Chapter 55 Huiyin's drama

Lin Huiyin's talents are multifaceted.She wrote poetry, novels, essays and plays.She has a special affection for drama.She has participated in drama performances and studied stage design in the United States, so she has a high artistic attainment in drama.In the 1930s when her creativity was the most vigorous, she created a four-act drama "Mei Zhen and Them". The script shows the emotional story of a group of young people in a wealthy family.The protagonist, Meizhen, is the maid of the Li family. She is talented, outspoken, and handsome.The second wife of the Li family liked her very much, treated her like her own child, and let her go to school like her own child.This made the narrow-minded elder lady very jealous, and often made excuses to ridicule Mei Zhen.Mei Zhen has a crush on the second young master who has just returned from studying abroad. Although the second young master also loves Mei Zhen, he is worried about the opposition of his family and the ridicule of outsiders, so he is hesitant and avoids revealing his true feelings to Mei Zhen.Mei Zhen has always been aware of her identity and status, but there is always a certain fantasy in her heart... The script is only written to the third act. Various emotional entanglements and misunderstandings have formed several conflicts. What is Mei Zhen's fate? A huge suspense.

The first three acts of "Mei Zhen and Them" were published in the "Literary Magazine" from May to July 1937, and the preview of the fourth act to be published in August has already been published.However, with the sound of gunshots at the Marco Polo Bridge on July 7 of this year, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the "Literary Magazine" was forced to suspend its publication.Lin Huiyin moved his family to the south, and entered the years of turmoil and homelessness. The fourth act of "Mei Zhen and Them" was never written. Many years later, many readers still cannot forget the fate of Mei Zhen and the group of young men and women in the play.Someone asked Lin Huiyin: "What happened to Mei Zhen?" She replied: "Mei Zhen went to the War of Resistance."

It should be said that the characters and stories written in this script are not new, and the author's portrayal of the characters also has obvious fictional and idealized elements.In particular, Mei Zhen, the main character, has a humble background, but she has the temperament and behavior of the young lady, which makes people feel that the author doesn't really understand this kind of characters in life. But the script is very readable.The key is that Lin Huiyin is familiar with the group of well-to-do, well-educated bourgeois young men and women described in the script, and she truly wrote about their emotions and emotions in their daily life.Therefore, although there is no strong dramatic conflict in the play, its rich atmosphere of life and the images of the young masters and ladies are lively and interesting, which attracts readers to watch.In particular, the language of the script is memorable for a long time after reading it. It is completely spoken language in life, but after being refined and cast by the author, it appears to be fresh and elegant, and full of fun.It is conceivable that such a catchy language must be very suitable for stage performances.

Reading Lin Huiyin's works, whether it is poetry, prose, novels or scripts, is filled with a special atmosphere.It is the faint breath of sandalwood from the bronze censer with mysterious luster, it is the misty dawn on the Thames River, the breath of the green school tree of the University of Pennsylvania, it is the breath of bright and jumping flames in the warm living room fireplace, that It is the breath of the rainy day with green grass and people far away, first-class cold stream. Her words are sensual, full of romantic thoughts and elegant taste, and her eyes go beyond the trivial and mediocre life to the distance.The characters in her works, whether it is the classical and mysterious Zhong Lu, or the maverick Ji Gong, or even the maid Mei Zhen, are all refined and almost otherworldly.

Therefore, although she casts her eyes on another kind of suffering and desolate life, she lacks real feelings due to the barrier of thought and emotion.The narrow living circle and the spiritual distance from the bottom society make her literature full of illusory and unrealistic elements; the vision of the soul is more confined to the study and living room, which makes her works lack a wider range of influence .