather than a sincerity That twist of love:
Neville: Tilly, I know how faithful you are to Cavarro...but you can't marry him! It would be dishonest to yourself. You're young, your life has just begun... your affection for him... it's romantic fantasy, it's adolescence frenzy... but it's not love.
Tilly: No, you are wrong! I really love him!
Neville: You pity him...
Tilly: It's more than pity. This kind of feeling has taken root in my heart, and it is it that helps me stand up... This is... his softness... his melancholy... his heart... This is what I will never lack... ...13
Tilly's confession outside the door carrying Cavarro on her back (Cavarro has heard it behind the door of her house) is equivalent to opening up the true meaning of all her inner secrets, and it moved the Cavallo inside the door. Varona's lonely heart, it also broke the last hope of Neville's courtship of Tilly - it is the most decisive and wonderful stroke to complete Tilly's tragic image as a highly moral, noble and admirable tragic, It is also a powerful refutation of the denial and silence expressed by the Chinese film critics for the love relationship between Tilly and Cavallo. Another famous example of works that seek love between men and women at different ages is Jane Eyre, written by British writer Charlotte Bronte. The strange thing is that people did not deny the love relationship between Jane Eyre and Roger Steer, but they took an unacceptable and disregarded attitude towards the relationship between Tilly and Cavallo! In fact, compared to Jane Eyre, Tilly is hundreds of times higher. Because in Jane Eyre's view, true free love is still conditional, that is, equality of economic status, which is a reflection of her so-called "match-making" petty-bourgeois narrow view of equality. Jane Eyre was only really willing to marry the person she loved and the other party loved her only when the master was no longer the master, and she was no longer the governess or servant. There is no such condition—on the contrary, Tilly makes her public marriage confession just as she herself is starting to get lucky and Cavarro is getting increasingly frustrated.
Someone asked, is there any pity, sympathy and repayment in Tilly's blind request to marry Cavallo? The answer is yes. As I said before, she started by repaying her kindness. Yet this is a general quality shared by any couple. We say that true and noble love has no additional conditions besides mutual love; but we are not idealists who proceed from natural human love, the love of men and women, and we must ask at the same time What is the premise of this mutual love? Undoubtedly, materialist love still has to recognize the kind of material interests between men and women; but this kind of material interests should not and cannot be the so-called "fair trade" of 100 yuan for 100 yuan of goods The relationship between buyers and sellers contains a variety of factors that are extremely rich and cannot be measured by specific standards. "It goes without saying that the beauty of the body, the intimacy of intercourse, the interest in harmony, etc., have once aroused the desire for intercourse between the opposite sex"14 - so it is obvious that such things cannot be simply reduced to mutual gratitude Relationship. On this issue, we hold that the correct view is that the right of both men and women to fight for love is greater than the duty of love, or the unity of duty and right, rather than that duty should be greater than right. Now that things have come to such a point that Tilly can't live without Cavallo, and Cavallo can't live without Tilly; they are dependent on each other, and in fact cannot be separated; though they are not yet married, they already have what it takes to be a full-fledged husband and wife. All things considered (ironically, they started out as husband and wife in name, which society doesn't protest against), and their relationship has surpassed any passionate, formal relationship between husband and wife. Tilly fully understood this, and she was willing to live up to her name, to complete their relationship that seemed abnormal because of their failure to actually marry; A step, a brave sprint, a step to challenge convention. For Cavallo's happiness, for her love, and for the realization of her pure wish, she was willing, asked, and even longed for the final union with Cavallo in the body; The beloved opens her own girl's most chaste and precious treasure - this is not simply to fulfill the obligation of repayment, but to show a right that she deserves, a kind of sincere love that she has made by her actions. Confession and confirmation; she wanted to convince Cavarro, Neville, and everyone around her that she loved Cavarro, and it was absolutely true! Their union is the logical thing between the two of them, and it is the common need of both parties! Tilly is a materialist who is truly and completely faithful to her love, a fearless fighter who attacks the surrounding environment and traditional customs. However, in a world of hypocrisy, snobbery and inferiority, her true feelings are misinterpreted by others, her struggles and efforts cannot bear fruit; and as long as she cannot combine with Cavallo, she cannot be happy for a day, One day can't get rid of this unrequited injustice of misinterpreting the authenticity of her love, so she is still fighting for it. It is worth noting that, compared with her love with Cavallo, she regards her personal fame, success, and personal reputation and status as a matter of no importance; for the sake of love, she is willing to leave the vain and flashy metropolis, leave the art stage, and be with him. Cavallo went to the country to live and live together. What is tragic is that Tilly did not know how to fight for life and happiness at first, and she lost courage and confidence in life; but when she learned from Cavallo's philosophical teachings, she learned to rely on her own struggle. When striving for life, for happiness, and then to practice hard, her environment refused to allow all her efforts to have the possibility of a happy ending. "I hate life! I hate the torment of life, the cruelty of life!" - this is the cry of war that the noble and poor Tilly sent out in the face of that huge dark society! Why does Tilly hate life? Because when she was willing to put herself back into the arms of life, life came to play tricks on her again. Life turns the moral principles of life into iron dogmas, which are like the bars of a prison, blocking the forward movement that life itself should have, which is composed of rich contents and special forms. Tilly was in pain. What she suffers is not that Cavarro does not understand her true love for him, but that life prevents Cavarro from doing anything to her true love that is so pure, so noble, so great, which can be called human true love. reactions and answers. "I feel that something is finished. It is finished forever." 15 Tilly felt What is it over? It is this kind of reaction and answer that ends; and only this kind of reaction and answer with actions can confirm that her confession of Cavallo's love is true and not false. Tilly's grief is an indictment of the injustices and wrongs of life. All conscientious and honest viewers, after seeing such an image of Tilly in the film and listening to her mournful confession, could not help but shed tears with deep sympathy for Tilly's incomprehensible grievances. The conflict and predicament between Tilly and the environment, and Tilly's heart for love, which cannot be resolved or relieved in the end, are the decisive core of the real tragedy of Tilly's image, and it is also the completion of the shaping of Tilly's tragic artistic image. and express the basis of its social critique.
"Heart and soul! What a great mystery!"
Facing Tilly's repeated love confessions, Cavallo first ran away, and finally found her back for Tilly; but he was still undecided about Tilly's confession. , although he finally believed that Tilly's confession was true. Of course, when Cavallo believes this to be true, he may accept it. But this is a thorny issue that runs counter to Chaplin's original intentions for the film's aesthetic category, so it is dealt with in the film as a performance accident on Cavalier Rome.
This seems to be an expression of incomprehension, from a customary point of view, why Tilly must love him and marry a man like him—but not ridicule and disbelief, but admiration and acknowledgment. The immortal meaning of the classic tragic masterpiece "The Stage Career", created with Chaplin's entire life experience and genius wisdom, is that it raises such a seemingly inexplicable question. In fact, Chaplin borrowed the age barrier of mutual love between unmarried men and women, and proposed that a man and woman desire in the real world does not depend on any conditions, including age conditions, true love freedom or free love. The problem to be solved - it is true that the proper solution and just conclusion of this problem is still a mystery, because to this day all the existing socio-economic and political conditions in the world have not been so constructed as to fully create the kind of mutual love. The basis for a truly free love, free marriage relationship between men and women independent of all conditions. It's no wonder that there are still people who criticized Chaplin's film at the time, after and even today, for not acknowledging the possibility of a love relationship between the film's hero and heroine. Because this social condition does not exist or is immature, all the relationships between men and women that are in line with human nature and truly tend towards free love and marriage are regarded as crooked and evil, as immoral or incest, and all love and marriage that violate human nature. Relationships are protected. Take Chaplin's Cavallo as an example. Is his love for Tilly really or really willing to be indifferent? of course not. Because the social customs around him determine that a person of a social status like him, in addition to personal happiness, has to take care of the public opinion of the social dignity of people stipulated by such social customs. People's recognition of the love between the hero and heroine in "Jane Eyre" is nothing more than the belief that Roger Steer is a high-class person after all, and has the right to marry Jane, a non-beautiful and unreputable folk woman. And people's refusal to admit the love of the hero and heroine in "Stage Career" is because they think that Cavarro is just a poor and down-to-earth clown who has no right to marry Tilly, a beautiful and talented stage actress. Society allows the powerful old man to marry countless young wives and concubines, but it does not allow such an unmarried man and woman in the film to marry; it allows Cavallo and Tilly to be a nominal couple, but it does not allow them to become a married couple. In the face of the so-called human social dignity and personal happiness, Cavallo chose the former and gave up the latter-because giving up the former means giving up his love and dedicating his life on the stage. In the social environment at that time, this choice was real and the only feasible for a small person like Cavallo at the bottom of the society. So, in this sense, the card It's not wrong for Varro to keep rejecting and even avoiding Tilly's love at first. But when Cavallo began to consider this issue after Tilly's repeated sincere confessions, he died unexpectedly. This implicitly points out that the ultimate combination of Cavallo and Tilly will be unacceptable to the society, and thus cannot be successful.
All efforts to marry men and women that are not tolerated by traditional customs have resulted in countless social tragedies. The fundamental tragic significance of Shakespeare's famous play "Othello" lies not in what ordinary people say is Othello's jealousy and narrow-mindedness, but in the traditional custom of Othello and Desdemona. The color of the skin is the disparity of the race, that is, the black skin as a Moor and the white skin as a Venetian cannot coexist in the end. If Othello hadn't felt that he was too dark for his inferiority complex in terms of race and skin color - "Perhaps because I was born dark and ugly, I lacked the gentle and elegant conversation of gentlemen... That's why she betrayed me..." 17 ——Will he be easily deceived and have a suspicion and hatred of seeing his beloved wife as an unchaste woman? Sadur said: “Chaplin has never been so close to Shakespeare’s work as in this film, he has not only the popular expression of Shakespeare, but also the profound thought content of Shakespeare.”18 At this point , Chaplin's "Stage Career" has indeed reached the height of Shakespeare's "Othello", but one is from the disparity of age relations, and the other is from the disparity of skin color and race relations. Cavallo had a hunch that his union with Tilly would be unacceptable to the society, so that the pure love between Tilly and Tilly could not succeed and self-destruct; while Othello, when he was expected to be a triumphant hero, completed his relationship with Tilly. Desdemona's marriage, after all, was forced by the environment, shaking her original self-confidence, doubting the authenticity of this established marriage and leading to self-destruction. On the other hand, Tilly's undying love for Cavarro and Desdemona's unswerving love for Othello, as well as the grievances they suffered and even the price of their lives, are always sympathetic and tearful. , admirable and admirable! Whether it's Tilly or Desdemona, what they've done and what they've done, they all regard love as a money-sale relationship between elders or peers, a commodity exchange relationship, or a vulgar use of mutual snobbery. It is indeed a "mystery", a "mystery" that can never be understood and can never be solved!
Notes:
13 Selected Screenplays by Chaplin, p. 428.
14 Engels: "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State", Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 4, Page 72, People's Publishing House, May 1972.
15 "Chaplin's Selected Screenplays," p. 441.
16 Selected Screenplays by Chaplin, p. 466.
17 Shakespeare: "Othello", Act 3, Scene 3, "Before the Castle", "The Complete Works of Shakespeare" (Chinese translation), Vol. 9, p. 340, translated by Zhu Shenghao, proofread by Fang Ping, People's Literature Publishing House, April 1978 .
18 George Sadur: History of Cinematic Art (Chinese translation) p. 342.
[This article is the "Continuation 1" of "The Real Textbook of Life: The Meaning of "The Stage Career". - Author's Note]
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