Daddy-Long-Legs, written by Jean Webster in 1912, has been always well received since it was published. It has been adapted for movies, cartoons, TV series and others. Among them the cartoon adapted by Japanese even won the Japan Culture Prize in 1990. The novel describes the growing up experience of an orphan Judy in the first person point of view. Therefore, it also seems to be a “blog” of a girl’s growth. Through the analysis of the structure of the novel and its epistolary style, the imaginations in it and the relationship between Judy and Daddy-Long-Legs, this thesis points out that life needs magic and one himself is the biggest magic!
Key Words
an epistolary novel; growth; imaginations; relationship; magic
Abstract........................................................................I
Key Words.......................................................................I
摘要............................................................................II
关键词..........................................................................II
Introduction....................................................................1
I. The Style of Daddy-Long-Legs.................................................2
A. The Characters of Epistolary in the Novel .................................2
B. Analysis of the Writing Form of Daddy-Long-Legs .........................2
C. Reasons to Write Daddy-Long-Legs in Epistolary...........................3
II. The Imaginations in Daddy-Long-Legs.........................................4
A. Description of the Imaginations in Daddy-Long-Legs.........................4
B. Judy’s Imaginations in Her Letters..........................................7
III. The Relationship between Judy and Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs......................9
A. The Relationship between Judy and Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs....................9
B. Analysis of Why Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs Keeps the Relationship with Judy.......11
Conclusion......................................................................13
Acknowledgements................................................................14
Bibliography....................................................................15