新旧思想碰撞结晶的怪胎--潘金莲

《金瓶梅》中潘金莲的形象有着特定而复杂的社会意义：她的道德和行为既符合当时封建统治阶级的极端享乐、争权夺利的思想意识，又冲击着封建统治阶级关于纲常人伦的社会堤防；表面上看她的行为是在追求个性的解放和自由，符合了资本主义萌芽时期的进步思想，而在实质上她是在千方百计地欺凌和迫害别人，破坏着别人的自由和幸福，所以又背离了那种新兴的潮流——她既继承了新旧思想中腐朽的一面，又破坏了新旧思想中那些合理的因素，她是新旧思想碰撞结晶而成的怪胎。

Pan Jinlian--the Bewildering Outcome of the Collision between New and Old Ideologies

The image of Pan Jinlian in Jin Ping Mei has particular and complex social meanings: Her moral and behavior tallied with the extreme enjoyment of the feudal ruling class then and their ideological consciousness of contending for power and profit, and meanwhile clashed with the social defense of three main-stays and five constant virtues as well as human relations of the feudal ruling class. From the surface it seemed that she was pursuing personal freedom and liberation, which was in accordance with the progressive ideology of the sprouting capitalism. But virtually she was striving to ride roughshod over and persecute others, destroying the freedom and happiness of others. Thus she went against the new current--she inherited the carrion things and destroyed the reasonable factors of the old and new ideologies. She is the bewildering outcome of the collision of the new and old ideologies.