正文格式外院.docx

1、正文格式外院On Realism in David CopperfieldAuthor: Zhu YujiaoTutor: Tan Yanping(College of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128 )Abstract: Charles Dickens was a shining star in the nineteenth century in British literature, whose novel, David Copperfield, was one of the most important

2、works of author. This novel, which is an autobiography and is of strong sense of realism, is a typical representative of his realistic works. This paper takes Charles Dickens and the novel as fundamental, and tries to compare similarities between the novel and reality to reflect its realism. Key wor

3、ds: Charles Dickens; David Copperfield; Realism大卫科波菲尔的现实主义色彩作 者：朱玉姣指导老师：谭燕萍（湖南农业大学教育学院，长沙 410128） 摘 要： 查尔斯狄更斯是十九世纪英国文坛中一颗璀璨的明星。 小说大卫科波菲尔是他最重要的作品之一。 该小说是一部自传体小说，具有强烈的现实主义色彩，是作者现实主义作品的典型代表。本文以查尔斯狄更斯和小说为本，试图比较小说和现实之间的相似之处，从而体现其现实主义色彩。关键词：查尔斯狄更斯；大卫科波菲尔；现实主义 IntroductionCharles Dickens (1818-1870), whose

4、 novels deeply reflect the reality of English society in the nineteenth century, is one of the most outstanding realistic writers in England. Among his numerous novels, David Copperfield is the eighth novel of Charles Dickens and is called “the most beloved child in his heart”. It is an autobiograph

5、ical novel and also is a typical representative of realistic novels. This novel tells a story about the life of an orphan, David Copperfield, from his childhood to his adulthood. Charles Dickens wrote this novel in first person, and threw his won experiences into it. This paper will give an introduc

6、tion to realism first and then present a comprehensive understanding of Charles Dickens such as his life, major works and artistic features of his novels. After that, there will be a statement about David Copperfield. Next section is the comparisons between social backgrounds, Charles Dickens and Da

7、vid Copperfield, and other typical characters form this novel and reality. This paper aims to reflect its realism through these comparisons so that embodies its literature value.1 RealismRealism is a literary term which is defined as “the faithful representation of reality”, focusing on depicting pe

8、oples everyday life, especially life of the middle and lower class. It is widely used in many literary works. Here we will discuss its definition, generation and basic characteristics. 1. 1 Definition Realism is a kind of literature creation skill which focuses on social reality. “As a literary move

9、ment realism came in the latter half of the nineteenth century as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism.”1 It advocates objective and dispassionate observation of realistic society. Realism attempts to describe life accurately and delicately without idealism or romantic subjec

10、tivity according the original life and to reproduce typical characters in typical environments.1. 2 Generation of realism Realism is the product of the establishment and development of capitalist system in Western Europe. In nineteenth century, the victory of bourgeoisie in Europe caused the histori

11、c transition of social system from feudalism to capitalism. Such particular economic and political situation has a great impact on literature and become decisive factor of the formation and development of realism. After people freed themselves from feudal shackles, they were keen to create material

12、wealth. They lose their spiritual freedom, psychological freedom, and personality in front of material wealth. The oppression and exploitation become more and more obvious. The relationship between human became worse. All sorts of defects of capitalist system exposed at that time. Thus realism emerg

13、ed, which uncovered the darkness of prevailing society through the truthful and detailed description of social reality and promoted social improvement. At that time, new achievements of natural science broadened peoples horizon to a great extent and encouraged people to look for the origins and solu

14、tions of social problems in a new point of view. Many writers attempted to research the society as scientists through nuanced observation, analysis and inference. Those all strengthened objective and realistic elements in realism. 1. 3 Basic characteristics of realism As a basic literature creation

15、skill, realism has the following basic characteristics: First of all, realism is of authenticity which reproduces social reality objectively and really. Works of realism originate from life, so it has real and vivid details description. They dig out the essential factors hidden behind the phenomenon

16、 and internal relationship of figures and things. They reflect social life through historical and specific pictures of life. These works are infectious because of its realistic and concrete image. Therefore, reading these works is an immersive experience for readers. Secondly, realism is of strong e

17、xposure and criticism. In nineteenth century, people are suffocated with the grim reality of capitalist society. Works of realism uncover the corrupt system and egocentric social ethos. They display conflicts between people and society and reveal the alienation of human nature at that time. Those wo

18、rks criticize the unreasonable social system and express the dissatisfaction with the state of society through lateral and objective exposure of the essence of social problems. Thirdly, typification is the core of realism. That means that there must be some representative figures or events in those

19、works. “Realism focuses on creating typical characters in typical environments according to the connections between people and social environment.”2Life is full of complexity and diversification. To record the real life is nothing but a skill of photographer. Realism requests the writers to observe

20、and analyze the society carefully and select meaningful characters and events from colorful life and then to create typical characters and environments through personalized and generalized embellishment. Thus we can get a sight of social reality through details. Last, there is humanitarianism though

21、t in realism. It advocates that everyone is an independent entity. In works of realism, they spread the idea that individual right of freedom and equality should be respected and that personal value and dignity should be admitted.2 Charles DickensCharles Dickens is one of the most outstanding realis

22、tic novelists in England，whose novels focus on the description of the society he was in. He was called “the flag of the times” by Engels. In Charles Dickenss transient life, he left us thirteen and a half novels, more than twenty novellas, hundreds of short stories and so on.2. 1 Life of Charles Dic

23、kensCharles Dickens, who was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, was the second of eight children of his family. His family moved to Norfolk Street soon after his birth. When he was five years old, his family moved to Chatham and to Camden town at the age of ten. When he was quite young, he had a strong thi

24、rst for knowledge and he always sneaks into the loft to read novels such as Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote at that time his family financial situation is quite well, so he was sent to a private school. However, his father, John Dickens, who was a clerk in Navy Pay Office, was boozy, hospitable and

25、spendthrift. “He did not know how to take care of his financial situation and always ran into pecuniary troubles.”3 They could not make their ends meet. As a result, their financial situation became worse and his father was thrown into prison for inability to paying off debts. Since then his family

26、moved to Marshalsea prison, and he was forced to leave school to work in a shoe-blacking factory when he was twelve years old. In the shoe-blacking factory, which is a damp and dirty basement and is full of rats, he had to work for more than ten hours a day. The work is heavy and monotonous and ther

27、e is only six shillings a week. He suffered from hunger, beating, humiliation and other inhumane treatments.In April 1824，John Dickens inherited a fortune of Charles Dickenss grandmother and paid off the debts with the help of his brothers. He was free from the prison and Charles Dickens was free fr

28、om the shoe-blacking factory. At the end of 1825，Charles Dickens was sent back to school, the Willington House Acadamy, which was not considered to be a good school for its desultory teaching, poor discipline, sadistic headmaster and terrible atmosphere. In 1827, his school life is over. He stepped

29、into the society when he was fifteen. At first, he worked in a law firm, and then in a newspaper office. When he was twenty, he became a journalist. As a journalist, he interviewed the policy debate in the House of Commons, which made him aware of the shortcomings of the parliamentary politics. Sinc

30、e then, he began to write. Charles Dickens made a name for himself with the serial publication of The Pickwick Papers in 1836. Later after this year, he got married with Catherine Thomson Hogarth, the daughter of the newspaper publisher. In 1842, Charles Dickens visited American and wrote American N

31、otes. In 1858, he divorced with Catherine.During his life, he concentrated on writing. He is so hard-working that his body had been too much to endure and he died in 1870 at last, leaving numerous works for people. He becomes one of the greatest masters of English literature. 2. 2 Major worksAll his

32、 life, Charles Dickens wrote thirteen novels in addition to an unfinished work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, more than twenty novellas, hundreds of short stories, a sketch, two travels, and a lot of speeches, letters, essays and poems.In 1836，when he was a congress reporter in morning paper. He began to publish articles with which he published Sketches by Boz. However, it is The Pickwick Papers, which came out later in 1836, that made him famous. At first, it attracted a little attention. But in the spring of 1827，it received a lot popularity and became well-known. It is so popular that