Characteristics of the novel
• The novel exposes the inhumanity of city life under capitalism. • It shows the extreme brutality and corruption of the oppressors and their agents and the helpless suffernings of the poor and oppressed。 • Oliver is the only one who emerges happy and successful in the end. • The happy ending comes as a result of Dickens‟s optimistic belief in the inevitable triumph of good over evil.
•His achievement was in fact in presenting the underworld and problems of poverty to the well-off in a way rarely ● attempted previously.
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Life Experience
• The story deals with the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. • David is born in England in about 1820. • David‟s father had died six months before he was born, and seven years later, his mother marries Mr. Edward Murdstone. David dislikes his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr. Murdstone‟s sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr. Murdstone thrashes David for failing behind with his studies. Following one of these thrashings, David bites him and is sent away to a boarding school, Salem House, with a ruthless headmaster, Mr.Creakle. Here he befriends James Steerforth.
Major Works
Bleak House ●Hard Times ●Little Dorrit ● A Tale of Two Cities ●Great Expectations ●Our Mutual Friend ● Oliver Twist
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●荒凉山庄 ●艰难时世 ●小杜丽 ● 双城记 ●远大前程 ●我们共同的朋友 ●雾都孤儿
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The First Period
In 1836-1841,period of youthful optimist; fun, high spirit, naï ve optimism. ●At this stage, Dickens believed that all the evils of the capitalist world would be remedied if only men treated each other with kindliness, justice, and sympathetic understanding. ●Dickens thought that the whole social question would be solved if only every employer reformed himself according to the model set by the benevolent gentlemen in his novels. This native optimism is characteristic of the pretty-bourgeois humanitarians of the time.
Major Works
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American Notes Martin Chuzzlewit A Christmas Carol The Chimes The Cricket on the Hearth Dombey and Son David Copperfield
Someone who is kind to others will be paid with kindness and evil will not.
Charles Dickens（1812-1870）
The greatest representative of English critical realism
19世纪是英国自第一次工业革 命后的巅峰时期 ， 因为当时英国女 皇是维多利亚 ， 所以 当时也叫 维 多利亚时代 。英国国力鼎盛 ， 四 海升平 ， 海外殖民地是本土面积的 100多倍 ，美誉为 日不落帝国 。英 国小说也步入了繁荣昌盛的时代。
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1842-1850,Period of excitement, irritation and frustration: exposing the corrupting influence of wealth and power, optimism turned into dissatisfaction and irritation. ●Dickens second period began from 1842, the year after his first visit to America. Before the visit, Dickens thought of the United States as a world in which there were no class divisions and human relations were humanitarian. But what impressed him most during his visit there was the rule of the dollar and the enormously corruptive influence of wealth and power. Dickens’s naïve optimism toward the capitalist society was profoundly shaken.
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Major Works
Sketches by Boz (The first book) The Pickwick Papers Oliver Twist Nichois Nickleby The Old Curiosity Shop Barnaby Rudge
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Plot of Oliver Twist
• Oliver‟s birth ：of unknown parentage • Maltreated by Bumble ,the parish people • In London ,he falls into the hands of a gang thieves. • Rescued by Mr. Brownlow • Kidnapped by the thieves • Wounded in a burgling expedition，rescued by Mrs. Maylie and Rose. • Adopted by Mr. Brownlow。A happy ending。
Characteristics of the novel
• The novel exposes the inhumanity of city life in London. • It shows the extreme cruelty and corruption the helpless suffernings of the poor . • Oliver is the only one who becomes happy and successful in the end. • The happy ending comes as a result of Dickens’s optimistic belief in the triumph of good over evil.
Plot of Oliver Twist
• Oliver‟s birth ：of unknown parentage • mistreated by Bumble ,the parish people • In London ,he falls into the hands of a gang thieves. • Rescued by Mr. Brownlow • Kidnapped by the thieves • Wounded in a burgling，rescued by Mrs. Maylie and Rose. • Adopted by Mr. Brownlow。A happy ending。
•His achievement was in fact in presenting the underworld and problems of poverty to the well-off in a way rarely ● attempted previously.
The Second Period
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
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Major Works