Information on writer Dickens

Charles Dickens [1] (Charles Dickens, 18 12- 1870) is the founder and outstanding representative of English critical realism literature, and a novelist who has a great influence on world literature after Shakespeare. His representative works include The Story of Pickwick (1837), Oliver Twist (also known as Oliver Twist) 1838, The Old Antique Shop (184 1), and Martin Zhushuerweit (. Dickens lived in the era of rapid development of British capitalist economy. At the same time of economic prosperity, the real class contradiction is gradually deepening. The ruling class is crazy about profits and wants to make a windfall. Workers are unemployed and homeless. Starting from humanitarianism, Dickens appealed to rulers not to deprive working people of their rights while pursuing personal interests, and advised rulers to be moral and conscientious people. This is the second child of Navy Staff John Dickens and Elizabeth Barlow. [Edit this paragraph] Life experience1865438+On February 7, 2002, Dickens was born in Portsey, Portsmouth, southern England, to a poor family of clerks. My father, a clerk in the naval finance office, was thrown into a debt prison because he couldn't pay his debts. Dickens, who had just turned 65,438+00, had to shoulder the burden of family life. 1 1 years old, he was sent to a shoe polish workshop as a child laborer. In order to save money, both mother and sister-in-law moved into prison to live with their father. Dickens works outside the home, and when he gets paid every Sunday, he buys something to eat and visits his parents, brothers and sisters in prison. Later, Dickens' father inherited an inheritance from a distant relative and was released from prison after paying off his debts. Dickens left the shoeshine workshop to study in a primary school, and was very disgusted with the barbaric education that destroyed children in the school. Dickens' painful childhood made him deeply sympathize with the poor, especially their children. Later, he wrote many children's works, such as david copperfield, which reflected his childhood life.

Because of his poor family, Dickens began to work as a lawyer's scribe, a messenger in a firm and a court stenographer at the age of 16, which enabled him to travel all over the streets of London, go in and out of courts and prisons, meet all kinds of people and understand all kinds of litigation cases. 1832, he became an interviewer for the newspaper. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to make extensive contact with British society, often went to Congress to record debates, witnessed the dirty inside story of the struggle of bourgeois political parties, and learned many evil facts of the upper class exposed in the debates, which collected rich life materials for his later literary creation.

Dickens had an indissoluble bond with literature since he was a child. In his childhood, he read many novels, such as Robinson Crusoe and Arabian Nights. His father loves drama, and often lets Dickens perform various plays, tells his acting experience, and teaches him to recite poems and improvise. Although this kind of education made little Dickens suffer a lot, it also cultivated his literary interest and the spirit of hard study. He often used his spare time working in several newspapers in London to study in the reading room of the British Museum and began to create literature when interviewed by reporters. From 1836 to 1837, Dickens published his first novel The Story of Pickwick in stages, which was widely welcomed by readers. Since then, he has left the press and started a career specializing in literary creation. 1842, he visited the United States. From 65438 to 0844, he often lived with his family in Switzerland, France and Italy. From 65438 to 0846, he founded the progressive newspaper Daily News as the editor-in-chief. 1858 conducted a recitation tour in China as an excellent recitator; He visited the United States again from 1867 to 1868. Dickens' tireless writing all his life has seriously damaged his health. 1On June 9th, 870, the "favored one" in English literature died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage while writing his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Druid. Dickens wrote in his will: "... I absolutely want my funeral to be simple." Don't make public. Don't send an obituary in the newspaper ... just engrave my name on the tombstone in ordinary font, without adding any words like' sir' and' your Excellency'. I implore my friends not to build monuments or write mourning articles for me. My book will make people remember me-that's enough for me ... "Except for the monument, Dickens' last wish was basically respected. However, his death caused the whole British people to mourn, and his ashes were buried in the "Poet's Corner" in Westminster.

He can perform and sing since he was a child, and he is often taken to hotels by his father to perform programs. At the age of 10, the whole family was forced to move to the debtor's prison. From the age of 1 1, they took on heavy housework. When he was an apprentice in the shoe polish workshop, because of his skillful packaging, he was put in the window by his employer and watched as an advertisement, which left a permanent scar in his heart, thus giving him deep sympathy and determination to get rid of poverty. He only went to school for a few years, and gained extensive knowledge and literary accomplishment mainly by self-study and in-depth life. 16 years old, working as a copywriter in a law firm, has traveled all over the streets of London and learned a lot about society. Later, he worked as an interviewer in a newspaper and was familiar with the various drawbacks of parliamentary politics. At the age of 24, she married Catherine, the daughter of newspaper publisher Huo Jiasi, and had 65,438+00 children. Because of his different personalities and tastes, it brought misfortune to his creation, especially in his later years. After the interview, he began to create literature. He often wanders around remote corners and villages in London with his notebook to collect rich materials for his future creation. He has been writing hard all his life. In his later years, he often wrote during the day and recited his works at night. Heavy work, family and social troubles, and disappointment in changing reality have damaged his health.

Early period (1833 ~ 184 1): When Dickens started his literary creation, he first wrote a feature for the London Morning Post, mainly showing the local customs, scenery, love and hate in London's urban and rural areas. 1836, feature collection published. 1837, the first novel "The Legend of Pickwick" began to be serialized in the newspaper. Through the travel of Pickwick and his closest friends, the author exposed the darkness of real life in Britain at that time, described the "ancient and beautiful England" in the author's mind, and reflected the author's thought and optimism that he was not oppressed by feudalism and exploited by the bourgeoisie. The author also criticized the British parliamentary system, law, justice, prisons and so on. Describing various figures such as gentlemen and drivers in a relaxed and humorous style, and advocating the ideal of moral education. The structure of this novel is relatively loose and protracted, but it takes civilians as the protagonist, which is unprecedented. It is the first achievement of Dickens' realistic novel creation.

Oliver Twist (Oliver's translation, 1838 translated the second novel Oliver Twist) is Dickens' first touching social novel. At this time, although he didn't realize the root of social evil, he revealed the sad life picture of the people at the bottom of society through the experience of Oliver, an orphan. Oliver couldn't stand humiliation and hunger in the poor workhouse, and fled to London, but fell into the den of thieves again, and was finally saved by a "kind" capitalist. But the author also exposed the face of bourgeois camouflage charity here, showing the depth of his creative thinking at that time. The novel Nicholas Nicholby (1839) portrays the image of a bourgeois predator and exposes the poverty and bankruptcy of small producers under the exclusion and oppression of huge industrial capital. The author exposes the darkness of the British education system through the experience of teacher Nicholas Nicholby. At that time, the so-called poor schools became profit-making places, students could only eat half full, and flogging became the main educational means. Everywhere in the novel, the author denounced the hypocrisy and greed of the bourgeoisie with angry pens and tears of hatred.

The late period (1848 ~ 186 1) is the heyday of Dickens' creation. Due to the failure of the British and French revolutionary movement, the reactionary forces of the bourgeoisie became more arrogant, Dickens' understanding of society deepened, and his works reflected a broader social life. He focuses on the kindness, warmth and moral influence of little people. Optimism has been replaced by heavy, depressed emotions and strong resentment. The main works at this time include Dombey and Son, david copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dooley, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. The theme of these works is deepening; Artistic style also has different characteristics from the past. The author is good at using typical details to express the characteristics of characters; While focusing on describing the kindness, warmth and moral influence of the little people, it also makes an artistic summary of the criminal and inhuman social system of the bourgeoisie with strong appeal.

David copperfield (1850) is a semi-autobiographical novel, and its achievements surpass all Dickens' other works. Through the unfortunate experience of an orphan, it paints a broad and colorful social picture, exposing the exploitation of the working people by the bourgeoisie, the dark corruption of the judiciary and the oppression of the people by the parliament. The work depicts the typical figures of different classes, especially the images of laborers, and shows the author's deep sympathy for the weak. The author also tries to inspire people to keep their confidence in life through david copperfield's ultimate success, and tries to cultivate readers' humanitarian views. The novel still ends with a happy ending, which shows the author's consistent thinking. David copperfield is the leap and essence of Dickens' works! ! !

However, it is undeniable that Dickens has a fatal wound that he can't overcome all his life, that is, long procrastination, which is particularly prominent in his early works. Even in his later works, such as A Tale of Two Cities, which reached the artistic peak, he still could not get rid of this problem. [Edit this paragraph] The representative introduced that david copperfield died before he came into this world, and he grew up under the care of his mother and maid Peggotty. Soon, my mother remarried, and my late father made Si Tong fierce and greedy. He regarded David as a burden and sent him to Peggotty's brother's house before marriage. Peggotty is an honest and kind fisherman. He lives in a cabin converted from a wrecked ship by the Yarmouth seaside, and lives alone with a pair of orphans (Emily, the daughter of his sister, and Ham, the son of his brother). David lives a poor and harmonious life with them.

After David came home, his stepmother often beat him, depriving his mother of his care and caress. After his mother died, his late father immediately sent David, who was under 65,438+00 years old, to be a child worker washing bottles, leaving him without food and clothing. He went through all the hardships and finally found his Miss menstruation Bessie.

Miss Bessie is eccentric by nature, but kind-hearted. She took David in and sent him to school for further study. When David was at school, he stayed with his aunt's lawyer, Wickfield, and established a friendship with his daughter, Anne Agnes. However, David is extremely disgusted with a secretary named Heep hired by Wickfield, and hates his ugly behavior of obedience and flattery.

After graduating from high school, David went on a trip and met his childhood classmate Stephens. They came to Yarmouth together to visit the Peggotty family. Emily, who was engaged to Ham, could not resist the temptation of Steerforth, a rich young master, and eloped with Steerforth abroad on the eve of the wedding. Mr. Peggotty was in great pain and vowed to get Emily back.

David returned to London to practice at Spenlow Law Firm. He learned from Agnes that Wickfield was trapped by the scheming Heep and was in a desperate situation. This made David very angry. But at this moment, David fell in love with Dora, the daughter of lawyer Spenlow. Their married life is not ideal, because Dora is a beautiful but simple-minded "doll". My aunt is also on the verge of bankruptcy. At this time, David met Micawber, his landlord when he was a child laborer. Micawber is now Heep's secretary. After a fierce ideological struggle, Micawber exposed all kinds of conspiracies that Heep framed Wickfield and led to Miss Bessie's bankruptcy. In the face of facts, Heep had to confess. Later, because the case was complicated, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Miss Bessie thanked Micawber and gave him a sum of money to make him rich and successful in Australia.

At the same time, Peggotty traveled around and finally found Emily who was abandoned by Stephens and eventually lived in London, and decided to take her to Australia to start a new life. On the eve of departure, the sea was stormy, a passenger ship from Spain sank in Yarmouth, and a dying passenger climbed the mast. Ham ignored his own safety and went to the sea to save him, but unfortunately he was swallowed up by the huge waves. When people picked up his body, the bodies of the passengers on board also floated to the shore. So it was Steerforth who kidnapped Emily! Emily misses ham. After going to Australia, she sought peace at work and never got married.

David became a writer. Dora was very ill and died on the eve of Peggotty's trip to Australia. David traveled abroad with grief, and Agnes kept in touch with him all the time. When he returned to England three years later, he found that Agnes had always loved him. They finally got married and lived happily with Aunt Bessie and the maid Peggotty.