Abstract: John Updike has been criticized for being morally dubious in his highly controversial novel, Couples, so this thesis intends to fight for it and display the historic importance of its depicting personal affairs by adopting Kierkegaard’s theory, Spheres of Existence. In the light of Spheres of Existence, it can be found that people in Couples indulge themselves in aesthetic sphere, the endless extramarital sex, and endeavor to establish an erotic utopia out of passion to pursue freedom, but this utopia is deconstructed for their failure in ethical and religious spheres. Its vulnerability demonstrates the author’s ethical position, acts as an irony of Kennedy’s era and gives a lesson to the contemporary people.

Keywords: Couples; extramarital affairs; erotic utopia; Spheres of Existence; freedom

摘要： 约翰 · 厄普代克因在富有争议的长篇小说《夫妇们》中表现出“道德上非常含糊”而备受诟病，本文拟采用克尔凯郭尔“生存三境界论”理论为之一辩，并挖掘小说私人史书写的历史意义。依托 “生存三境界论”，可发现《夫妇们》中的人们沉迷于婚外肉体之欢的审美境界，并意欲从中建立“欲望乌托邦”，在激情中诉求自由，但伦理境界的缺失和宗教境界的难以企及最终瓦解了“欲望乌托邦”。对脆弱无力的“欲望乌托邦”的阐释不仅摆正了作者的伦理取位，也是对弥漫着自由憧憬的肯尼迪时代的反讽，并可为同陷其中的当代人提供借鉴。

关键词: 《夫妇们》, 婚外恋, 欲望乌托邦, 生存境界, 自由