Humanism Reflected in Dickens’A Tale of Two Cities

1、从狄更斯的双城记透视人道主义humanism reflected in dickensa tale of two citiesabstract: its well known that charles dickens was a great british critical realist writer in the 19th century, a tale of two cities is a representative work of him. the novel with the background of french revolution, on the one hand, the

2、 author praised the courage of the revolutionary; on the other hand, dickens shows his strong criticism on the excess of bloodshed and cruelty during the french revolution. when the revolution evolved in the climax, the author changed his attitude to the revolutionaries, he criticized them as gangst

3、ers, gave them bad end. he felt that the old ways of oppression must be changed. moreover, he portrayed some figures such as docter manette, sydney carton, they stood for spirit of humanism. in the novel, the author used writing skills such as contrasts, symbols to emphasize the theme. and the novel

4、 advocate only kindness and forgiveness can reduce hatred and change the distorted personality. key words : humanism; revolution; kindness; contrasts; symbols 摘要：众所周知，查尔斯狄更斯是英国19世纪伟大的批判现实主义作家，双城记是他的一部代表作。小说以法国大革命为背景，一方面，作者赞扬革命者的勇气和正义感，另一方面，狄更斯又强烈抨击了革命的血腥与残酷。当革命进入高潮时，作者改变了他对革命者的态度，他批评他们是暴徒，并让他们以悲惨的结局

5、告终。他认为旧社会的压迫必须改变。更值得一提的是，他塑造了一些人物像曼内特医生、希尼卡尔登，他们代表着人道主义精神。在小说中，作者运用了对比、象征的写作手法突出了主题，并且认为只有善良和宽容才能消除仇恨和扭曲的心灵。关键词：人道主义; 革命; 善良; 对比; 象征contentsi. introduction.1 ii. humanism reflected in characters.2a. lucie vs madame defarge.21. lucie.22. madame defrage.3b. darnay vs marquis evremonde.41. darnay.42. m

6、arquis evremonde.5c. carton vs dr. manette.61. carton.62. dr. manette.7iii. humanism reflected in authors negative attitude to revolution7iv. humanism reflected from symbols in novel8v. conclusion.9works cited10i. introductioncharles dickens was a typical humanitarian, who expressed his humanism com

7、pletely by his novels. his humanism focused and based on morality. he advised people to be merciful and humane, and he was a good supporter of humanitarian. for instance, in a tale of two cities, he showed deep sympathy to the poor. on the other hand, he strongly crticized the feudal aristocrats beh

8、avior. and he also held a greatest esteem for the love of the human being. dickens believed love was always more powerful than hatred. in his opinion, no matter the person was rich or poor, if his behavior accords with morality, it should be praised. if not, then it should be criticized. therefore,

9、facing the contradiction between the aristocrats and the poor, dickens firmly believed the contradiction could be solved by the great love of the human being. in short, the view of dickens humanitarian could be summarized as thisbe humane and love each other. “a tale of two cities . was a sacrifice

10、of all his greatest gifts; and in my opinion it shows that those gifts-of fantastic speech, of animistic description, of deeply absorbed symbolic overtones-are essential to the success of his action”.(wilson 102) it is one of dickenss most important representative works. the novel profoundly exposed

11、 the society contradiction before the french revolution, intensely attacked the aristocratic social class, and sincerely sympathized with the oppressed classes. the novel also described many magnificent scenes like the resisting people attacked bastille and so on, which displayed peoples great stren

12、gth. the novel has portrayed many different people. doctor manette is honest and kind but suffers the persecution, lucie is beautiful and gentle, charles is graceful and noble, lorry is upright and honest, sydney is innermost feelings of warm, unconventional but also selfless and lofty, miss pross i

13、s straightforward and loyal, evremonde brothers are cruel and selfish. the complex hatred is hard to be solved, the cruel revenge produced more hatred, loves rebirth at the edge of hell, and make the person noble. as an outstanding writer, in dickenss work, the language skill is essential. each kind

14、 of rhetoric technique, like the exaggeration, the symbols, the humor, and the contrast is used in it. the novel, a tale of two cities, is different from the common historical novel, its character and the main plot are all fictionalized. with the broad real background of the french revolution, the a

15、uthor take the fictional character doctor manettes experience as the main clue, interweaving the unjust charge, love and revenge, the three independent but also incidental cross-correlation stories together, and the clue is complex. the author used insert narrates, foreshadowing, and so many techniq

16、ues, causing the structure complete and strict, its plot is winding and rich of dramatic nature, it displayed the remarkable artistic skill. the style of a tale of two cities is serious and blue, filled with anger, but lacks the humor of the early works. ii. humanism reflected in charactersa. lucie

17、vs madame defargethere are many characters in the novel, dickens describes various characters by contrast, thus heightening the theme within the novel. the two most important females in the text are completely different. “lucie is as loving and nurturing as madame defarge is hateful and blood-thirst

18、y”.(phillpshopson 39) dickens uses this contrast to make judgments and make certain theme. thus, for example, while lucies love makes his fathers spiritual transformation and renewal, this indicates “the vigorous tenacity of love is always so much stronger than hate”.(dickens 365) madame defarges ve

19、ngefulness can only makes cycle of oppression, this shows violence to be self-cycled. another example is darnay and carton, at first, it seems that carton is a foil to darnay; darany as a figure reminds him of what he could have been but has failed to become. by the end of the novel, however, carton

20、 transforms himself from a good-for-nothing to a hero whose goodness equals or even surpasses that of the honorable darnay. 1. lucie“each of the three men grouped about lucie manette is recalled to life. her father regains his, on release from the bastille; her husbands life is restored by his deliv

21、erance from la force; and carton finds his by seeking to lose it”.(fielding 74) in my opinion, lucie is an uninteresting person, but if we observe her from the angle of humanism, we will find that “in every detail of her being, she embodies compassion, love, and virtue ”.(phillpshopson 29) lucie man

22、ette - a young french woman who grew up in england. she was the ideal victorian lady, perfect in every way. she was very positive and unselfish, always willing to help others. she had her wonderfully kind and sympathetic nature. the unforgetable image of her cradling her fathers head delicately on h

23、er breast indicate that she is the one who holds her family together. “with the tears streaming down her face, she put her two hands to her lips, and kissed them to him; then clasped them on her breast, as if she laid his ruined head there”.(dickens 74) after dr. manette was rescued from prison, he

24、was completely incapable of functioning in the outside world, having entirely forgotten what life outside of prison is like. lucie loved him unconditionally and helped him regain his sanity. it was a long process, but lucie was dedicated to her father and assisted in recovering from his crazed state

25、. its obvious that lucies love and determination nurse dr. manette back to normality. from this, we can see her tender heart to his father, although she had never seen her father, she still keep her kind heart to him. she takes care of her father just like takes care of a baby. so, we can see she is

26、 a loyal girl. she is full of compassion and kindness. at the same time, lucie helped sydney carton to resurrected. carton stopped getting drunk and began to lead a respectable life. because lucie saw potential for carton, he was inspired to better his life. “if it will do you any good, mr carton, i

27、f it would make you happier, it would make me very glad.i am sure that the best part of it might still be; i am sure that you might be much, much worthier of yourself”.(dickens 180) this was what lucie said to carton, her belief makes him change. she is a girl who can always give people hopes around

28、 her. dickens believes that understanding and love can change a persons life.2. madame defrage her family were victim of the evremonde brothers guilt. so when she grew up, she wanted to revenge. she patiently awaited the beginning of the french revolution, with violence and hatred within her. and di

29、ckens attitudes towards her wasnt all the same. when dickens described madame defarges unfortunate childhood, his sympathy came out of the bottom of his heart. nevertheless, when madame defarge was eager to carry on the revolution and want to revenge on darnay. dickens, as a humanitarian, didnt appr

30、eciate such persons as madame defarge. in later description of madame defarge, dickens even cursed her of her such “ crazy actions”. he thought she was inhumane and her behavior was against the morality. at the beginning, the author doesnt present his prejudice to this woman. “when the one woman who

31、 had stood conspicuous, knitting, still knitted on with the steadfastness of fate”.(dickens 143) his husband also praise her “a great woman, said he, a strong woman, a grand woman, a frightfully grand woman”.(dickens 216) dickens feels she is just like a goddess, she have some good quality such as b

32、rave and determination. it looks like that she stands for justice and freedom. but this kind image for her does not stay long in chapter, “if madame my wife undertook to keep the register in her memory alone, she would not lose a word of it- not a syllable of it.than to erase one letter of his name

33、or crimes from the knitting register of madame defarge”.(dickens 202) madame defarage uses her knitted to record those people who oppressed them. she is prepared to punish their oppressor. she is decided and full of hatred. as madame defarage sits quietly knitting, she appears harmless and a little

34、strange. in fact, however, she judges her victims to death. similarly, the french peasants may appear simple and humble figures, but they eventually rise up to kill their oppressors. madame defarage certainly possesses a bloodlust, but dickens suggests that the bloodlust and cruelty of madame defara

35、ge is the result of her tragic past and suffering, she is not an innate evil. b. darnay vs marquis evremonde1. darnaycharles darnay, the descendant of the evremonde brothers, was born in an aristocratic family. but he hated and criticized what his father and his uncle had done before. he gave up his

36、 marquis and propriety and changed his name and went to england, living as a teacher. “in london, he had expected neither to walk on pavements of gold, nor to lie on beds of roses:he had expected labour, and he found it, and did it, and made the best of it. in this, his prosperity consisted”.(dicken

37、s 160) in dickens eyes, darnay was an ideal “aristocrat” because, unlike other marquis, he was humanitarian and he knew he shoudnt be so harmful to others. “he was quiet and attentive; watched the opening proceeding with a grave interest;that they had not displaced a leaf of the herbs with which it

38、was strewn”.(dickens 94) from this, we can see darnays bravery and composure. although he will face a judge, he never present cowardice, this indicates he is an honest and brave person. we can see this from another part, from the conversation between he and his uncle marquis evremonde, “bound to a s

39、ystem that is frightful to me, responsible for it, but powerless in it;.which implored me to have mercy and to redress; and tortured by seeking assistance and power in vain”.(dickens 154) darnay doesnt want to be a person like his uncle, he hates those bad things done by his family. he struggles and

40、 wants to escape from his family, escape from those chain made by his family. he is a person different from his uncle completely. he is a gentleman, a real nobleman. he says to his uncle: “if it ever becomes mine, it shall be put into some hands better qualified to free it slowly from the weight tha

41、t drags it down,there is a curse on it, and on all this land”.(dickens 155) darnay gives up his property, because he thinks that property doesnt have a good nature. he hates oppression, violence, he wants to creat a happy life through his hard work. so, we can see he is a industrious and honest man.

42、 from this, dickens presents his opinion to us, darnay is a good modle for us, we can get money through morally correct methods. we should learn from him. 2. marquis evremonde in the novel, without any hesitation, dickens exposed what the evremonde brothers had done. in order to seize a peasant woma

43、n, the evremonde brothers forced four innocent peasants to death. they could send anyone to prison by signing a piece of paper.“with a wild rattle and clatter, and an inhuman abandonment of consideration not easy to be understood in these day, one of its wheels came to a sickening little jolt, and t

44、here was a loud cry from a number of voices, and the horses reared and plunged”.(dickens 141) this paragraph describes marquiss craze. he represents not only a little care about those peasants. wherever he went, there just was screaming and fluster. he is just like a monster, except take scare and h

45、arm to people, nothing else. “that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. one or the other of you is for ever in the way. how do i know what injury you have done my horses? see! give him that. he threw out a gold coin”.(dickens 141) as any normal person, they will be angry with

46、 these words and his action. life is invaluable in this world. everyone in this world only have once of it. but marquis ignores this, he thinks those peasants life worthless. a child died under his carriage, he doesnt care about this child but complains something else. this kind of cruelty and abnor

47、mal mind make himself a cold enemy for those peasants. dickens criticizes this behavior. he thinks this kind of oppression must disappear, what he implies in novel is the sentence “the sunset struck so brilliantly into the travelling carriage when it gained the hill-top, that its occupant was steepe

48、d in crimson”.(dickens 144) here author uses symbol of “crimson” to stand for blood, to imply that marquis will die for his cruelty in one day.c. carton vs dr. manette1. cartonsydney carton proves the most changeable character in a tale of two cities, “of all the figures in the book sydney carton is

49、 the one who comes nearest to being deeply realized and the one with whom dickens identified himself most closely”.(johnson 52) he firstly appears as a lazy, alcoholic lawyer who cannot muster even the smallest amount of interest in his own life. he just waste of life and takes every opportunity to

50、declare that he cares for nothing. but we can feel that carton in fact feels something that he perhaps can not refuse. in his conversation with darnay at first time, he seems dislike lucie, but he always presents his good feelings to her. lets look this figure together.“this one man sat leaning back

51、, with his torn gown half of him, his untidy wig put on just as it had happened to light on his head after its removal, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes on the ceiling as they had been all day”.(dickens 106) his apparences and his expressions seems to tell us he is a man who care about nothing

52、, even himself. he doesnt care his clothes, his behavior. he looks like a loser man, he didnt succeed in anything. he is no use to this world and this world dislike him, too. this describtion from the dickens makes a basis for cartons great love in later chapters. to carton, the most words he says a

53、re to present he is a useless person to this world. “as to me, the greatest desire i have, is to forget that i belong to it. it has no good in it for me-except wine like this-nor i for it”.(dickens 114) but the fact is not like this. dickens give this person inner sure by his pen. dickens writes lik

54、e this “this mr carton took in more of the details of the scene than he appeared to take in; for now, when miss manettes head dropped upon her fathers breast, he was the first to see it, and to say audibly:dont you see she will fall”.(dickens 107) although at this time, he has present his kindness a

55、nd insight already. he cares about lucies situation. he can notice some details that others cannot, this is his advantage. obviously, he is not what he describes himself as “i care no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me”.(dickens 115) he cares about lucies situation. “sadly, sadly, the su

56、n rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away”.(dickens 122) dickens thinks carton not only have

57、 a similar face with darnay, but also have a good quality as darnay has. here, the sentences describe a picture of a cold man. in fact he wants to do something that can prove himself, but he still did not find the way. the outside scenes foil the characters inner feelings. dickens presents his sympathy to this chill man and paves the way for the later development. 2. dr. manettedr. manette was a brilliant dentist. he had been imprisoned in the bastille for eight years, this experience drove him to insanity. he was jailed because he couldnt stand what the