狄更斯《艱難時(shí)世》論文正文

1、analysis of love in hard timesi. introductioncharles john huffam dickens was an english novelist, generally considered the greatest of the victorian period dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible fo

2、r some of english literature most iconic novels and characters charles dickens has achieved popular recognition to a degree rarely equaled in english men of letter since the publication of his first novel. with regard to his great work-hard times,critics both at home and abroad have made much progre

3、ss on the study of themes and charcters,although hard times has not attracted as much attention as great expectations or bleak house.however,the perspectives in those studies on hard times ar somewhat limited in the sense that most people think that in a world of indifference, selfishness and dishon

4、esty, people are thrown into a desperate state,feeling lonely and helpless. however, we should learn to look at the bright side of our life.lt is not difficult to see that hard times is full of truth,beauty and kindness it is with the intention of providing the readers with a better understanding of

5、 hard times that i have decided to write the present dissertation.i i literary review2. 1 charles dickens2. 1. 1 lifecharles dickens was born in a little bouse in landport,portsea,england,on february 7lh 1812.at the age of elven,dickens was taken out of school and sent to work in a london blacking w

6、arehouse,where his job was to paste labels on bottles for six shillings a week.when the family fortunes improved,charles went back to school,after which he became an office boy a freelance reporter,and finally an autho匚his realistic writing style had a great influence on subsequent writers like herr

7、y jamesjoseph conrad and bernard shaw,dickens novels go beyond the social injustice and highlight on the distortion and alienation of human nature.as one of the most realistic writers ,dickens directs his fictions to a questioning of social injustices and inequalities.2. 1.2 workswith pickwic paper(

8、 1836-7)dickens achieved immediate fame: in a few years he was alredy the most popular and respected writer of his time. it has been estimated that one out of every ten people in victorian enaland was a dickens's reader. oliver twist (1837),nicholas nickelby (1838-9), and old curiosity shop (184

9、0-41) were huge successes: martin chuzzlewit (1843-4)was less so,but dickens followed it with his unforgettable a christmas carol (18443).bleak house (1852-3) injustices of british society. a tale of two cities (1859).great expectations (1860-61) and our mutual friend (1864-5) complete his major wor

10、ks.2.1.3 commentsas the geatest representative of british critical realistic writer of the 19th century. charles dickens has been enthusiastically criticized both before and after his death. for instance:he is both the most imaginative and fantastic and the most topical and documentary of great nove

11、listralf waldo emerson once said: tm afraid he has too much talent for his genius: it is a fearful locomotive to which he is bound and never be free from it nor set to rest.aprt form the comments abroad,here is one of the comments at home.critics have always been challenged by his art,and often anal

12、yze dicken's works from perspectives such as historical background,his own life experiences and his writing lechniquesfrom the above,we can see that the critics are ovessive about charles dickens himself and his works.2.2 hard timesdismiseed initially as "sullen socialism”jhe nobel gained n

13、ew life with f，r,leavis，s positive critical treatment in the great tradition (1948) lea vis considered hard times as dickens 2.2 the fiction in the west,there are two ways of rading into hard times. read it as a fiction of city. from this reaped, we can see mr,bounderby reiterates his rise from birt

14、h-in-a-ditch to industrial and finania eminence, that brings the poor and the homeless to the center of dicker's stage: raher,it is in therir relations to the hegemonic middle class that dickens explores the range of possibilities offered by the urban theatre of modern life read it as fiction of

15、 childhood. while dickens invariably set himself against religious severity,he was nevertheless good at imagining wicked children as spotless ones-for example,tom gragrind in hard times,a veritablemonstermof selfishness who grows into a young man given to "groveling sensualities.masterpiece and

16、 "his only serous work of arf since then it has been one of dickens9 best-sellers,widely taught in schools, partly due to the fact that it is dickers shortest major work.2.2. 1 the main ideahard times is dickens strong and direct attack on industrial conditions in the midlands. and a one-sided

17、attack on the utilitarian value system of the middle 19th century based upon emotional blue-collar appeals for labor sympathy.instead of presenting a historically accurate picture of the extraordinary changes brought about by the industrial revolution,hard times,which is written on the basis of an i

18、nwestigation of the industrial manchester town, gives a true but sorrowful life of coketown,and shows the writer's deep concern with the morality problems of peple in industrialization.i i i. the plot of hard times3.1 sowingthomas gradgrind runs a school of hard fact in the industrial city of co

19、ketown.he happen to see his children,louisa and tom,peering into a circus in direct opposition to his views on things of fancy.the cause for the offense,suggested by his friend josiah bounderby.a "self-made manbanker and mill owner in coketownjs that sissy jupejhe daughter of one of the circus

20、folk from slearys traveling circus,has been enrolled in gradgrind's school and is a bad influence.gradgrind and bounderby proceed to visit the girl's father in order to have herre removed from school. they find that he has abandoned the girl and gradgrind agrees to take her in in the hope of

21、 reforming her on the condition that she never mentions her former life.stephen blackpool power loom weaver in bounderbys mill,is married to a drunk. when he asked bounderby tells him that he married for better or worse and without money cannot be release! from the marriage.stephen sees that despite

22、 the poor conditions in the factories, the union is not a very feasible option because the negotiator,slackbridge,as his name suggests,is a very poor "bridgebetween the workers and the owners because he does not support the union,his peers rejuect him.before long he is fired by bounderbytom，lou

23、sia,and sissy finish school,sissy unsatisfactorily, tom is apprenticed to bounderby asked gradgrind for lousia's hand and she reluctantly agrees to marry him on the chance of helping tom. sissy remains with mrs,gradgrind to help raise three younger children.3.2 reapingjames hrthouse, a character

24、istic member of the upper-class, comes to coketown to search for something else to bide his time with,harthouse is very manipulative and toys with people's emotions and disegards their feelings in favor of his own favey.tom has taken to gambling and has fallen heavily into debt. louisa and tom v

25、isit stephen and louisa symathetiaclly offer money to help him relocate. tom takes stephen aside and asks him to loiter around the bank in the evenings before he leaves town on the pretense of offering work.the bank is robbed and blackpool,seen loitering about the bank in the days before the robbery

26、,is suspected.mrs,sparsit, bounderbys housekeepe, captures mrs.pegler and brings her to bounderbyshouse where shi is revealed to be bounderby loving mother,disproving bounderby's story of being a self-made man,abandoned as a chile.harthouse falls in love with lousia and trieds to lure her aways

27、from her unhaoppy marriage to boundrby.she flees to her father and reveals the unhappiness she has felt since childhood.he soften as he realizes the mistakes he made in her education.3.3 garneringlouisa stays with his father, cared for by sissy. bounderby abandons louisa.rachael and sissy, walking i

28、n the country,come across stephen's hat near a deserted mine and realize he has fallen in. they summon help, stephen is brough out alive but dies on the way back to town. before dying he tells migradgrind to question his son, tom concerning the robbery.tom, knowing that capture is close at hand

29、escapes, with the help of sissy, to a town where sleary circus is performing thomas, sissy,and lousia meet him there and.after a last minute attempt by bitzer to capture him,escapes avroad, with the help of the circus folk, where he later dies in misery. thomas gradgrind abandons his inflexible dema

30、nds for facts in favor of'faith,hope,and charity11.iv. the love in hard times4.1 huam lovein dicken9s opinion, individual "human love" may turn a weak person into a strong and fearless one to protect whom he or she loves. it's much more powerful and energetic than facts;and it brin

31、gs about hope and future for human beings-if everyome is able to lovejf everyone cares for others with their loving heartjf everyone is surrounded by love,what a bright and happy world wil it be for all human being? how can any evil still exist in such a beautiful world?while industrialization has b

32、rought the great britain unprecedented economic development it has consigned the common people to an impersonalized word of loneliness and helplessness, in which they have lost their innocence, their passions, their free mind and their true naturehard times , wriiten in the background of industriali

33、zation,not only gives a satirical portryal of the bourgeoisie and all the hypocritical ruling class,but also show a pround symphathy for the honest and good-hearted common people of the oppressed and exploited lower class-4. 2 love generates strength4.2.1 rechaei and stephens wifeindustrialization b

34、rought england profits as well as problems- wealth grew hand in hand with poverty and social injustice.trade and manufacturing based their economic growth on shmeless intrigue and merciless exploitation the steam engine becamea powerful monsterenslaving millions of people. under dicken's pen the

35、 coketown was a living hell for the proletariat.it was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it. it was a town of machinery and tall chimneys,out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever,and never got uncoied

36、.people all wen in and out at the same hours, with the shae sound upon the same pavements ,to do the same work,and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next.caought up in the plight,stephen5s wife chose to look for a release in

37、her own way. "she took to drinking,left off working, sole the furniture, pawned the clothes,and played old gooseberry. she disgraced herselm everyways,bitter and bad'she cared about nothing and loved mobody.we can say thai is is the lack of love that resulted n what she was.one day stephen&

38、#39;s wife was drunk once again/5all wandering and lost, wounded too, and bruised rechael, who loved stephen, came to look after her,her disgraceful garments were removed,and everything was in its place and order as stephen had always kept i匸rachaers love for stepherfs wife wa totally unselfish. she

39、 did this for the reasons that stephen's wife worked with her when they were girls, and that stephen shouldn't let his wife die when he was kindhearted/5thou art not the man to cast thrlast stone,stephen, when shi is brought so low：4.2. 2 reachaei and stephenrachael is the one that cares abo

40、ut stepheni am thy poor friend,with all my heart and mind：stephen also admitted that: “thou last done me so much good,and heartened of me in that cheering way"when the bank is robbed and stephen blackpool,seen loitering about the bank in the days before the robberyjs suspected and hunted by mr.

41、bounderby,who jumped to a premature conclusion and unfairly condemned blackpool without the benefit of due process.but racheal knew him and trusted hem?'the master aginast him on one hand, the men aginst hi on the other,he only wantin to work hard in peace,and do what he felt right.mjust support

42、ed by a sense of duty and devotion derived from her keen love to stephen, she appears unexpectedly calm and brave,she wrote stephen what had been done against him and came to mibounderby,helping clear stephenstephen! the honestest lad, the truest lad,the best!"having seen stephen lying maimed a

43、t the bottom of a deserted mine, rachael fell upon her kness and crying outo,my good lordjhes down there! down there!,7at first this ,and her terrific screams,were all that could be got from racheal.by any tears ,by any prayers, by any representation,by any meansall the emotions stirred by her love

44、to stephen went out at once at that moment.comvice by sissy. rachaelran as she had never run before to seek help . from this we can see how deep she loved him, and its the love that carried her on helping and saving stephen.finally stephen was brought up. though he lay quite motionless looking up at

45、 the sky,the first word he said was "rachaergiving away stephen's love to rachael. therr abiding love is seen from this:u rachael, belove lass! dorft let go my hand. we may walk toogetert9night, mydear!""i will hold thy hand, and keep beside thee, stephen5all the way"from rac

46、hael and stephen, we can see that people equipped with intense human love will be granted formidable and infinite courage and strength to support them undergoing any suffering and overcoming any hardship optimistically and indomitably.4. 3 love brings about hope4. 3. 1 the hope of stephenlook at the

47、se words stephen said to rachael.“thouit an angel: it may be, thou hast saved my soul alive，'"i coom home desperate. i coom home w廠out a hope, and mad withinking that when i said a word o' complaint i was reckoned a unreasonable hand i told thee i had had a fright. it were the poisobott

48、le on table. i never hurt a livin5 creetur: but happenn9 so suddenly upont i thowt/how can i say what i might ha9one to myselnor her,or both!"but i see thee, rachael, setten by he bed, i ha9 seen htee, aw this night. in my troublous sleed i ha" known thee still to be there. evermore i will

49、 see thee there. i nevermore will see her or think o5 her, but thou shalt be beside her. 1 nevermore will see or think o' anything that angers me, but thou, so much better than me,shalt be by th si de on5t and so i will try v look v th5 time, and so i will tryttrust v th" time, when thou an

50、d me at last shall walk togehenr far awa，s beyond the deep gulf, in th' country where thy little sister isnthere?s no denying that rachael is the hope of stephen. it is rachaefs kindess and love that ends stephen's nightmare and gives him the hope of a better life.dickens' intention here

51、 is that as long as people are filled with love, by which is naturally followed an affectionate kindness,it is very possible for the prospect of a beautiful new world for mankind.4. 3. 2 the hope of solutionsbeing a bourgeois writer motivated by a loving heart and strong sense of justice, dickens ho

52、pes to keep the existiong system and expects the rulers to carry out reforms voluntarily. thus he follows carlyle's "transcendental activism"。create thomas grandgrindon account of the fact that his class attribute determines that his social criticism is in the form of a general vision

53、of society rather than concrete or constructive political proposals for social changethus there is a voice denying the hope hard times offers, that is, hard times holds up little hope for public solutions to public ills. dicken is as interested in the ruin of the individual as in the tangles of the

54、system,and hard times offers little hope the resurrection of the passionate fires that louisa gradgrind once kept banked inside herwhereas i think it is already a kind of progress to admit the working-class people's status and to describe their laoughters and tears, love and hatred, happiness and sufferings, and that it may be too much for a novelist to produce a detailed and practicalble blueprint of the future society which will result from his resolution.conclusioncharles dicke