解读《远大前程》中皮普的性格.doc

IntroductionCharles Dickens, pen-name “Boz”, is acclaimed as one of historys greatest novelists and the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era. He has created some of literatures most iconic characters, with the theme of social reform running throughout his work. Charles Dickens is much loved for his great contribution to classical English literature. He is the quintessential Victorian author: his epic stories, vivid characters and exhaustive depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable. And thats the reason why his novels and short stories enjoy such a continuing popularity that they have never gone out of print.Considered as the greatest critical realism writer in British in the 19th century, Charles Dickens has left us a great work, one of his later period representative works, Great Expectations. Set in Victorian England, a time when great social changes were sweeping the nation, this is a novel of education and describes the growth and personal development of Pip, the protagonist. At that time, because social class was rigid and preexisting in London , where 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-populated rural areas. More and more people moved from the country to the city in search of greater economic opportunity. However, feudal ideas died hard in England at this time; the manners of the upper class were very strict and conservative: gentlemen and ladies were expected to have thorough classical educations and to behave appropriately in innumerable social situations. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse, Miss Havisham, the shrewd and careful lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, without a doubt, Great Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a genuinely good man. The significant changes that Pips character goes through are very important to one of the novels many themes.Throughout the novel Great Expectations, Pip gradually changes from a kind and humble character to a character that is bitter, then snobbish and finally evolves into the kind and loving character which he was at the beginning of the story. It shows Dickenss sharp criticism to the upper-class society of England. Great Expectations also reflects his depiction of the depth and breadth of characters. It can conclude that Dickens is a great master in portraying great literary images. By describing the image of Pip, Dickens has showed us the contradictions and the conflicts of the capitalist society in Victorian era. He has exposed the corruption of money in the upper-class society.I. A Brief introduction of Charles Dickens and Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens is the greatest representative of English critical realism in 19th century in England. The main stylistic feature of Dickens is his use of critical realism. Dickenss novels are set in realistic environments such as in the factory or in the street. His characters represent all aspects of society from beggars, criminals and orphans to factory owners. This critically realistic description of Victorian working class life is perhaps the very essence which makes Dickens one of the greatest authors of all time. His works reveal various malpractices of the capitalist society and reflect the misery of the lower-class people. One of his excellent works, Great Expectations, is his post-stage critical realistic works, which is a novel describing the growth and personal development of Pip. Through the analysis of Pips character and the turning of his fate, Dickens gives the reader a moral lesson and informs people of the importance of having a proper outlook on life. In order to understand the novel well, here, we will look into the back-ground information about Charles Dickens and the great novel.1.1 Charles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812-1870), the greatest representative of English critical realism, was born in 1812 at Portsmouth, and. died in 1870. He was born of humble origin and lived a hard life during childhood and suffered a lot. As a little boy, he once worked in a blacking factory 12 hours a day for 6 shillings a week, a place where shoe polish was made. For Dickens, that experiencethose lonely and hungry daysrepresented the first step toward his full integration into the misery and tedium of working-class life, and this also indicates why in most of his works he has showed his intense sympathy with the oppressed poor, especially with the hopeless children. Then he worked as a journalist, which enabled him to get acquainted with the inside knowledge of the British legal and political system and kept him in close contact with the darker social conditions of the Industrial Revolution. As proved later in his life, his bitter life experience has become a source of inspiration for his literary career. Later in the year 1836, a collection of semi-fictional sketches entitled Sketches by Boz earned him recognition as a writer. He claimed a universal reputation and wrote so many works during his lifetime that Dickens became famous and began to make money from his writing when he published his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. Dickens remained a prolific writer to the end of his life, and his novelsamong them Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, and Bleak House, The Old Curiosity Shop, Dombey and Son, Hard Timescontinued to earn critical and popular acclaim. Coming from the lower middle class, and fairly acquainted with the life of the poor people, he is one of their most moving spokesmen.Charles Dickens is a master of story-teller, and he is also remembered for his character-portrayal. Besides, his language could, in a way, be compared with Shakespeares. His humor and wit seem inexhaustible. Among all these features, his Character-portrayal is the most outstanding one of his works. His characterizations of child (Oliver Twist, etc.), some grotesque people (Fagin, etc.)and some comical people (Mr. Micawber, etc.)are superb. Dickens also employs exaggeration in his works. Dickenss works are also characterized by a mixture of humor and pathos. He has a tendency to depict the grotesque (very odd or unusual, fantastically ugly or absurd) characters or event. This is true in his characterization and in his description of scenes. Most of Dickenss characters have a peculiar habit, manner, behavior, dress, and catch phrase of his or her own. For example, the children in his novels are instinctive: they have strong imaginations, vivid sensations; they see life as black and white, and bigger than reality; their enemies seem demons and their friends angels; their joys and sorrow absolute and eternal. Some of the most unforgettable characters like Oliver Twist , Little Nell, Paul Dombey, David Copperfield and little Pip, these characters are full of vitality and can demonstrate the type of personality.1.2 Great ExpectationsGreat Expectations (1860-1861) is one of Dickenss most mature works, and its said that after Dickens had experienced large part of meaningful life, he had a deeper cognition for people, environment, as well as the life which he had gone through, and that all the mature cognitions are included in this novelGreat Expectations. The novel, as one of Dickenss most popular novels, can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people. In this novel, Dickens uses the limited perspective to introduce Pips position, and makes “crime and punishment” and “nobility and award” as its deeper structure, which is the interpretation of dialectical relationship between good and evil.Great Expectations has described a child Pip whose parents died when he was very young. He is brought up by his sister who is unpleasant as well as cruel and his friendly brother-in-lawJoe. The friendship between Joe and him is very deep before he becomes a gentleman. Pip is satisfied with this life and his warm friends until he is hired by an embittered wealthy woman, Miss Havisham, as an occasional companion to her and her beautiful but haughty adopted daughter, Estella. From that time on, Pip aspires to leave behind his simple life and be a gentleman. After years as companion to Miss Havisham and Estella, he spends more years as an apprentice to Joe, so that he may grow up to have a livelihood working as a blacksmith. This life is suddenly turned upside down when he is visited by a London attorney, Mr. Jaggers, who informs Pip that he is to come into the “great expectations” of a handsome property and be trained to be a gentleman at the behest of an anonymous benefactor. Pip entrusts the lawyer to help him make his dream come true. Pips love is Estella. Miss Havisham tries her best to make Estella become an attractive girl to fascinate all kinds of men, because she is deceived by her lover who units her brother to cheat her property. Her lover escapes on the wedding party. Then Miss Havisham closes herself in a gravely wedding room until she dies. However, it turns out that the good fortune is given by a convict. Pip helps him when the convict escapes from the prison. From then on, the convict does many businesses to earn enough money in order to make a gentleman. As the convict is arrested, the property is despoiled of him. Pip is back to a poor man. The novel shows the disillusion of Pips great expectations and the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to undesirable traits. Although the atmosphere of this novel is a little upset and heavy, it is well structured, and the plot is full of turnings and suspensions, which surprises the reader. Besides, when it comes to the significance of this novel, it is also far-reaching. It has many themes, such as the power of love, the role of environment in shaping peoples character, and the importance of being oneself. In a word, Great Expectations is of great value both in literary appreciation and research.II. Pips characters in four different periods of time As a novelist, Dickens is remembered first of all for his character-portrayal. The image of Pip he portrays in Great Expectations leaves unforgettable impressions on the readers mind. The significant changes that Pips character goes through are very important as one of the novels many themes, through which we can get a better understanding of the aim of this novel. In this paper, when analyzing Pips character, I will mainly divide it into four period of time: Period of childhood; Period of before going to London; Period of staying in London; Period of knowing his true benefactor. Now, lets move to the first periodchildhood.2.1 In Childhood In his childhood, Pip is characterized as a harmless, caring boy, who draws much sympathy for his parents are “dead and buried” and that the orphan has never seen “any likeness of either of them”, (Charles Dickens, 1998:1). Pip lives a humble existence with his ill-tempered older sister and her strong but gentle husband, Joe Gargery. Though their life is hard, he is at that time content with his common life. Pip doesnt wish to be a first-class person, instead, his vision is to be a blacksmith, which is also a common hard but satisfied path arranged for him by Joe. He has strong feelings of guilt but an inadequate system by which to judge right and wrong; unable to determine the value of his own actions, he feels guilty even when he does the right thing. He beholds this as his highest goal to achieve. Later, Pips confrontation with the convict presents his harmless, innocent nature. Pip is forced into submitting to the convicts demands, mainly due to his naive fear of Magwitchs fictitious companion who “has a secret way to himself of getting at a boy, and at his heart, and at his liver”(Dickens, 1998: 4). The second meeting of Pip and the convict is much more civil and sympathetic than the first. Even while he is afraid, Pip instinctively displays a sympathetic reaction. Approximately one year after his encounter with the convict, Pip is still shown to be an innocent, caring boy. One night, when Pip and Joe are alone at the forge, Joe explains his various reasons for enduring Mrs. Joes constant abuse. After their conversation, Pip realizes that he cares deeply for Joe and appreciates everything that the blacksmith does for him. Also, he develops “a new admiration of Joe from that night” and “a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart” (ibid: 48). This presents a relationship between Joe and Pip which is growing in love and respect. Joe is at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and, particularly, at the bottom of his households hierarchy but Pip finds new respect for his position. From the above, his character can be concluded as his humbleness, kindness, and lovingness. That is, at the beginning of the story, Pip is a mild-mannered little naive boy who goes on with his own humble life. 2.2 Before going to LondonThe expectations that cause Pips character to become less likable are those that he develops after being introduced to Miss Havisham and Estella and some other complex people. With the changing of environment, he gradually changes his mind and is eager to be a first-class person. During his first visit to the Satis House, Estella, who considers herself much too refined and well-bred to associate with a common boy, scorns Pip. After just one afternoon at the Satis House, Pip develops a desire to become more acceptable to Estella, in hopes that her callous attitude toward him would change. As a result, while walking back to the forge, Pip begins to feel ashamed of his life. His mind is filled with regretful thoughts such as “that I was a common laboring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way” (ibid: 63). Pip realizes that his personality and outlook on his life is changing as he states, “That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me” (ibid: 70). When his visits to the Satis House cease and he is apprenticed to Joe, Pip becomes even more deeply ashamed of his position in society because he believes that it will ruin his hopes of Estella loving him. Then, when Mr. Jaggers informs Pip of the “great expectations” that have been placed on him, Pip thinks, without a doubt, “Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale” (ibid : 139). Also, he begins to believe that Miss Havisham has destined him to be married to Estella. Almost immediately, Pips ego grows tremendously, and he becomes arrogant as he looks down on his “common” yet caring and loyal friends. For example, in a private conversation with Biddy, Pip tells his good friend that Joe “is rather backward in some things, for instance, in his learning and his manners” (ibid: 149). In addition, when Pip is finally ready to depart for London, he tells Joe that he “wished to walk away all alone” because he privately fears the “contrast there would be between me and Joe” (ibid: 159).Pips first taste of “higher society” is a bitter one, and it leaves him ashamed and embarrassed rather than justifiably angry. Pip, torn between being insulted and his attraction to Estella, opts to feel ashamed of his upbringing. His new found respect and love for Joe is being spoiled by his embarrassment of being brought up in a lower class family. He is ashamed of his home, ashamed of his trade. He wants to be uncommon. He wants to be a gentleman. He wants to be a part of the environment that he has a small taste of at the Satis House. His greatest fear allies his greatest shame.2.3 In LondonAspiring to be a gentleman despite his humble born, Pip fortunately or unfortunately received a fund of wealth from an unknown source and being sent to London with a lawyer. From then on, he became a gentleman without question at the price of losing everything.As the arrogant and ungrateful Pip continues to believe that Miss Havisham has chosen him to be the recipient of her money and, hopefully, of Estellas hand in marriage, he also continues to be ashamed of and look down on his past life. On one occasion, Pip receives word that Joe will be visiting London and would like to see him. However, Pip is not at all overjoyed to receive this news. In fact, he looks forward to Joes visit “with considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity”, and he states that he “certainly would have paid money in order to keep Joe away” (ibid: 217). Pip is so concerned with gaining Estellas favor that he visits Miss Havishams home and returns to London while never stops at the forge. The negative attitudes and traits that Pip develops as a result of his unrealistic expectations are portrayed in ways other than his view of his past life in this period. In London, while living as a “gentleman”, Pip has trouble managing his new way of life. A symbol of his emptiness is indicated by his joining a mens club called “Finches of the Grove”. The only true friend Pip has met is Herbert, and Pip is betraying even that relationship by living the high life with a man who cannot afford it. Both he and Herbert “went on from bad to worse, in the way of increasing our debts, looking into our affairs, leaving margins, and the like exemplary transactions” (ibid : 287).He has chosen a lifestyle which alienates himself from the people he loves, and even alienates him from his true self. Pip is in the height of his own vanity in this period.2.4 After knowing his true benefactorFor many years, Pip has believed that he and Estella are destined to be married, but now his hopes and expectations are just beginning to fade