ABSTRACT

The American woman writer Kate Chopin’s short story “Wiser than a God” tells us a story that heroine, Paula rejects a rich man’s proposal and works hard to realize parents’ wish and her own dream of becoming a famous pianist. This paper tries to interpret Paula’s behavior with the filial piety introduced by Chinese traditional culture enlightenment teaching material Di Zi Gui, showing her physical, psychological and mental filial piety to her parents. It aims to provide certain reference to modern people about how to show their filial obedience to their elders.

Keywords: Filial Piety; “Wiser Than A God”; Di Zi Gui; Kate Chopin

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Brief Introduction about Kate Chopin-1

1.2 Brief Introduction of “Wiser than a God”-2

1.3 Brief Introduction of filial piety-3

1.4 Brief Introduction of Di Zi Gui-3

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-5

2.1 A Brief History of Past Studies-5

2.2 Critical Inadequacy of Past Studies-5

Chapter Three ANALYSIS OF FILIAL PIETY REFLECTED BY PAULA-7

3.1 Paula’s Filial Piety Action Towards Her Father-7

3.2 Paula’s Filial Piety Action Towards Her Mother-8

3.3 The Similarities and Differences between Filial Piety and Paula’s behavior-8

Chapter Four REASONS FOR THEIR DIFFERENCES-11

4.1 Different Social Backgrounds-11

4.2 Different Cultures-11

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-13

WORKS CITED-14