Abstract

The Island, as Victoria Hislop’s first and the most far-reaching novel, shows us a historical romance mixed with a dash of family secrets and a flash of self-discovery. It reveals the real life status of lepers in the middle of 20th century in the Mediterranean area. Through the fast-paced narrative and utterly convincing sense of place, the mysterious and now deserted island, which once intertwined with terrific disease and unpleasant wars and has witnessed many ups and downs, returns to the focus of the public. The tone of this novel is grave and miserable, retelling the taboo topic of that age, however, hope and vitality can always be noticed, even sometimes slightly, and as the story goes on, it become more apparent and noticeable. 

This thesis will mainly focus on Spinalonga as the research object, to analysis it by applying the theory of Symbolism, not only on its settings both of natural sceneries and social backgrounds, what’s more, main characters related to the island will be interpreted. As the novel develops, the symbol of Spinalonga has transited from death and silence at the beginning of the novel to later life and vitality, which helps a lot to express and reveal Hislop’s reflection on the motifs of life and death. 

Keywords: The Island; Victoria Hislop; Spinalonga; Symbolism

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1．Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction to Victoria Hislop and The Island-1

1.2 Introduction to Spinalonga-2

1.3 Literature Reviews: Previous Studies Concerning The Island-2

1.4 Paper Statement, Structure and Significance.-3

2. Theoretical Basis-5

2.1 Symbol-5

2.2 Symbolism-6

2.3 Interpretation of Symbolism on Literature Works-7

3.-Symbolic Analysis of Spinalonga-8

3.1 Symbolic Analysis on the Settings of Spinalonga-8

3.2 Symbolic Analysis on Characters Related to Spinalonga-9

4. Conclusion-14

References-15