【英语论文】狄更斯在《双城记》中的人道主义思想（英文）

1、 Wang Gaichun Dickens Humanitarianism in A Tale of Two Cities狄更斯在中的人道主义思想 Name: Wang Gaichun Number: 2002051324 Instructor: Hao Zhuanping Major: English Specialty: English and American Literature Department: Foreign Languages DepartmentMay28, 2006Dickens Humanitarianism in A Tale of Two CitiesThesis

2、 statement: This paper deals with Charles Dickens humanitarianism by analyzing the characters in his works through comparison and contrast.Outline:I. IntroductionA. Charles Dickens is the outstanding realistic novelist in the 19th century. His main theme is humanitarianism.B. A Tale of Two Cities us

3、es the French Revolution as the background and it reflects the authors attitude to the revolution and his humanitarianism.II. The embodiment of humanitarianism on the characters in A Tale of Two CitiesA. The novel expresses the authors sentimental humanitarianism on Dr. Manettes family.1. Lucie, the

4、 golden thread of love, shows great love to her family members and other people.2. Doctor Manette, the typical humanitarian, loves his daughter and shows his sympathy to the ordinary people.3. Charles Darnay, a rebel aristocrat, shows his sympathy to ordinary people.B. This novel advocates the Chris

5、tian love and self-sacrifice.C. This novel also criticizes the violence and oppression in the society.1. The Marquis of Evremonde and his brother, two cruel aristocrats, oppress people severely.2. The Mr. and Mrs. Defarges, two revolutionaries show great hatred to all the aristocrats.III. Conclusion

6、: This novel expresses the authors capitalistic humanitarianism. He thinks that it is inevitable for the revolution to break out, but he disagrees with the cruelty and violence in the revolution. He is the capitalistic reformist in the 19th century.Abstract: Charles Dickens is the outstanding realis

7、tic novelist in the 19th century. And he is also a humanitarian. The main theme of Dickens novels is the humanitarianism and most of his novels reflect this theme. During all these novels, A Tale of Two Cities is the representative work. It uses the French Revolution as the background and it reflect

8、s the authors attitude to the revolution. This paper analyzes his humanitarianism from the characters in this novel. And according to the comparison and contrast of the characters, we can see his humanitarianism clearly.Key words: Dickens; humanitarianism; A Tale of Two Cities摘要：狄更斯是19世纪杰出的批判现实主义小说家

9、，他同时也是一个人道主义者。他小说的主导思想是人道主义。他的很多小说都表现了这一主题。而在他的这些小说中，又以为典型代表。 是一部以法国大革命为背景的小说，它反映了作者对待革命和人性的看法。本文从他小说中的各种人物分析了他的人道主义思想，通过小说中人物的对比，我们可以很明确地看出他的人道主义思想。关键词：人道主义; 狄更斯; 双城记 Dickens Humanitarianism in A Tale of Two CitiesI. Introduction Charles Dickens is one of the outstanding realistic novelists in the

10、19th century. His main theme is humanitarianism. Humanitarianism, as a trend, begins from the Renaissance and it bases on the abstract and universal humanity. Humanitarians start from humanity and set up their ideological system. So the start point is not only their beginning, but also their theoret

11、ical basis. The humanitarians believe that human beings are all kind and the morality can be improved. They advocate that human beings should use the emotion and humanitarianism as the weapon to educate people. And they understand the society from rationality and emotion. And Dickens humanitarianism

12、 sets up on the humanity, which is also his start point. He emphasizes the “ human love ” which is one of the most important points. He does not agree with the revolution, which he thinks is cruel and just one-way of human revenge. He dreams to use the morality to educate the society and then improv

13、e the villain. We can analyze his humanitarianism according to his representative workA Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens serious works. It uses the French Revolution as the background and it reflects the authors attitude to the revolution and his humanitarianism. This work

14、embodies the authors mature thought and deep thinking. The author reviews the reasons of the French Revolution from the viewpoint of humanitarianism to warn the rulers of the England in such a period when the social classes conflict seriously with each other. On the one hand, the author expresses hi

15、s great anger to aristocrats, his sympathy to the sufferings of the public and the inevitability and justice for the revolution to break out; on the other hand, he uses the bloody scene to describe the cruelty of the revolution, and the failure to achieve the poor mans ideal which the revolution int

16、ends to pursue. And then it advocates the authors opinion that human beings should use the kindness to solve the real problems, use the humanity instead of cruelty and horror to harmonize the conflict, popularize the education and improve our society. In this novel, the author portrays some typical

17、characters that embody the authors view. First, he portrays some kind, upright and humane persons, such as Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette, Mr. Lorry, etc. But at the same time, he also portrays some cruel and ferocious persons, such as the Marquis of Evremonde Brothers, Mr. and Mrs. Defarge. He uses the

18、se characters to make a contrast, which clearly expresses his view. IIThe embodiment of humanitarianism on the characters in A Tale of Two Cities A. This novel expresses the authors sentimental humanitarianism on Dr Manette, his daughter Lucie and his son-in-law Charles Darnay.Dickens humanitarianis

19、m is sentimental. Most of his works are sentimental which are expressed by the sympathy and mercy to the ordinary mans destiny. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens capitalistic humanitarianism is embodied on Dr. Manette and his family members, the special capitalistic family, in the period of French Re

20、volution. Before the revolution, they are persecuted by the aristocrats. But when the revolution breaks out, they also suffer the hopeless situation. So when they treat this period and the revolution, on the one hand, they hate the aristocrats and on the other hand, they are shamed to associate with

21、 the proletarians. They intend to seek a peaceful and harmonious life, which regards love as their tie in the revolution. This family embodies the authors humanitarianism very well.In A Tale of Two Cities, Lucie is the representative of the capitalistic sentimental figures. First, she links the whol

22、e family with love. Like Mrs. Defarge, their families are persecuted by the Marquis of Evremond and his brother, so they have the similar sufferings. But the most different thing is that Lucie is not like Mrs. Defarge .She is the golden thread of love, she links the two hateful families together, wh

23、ich symbolizes the effects of dispelling hatred with love. At the beginning of the novel, after a long separation with her father, Lucie, the filial girl nearly fainted when she knows that her father is still alive. And when she sees her father, she feels very surprised and sad. She loves her father

24、 and wants to share his sorrow and sufferings. And her golden curly hair recalled her fathers memory. Her father remembers her according to the golden hair, and when the white hair and golden hair mingled, this warms our readers and even lights her father, which symbolizes the freedom of her father.

25、 At last, Lucie uses her love to recall her fathers dead heart, and she takes care of her father in daily life, makes her father forget his past life in the prison and resume his life, job, rest and happiness. She is also a virtuous wife. She arranges the housework well when they are in Paris. She l

26、oves her husband. When she knows her husband is in danger, she leaves England and goes to Paris to try her best to rescue her husband, even kneels down to Mrs. Defarge to plead for her mercy. When Charles Darnay is arrested again, she goes to the prison and stands there everyday for two hours for he

27、r husband to see her. She is an angel .She is full of kindness in her heart. She is the golden thread of love that unites the whole family with love.Second, Lucie not only loves her family members, but also shows great love to other people. When she gives evidence on the court where Darnay is on tri

28、al for the first time, they are only strangers, but Lucie gives great love and sympathy to this stranger. Her appearance fully proves her sympathy:His daughter had one of her hands drawn through his arm, as she sat by him, and the other pressed upon it. She had drawn closer to him, in her dread of t

29、he scene, and in her pity for the prison. Her forehead had been strikingly expressive of an engrossing terror and companion that saw nothing but the peril of the accused. This has been so very noticeable, so very powerful and naturally shown, that starers who had had no pity for were touched by her.

30、 (Charles Dickens, 1994:74)And when she has to say something detrimental to Charles Darnay, she even cries out, although he is a stranger to her. And from these we can see how kind she is. She is magic. She has great influence on others. And the author also emphasizes this characteristic of Lucie on

31、 her attitude to Sydney Carton. Sydney Carton is a clerk but he is very gloomy in his heart. Lucie knows this and she is very surprised and saddened at this. Then she shows great love to him. When she married, she tells her husband to help him:“I think Charles, Poor Carton deserves more consideratio

32、n and respect than you expressed for him, tonight.” “I would ask you, dearest. To be very generous with him always and very lenient on his faults when he is not by. I would ask you to believe that he has a heart he very very seldom reveals, and that there are wounds in it. My dear, I have seen it bl

33、eeding.” “My husband, it is so. I fear he is not to be reclaimed, there is scarcely a hope that anything in his character or fortunes is reparable now. But Im sure that he is capable of good things, gentle things. Even magnanimous things.”“And, O My dearest love! Remember how strong we are in our ha

34、ppiness and how weak he is in his misery!”(Charles Dickens, 1994:254)This is Lucie. When she enjoys her happiness, she always thinks carefully about others sadness. She shows great love to her family members, to her friends, to all the other people around her. They all center on this golden thread o

35、f love. So Lucie is the representative figure of Charles Dickens humanitarianism. Because of her love, she recalls her fathers memory, recovers her fathers wound and brings happiness for her family. Because of her love, care and trust, she changes the whole life of the desperate clerk Sydney Carton

36、and makes him face his life again. Also because of her love, she saves her husbands life. She has the magic power. She is an angel.Charles Dickens is a capitalistic humanitarian. He advocates the justice and humanity and at the same time, he is also an idealist. He hopes that our society will become

37、 better and he thinks that love and kindness can guide people to the lightness. Dr. Manette is the typical humanitarian. His experiences embody the authors theme. Dr Manette is the center of the family. When he was young, he was full of sympathy. So when he experienced the atrocity of the Marquis of

38、 Evremonde, he felt that it was a burden for him to keep quiet on this thing, so he wrote a letter to the King of France. Then he was put into the prison for 18 years by the Marquis of Evremonde. This action reflects his humanitarianism. When he gets out of the prison, he knows nothing and recognize

39、s nobody. Owing to his daughters love, he recovers. He loves his daughter and the person whom his daughter loves. The most moving thing is that he hates the Marquis of Evremonde, but when he knows his daughter loves Charles Darnay, the descendant of the Marquis of Evremonde, he constrains the great

40、hatred and accepts Darnays marriage with Lucie .In this novel, the author does not write out the sorrow Dr. Manette suffers, but describes it indirectly. When Darnay expresses his love for Lucie to Dr. Manette, there is a struggle on Dr. Manettes face, which seems doubt and dread. But Dr. Manette ac

41、cepts Darnay, he said that everything against the man his daughter really loves should be obliterated for her sake. She is everything to him, more to him than suffering, more to him than wrong, more to him. And after the marriage, the doctor relapses into confusion. He begins to make shoes; he remem

42、bers nothing and recognizes nobody. We can see what he suffers in his heart. But when he knew Darnay is put into the prison, he takes his daughter to Paris and tries his best to rescue him. He said his pain, his sufferings have given him the power to gain news of Charles and he knows he can help Cha

43、rles out of all danger. He said “As my beloved child was helpful in restoring me to myself; I will be helpful now in restoring the dearest part of herself to her; by the aid of Heaven I will do it!”(Charles Dickens, 1994:333) And even in the terrors of the bloody revolution, the doctor walks with a

44、steady head, he never flinches, he is confident in his power and he has never doubted that he would save Lucies husband at last. And at last, he uses his own power to make Charles out of the prison.According to the description of Dr. Manette, we can see he is a noble man. He treats everyone equally.

45、 He uses his way to save his family and other people. Dr. Manette is another typical figure of the authors humanitarianism.Charles Darnay is a rebel youth in aristocrats. He hates and criticizes his family. When he talks to his uncle, he said “We have done wrong, and are reaping the fruit of wrong.”

46、(Charles Dickens, 1994:147) We can see that he is not satisfied about the situation. He sympathizes with the public and he feels uneasy for his social position. When his uncle looks at the house, he said the house to his eyes is fair enough, but seen in integrity under the sky and by the daylight, i

47、t is just a crumbling tower of waste, mismanagement, extortion, debt and oppression. And if this house becomes his, he would put the house into some hands better qualified to free it slowly from the weight that drags it down, and so the miserable people who can not leave it may in another generation

48、 suffer less. And he also did what he said. He gives up all the heritages and the title, and earns money by working as a French teacher. Before the revolution, he had told the Gabelle to compassionate the public and reduce the tax. We can know it from this novel:he had oppressed no man, he had impri

49、soned no man; he was so far from having harshly exacted payment of his dues, that he had relinquished them of his own will, thrown himself on a world with no flavor in it, won his own private place there, and earned his own bread. Monsieur Gabelle had held the impoverished and involved estate on wri

50、tten instructions, to spare the people, to give them what little there was to give-such fuel as the heavy creditors would let them have in winter, and such produce as could be saved from the same grip in the summer-and no doubt he had put the fact in plea and proof, for his own safety, so that it co

51、uld not but appear now. (Charles Dickens, 1994:296)When the revolution breaks out, Gabelle is put into prison, Charles Darnay takes the risk of going back to rescue him for defending humanity, but he is put into the prison and then sentences to death. But even in this situation, he cares nothing abo

52、ut himself but his wife, his daughter and his father-in-law. And this is the ideal youth in Dickens heart. To the author, Darnay rebellion to his class, his humanity to the public are full of humanitarianism. So he has a good ending in this novel: When he will be sent to the guillotine, there is ano

53、ther person replacing him and going to the guillotine for him and he is sent to London.B. This novel advocates the Christian love and self-sacrifice.In this novel, the author also advocates the self- sacrifice and the Christian love. This is mainly embodied on Sydney Carton, the gloomy clerk and bes

54、t friend of the Manettes.Sydney Carton is a clerk in the law firm. In England, he saves Charles Darnay, because of his intelligence. But his life attitude is surprising to us. He said, “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.”(Charles Dickens, 1

55、994:98) From this sentence, we can see how desperate he is! He thinks there is no place for him in the world. But when he finds he loves Lucie, he thinks that he is so degenerate and hopeless, and he has no qualification to love her. So he decides to give her up .He tells Lucie “Be under no apprehen

56、sion, Miss Manette, of my ever resuming this conversation by so much as a passing word. I will never refer to it again. If I were dead, that could not be surer than it is henceforth.”(Charles Dickens, 1994:183) And when he knows Lucies marriage with Charles Darnay, he still shows great love to her a

57、nd he decides to sacrifice himself for Lucies happiness at any time. He said to Lucie “For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. If my career were of that better kind that there was any opportunity or capacity of sacrifice in it, I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear

58、to you.”(Charles Dickens, 1994:184) And Carton achieves his promise to Lucie. For Lucies happiness, he replaces Charles Darnay to go to the guillotine. He uses his body to resist the violence. His sacrifice saves four lives and expresses his great love to Lucie. This novel advocates the Christian love. When he walks on the wa