Great Expectations讲解

1、Great ExpectationGreat Expectation It is impossible to read Great Expectations without sensing Dickenss presence in the book, without being aware that in portraying and judging Pip he is giving us a glimpse of a younger self. In it he explores and perhaps exorcises the sense of guilt and shame that

2、had haunted him all his life, as he rose from humble beginnings to success and wealth and fame; and chronicles his own at first ambivalent and then cynical response to the Victorian emphasis on gentility. Great Expectations is a work which seeks to define the crucial Victorian concept of the Gentlem

3、an The novel, which is in this sense a Bildungsroman. Pips psyche haunts the novel, which is in a sense about the process of becoming wholly human. One central theme is the extent to which wealth and power * and pride and ambition (which appears here as attributes of the upper class) are dehumanizin

4、g. Another important theme traces the effect of environment upon the development of the individual. BildungsromannThe Bildungsroman (novel of formation) is a genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. The genre arose during the

5、German Enlightenment. nA Bildungsroman tells about the growing up or coming of age of a sensitive person who is looking for answers and experience. The genre evolved from folklore tales of a dunce or youngest son going out in the world to seek his fortune. Usually in the beginning of the story there

6、 is an emotional loss which makes the protagonist leave on his journey. In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity, and the protagonist achieves it gradually and with difficulty. The genre often features a main conflict between the main character and society. Typically, the values of society are gradu

7、ally accepted by the protagonist and he is ultimately accepted into society the protagonists mistakes and disappointments are over. In some works, the protagonist is able to reach out and help others after having achieved maturity.Representative works nThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry

8、 Fielding (1749) nDavid Copperfield, by Charles Dickens (1850) nTreasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (188182) nAdventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (1884) nThe Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde (1890) nMartin Eden, by Jack London (1909) nSons and Lovers, by D. H. Lawrence (1913)n

9、A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce (191415) Doubles nThe most remarkable aspect of Dickens work is its structural intricacy and remarkable balance:ntwo convicts on the marsh (Magwitch and Compeyson)ntwo invalids (Mrs. Joe and Miss Havisham)nTwo young women interest in PipnTwo se

10、cret benefactors (Magwitch and Pip)nTwo adults seek to mold children after their own purposes and both of their actions motivated by CompeysonSymbols n1. Satis HouseA magnificent Gothic setting symbolizes Pips romantic perception of upper classes. Miss Havishams wedding dress on her decaying body is

11、 a symbol of death and degeneration. The wedding feast and the stopped clocks symbolize her attempt to stick to that day; the brewery next to the house indicates the connection between commerce and wealth, for her fortune is of a recent success in industrial capitalism; the crumbling dilapidated stones of the house and darkness and dust suggest the general decadence of the lives of its inhabitants and the upper class. 2. The mists on the marshesnThe misty marshes are used several times to symbolize danger and uncertainty. Whenever Pip goes into the mists, something dangerous is likely