英语本科毕业论文对小说双城记的分析

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1、The Background and Character Analysis of A Tale of Two CitiesA Thesis Submitted toStudents Department of Capital University of Economics and Business In Candidate for the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsForeign Languages Department ByHu XinyueSupervised by Professor Yao ChengheBeijing, 6/2012中文题目 对小说双城记的分

2、析外文题目 The Background and Character Analysis of A Tale of Two Cities系 别 外语系专 业 英语语言文学研究方向 英美文学姓 名 学 号 导 师 2012 年 5月 24日Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsivAbstract in EnglishviAbstract in ChineseviiIntroductionviiiSummary of A Tale of Two CitiesviiiBrief Introduction of the AuthorCharles DickensviiiTh

3、e Research and Development at Home and Abroad Which are Related to This TopicixThe Purpose of This PaperxChapter IxiBackground AnalysisxiThe Social and Economic Background of A Tale of Two CitiesxiThe Comparison between the Social and Economic Background of Paris and LondonxivChapter IIxvCharacter A

4、nalysisxvDoctor Alexandre Manette (Dr. Manette)xviLucy Manette, later DarnayxviiiCharles DarnayxixSydney CartonxxTherese Defarge (Mrs. Defarge)xxiiErnest Defarge (Mr. Defarge)xxiiiMs. ProssxxivMr LorryxxvChapter IIIxxviContrastxxviConclusionxxixWorks CitedxxxiAcknowledgementsFrom the topic choosing

5、to materials collecting, from writing to modifying repeatedly, I have experienced joy, noise, pain and anxious. My mood was so complex during this process. Now, with the final finished manuscript, the complex mood evaporated. Even I have a sense of accomplishment which is like a grand awards enterta

6、inment, I am now in the entertainment scene and watching others receive awards one by one with calling my name. However, after a long time waiting, finally a guest shouts my name so that I forget the previous long and boring waiting time. I go up to the stage with great joy and can not wait to expre

7、ss my feelings. This essay is my stage and the following words are my sincere and heartfelt gratitude and feelings after gaining the accomplishment of my essay. I am very grateful to my tutor Ms Yao Chenghe. She is easygoing and always with enthusiasm. She is careful and rigorous when she is working

8、. I like to chat with her because she is like my good friends and always encourages me. In writing the paper, she would always require me to repeatedly modify my assay using “professional standards”. From the beginning to the end, Ms Yao is always conscientious and responsible to give me profound gu

9、ide in detail and helps me open up research ideas. It is Ms Yaos selfless help and encouragement that makes my assay completed successfully. I also want to thank my teacher of writing class, Mr Zhang Hongfeng. He took the time from his busy schedule to help me sort out the writing ideas and put forw

10、ard many valuable comments and suggestions on my assay. And he also told me the principle of our life which had given me a lot of help. Here, I express my sincere gratitude to Mr Zhang, my writing teacher. I thank my parents very much, during the process of my writing, they are always supporting me

11、and make a great contribution to my collecting materials. Thank you my dear parents, I love you. Abstract in English In order to understand the novel A Tale of Two Cities, I have written this essay to analyze this novel. The story took placed in the period of the French Revolution; I find some relat

12、ionship between the background and the characters in the novel. So I used the methods of theoretical discussion, search for the datas, reading and quotation to analyze respectively the social background and the economic background which had resulted in the different characters of the people with dif

13、ferent classes. Charles Dickens is a master of using unique tones to portray the personality traits. I analyze this point based on the describing details in the article. At the last part of my assay, I gave a comparison between the novel A Tale of Two Cities and Les Misrables to find the differences

14、 and similarities so that we can understand this novel better. The author wanted to tell us that blood cannot wash off the hatred and it also can not be a substitution of love and the hatred of the civilians towards the aristocratic tyranny can not make up for their lost loved ones. Let us learn the

15、 Luciess kind, Dr. Manettes mercy , Darnays upright, Cartons selflessness, Lorry and Prosss warm hearts so that our world will be full of love.Key words: A Tale of Two Cities, French Revolution, relationship, characters, love. Abstract in Chinese 双城记中的故事发生在法国大革命时期，在阅读小说的过程中，我找到一些当时法国的社会背景与小说中塑造的不同阶层

16、的人物性格特点之间的一些关系，于是我通过理论探讨，资料搜集，阅读和引用等方法对当时法国的社会背景和经济环境分别做了详细的分析，并且分析了由这些环境所导致的主要人物的性格特点。狄更斯是一位善于用不同腔调来塑造不同性格的大师，在论文中，我用小说中描写的细节之处分析了狄更斯的这种写作手法，从而使我们更好地理解小说中的人物特点。在文章的最后部分，我把小说双城记和法国作家雨果的小说悲惨世界做了一个比较，从而找到文学中在塑造人物性格特点和社会背景上的不同之处和相同之处。这篇小说旨在告诉我们：再多的鲜血也洗不掉仇恨，仇恨永远不能成为爱的替代品。人民对暴政的恨再深再多也弥补不了他们逝去的亲人的生命。让我们学习

17、露西的善良，曼内特先生的仁慈，达尔内的正直，卡顿的无私精神以及罗瑞和普洛斯小姐的热心，这个世界将会充满爱！关键词：双城记，法国大革命，人物关系，性格特点，爱。IntroductionSummary of A Tale of Two Cities The story takes places in the society before and during the French Revolution. The author, Dickens, portrays the cruel noble and the king, those who do not care the people at al

18、l, and enjoy all the benefits and joyful lives. Therefore, the people cannot stand for the governments incompetence, trying to overthrow the government and to control Paris. However, there are still love and forgiveness in such violent times. The hatred and the violence cannot solve and soothe the s

19、adness. Only the love and forgiveness can overcome all the hardships.Brief Introduction of the AuthorCharles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was born into a well-being family in the south of England. The finance of his family was not very bad. Dickens father was a public servant, and his mother

20、was an optimistic and versatile housewife. However, Dickens parents did not manage money very well; they ended up in prison for getting into debt. In order to make ends meet, Dickens discontinued schooling to work in the factory. Since then, Dickens suffered from difficulties and humiliation, seeing

21、 the extreme disparity between the rich and the poor. But Dickens did not take his misfortune out on the others. Instead, he made good use of what he had seen and gone through. The observation of the comparison between the extravagant upper class and the struggling lower class becomes the main featu

22、re in his creation. Bemoaning the state of the universe and pity the fate of mankind, he wrote what he had seen in the book, and most of them are about the low-level (1). The Research and Development at Home and Abroad Which are Related to This TopicIn 1935, the American had adapted this immortal fa

23、mous novel into a movie. And 23 years later, in 1958, the English also used this novel to create a famous movie. From this we can infer that this novel has much significance to our human beings and makes us to understand the Revolution deeply. And the movie showed each character vividly and deeply a

24、ttracted us. Many books on the interpretation of this novel are going into the markets, for example the Understanding of A Tale of Two Cities whose writer is George Newlin. It has analysis the novel from the perspective of literary, the law, the history and the human right. The Purpose of This Paper

25、A Tale of Two Cities, which will be discussed later in the thesis and one of his best novels, is a way to get to know the background of the French Revolution. Dickens portrays each characters personalities brightly. Actually, Dickens discovers the serious social problems in England, such as the extr

26、eme disparity between the rich and the poor. So he creates this work, to warn the people. The story s structure is very strict, and the plot is complex. Also, the story conveys the terror of the French Revolution. Most important of all, it describes the dark aspect of the general will (2).At the las

27、t of my paper, I give a contrast of two novelsA Tale of Two Cities and Les Misrables. By this contrast, I have understood more about the writing techniques of the two authors and I am more empathy on the plot of the articles. The most important thing is that I have gained more understanding of the l

28、iterature and I learn from the two authors how to portray the character of the people. Next let us have a deeper understanding of this paper.Chapter IBackground AnalysisSince the French Revolution serves as the background of the novel and the economic and social crises are the main reasons of the re

29、volution, these features will be discussed first in this part. Besides, Dickens not only portrayed the social problems in those times, but also described each character vividly. His description of characters is one of the most fascinating parts of the novel. Thus, character analyses will be discusse

30、d later. By making use of the background knowledge learned in the previous part, it may be easier for the readers to know the characters more deeply, find the relationship between the social situation and the characters and enjoy the novel more.The Social and Economic Background of A Tale of Two Cit

31、iesThe French Revolution is a consequence of conflicts between new ideas and old system. The old system means the Feudalism from the Middle Ages. The Feudalism is a class-polarized society that is governed by the noble. This old system causes the unfair situation. For example, the third class (farme

32、rs and workers) had to pay the heavy tax and yet were enslaved by the top of the society. However, the first and second classes (priests and nobles) shouldered the lightest responsibility but led on extravagant life (3). In the novel, the chapter “Monseigneur in Town” clearly conveys such cruel and

33、fierce behaviors of the novel (4). The Monseigneur was Darnays uncle, who mistreated his servants, was killed by the revolutionists in the end. Its not surprising that the forced people took revenge on those who had treated them unfairly for a long Time. The other duality is the influence of the Enl

34、ightenment. The Enlightenment brings liberalism to France. Liberalism pursues freedom, emphasizing democracy. Liberalists were against governments economic control. The enlightenment gave the new ideas to the French, and it took a social change to the old system. Because the voting right was not pop

35、ular in France in the 18th century, citizens had no opportunities to select their leader and life. Therefore, the new ideas which were brought by the Enlightenment had a great impact on the French Revolution. For example, citizens were aware of pursuing their right instead of accepting all the unfai

36、r (5). There is a description in this novel which the author used the contrast in the most appropriate position and I like it very much. “The trade signs were, all, grim illustrations of Want. The butcher and the pork man painted up, only the leanest scraps of meat: the baker, the coarsest of meager

37、 loaves. The people rudely pictured as drinking in the wine-shops, croaked over their scanty measures of thin wine and beer, and were gloweringly confidential together. Nothing was represented in a flourishing condition, save tools and weapons; but , the cutlers knives and axes were sharp and bright

38、, the smiths hammers were heavy, and the gun makers stock was murderous. The crippling stones of the pavement, with their many little reservoirs of mud and water, had no toot ways, but broke off abruptly at the doors.” The author used the leanest scrape of meat, the coarsest of meager loaves and the

39、 rude people, this daily things which represented the peoples daily life to show a disflourishing condition and then used the weapons and dangerous tools such as the knives, the guns and hammers and so on which standed for the exploiters and the Marquis St. Evremond to compare with the things talked

40、 above in order to emphasize the grief life of the people and pave the way for the next bloody revolution. The tax regulations and the financial crisis and are the other key elements for the cause of the French Revolution. For the tax regulations, the first class (communion) owned lots of land in Fr

41、ance, but they just paid little tax, and so did the second class (the noble). Therefore, the third class (those who were at the bottom of the society such as farmers and workers) had to support the expenditure of the whole country. Other than unfair tax regulations, the ways the king ruled the count

42、ry and constant wars with England worsened the financial problems. Because Louis XIV tried to weaken the power of the noble, he asked the noble to donate money to construct the Palace and Park of Versailles, and asked the noble to participate in the feast every night. Those parties forced the noble

43、to spend lots of money on the expensive clothes. In addition, the French took part in many overseas wars with England. However, the French always lost. The only victory was when they helped the Americans to be independent. The expenses on entertainment and wars caused the French finance to face the

44、risks of going bankrupt.The Comparison between the Social and Economic Background of Paris and London The comparison between the life in Paris and that in London is another theme in the story. Since “the Glorious Revolution” in England in 1688, the congress had mastered the highest right dominion. T

45、herefore, the system of the politics became more democratic than other countries. However, the classes were very clear in France. The first and second classes such as the king and the noble exploited the third class. The government tried in vain to revolve the unfairness. Therefore, London was like

46、a heaven and Paris was like a hell (6). To sum up, the French Revolution was caused by the financial problems and conflicts brought by the old, unfair system in the society. Dickens used the two cities, Paris and London, showing readers a strong contrast between these problems and conflicts. In addi

47、tion, the class hatred played an important role in the Revolution. Dickens used the true background in the France, the fictitious characters and plots to portray the trauma that people suffered and extravagance of the noble, hoping that the government could pay attention to the serious contradiction

48、 (7).Chapter IICharacter Analysis Readers of Dickens have often noticed that his most memorable characters tend to be the eccentrics, the odd-balls in his works. In A Tale of Two Cities there are few of these: Miss Pross and Jerry Cruncher are the two most notable. The pushing, shouldering Strivers

49、is there as a foil; he is not really entertaining. Probably Dickens felt that, with the suspenseful plot he had contrived, he had no need to hold the readers interest with personal peculiarities. So Sydney Carton, Charles Darney, Lucie Manette, the good Doctor Manette, and Jarvis Lorry all seem rela

50、tively normal people, who in other circumstances would not be very interesting. The same might even be true of the Defarges, husband and wife. Had they not had a revolution to fight, their lives might have been routine, humdrum, and not worth investigating. But in his novel, the force which moves an

51、d shakes is an impersonal one. Its impact on character is felt most strongly when we consider the two principal antagonists: Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge. In the former case, we seem to have a spoiled man who has somehow lost his nerve and his self-respect and bitterly knows it. He gets the chan

52、ce to do a noble thing and, in doing it , redeems his wasted life. But, had there been no such opportunity, we must suspect that he would have gone on in his downward track, drinking more and enjoying it less, and at some not too distant point being cast off by the now affluent Stryver-the man who h

53、as used him to his own great benefit-when he needs him no longer. Madame Defarge is cut altogether from other cloth. She has never lacked for backbone, and we feel that she would have made her powerful way in the world regardless of circumstances. In her fate, Dickens teaches the lesson that relentl

54、ess implacability, unrelieved by any sense of proportion, let alone mercy, will meet the end expressed in the old saying about those who live by the sword. But she is truly an actor on the stage Dickens provides: all the others by comparison seem like reactors. I just give a brief understanding summ

55、ary of the characters. Next I will talk about it in detail. This novel has portrayed three types of characters. Firstly, what the Marquis St. Evremond brothers stands for are the feudal aristocracy, their only stable philosophy is “oppression”. They are the ones who the author wants to lash. Secondl

56、y, the Defarges, the husband and the wife. Their characters had been distorted by the revenge. The last type is the ideal embodiment, they are the examples of using the love to defeat the revenge contain the Manettes, Darney, Lorry and Carton. Doctor Alexandre Manette (Dr. Manette) Alexandre Manette

57、 was a kind doctor with mercy. He once saw the Evremondes violence to the slaves eighteen years ago. Actually, the slaves were Mrs. Defarges family. Unfortunately, the Evremondes did not hope Dr. Manette to divulge their cruel behavior; they framed Mr. Manette in the Bastille Prison. Luckily, Mr. Ma

58、nette was saved and lived a happy life in London with his daughter, Lucy.According to the description of the time he just played: “he had a white beard, raggedly cut, but not very long, a hollow face, and exceedingly bright eyes. The hollowness and thinness of his face would have caused them to look

59、 large, under his yet dark eyebrows and his confused white hair, though they had been really otherwise; but, they were naturally large, and looked unnaturally so. His yellow rags of shirt lay open at the throat, and showed his body to be withered and worn”. The faintness was not the faintness of phy

60、sical weakness, though confinement and hard fare no doubt had their part in it. Its deplorable peculiarity was that it was the faintness of solitude and disuse. We can deeply imagine how this old man had been harmed. When you asked his question, his first words are always “what do you say?” you can

61、infer that he had used to talking to nobody everyday and he couldnt reflect others words quickly. All these had implies that his character and spirit were much easier to be influenced especially when he met with the loneness. It is worthy of talking about Dr. Manettes change. Although he was arreste

62、d in Bastille Prison by the Evremondes, he did not hate Darnay when he learned Darnays true identity. Due to Lucys love to Darnay, Dr. Manette did not want to see his daughter suffering from losing her lover; he decided to forgive Darnay and loved him from the bottom of his heart. It meant that Dr.

63、Manette had already laid down his hatred to the Evremonde. Dickens used this character to tell the readers the power of love and forgiveness.Lucy Manette, later Darnay Lucy is Dr. Manettes daughter and Darnays wife. Lucy was so sweet that everyone would be melted by her smile and personality. Lucy p

64、layed a crucial part in the story. When Dr. Manette was rescued from the Bastille, Lucy took good care of her father with all her heart. With her care, Dr. Manette turned from a crazy, silent and indifferent old man into a beloved and supportive father. Also, Lucy had a kind heart. Even in the hard

65、times, she did not change her personality. Besides, when she learned that her husband was caught by the revolutionists, she was so brave as to bring her children to France to save her husband. She was not only a sweet and beautiful girl, but also a persevered and determined woman when facing difficulties. She is still a woman of great compassion. Even when she is as a witness to tes