A Comparative Study on the Orphans in Dickens’ Novels.doc

a comparative study on the orphans in dickens novelscontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.11.1 a simple introduction of charles dickens.11.2 the historical background about the author and his novels.21.3 a simple introduction of great expectations.31.4 a simple introduction of oliver twist.41.5 a simple introduction of david copperfield.5ii. briefly talk about three orphans suffering.72.1 briefly talk about pips life experience72.2 mainly explain davids suffering82.3 talk about olivers painful experience8iii. a comparative analysis of characters in the three novels103. 1 analysis of the differences between the characters.103. 2 analysis of the similarities between them.12iv. a comparative study on the writing style in the works.134. 1 an analysis of the writing style in each novel134. 2 the study of the differences and similarities in these three novels.15v. the conclusion.16references.17摘要：维多利亚时代的作品极富批判现实主义色彩, 其中以狄更斯的小说最具代表性. 他用既深刻又风趣的写作手法把握住了他那个时代的精神。他向我们展示了，面对不同经济背景的不同人士是如何反应并加以利用或没能利用的。他把这种大气侯滋养的新的贪婪和野心同旧有的爱、忠诚和自我牺牲观念来进行比较，并擅长以孤儿形象作为创作基点，会使用夸张的手法使剧情更有趣或更悲惨。本文作者选择三部描写孤儿形象最出众的小说，着重在童年时代的遭遇出发进行比较分析，得出异同。关键词: 狄更斯小说; 孤儿形象; 比较分析abstract: the works in the victorian period extremely have criticize realistic color. among them, the most representative one may belongs to dickens. dickens captured the spirit of his age in both a profound and entertaining way. he showed how different characters from different economic backgrounds could react and use or fall to use, the new opportunities that unrestricted capitalism was presenting. he contrasted the new greed and ambition that were fostered in this climate with older values of love, loyalty and self-sacrifice. and at the same time, dickens liked to create the basic point of orphan images, and used exaggerating situations to make them more funny or tragic. in this academic paper, the author choose the three most outstanding novels of which splendidly describe orphan image.key words: dickens novels; orphan image; comparative study i. introductionthe contemporary writer of england, george orwell (1940) had said:“among english writers, theres no body can portray child life better than dickens does.”charles dickens, the greatest representative of english critical realism, had a sad, painful childhood. for this reason, he became a great portrayer of child life. in my paper, i will choose these three famous novels, david copperfield, oliver twist, great expectations to do a comparative study of orphan image in dickens novels.1.1 a simple introduction of charles dickenscharles dickens was born on february 7, 1812, and spent the first ten years of his life in kent, a marshy region by the sea in the east of england. dickens was the second of eight children. his father, john dickens, was a kind and likable man, but his financial irresponsibility placed him in enormous debts and caused tremendous strain on his family. when charles was ten years old, his family had moved to london. two years later, his father was arrested and thrown into debtors prison. dickens mother moved into the prison with seven of her children. only charles lived outside the prison in order to earn money for the struggling family. he worked with other children for three months pasting labels on bottles in a blacking warehouse, where the substance people used to make boots black was manufactured. his experiences at this warehouse inspired passages in david copperfield. after an inheritance gave john dickens enough money to free himself from his debt and from prison, charles attended school for two years at wellington house academy. he became a law clerk, then a newspaper reporter, and finally a novelist. his first novel, the pickwick papers (1837), met with huge popular success. dickens was a literary celebrity throughout england for the rest of his life.in 1849, dickens began to write david copperfield, a novel based on his early life experiences. like dickens, david works as a child, pasting labels onto bottles. david also becomes first a law clerk, then a reporter, and finally a successful novelist. mr. micawber is a satirical version of dickenss father, a likable man who can never scrape together the money he needs. many of the secondary characters spring from dickenss experiences as a young man in financial distress in london. dickens found the three months he spent apart from his family highly traumatic. not only was the job itself miserable, but he considered himself too good for it, earning the contempt of the other children. after his father was released from prison, dickens returned to school. he eventually became a law clerk, then a court reporter, and finally a novelist. his first novel, the pickwick papers, became a huge popular success when dickens was only twenty-five. he published extensively and was considered a literary celebrity until his death in 1870.1.2 the historical background about the author and his novelsthe victorian period covers the greater part of the nineteenth century. chronologically it roughly corresponds to the reign of queen victoria who ruled over britain from 1837 to 1901. in the history of britain, the period has generally been regarded as one of the most remarkable in the development of the country. as a historian points out that the age “is one of strenuous activity and dynamic change, of ferment of ideas and recurrent social unrest, of great invention and expansion” david cody, 1988.the early years of the victorian britain was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. after the reform bill of 1832 passed the political power from the decaying aristocrats into the hands of the middle-class industrial capitalists, the industrial revolution soon geared up. steam-powered engines were exploited for railways and iron ships, for looms, printing presses, and farmers combines; scientific discoveries and technologic inventions quickly brought amazing changes to the country. for a time britain was the “workshop of the world.” large amounts of profit were accumulated both from expanding its foreign trade markets and from exploiting its huge-sized colonies. towards the mid-century, britain had reached its highest point of development as a world power.1.3 a brief introduction of great expectationspip, a young orphan living with his sister and her husband in the marshes of kent, sits in a cemetery one evening looking at his parents tomb stones. suddenly, an escaped convict springs up from behind a tombstone, grabs pip, and orders him to bring him food and a file for his leg irons. pip obeys, but the fearsome convict is soon captured anyway. the convict protects pip by claiming to have stolen the items himself.one day pip is taken by his uncle pumblechook to play at satis house. during his visit, he meets a beautiful young girl named estella, who treats him coldly and contemptuously. nevertheless, he falls in love with her. he even hopes that miss havisham intends to make him a gentleman and marry him to estella. miss havisham tells him that she will help him fill out the papers necessary for him to become a common laborer in his familys business. pip works in the forge unhappily. one day a lawyer named jaggers appears with strange news: a secret benefactor has given pip a large fortune, and pip must come to london to begin his education as a gentleman. in london, pip befriends a young gentleman named herbert pocket and jaggerss law clerk, wemmick. he expresses disdain for his former friends and loved ones, especially joe, but he continues to pine after estella. he furthers his education by studying with the tutor matthew pocket, herberts father. herbert himself helps pip learn how to act like a gentleman. when pip turns twenty-one and begins to receive an income from his fortune, he will secretly help herbert buy his way into the business he has chosen for himself. but for now, herbert and pip lead a fairly undisciplined life in london, enjoying themselves and running up debts. mrs. joe dies, and pip goes home for the funeral, feeling grief and remorse. several years go by, until one night a familiar figure barges into pips roomthe convict, magwitch, who stuns pip by announcing that he, not miss havisham, is the source of pips fortune. he tells pip that he was so moved by pips boyhood kindness that he dedicated his life to making pip a gentleman, and he made a fortune in australia for that purpose.pip is appalled, but he feels morally bound to help magwitch escape london, as the convict is pursued both by the police and by compeyson, his former partner in crime. miss havisham has raised her to break mens hearts, as revenge for the pain her own broken heart caused her. pip was merely a boy for the young estella to practice on; miss havisham delighted in estellas ability to toy with his affections. as the weeks pass, pip sees the good in magwitch and begins to care for him deeply. before magwitchs escape, estella marries named bentley drummle. pip makes a visit to satis house, where miss havisham begs his forgiveness for the way she has treated him in the past, and he forgives her. later that day, when she bends over the fireplace, her clothing catches fire and she goes up in flames. she survives but becomes an invalid. magwitch is sentenced to death, and pip loses his fortune. pip falls ill; joe comes to london to care for him. after joe leaves, pip decides to rush home after him and marry biddy, but when he arrives there he discovers that she and joe have already married. pip decides to go abroad with herbert. returning many years later, he encounters estella in the ruined garden at satis house. pip finds that estellas coldness and cruelty have been replaced by a sad kindness, and the two leave the garden hand in hand, pip believing that they will never part again（）.1.4 a brief introduction of oliver twistoliver twist is born in a workhouse in 1830s england. his mother, whose name no one knows, is found on the street and dies just after olivers birth. oliver spends the first nine years of his life in a badly run home for young orphans and then is transferred to a workhouse for adults. after the other boys bully oliver into asking for more gruel at the end of a meal, mr. bumble, the parish beadle, offers five pounds to anyone who will take the boy away from the workhouse. oliver narrowly escapes being apprenticed to a brutish chimney sweep and is eventually apprenticed to a local undertaker, mr. sowerberry. when the undertakers other apprentice, noah claypole, makes disparaging comments about olivers mother, oliver attacks him and incurs the sowerberrys wrath. desperate, oliver runs away at dawn and travels toward london.outside london, oliver, starved and exhausted, meets jack dawkins, a boy his own age. jack offers him shelter in the london house of his benefactor, fagin. it turns out that fagin is a career criminal who trains orphan boys to pick pockets for him. after a few days of training, oliver is sent on a pick-pocketing mission with two other boys. when he sees them swipe a handkerchief from an elderly gentleman, oliver is horrified and runs off. he is caught but narrowly escapes being convicted of the theft. mr. brownlow, the man whose handkerchief was stolen, takes the feverish oliver to his home and nurses him back to health. mr. brownlow is struck by olivers resemblance to a portrait of a young woman that hangs in his house. oliver thrives in mr. brownlows home, but two young adults in fagins gang, bill sikes and his lover nancy, capture oliver and return him to fagin. fagin sends oliver to assist sikes in a burglary. oliver is shot by a servant of the house and, after sikes escapes, is taken in by the women who live there, mrs. maylie and her beautiful adopted niece rose. they grow fond of oliver, and he spends an idyllic summer with them in the countryside. but fagin and a mysterious man named monks are set on recapturing oliver. meanwhile, it is revealed that olivers mother left behind a gold locket when she died. monks obtains and destroys that locket. when the maylies come to london, nancy meets secretly with rose and informs her of fagins designs, but a member of fagins gang overhears the conversation. when word of nancys disclosure reaches sikes, he brutally murders nancy and flees london. pursued by his guilty conscience and an angry mob, he inadvertently hangs himself while trying to escape.mr. brownlow, with whom the maylies have reunited oliver, confronts monks and wrings the truth about olivers parentage from him. it is revealed that monks is olivers half brother. their father, mr. leeford, was unhappily married to a wealthy woman and had an affair with olivers mother, agnes fleming. monks has been pursuing oliver all along in the hopes of ensuring that his half-brother is deprived of his share of the family inheritance. mr. brownlow forces monks to sign over olivers share to oliver. moreover, it is discovered that rose is agness younger sister, hence olivers aunt. fagin is hung for his crimes. finally, mr. brownlow adopts oliver, and they and the maylies retire to a blissful existence in the countryside (zhang, 2004).1.5 a brief introduction of david copperfieldas a young boy, david lives happily with his mother and his nurse, peggotty. his father died before he was born. during davids early childhood, his mother marries the violent mr. murdstone, who brings his strict sister, miss murdstone into the house. the murdstones treat david cruelly. the murdstones send david away to school. peggotty takes david to visit her family in yarmouth, where david meets peggottys brother, mr. peggotty and his two adopted children, ham and little emily. mr. peggottys family lives in a boat turned upside downa space they share with mrs. gummidge, the widowed wife of mr. peggottys brother. davids mother dies, and david returns home, where the murdstones neglect him. he works at mr. murdstones wine-bottling business and moves in with mr. micawber, who mismanages his finances. when mr. micawber leaves london to escape his creditors, david decides to search for his fathers sister, miss betsey trotwood，his only living relative. he walks a long distance to miss betseys home, and she takes him in on the advice of her mentally unstable friend, mr. dick. miss betsey sends david to a school run by a man named doctor strong. mr. spenlow invites david to his house for a weekend. there, david meets spenlows daughter, dora, and quickly falls in love with her.in london, david is reunited with tommy traddles and mr. micawber. david journeys to yarmouth to visit peggotty in her hour of need. little emily and ham, now engaged, are to be married upon mr. barkiss death. david, however, finds little emily upset over her impending marriage. miss betsey visits london to inform david that her financial security has been ruined because mr. wickfield has joined into a partnership with uriah heep. david, who has become increasingly infatuated with dora, vows to work as hard as he can to make their life together possible. dora and david marry, and dora proves a terrible housewife, incompetent in her chores. david loves her anyway and is generally happy. mr. dick facilitates reconciliation between doctor strong and annie, who was not, in fact, cheating on her husband. miss dartle, mrs. steerforths ward, summons david and informs him that steerforth has left little emily. miss dartle adds that steerforths servant, littimer, has proposed to her and that little emily has run away. david and mr. peggotty enlist the help of little emilys childhood friend martha, who locates little emily and brings mr. peggotty to her. little emily and mr. peggotty decide to move to australia, as do the micawbers, who first save the day for agnes and miss betsey by exposing uriah heeps fraud against mr. wickfield. a powerful storm hits yarmouth and kills ham while he attempts to rescue a shipwrecked sailor. the sailor turns out to be steerforth. meanwhile, dora falls ill and dies. david leaves the country to travel abroad. his love for agnes grows. when david returns, he and agnes, who has long harbored a secret love for him, get married and have several children. david pursues his writing career with increasing commercial success ().ii. a close look at the sufferings of the three orphans 2.1 a glimpse of pips life experiencemany of the events from dickenss early life are mirrored in great expectations, which, apart from david copperfield, is his most autobiographical novel. pip, the novels protagonist, lives in the marsh country, works at a job he hates, considers himself too good for his surroundings, and experiences material success in london at a very early age, exactly as dickens himself did. in addition, one of the novels most appealing characters, wemmick, is a law clerk, and the law, justice, and the courts are all important components of the story.great expectations is set in early victorian england, a time when great social changes were sweeping the nation. the industrial revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries had transformed the social landscape, enabling capitalists and manufacturers to amass huge fortunes. although social class was no longer entirely dependent on the circumstances of ones birth, the divisions between rich and poor remained nearly as wide as ever. london, a teeming mass of humanity, lit by gas lamps at night and darkened by black clouds from smokestacks during the day, formed a sharp contrast with the nations sparsely