DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L319.456
Authors: Dr. Alice Hiu Yan Cheung
Abstract: Yang Jiang wrote comedies when she stayed in Shanghai during the War of Resistance. Two extant plays, namely As You Desire and Forging the Truth caused a great sensation when they were staged in the 1940s. These two plays have long been regarded as comedies of manners while some Western scholars consider them as feminist comedies of manners; meanwhile, Yang Jiang’s connection with Jane Austen, whose works are also regarded as being in the style of comedy of manners, is also noticed by some scholars. This article examines the female laughter, the critical element of feminist comedy of manners, in both writers’ works and establishes a connection between two writers’ works upon a generic ground.
Keywords: Yang Jiang, Jane Austen, comedy, comedy of manners, feminist comedy of manners, female laughter, May Fourth, wartime Shanghai
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