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This thesis focuses on the happiness in old life in May Sarton’s journal At Seventy. Since happiness is something abstract with various meanings for different inpiduals, it is difficult to carry out my further studies if it is without any restrictions. So in the first chapter, after talking about the previous researches on the topic of happiness, I will define Sarton’s happiness in her seventy-year-old life through presenting some proofs from her journal At Seventy. For Sarton, happiness comes from daily events-- she enjoys the course of aging, the beauties of life, the contact with friends and doing what she likes to do.Then the main reflections of Sarton’s happiness in At Seventy are discussed. Sarton travels a lot and enjoys the pleasure of travelling in old age. She has an active attitude towards aging instead of fearing of it. As a writer, she enjoys her process of writing, the support of her readers and the comments of critics. At her old age, friends are more like her family, giving her love, warmth and happiness. Then it comes to the factors that contribute to her happiness from both positive and negative aspects. After that, I hope to come to the conclusion that how to achieve happiness when we are getting to the old age by summing up Sarton’s lifestyle. It will attribute to the refresh awareness of what old life is like for people at different ages in China. It will also help to the better understanding of the elderly for the younger generation and the rethinking of their own life for the old generation.
2. The Definition of Sarton's Happiness
When it comes to the question what is happiness, I believe that nobody can figure out the most accurate answer. When a graduate of high school receives a university admission notice, he or she is happy. When a doctor cures a serious illness and sends the patient off the hospital, he or she is filled with the sense of achievement. When a teacher finishes an exciting and impressive lesson, he or she is pleasant. Happiness is so abstract a subject that different people may have different definitions on it. This chapter will analyze Sarton’s happiness in old age which is different from others.
2.1. The Previous Researches on the Topic of Happiness
Nowadays, the study on happiness has become a heated point in western countries. Not only ethics, psychology science, sociology, economics and other disciplines have studied the topic of happiness, but there have appeared the appellation of "the science of happiness" and "happiness studies" etc. America publishes the Journal of Happiness Studies, which was founded in June 2000, and it comes out monthly. It is a special journal oriented on happiness research. New Zealand also has the magazine of International Journal of Well-being, which was established in 2011. But it mainly focuses on the subject of psychology. Compared to domestic happiness researches, the foreign studies show more distinct persity, which are rewarding for domestic academic circles to consult.
On the use of the word happiness and well-being, Western academic circles consider that there is a big difference in semantic meaning and connotation. Happiness is more inclined to the satisfaction of a mental, emotional, or emotionally positive state. Thus in this usage, there appeared the theory of happiness with the core of personal feelings, especially people’s happiness. This usage is closely related to the life experience, for example, when a person feels satisfied or pleased, he often thinks himself as of happiness. According to Daniel (2005), when we talk about living a happy life, we seem to have the idea of "good life" or well-being in mind, which is more inclined to indicate our life rather than a mental state; But more time when we talk about whether people are happy or not, we are saying a state of mind.(Daniel, 2005: 287) So the happiness that I am going to discuss in Sarton’s old life is more about her emotional happiness.