艰难时世解读

CharlesDickensLifeandCareerLiteraryWorksCommendsLifeandCareer•Born:7February1812•Birthplace:Portsmouth,England•Died:9June1870•1812CharlesDickenswasbornin1812atPortsmouth,thesonofanunpracticalandimprovidentgovermentnavyclerk.•1822Hishappychildhoodendedin1822whenfamilymovedtoLondon.•1824YoungCharlesworkedatashoe-blackingfactory.•1827CharlesworkedasaclerkinaLondonlawyer'soffice.•1836HemarriedandpublishedhisfirstworkSketchesbyBoz,therestofhislifewasastoryofwork.•1870Hediedofoverwork,leavinghislastdetectivenovelEdwinDroodunfinished.LiteraryWorks•Roughlyspeaking,Dickens'workscanbedevidedintotwoparts:theearlygroupandthelatergroup.EarlyWorks(1836-1850)•ThePickwickPapers(1836-1837)•OliverTwist(1837-1839)•TheOldCuriosityShop(1840-1841)•AmericanNotes(1842)•MartinChuzzlewit(1843-1844)•DombeyandSon(1846-1848)•DavidCopperfield(1849-1850)LaterWorks(1852-1870)•BleakHouse(1852-1853)•HardTimes(1854)•InLittleDorrit(1855-1857)•ATaleofTwoCities(1859)•GreatExpectation(1860-1861)•OurMutualFriend(1864-1865)Commends•Hewasasympathisertothepoor,thesuffering,andtheoppressed;andbyhisdeath,oneofEngland'sgreatestwritersislosttotheworld.）WestminsterBackgroud•狄更斯早就想写一部反映劳资矛盾的小说。一八三八年他到北部工业区曼乇斯特等地参观时，看到那里工人的悲惨处境非常吃惊，想要对这现象作“有力的一击”。但是，这个愿望过了十多年才实现。……•五十年代初，工人运动的滚滚浪潮虽然已经消退，但由于资产阶级肆无忌惮地压榨工人，一些工业城市仍不断爆发罢工斗争。正当狄更斯开始写作《艰难时世》时，普莱斯顿的工人正在举行罢工斗争，狄更斯曾到那里去了解罢工情况。他担心人民的不满情绪一旦爆发出来，国家将受到猛烈的震动。狄更斯认识到当时劳资之间矛盾的尖锐性和严重性，并意识到造成这种情况的原因是资产阶级只顾赚钱，不管工人死活。因此他决心在作品中对曼彻斯特学派功利主义加以迎头痛击。在写给他朋友查尔斯·耐特的信中，他这样谈到《艰难时世》的写作意图：“我的讽刺对准那些只知数字和平均数而不知其他的人，这些人是这时代的最邪恶的最重大的弊病的代表。”从作品看来，他的创作意图确是得到了很好的表现。ThesynopsisofHardTimes故事艰难时世故事简介.doc梗概ThecharacterandtheirrealitionshipinHardTimesMr.Gradgrind.Mrs.Gradgrind.Tom.Louisa.Mr.Bounderby.Mrs.Pegler.Mr.Harthouse.Mrs.Sparsit.SissyJupe.StephenBlackpool.Mrs.Blackpool.Rachael.Mr.Gradgrind:amanoffact.heoncesaid:inthislife,wewantnothingbutFacts.Heissternandrigid.HeforcedhisdaughtertomarryMr.Bounderbywhoisalmost30yearsbiggerthanshe.Inthenovel,theauthordescribedhimasamanoffactsandcalculations.Amanwhoproceedsupontheprinciplethattwoandtwoarefour,andnothingover,andwhoisnottobetalkedintoallowingforanythingover.Mrs.Gradgrind:wifeofMr.Gradgrind.Atraditionalhousewife,shetotallyobeyherhusband'sorder,sheneverdaretoexpressherownemotion,evenforherchildren,so,tosomeextent,LouisaandTomismiserableforsuchamother.MajorcharactersandtheirfeaturesinHardTimesLouisa:agirllivedinaboringfamily,shedidnotfeelanyloveinherchildhoodfromherparents,soshealwaysholdanegativeattitudetolife,but,sheisyoung,whenshemeetMr.James,shefellinlovewithhe,andafteraseriesofthingsandchanges,shefinallyfindherhappinessintherestofherlife.Tom:Louisa'sbrother,aboywhoisinfavorofadventureandcuriousaboutanything,butunderthecontroloftheirsternfather,hisnaturewaslimited,sohechoosedanextremewaytorevengehisfather,butthewayofhisrevengeisdepravedanddestructive.SoIthinkheistwistedunderhisfatherandthatsociety'scontrol.Mr.Bounderby:inthenovel,hewasarichman,banker,merchant,manufacturer,andwhatnot.Abig,loudman,withastare,andmetalliclaugh.Wecanseeheisatypicalbusinessman.While,heisalsoacruelindustrialist,heexploithisworkmen.Hedeclarehewasborninaditch,hewasabandonedbyhisparents,whilehewaslie.Itishewhodiscardhismotherandforbidhermothertopayavisittohe.Inconclusion,whentalkingaboutMr.Bounderby,Icallheaaffectedman.Mrs.Sparsit:Anevilwoman,sheisMr.Bounderby'sstewardess,sheisverycapable,butsheisalsojealousofLousia,shethinksheshouldbeMrs.Bounderby.ShecouldbedescribedastheshadowofMr.Bounderby.SissyJupe:agoodgirl,wholivedwithhisfather,butbecauseofanmistakeinoneperformance,herfatherleftheraloneinCoketown.Herlifeismiserableandfilledwithhardship.Whilesheisakind-heartedgirl,honestandunaffected.StephenBlackpool:amosttragicpersoninthisnovel,hehasthegoodvirtuesasSissyJupe,butheispowerlessinthefightofcapitalism,inthenovel,hefelledintoamineanddied.HumorousandPungentironyGentleReformismandStronghumanitarianSymbolismclearcluesInterestingandcomplexplotsExplorationofman’sinnerconflictsTheartoflanguageParallelismHisskinisnothealthy,thelackofanaturalpigment,ifhewascut,perhapseventheflowofbloodiswhite.他的皮肤是不健康的，缺少了自然的色素，如果他被刀割了以后，可能连流出来的血也是白的Hedoesn‘thavemuchhair,youprobablythoughtitwasbecausehetalkedtoomuchandmakeshairturnaway,leavingitabitdisorganizedandprickedup,alsobecauseofhisstrongwindwafted,putthemintothesame.他没有多少头发，你可能以为是由于他谈话谈得太多而把头发谈掉了，剩下来的那一点儿杂乱无章地竖了起来，也是由于他那大风似的吹劲儿，把它们吹成那个样子的。（《艰难时世》）HumorousandPungentirony工人们在他们眼里不是活生生的人，而只是“人手”，只是为他们提供财富的工具而已，正如文中所说“说实在的，如果当初老天能把这一物种创造得只有手，或创造得像海边低级生物一样只有手和肚子，某些人会对这一物种更有好感。”Explorationofman’sinnerconflictsThewriterisskillfulatrevealingtheconflictsbetweencharactersbyforeshadowingindialogues,actionsandscenes.GentleReformismandStronghumanitarianinthisnovelDickensexpressedhishumanloveforthepoor,revealingthatlovegeneratesstrength,lovetriumphsoverfacts,andlovebringsabouthope.ThroughanalyzingtheloveinHardTimes,Icanmakeaconclusionthatthisnovelisfulloflove.Symbolism象征是根据事物间的联系，借助联想作用，以具体形象的事物来表示抽象观念或思想感情的修辞方法。焦煤镇，这个从名字上就可略知其一二的小镇，作为小说中的主要地点，是这样被作者描述的：“在这样一个好天气中从远处眺望焦煤镇，可以看到它被自己所产生的、连阳光都穿不透的烟雾所覆盖着。你知道镇子