William Thackeray 威廉姆.萨克雷

WilliamMakepeaceThackeray(1811—1863)borninCalcuttaonJuly18,1811parents,ofAnglo-Indiandescent;father,appointedtoapositionintheIndianCivilServicein1817,afterhisfather’sdeath,senthometoEnglandtobeeducated(asuccessionofpreparatoryschools;thenpublicschoolattheCharterhouse)in1829,enteredTrinityCollege,Cambridge;formedfriendshipwithTennyson,EdwardFitzgerald&WilliamBrookfield;leftwithoutadegreeThackeray’Life(p.187-192)withcomfortableincomefromhisfather’sestate,couldaffordtotakeanactivepartinthesociety&travelonhisreturntoLondon,begantostudylaw&abandoneditayearlater;later,decidedtostudypainting,unsuccessfulin1833,lostaconsiderablesumofmoneybybuying&editingashort-livedpaperextravagance&unwiseinvestmentdissipatedtherestofhisinheritance;by1834,compelledtoearnhislivingThackeray’Life(p.187-192)in1836,marriedanIrishgirl,IsabellaShawe,3daughters(2survived)afterbirthofthe3rddaughter,Mrs.Thackeraybecamementallyill;untilin1842,hadtobeconfinedinthewreckofmarriage,rearedhisdaughters,notfreetoremarry;therestofhisdomesticlife,frequentlysad&lonelyaftertheillhealthformorethan10years,diedofacerebraleffusionin1863,atKensington,LondonThackeray’Life(p.187-192)HisLiteraryWorks1)TheBookofSnobs《势利人脸谱》《势利者集》ItgivesasatiricaldescriptionofthedifferentstrataoftherulingclassesofEngland.HisLiteraryWorks2)VanityFair《名利场》3)TheHistoryofPendennis《彭登尼斯》4)TheNewcomes《纽克姆一家》5)TheHistoryofHennyEsmond《亨利•埃斯蒙德》6)TheVirginians《弗吉尼亚人》VanityFair:GeneralIntroductionVanityFairisThackeray'smasterpiece.Itwaspublishedin1847-48inmonthlyinstallments.Thesub-titleofthebook,“ANovelWithoutaHero”,suggeststhefactthatwriter'sintentionwasnottoportrayindividuals,butthebourgeoisandaristocraticsocietyasawhole.ThetitlewastakenfromBunyan's“Pilgrim'sProgress”.VanityFair:GeneralIntroductionInthisnovelThackeraydescribesthelifeoftherulingclassesofEnglandintheearlydecadesofthe19thcentury.Itisaworldwheremoneygrubbingisthemainmotiveforallmembersoftherulingclasses.MajorCharactersRebeccaSharp:小说中的主角，家境贫寒，但一心想挤入上流社会。Becky是Rebecca的简称。因此，人们称她为蓓姬.夏普。AmeliaSedley(阿米利亚.赛得莱):小说中的另一个主角，原先家境富有。她心地善良。GeorgeOsborne(乔治.奥斯朋)：阿米利亚的丈夫RawdonCrawley(罗登.克罗莱):富有的克罗莱家族的成员。WilliamDobbin(威廉.朵平):阿米利亚和奥斯朋的好友。JosephSedley(约瑟夫.赛得莱):阿米利亚的兄弟。Pitt(匹特)：罗登.克罗莱的哥哥。罗登.克罗莱的姑妈：富婆。Plot小说的原名为VanityFair，译为“名利场”。“名利场”是指英国当时有钱人的社交场所，可称为“名人俱乐部”。要了解这篇小说的故事情节，有两点要特别注意：一是不仅婚姻要门当户对，而且有钱人不希望有穷亲戚，这是当时有钱人的习惯做法。二是不仅继承财产是当时一些人的致富手段，而且有钱人往往用剥夺继承权作为一种严厉的惩罚手段。PlotBeckyandAmelialeavingschoolInAmelia’shome,BeckytriestoentrapJosephBeckybecomingSirPittCrawley’sgoverness,secretlymarriedtoRawdonCrawleyRawdonCrawleyimprisonedfordebt,findsBeckyentertainingLordSteyne.LeavesforIndiaanddiesoffeverBeckyliveswithJosephandgetsallhispropertywhenhedies.Beckyliveslikeagrandlady.小说从讲述蓓姬.夏普和阿米利亚.赛得莱二人离开克律斯维克学校开始。蓓姬父母双亡，跟随阿米利亚到她的家中暂住。阿米利亚对于进入“名利场”没有兴趣，而蓓姬则是一心一意想进入这个圈子。她深知，她既无钱财，又无地位，要进入这个圈子只能靠自己的本领。她到了阿米利亚家中后，首先是设法得到约瑟夫.赛得莱（阿米利亚的兄弟）的好感，希望能够嫁给他。但乔治.奥斯朋（阿米利亚的未婚夫）看破了她的企图，并阻挠此事，因为他不希望有蓓姬这样的穷亲戚。蓓姬无可奈何，离开了阿米利亚的家，到有钱有势的克罗莱家去当了女管家。这次她的努力获得成功。她成为罗登.克罗莱的妻子。但在这个家族中，掌握财权的人是罗登的姑妈。这个富婆反对罗登的婚姻，剥夺了他的继承权。阿米利亚的家境其实并不富有。因此，奥斯朋的父亲打算阻止他的儿子与阿米利亚的婚姻。但他的阻挠未能实现。他们两人的好友威廉.朵平促成了这椿婚事。奥斯朋的父亲剥夺了他儿子的继承权。两人生活艰难，后来乔治又死于滑铁卢战场。威廉.朵平暗地里资助阿米得亚。由于贫困，阿米利亚把她的儿子乔杰交给了爷爷奥斯朋。威廉.朵平做工作让阿米利亚同她的爷爷和好，最后，威廉与阿米利亚结婚。另一方面，蓓姬结婚后，利用克罗莱家族的名望，结交了不少有钱有势的人。尽管她说她是从她的丈夫罗登那里致富的，其实不是如此。她是恁着她自己的手段，从多方面搞到钱财的。她的丈夫罗登最后看清了蓓姬的为人，离开了她，死在他乡。蓓姬又与阿米利亚的兄弟约瑟夫结婚。婚后他也看清了蓓姬的为人。不久他也去世了。蓓姬的相好，伯爵老斯台恩，最后也离开了她。克罗莱富婆让罗登的哥哥匹特继承了她的财产。匹特及其子小匹特死后，富婆的遗产转为蓓姬之子小罗登所有。此时蓓姬也感悟到过去自己的所作所为没有什么意义，而且并不光彩，开始从事慈善事业。CharacterAnalysisofVanityFaircharactersAmeliaSedleyRebeccaSharpabourgeoissocietycunning,immoralandquick-witted随机应变的shrewd,unscrupulous,sophisticated世故的simple,sentimental,weak,butgoodatheartAnalysisofVanityFairInthenovel,BeckySharpisaclassicexampleofthismoney-grubbinginstinct(本能).EveryonewishestogainsomethinginVanityFairandactsalmostinthesamemannerasBecky.TheCharacteristicsofVanityFair(1)VanityFairhasasub-title,ANovelWithoutaHero,whichintendstoportraythebourgeoisandaristocraticsocietyasawhole.TheCharacteristicsofVanityFair(2)VanityFairisworkofsocialcriticism,andisnotedfortheauthor’srealisticdepiction,theironicandsarcastictoneandconstantcommentandcriticism.(3)InVanityFair,Thackeraygivesblockcharacters(人物群体).TheCharacteristicsofVanityFair(4)ThackerayusessymbolisminVanityFair.(5)Thackerayemploysanomniscient(无所不知的)narratortotellthestory.CommentsonThackeray’sNovels1)Thackerayisoneofthegreatestcriticalrealistsofthe19thcenturyEurope.Hepaintslifeashehasseenit.Withhispreciseandthoroughobservation,richknowledgeofsociallifeandofthehumanheart,thepicturesinhisnovelsareaccurateandtruetolife.2)Thackerayisasatirist.Hissatireiscaustic(刻薄的，尖锐的)andhishumorsubtle(精妙的).3)Thackerayisamoralist.Hisaimistoproduceamoralimpressioninallhisnovels.WhatarethedifferencesbetweenDickensandThackeray?Theirdifferences:①TheworlddescribedbyThackeraywasadifferentonefromthatofDickens.Thackeraymainlydescribedthelivesofaristocratsandrichpeople,whereasDickens’chiefcontributionwashisdescriptionofthecommonpeople,likeOliveTwist.②Dickenswasasentime