After Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude released, her works began to be studied in university especially at the perspective of self-doubt, contradiction, aging, isolation and so on. Sarton also loves the way of writing journals to keep a record of her daily life after Journal of a Solitude. However, old age together with the poor health condition, is terribly hard for Sarton to type or write by using her own hands. So, her journal Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year is recorded and transcribed from a cassette, which is just like a rambling story of an old lady about her simple, solitary daily chores or some feelings towards exact phenomena.

Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year was written by Sarton in 1992 when she gradually recovered from a stroke, fragile and distracted. This journal started in her 79th year, and finished in her 80th. As a matter of fact, she relies on the way of dictating, which provides us with a new perspective to observe and study the manner, living mode and others of Sarton as an old lady lives in solitude. The dictating way also makes the whole book authentic in spite of the genre of journal. Thus from Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year, Sarton’s vivid and real description always makes readers feel at home as if readers entered her book and became one of her friends talking to her face to face. In Encore, Sarton continues her affirmative spirit, love to nature, gratitude for life, which is her writing style. Encore itself definitely has something different from other journals. 文献综述

When she walks into her old age, especially when she becomes seriously sick, she cannot handle solitude as she said before. Thus the theme of longing for company in Sarton’s old age in Encore deserves to dig. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, company means “someone or something you spend time with or enjoy being with”. There are two important factors in “company” we can see from the dictionary: spending time and providing enjoyment. However, company may be very subjective and it has no precise standard. For some people, 5-minute reunion with their working sons and duaghters offers more company and pleasure than an-hour watching television. For other people, they may have opt to engage in somthing like painting or writing instead of being companied by their friends or relatives. Distinct people have perse understandings and definitions towards the word “company”. Therefore, it is a good point to discuss and discover.

1.2 Literature review

In western countries, “the situation of studying the literary gerontology is gradually beginning to change, but the professional awakening has been slow.” (Wyatt-Brown, 1990:299) Maybe the reason is that “the investigators feared that readers, especially young ones, might develop negative attitudes towards the elderly from what they read.” (Wyatt-Brown, 1990: Ibid) Therefore, there are very limited research books or research papers on the literary criticism of May Sarton. Additionally, there are only few comments on her last journal Encore and we can even hardly find some researches on Encore. Fortunately, because of Sarton’s great impact and significant works, we can still find The Great Sanity: Critical Essays on May Sarton, Aging and dying in the novels of May Sarton and some other critiques. One of the critiques in The Great Sanity, “seeing with fresh eyes” refers to the meaning of May Sarton’s journals, and Braham writes in this way,“ Sarton’s journals seek to connect with a wide readership by revealing the need to create order out of chaos, reentry out of withdrawal, health out of illness. Her efforts to define “self” and “values”… link her journals to current theory exploring women’s autobiography.” (Braham, 1995: 153) Many readers agree Braham’s view to some extent. For example, Sarton’s journals are very authentic and she wants to connect with readership by revealing the need. From what I read in Encore, I find Sarton also reveals the need to enjoy the company and to create her own freedom while she is in solitude. In Braham’s eye, Sarton’s journals link to the theory exploring women’s autobiography. And Sarton also explores an active way to adapt to aging and to enjoy aging. Although at the very beginning, Sarton’s journals and novels express her fear of dying and aging. “Sarton has consistently recognized the process of dying as an indisputable aspect of living.”(Klein, 1983:150) Her attitude towards aging and dying is positive. She thinks that it is a natural thing and it is inevitable. 来,自|优;尔`论^文/网www.chuibin.com