Carmen—Tragic Heroine or Feminist Icon? 卡門

唐毅

Opera is renowned for its violent treatment of women characters; this more often than not leads to the protagonist presenting as a tragic heroine， the female lead who ‘suffers from a tragic flaw that eventually causes her downfall. Carmen is not merely a one-dimensional character and thus， in a very realistic way， has imperfections and makes mistakes. Out of all of these faults her stubbornness is the one that ultimately leads to her downfall. However， it is also this flaw that encourages her to be viewed as a feminist icon; her refusal to bend to the constraints of social expectation is what frees her and simultaneously tears her down.

The Oxford Dictionarys definition of feminism is， ‘The advocacy of womens rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes， Carmen is often criticised for her treatment of other women in the opera as being un-harmonious with feminist values. This is clearly demonstrated in the way she fights viciously with her co-worker， but what critics seem to forget is that she did not betray her colleague and tell the authorities what happened; taking the brunt of the responsibility upon herself.

Carmen is sexually， politically and socially independent; we see this through her supporting herself financially; possibly the only working class female character in opera to do so. In WNOs latest production we see her rebelling against the regime fighting for independence， a natural born leader. In one scene a flag stamped with liberté drops down behind her framing her perfectly as she raises her gun in the air. Lastly， socially liberated through her position within the gypsy community， she is able to freely take， ‘for a country the universe and for law your own will.

Carmens sexual freedom is what infuriated the original audience in 1875; her rejection of a man in turn for another is seen as unforgivable， although， through the lens of feminism today the double standards of male and female promiscuity are clearly evident. She does not mould to Josés wishes and this is why she has to die; murdered in a jealous rage as he sees only what is owed to him and what he believes he is entitled to.

But then the tragic heroine always dies， and this is what Carmen Director Jo Davies questions in her introduction， ‘whether Bizet1s ending would be the same， or any different were he writing it today？ Fierce and brave until the last， even in her language， ‘I am not a woman to tremble before him. Carmen redeems herself in refusing to become the imploring， begging victim; defiantly un-afraid of death. There are no come back arias2 for Carmen—when she dies she dies as she lived her life; boldly， truthfully and without weeping.

You can argue whether Carmen is a feminist icon or a tragic heroine but ultimately she is both for in a patriarchal society which is often seen to punish the woman who wants to go her own way， unless the world changes; how can our heroines？

歌劇以粗暴處理女性角色著稱， 這往往導致劇中女主以悲劇形象呈現，即女主“會因自身的悲劇性缺陷走向毀滅”。卡門這個人物形象并非單一扁平的，而是十分真實，她有缺點，也會犯錯。在所有這些缺點中，一意孤行的倔強性格最終導致她毀滅。然而，也正是這個缺點使得觀眾將她視為女性主義偶像。因為她拒絕屈從社會對女性期待的束縛，這既解放了她，同時也毀滅了她。

牛津詞典對女性主義的定義是，“在兩性平等的基礎上主張女性的權利”。卡門對待劇中其他女性的方式不符合女性主義者的價值觀，她常因此而遭詬病。從她和工友惡斗中可以清楚看到這一點。可是批評者們似乎忘了，她并未背叛工友向當局告發，而是攬下了所有責任。

無論從兩性關系、政治立場還是社會地位上看，卡門都是一個獨立女性。這一點可從她經濟獨立看出，而且她很可能是歌劇中唯一一個經濟獨立的工人階級女性。在威爾士國家歌劇院最新出品的歌劇中，我們看到她為獨立反抗政權。她是天生的領袖。劇中有這么一幕，她高舉手中的槍，身后一面印有“自由”字樣的旗幟倒下，將她全部蓋住，勾勒出她的身姿。最終，她通過確立自己在吉卜賽人中的地位而在社會中獲得解放，可以隨心所欲地“將宇宙當作國家，將個人意志當作法律”。

1875年該劇初演時，激怒觀眾的是卡門的性自由。觀眾不能原諒她見異思遷的行為，但從當今女性主義的視角看來，顯然這是在濫交問題上對男女的雙重標準。卡門不順從何塞之意，這是她必死的原因;何塞眼中只有卡門對他的虧欠，認為自己有權得到卡門——他妒火中燒，殺死了卡門。

不過，悲劇性女主往往以死亡告終，而這也是《卡門》的導演喬·戴維斯在介紹此劇時所質疑的：“如果比才今天來寫這部歌劇，結尾會是這樣嗎？還是會有什么不同？”從頭到尾，卡門都表現得激烈勇敢，連她的話中都透著這股勁兒：“我不是在他面前發抖的那種女人。”卡門拒絕讓自己成為哀求乞憐的受害者——這是她的自我救贖;她不怕死亡，無所畏懼。對卡門來說，沒有返場曲——只要曾經勇敢、真誠地活出了自我，沒有哀怨哭泣，死亡來臨，又有何懼！

卡門是女性主義偶像還是悲劇性女主，也許還可以爭論，但歸根結底她兩者都是——在一個常常對特立獨行的女性進行懲罰的父權社會里，我們的女主又能怎樣呢？除非這個世界變了。

（譯者單位：東華大學）

1指喬治·比才（Georges Bizet，1838—1875），法國作曲家，歌劇《卡門》的作者。? 2 aria詠嘆調。