Something about Charles Dickens.docx

1、Something about Charles DickensSomething about Charles Dickens I have ever read some novels of Charles Dickens .After finishing the British Literature ,I find I enjoy Charles Dickens and decide to start to read more his works . Hence I find some information about him to share with you .LifeCharles D

2、ickens was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and he remains popular, his novels have delighted generations of readers with their warmth and gentle humor, and his busy life helped to shape some of his most vibrant scenes and famous characters. The defining moment of Dickenss life

3、 occurred when he was 12 years old. With his father in debtors prison, he was withdrawn from school and forced to work in a factory. Though he returned to school at 13, his formal education ended at 15. As a young man, he worked as a reporter. Father of ten children, Dickens struggled with an unhapp

4、y marriage, but he worked untiringly all his life, achieving great fame and fortune. His reading tours, which indulged his love of the stage, enabled him to reach his audiences in Britain and America, and his editing and writing have produced an abundant legacy which continues to inform and delight

5、readers to this day.Great Critical Realism novelistAt a time when Britain was the major economic and political power of the world, Dickens highlighted the life of the forgotten poor and disadvantaged. He was disillusioned with society and championed the welfare of the common man. Their widest expres

6、sion could be found in over a hundred articles Dickens wrote for his weekly magazine, Household Words.Through his journalism he campaigned on specific issuessuch as sanitation and the workhousebut his fiction probably demonstrated its greatest prowess in changing public opinion in regard to class in

7、equalities. He often depicted the exploitation and repression of the poor and condemned the public officials and institutions that allowed such abuses to exist.Dickenss writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery are often popular. Comp

8、aring orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner-party guests to furniture are some of Dickenss acclaimed flights of fancy. His literary style is also a mixture of fantasy and realism.Productive Writer博兹札记 （Sketches by Boz） 1836年 匹克威克外传 （The Pickwick Papers） 1836年 雾都孤儿 （Oliver Twis

9、t） 1837年1839年 尼古拉斯尼克贝（Nicholas Nickleby） 1838年1839年 老古玩店 （The Old Curiosity Shop） 1840年1841年 巴纳比拉奇 （Barnaby Rudge） 1841年 美国纪行 （American Notes） 1842年 小氣財神 （A Christmas Carol） 1843年 马丁翟述伟 （Martin Chuzzlewit） 1843年1844年 塊肉餘生錄 （David Copperfield） 1849年1850年 写给孩子看的英国历史（A Childs History of England）1851年18

10、53年 荒凉山庄 （Bleak House） 1852年1853年 艰难时世 （Hard Times） 1854年 小杜丽 （Little Dorrit） 1855年1857年 双城记 （A Tale of Two Cities） 1859年 远大前程 （Great Expectations） 1860年1861年 我们共同的朋友（Our Mutual Friend） 1864年1865年 艾德温德鲁德之谜（The Mystery of Edwin Drood） 未完成，1870年 Points of View1 Intention: expose and criticize all pove

11、rty, injustice, hypocrisy and corruptness around him2 Complex social attitudes: hating state apparatus while believing in the necessity of states intervention; wanting improvement in the life of the poor but afraid of revolution3 Interested in social reform, but dubious about extending middle-class

12、power to those lower down4 Show humanitarian love and sympathy for the poor, weak, innocent, injured and neglected good peopleMajor Features of Dickens Novelsv Deeply rooted in his knowledge of that petty-bourgeois urban world.v Combination of an optimism about people and a critical realism about th

13、e society.v Character-portrayal: the most distinguishing feature of his creation:1. Child character-portrayal: Oliver Twist, Little Nell, Paul Dombey, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, and Little Pip; writing from a childs point of view.2.Horrible and grotesque figures:Fagin and Bill Sykes3.Humorous

14、 or comical characters: Sam Weller, Mr. Mieawber, Mr. Bumble, and Mrs. Gamp Mingling of humor and pathos. His There Period 1. 1842-1850, The second period- Period of excitement, irritation and frustration: exposing the corrupting influence of wealth and power, optimism turned into dissatisfaction an

15、d irritation2. Dickens s second period began from 1842, the year after his first visit to America. Before the visit, Dickens thought of the United States as a world in which there were no class divisions and human relations were humanitarian. But what impressed him most during his visit there was th

16、e rule of the dollar and the enormously corruptive influence of wealth and power. Dickens s naive optimism toward the capitalist society was profoundly shaken. 3. The third period, a Period of steadily intensifying pessimism, showing underlying tone of bitterness, loss of hope for English bourgeois

17、societyIn his novels of this period, Dickens, consciously and subconsciously, shows himself more and more at odds with bourgeois society . Characteristics of Dickens Life1.A man of action and business in the world, a student and writer of books2.The best shorthand reporter on the London press3.The b

18、est amateur actor on the stage4.A successful periodical editor5.Radical in politics and ideology6.Concerned about social problems7.Faithful to the people, pessimistic to capitalist society, the expression of the conscience of his age Analysis of Some Major Novels The Pickwick Papers Oliver Twist Mar

19、tin Chuzzlewit Dombey and Son David Cooperfield Hard Times A Tale of Two CitiesFeatures of The Pickwick Papers The work that first made Dickens famous as a popular writer of novels Formless plot with many comical episodes The story evolves round the adventures of Mr. Pickwick The novel is full of yo

20、uthful exuberance “the supreme epic of English life” The novel exposes many scenes of social problems, it is dominated not by satire but humour. Gay and merry are the hearts of the Pickwickians The novel is full of nave, youthful optimism, the joy of living, and the lightness of heart. It is a compr

21、ehensive picture of early 19th-century England, affording a whole gallery of vivid portraits of the people of all strata Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller: a pair of 19th-century English Quixote and Sancho Panza The novel shows many of the features of Dickenss novel writing: an encyclopedic knowledge of L

22、ondon, inexhaustible powers of character impulse and a highly individual and inventive prose style It established Dickens overnight as a popular novelist and became one of the best known novels in the world.Oliver Twist A powerful exposure of bourgeois society One of the best works of Dickens Its pu

23、blication brought about some bettering of conditions in the English workhouses during the authors dayPlot of Oliver Twist Olivers birth: of unknown parentage Maltreated by Bumble, the parish beadle In London, he falls into the hands of a gang of thieves Rescued by Mr. Brownlow Kidnapped by the thiev

24、es Wounded in a burgling expedition, rescued by Mrs. Maylie and Rose Adopted by Mr. Brownlow. A happy endingCharacteristics of the novel The novel exposes the inhumanity of city life under capitalism. It shows the extreme brutality and corruption of the oppressors and their agents and the helpless s

25、ufferings of the poor and oppressed. Oliver is the only one who emerges happy and successful in the end. The happy ending comes as a result of Dickenss optimistic belief in the inevitable triumph of good over evil.David Copperfield “David Copperfield” is one of Dickenss best works. It was his own fa

26、vorite. It is written in the first person and is the most autobiographical of all his books. In writing the novel, Dickens threw into it deep feelings and much of his own experience in his younger days. In the story of David s miserable boyhood Dickens depicts his own sufferings as a child-laborer i

27、n a blacking factory. The novel was written at a time when his creative powers had reached their heightPlot summary1. Davids miserable childhood2. Life as a child-laborer in a blacking factory3. Adopted by his great-aunt, Betsy Trotwood, goes to school4. meeting Steerforth, who induces Little Emly t

28、o run away with him and ends up drowning himself5. Falling in love with and marrying Dora who dies soon, then marrying Agnes6. A happy ending of his adventuresFeatures of David Cooperfield The most autobiographical of all Dickenss books Exposes the social evils of his day A personal record and a bro

29、ad picture of the society of the authors day Dickens has lost his old nave optimism about bourgeois society Democratic viewpoint shows itself in the class-orientation of the novel. The lower petty-bourgeois and proletarian characters win the love and sympathy of the readers. The book has a combinati

30、on of verisimilitude , sense of familiarity and artistic maturityA Tale of Two Cities In “ A Tale of Two Cities ” Dickens takes the French Revolution as the background of his novel, and the “two cities” are Paris and London in the time of that revolution. Plot1. Two aristocrats ask Dr. Manette to vi

31、sit a patient2. Dr. Manette writes an account of the atrocity and delivers it to the Minister of State 3. Dr. Manette is seized by the two aristocrats and imprisoned in the Bastille4. Dr. Manette is released after 18 years5. Darnay is brought to trial and released after a year6. He is charged and re-arrested and sentenced to death within 24 hours7. A man named Sidney Carton saves Darnay with his own life 8. Subject: the French Revolution9. Theme: Where there is oppression, there is revolution.10. The fate of Dr. Manette is typical of the bourgeois intellectuals who