A Brief Survey of the Humanitarianism Reflected in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities1.doc

简述反映在查尔斯狄更斯双城记中的人道主义a brief survey of the humanitarianism reflected in charles dickens a tale of two citiescontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.21. charles dickens biography.22. the setting of a tale of two cities.23. summary of a tale of two cities.3ii. literature review.4iii. charles dickens view of humanitarianism.6 1. humanitarianism. 6 2. charles dickens humanitarianism.6iv. characters analysishumanitarianism reflected in a tale of two cities.71. sydney cartons self-sacrifice for love.82. dr manette and madame defarge.9v. conclusion.10references.11abstract: charles dickens was an outstanding novelist and a great humanitarian in the 19th century. he was a productive writer; many of his works express the spirit of humanitarianism. a tale of two cities is the most representative novel of charles dickens humanitarianism. in the novel, dickens highly spoke of dr manetee, lucy manetee, sydney carton and charles darnay because of their honesty, kindness and humanitarian. among whom sydney carton is the ideal character in the view of charles dickens humanitarianism; he was well-known for his self-sacrifice and his secret love for lucy, which moved centuries of readers. on the contrary, the evermonde brothers, madame dafarge and other aristocrats were criticized strongly by dickens without any hesitation for their cruelty and crime. dickens humanitarianism was his powerful weapon to fight against the darkness of the reality. although there are some improper points in dickens humanitarianism, we consider the view of charles dickenss humanitarianism positive and advanced until nowadays.key words: charles dickens; humanitarianism; a tale of two cities; morality; love摘 要：查尔斯狄更斯是19世纪杰出的小说家和伟大的人道主义者。他是一位多产的作家，他很多的作品都表达了人道主义的思想。双城记是表达查尔斯狄更斯的人道主义思想最具代表性的著作。在双城记中，狄更斯高度赞扬了马内特医生，露西小姐，西德尼卡尔顿和查尔斯达尔内的忠诚、善良和仁爱品质。卡尔顿是查尔斯狄更斯人道主义精神的理想人物，几个世纪以来，他的自我牺牲精神以及他对露西的暗恋感动了所有的读者。而相反，狄更斯毫不犹豫地批判了埃弗蒙德兄弟，得伐石太太和其他的贵族阶层的残酷罪行。狄更斯的人道主义精神是他反对黑暗现实最有力的武器。尽管狄更斯的人道主义存在一些不恰当的观点，但是直到今天，我们仍然认为查尔斯狄更斯的人道主义是积极的，进步的。关键字：查尔斯狄更斯；人道主义；双城记；道德；仁爱i. introduction1. charles dickens biographycharles dickens is generally considered the greatest english novelist of the victorian period. dickens was born on february 7, 1812, in portsmouth, england. he was the second of eight children of john and elizabeth dickens. his early childhood was a happy one. though plagued by frequent illnesses, his first years were also filled with exciting stories told to him by his parents and his nurse. however, his family moved to london when dickens was twelve, where his father was imprisoned for debts. charles was forced to go to work in a blacking warehouse to support him himself. when he was thirteen, he went back to school for two years and later became a freelance court reporter. from the time he was twenty-one, charles dickens knew he would not be the great actor he had imagined, or even the journalist he next attempted to be. instead, he felt he was destined to become a great novelist. he not only had experienced the same joys and tragedies his characters would have, but he also had the great talent to make his readers feel and see all these experiences in detail. during his lifetime, dickens had written many famous novels, such as david copperfield, oliver twist, a tale of two cities, great expectations, and so on, through the characters of which dickens expressed his view of humanitarianism. he advocated diminishing the contradiction between the aristocrats and the poor. a tale of two cities is charles dickens most representatives, successful and brilliant novel; it occupies a central place in the canon of charles dickens works. (dictionary of english literature authors works, 119) 2. the setting of a tale of two citiesthe era in which the story of a tale of two cities takes place is the latter part of the 19th century in both france and england during the chaotic times when the french peasants began one of the bloodiest revolutions in history. prior to 1789, the french revolution began; the only nations with any true understanding of modern conception of human rights were great britain and its former colony, the united states. to those two nations, the most important rights were political and civil rightsthe right to participate in government, freedom of expression, and equality before law. human rights also encompass economic and social freedomsthe right to move out of the class into which one was born. in the years before the revolution, french women enjoyed virtually no civil or economic rights. the revolution significantly altered french society, but only for a decadeunfortunately, by the turn of the 19th century, when napoleon ascended to power; france had mostly reverted to its old ways. (a history of english literature) although a tale of two cities takes place in a time some seventy years before dickens was writing the novel, it does indirectly address contemporary issues with which the author was concerned. dickens is not only a master storyteller but also a reformer and humanitarian. in a tale of two cities, the status of the poor were far below the aristocrats, the poor suffered from cold, hunger and long hours of work, they were exploited by the rich. however, the aristocrats lived luxurious life and they owned most of the treasures which were all from the poor, they were afraid that the poor would like to improve their life level ad they worked as cheap labor, so they bullied or even killed the poor without any mercy. finally, the poor rose up and fought against the aristocrats which was known as the french revolution in history.with the french revolution as the background, a tale of two cities reveals the evils of the feudal aristocrats from the point of view of the bourgeois humanitarianism. as a bourgeois humanist, dickens was aware of the social contradiction and desires the common people to get away from oppression, but he was against violent revolution, wishing some of the enlightened rulers could reform. at the same time, he realized that the revolution, which was the tendency of history, was inevitable. it reflected the contradiction in his thoughts. dickens humanitarianism also was his weapon to fight against the darkness of the reality, his novels attack inequities of the social and economic system of victorian england.3. summary of a tale of two citiesin late 1775, jarvis lorry traveled from london to paris on a secret mission for his employer, tellsons bank. on his journey, lucie manette, a 17-year-old girl joined him. lucie learned that her father, dr manette was alive and had recently been released after having been secretly imprisoned in paris for 18 years. when they arrived in paris, dr manettes former servant, ernest defarge took them to meet dr manette. the years in prison changed him a lot. lucie comforted him and took him to england. five years latter, dr manette had completely recovered and had formed a close relationship with his daughter. (dictionary of english literature authors works，130) lucie fell in love with charles darnay, the nephew of the marquis st evremonde, the gentlemen-like but cruel aristocrat and dr manettes enemy. for lucies happiness, dr manette welcome and helped charles darnay as a son-in-law, and his ability to forgive brought him happiness in his daughters marriage and children. sydney carton, who was attracted by lucies beauty and kind nature, confessed his love to her, but didnt propose for knowing that his drunken and apathetic way of life was not worthy of her. lucie encouraged him and helped him to resurrect, and she explained that she believed in him and that he was “capable of better things.” for the influence and impact of lucie, cartons life was changed from despair to honor. while lucie and darnay were on their honeymoon, the situation in france grew worse. the revolution erupts with full force in july 1789 with the storming of the bastille; the defarges were in the center of the revolutionary movement and leaded the people in a wave of violence and destruction. madame defarges family was victim of the evremonde brothers guilt, she patiently awaited the beginning of the french revolution, and she was boiled within violence and hatred. by 1792, the revolutionaries had taken control of france and were imprisoning and killing anyone they view as an enemy of the state. madame defarge was eager to carry on the revolution and wanted to revenge in darnay. once darnay reached paris, the revolutionaries took him the prison secretly with no way of contacting anyone and with little hope of a trial. dr manette used his influence to get a trial for his son-in-law. however, the defarges produced a letter written years earlier by dr manette condemning all evermindes murder if madame defarges family and imprisoning the doctor. base on the evidence, the court sentenced darnay to death. determined to help lucie and darnay, sydney carton entered darnays prison, changed clothes with him, drugged him, and had darnay taken out of the prison in his place. for the women he loved and her family, sydney carton sacrificed his own life.iiliterature reviewliu binshan said that in a tale of two cities, dickens takes the french revolution as the subject of his novel, and the “two cities” are paris and london in the time of that revolution. dickens has been compared to shakespeare for his creative force and range of invention. “he and shakespeare are the two unique popular classics that england has given to the world, and they are alike in being remembered not for one masterpiece but for a creative world.” (encyclopedia britannica: dickens) many critics consider charles dickens the greatest novelist of the english-speaking world, who has always a wide variety of readers. characters of all social and economic classes can be discovered in his novels. character-portrayal is the most distinguishing feature of dickens works. dickens was not only a master story-teller but also a reformer and humanitarian, his novels attack the inequities of the social and economic system of victorian england. throughout the novel, a tale of two cities, dickens approaches his historical subject with some ambivalence. while he supports the revolutionary cause, he often points to the evil of the revolutionaries themselves. though dickens sees the french revolution as a great symbol of transformation and resurrection, he emphasizes that its violent means were ultimately antithetical to itsend. (www. /5th/015/教案/英美文学教案.doc) but some academicals criticize dickens works for emphasizing social injustice but not offering solutions, and think that there are limitations of dickens humanitarianism. while a tale of two cities was immensely popular with the reading public on its original serialization in 1859, its critical reception was mixed. “one feature that appears from the outset is a polarization of responses, the novel being found either superlatively good or superlatively bad.” explains norman page in his essay dickens and his critics. obviously, dickens showed much sympathy for the peasants and extremely against the merciless behavior done by the aristocrats, but at the same time, he disliked the revolution. he preferred to take some reforms to reconcile the contradiction between the aristocrats and the peasants. as the matter of fact, the society of england in later the 19th century was remarkably like the france of later the 18th century. he hoped the governors in england could learn the lesson from the french revolution. dickens was afraid that revolution would take place in england. in order to highlight his humanitarian spirit, dickens makes brutal contrast between the nobles and revolutionaries wrongly. this caused his understanding of the french revolution and the process not so accurate. he didnt concern about other aspects such as the social background and the problems of the capitalist society. hence, his humanitarian is sometimes so abstract and isolate. it is not suitable for all kinds of situations. a tale of two cities is a sad account of mans inhumanity to man, for even though darnay escapes, the reader is left haunted by the many innocent who did not. sydney cartons secret love for lucie, his unselfishness, and his self-sacrifice are always highly spoken of by the readers. and we believed that the great love of the whole world embodied in a tale of two cities.sydney carton is considered the finest and most finished portrait which dickens had ever executed and one of the finest conceptions in the whole range of fiction. the most common interpretation of sydney carton is one in which he is the selfless benefactor of others. having grown weary of his life of self-indulgence, and in order to save the life of charles darnay, he had shown more worthy of living it than him, carton decided to sacrifice his own life. however, a more self-centered interpretation of carton also exists. in this interpretation, carton regretted his being regarded as a never-do-well for having wasted his life, and chose to give it up, hoping that his past will be forgotten and that he will be remembered for his sacrifice. this interpretation suggests that carton is more concerned with his reputation than with the well-being of darnay and his family.iii. charles dickens view of humanitarianism1. humanitarianismhumanitarianism extends from a latin word, humanistas. it is the view that all people are human beings, with the right to live free. it is the antithesis of the “us vs. them” mentality which characterizes tribalism and nationalism. humanitarianism proscribes slavery, cannibalism, and discrimination on the basis of features such as color of skin, ancestry, place of birth, etc. (a glossary of literature terms, 116) in the ancient rome, it referred to a kind of educational system, which made the talent of people completely developed, and it embodied humanitarian sprit. with the humankind entering the beginning of civilization, after the 15th century, humanitarianism became a trend of thought and theory, it expressed in the art fields at the very beginning, and then infiltrated to other fields. from the europe renaissance to the 18th centurys enlightenment, most of the artist, writers, philosophers and scientists pointed out or advocated their humanitarianism in different fields. the philosophers of the enlightenment desires that all of the reality should agree with the ration of human beings, they criticized the bourgeois autarchy, described the blue vision for the triumph of the capitalist system in near future, which became the prelude of the bourgeois revolution. blending the enlightenment ideal of progress with the christian mandate for compassion, humanitarianism sought to alleviate suffering and improve society. in britain, the drive to end the slave trade exemplified humanitarianism. other efforts included prison reform and laws to restrict child labor, prostitution, and alcohol use. reformers provided food and shelter for homeless people in urban slums, sought to educate poor children, improve hospitals and working conditions in the factories. both liberal christians of the social gospel and evangelical groups, such as the salvation army, worked for humanitarian causes. on the continent of europe, the inner mission was a parallel movement.nowadays, humanitarianism is gradually becoming a global topic of the whole world.2. charles dickens humanitarianismcharles dickens is a great humanitarian, what he advocated is not just the love what western christians spread; dickens humanitarianism expressed his culture emotion of being a writer. at the same time, it included sprit comfort for the week groups which need care and help, so it is of deeper meaning of the christianity. why dickens is so great, despite the masterpieces he left to the world, the more important thing is his view of humanitarianism reflected in his works, which is combining be human and love others together. being human is the base and the key point of charles dickens humanitarianism, and morality is the dominate content; criticizing the society is the result from the observation and judgment on charles dickens view of humanitarianism. because dickens childhood was very hard, many of his works showed his expectation to relieve the pain of the poor group; he showed deep sympathy to the poor and held great esteem to the love of the human being. dickens hoped that the contradiction between the poor and the aristocrats can be removed by the love of human being and by the forgiveness. dickens believed that love is always more powerful than resentment. during the whole span of the process of writing, charles dickens always seriously thought about the human nature and the society, he condemned the inequality of the human society, criticized the ugly of human nature, praising the kindness and the beauty of human nature. a tale of two cities expressed the humanitarianism of charles dickens completely. because of his sensitive of art and his talent of composing, and most importantly because of his consciousness and sympathy in the bottom of his heart, dickens moved all of the people and the whole world. the shortage of dickens is the shortage of the nature of english people, and the merit of dickens is the merit of the nature of english people. on this aspect, none of the writers in the history of english literature are on a par compared with dickens but the great shakespeare. the ideal character, sydney carton in a