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A brief introduction to the life of Charles Dickens

About the author: Charles Dickens

British novelist, born into a family of naval clerks, was forced to move to debtor's prison at the age of 10, and took on heavy housework at the age of1/0. I used to be an apprentice in a leather shoes workshop. 16 years old, worked as a copywriter in a law firm, and later worked as a reporter in a newspaper. He only went to school for a few years and became a famous writer by hard self-study and hard work.

He lived in the transitional period from semi-feudal society to industrial capitalist society in Britain. His works describe all aspects of social life in this period extensively and profoundly, vividly depict the images of representatives from all walks of life, expose and criticize all kinds of ugly social phenomena and their representatives from the humanitarian point of view, and give sympathy and support to the suffering and resistance struggle of working people. At the same time, however, he also advocated the idea of tolerance, forgiveness and class harmony with "benevolence" as the core, and held a contradictory attitude of supporting the struggle of working people in action and denying it in morality. It shows the powerful strength and weak fantasy of his realism.

Dickens wrote 14 novels, many short stories and essays, travel notes, plays and essays in his life. Among them, the most famous works are Hard Times (1854), a long masterpiece describing the contradiction between labor and capital, and A Tale of Two Cities (1859), another masterpiece describing the French Revolution. The former shows the cruel exploitation and oppression of workers by industrial capitalists, describes the unity struggle of the working class, and criticizes the principle of free competition and utilitarianism in defending capitalist exploitation. The latter alluded to the social reality of Britain at that time with the dissolute cruelty of French aristocrats, the sufferings of the people and the historical power of the French Revolution, and predicted that this "terrible fire" would be repeated in France. Other works include Oliver Twist (also translated as Oliver Twist 1838), Old Antique Shop (184 1), Dombey and Son (1848) and david copperfield (65438).

Dickens is the main representative of English realistic literature in19th century. Art is famous for its witty humor, meticulous psychological analysis, realistic description and romantic atmosphere. Marx called him and Thackeray "a group of outstanding novelists" in Britain.

Dickens and his children

Charles Dickens, an English novelist in the19th century, has always enjoyed a high reputation in the field of fiction, because he is good at portraying poor and helpless children and describing their difficult lives and unfortunate experiences. Among his many novels, Oliver Twist can best show these characteristics in writing style. In fact, the hardships described by Dickens in his works are a portrayal of his personal experience. When Dickens was a child, his father went to prison for debts. He had to earn his own living and installed shoe polish covers in a warehouse that produced black shoe polish.

Dickens never forgot the hard life of his childhood. Although he became famous and had children, his past experience continued to affect his family life and education for his children. From 1837 to 1852, the Dickens had a total of 10 children, and nine survived. Dickens can be regarded as a strict father to his children. He made strict family rules, and with the help of his sister, he asked every child to abide by these rules in order to keep order at home. For example, every morning, he always takes the time to check whether the room is clean and tidy. In addition, he also checked whether the knickknacks and decorations in the room were in the right place.

After Dickens became famous, he not only had to raise many children, but also took care of his parents and brothers. Dickens was exhausted by the pressure and burden of life. It was not until 1858 that Dickens broke up with his wife, lived with his lover and took care of the family. His stress is much less and he has gained weight. Dickens died in 1870 at the age of 58. To a great extent, his death was the result of overwork. In fact, in his early travels, he was semi-paralyzed because of fatigue. But he continued to write, leaving people with a number of excellent literary works.

Dickens' nine children, especially his son, grew up under his father's high authority and strict family rules and have always been in awe of his father. Before Dickens died, his son Kate, who had been with him for many years, said, "In fact, I think my father's only mistake is that he has too many children." Dickens also agreed: "When I think about the cost of raising these children, my heart will panic, and sometimes my hair will stand on end."

Dickens wrote to his sixth son Henry, who was studying at Cambridge University. He wrote in the letter: "I think you understand how hard I work to earn money to support my family." Besides, as you know very well, I have never received any financial aid from anyone since I was born. In order to take care of my family, I am exhausted physically and mentally, and your expensive tuition is a burden to me. Therefore, I am sure that with the knowledge you have learned in college, you will try your best to give full play to your talents and let me get rid of the burden you gave me as soon as possible. "Perhaps because of the pressure of his father's words, Henry won the scholarship in the second year. At first, Dickens pretended to be indifferent to the news told by Henry. Later, unable to restrain his inner joy, he said to Henry with tears of joy, "Well done, God bless you. "After graduating from university, Henry entered the government department. He was also knighted for his outstanding achievements.

However, the situation of Dickens' other children is far worse than that of Henry. For a long time, because of Dickens' strict discipline, children lost their independent and enterprising spirit, which made Dickens very disappointed. As a father, he can only arrange work for his children.

Among the nine children, Dickens likes his youngest son Edward best. However, when Edward 16 years old, Dickens arbitrarily thought that he was not suitable for finding a job in England, insisted that Edward take agricultural courses, and soon sent him to Australia. In Australia, Edward and his brother invested in raising sheep in their early years and failed. Later, Edward was lucky enough to be elected as a member of the Australian Parliament. Some people criticized him for gaining a foothold in politics by virtue of his father's fame. Edward clearly expressed his views on this: "Most of the children of great men are not as good as their outstanding fathers. So you can't find two Charles Dickens in the same generation. "

Charles Dickens: david copperfield

Platform for action

David copperfield's father died before he came into this world, and he grew up under the care of his mother and maid Peggotty. Soon, his mother remarried, and his late father, Maud Si Tong, was 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 shack converted from a broken boat by the Yarmouth sea. He lives alone with a pair of orphans (his sister's daughter Emily and his brother's son are in harmony). 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, anis. 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 Steerforth. They came to Yarmouth together to visit the Peggotty family. Emily, engaged to Hemu, could not resist the temptation of Steerforth, a rich young master, and eloped with Steerforth abroad on the eve of the wedding. Peggotty was in great pain and vowed to get Emily back.

David returned to London to practice at Spenlow Law Firm. He learned from Anne 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 Steerforth and finally lived in London, and decided to take her to Australia to start a new life. On the eve of departure, the sea was rough, a passenger ship from Spain sank in Yarmouth, and a dying passenger climbed the mast. Haimu 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 haimu. After going to Australia, she sought peace at work and never got married.

David became a writer. Dora was seriously ill and died on the eve of Peggotty's departure for Australia. David was full of grief and traveled abroad, during which anis kept in touch with him. When he returned to England three years later, he found that Annis had always loved him. They finally got married and lived happily with their menstruation Bessie and the maid Peggotty.

works appreciation

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David copperfield is the representative work of Dickens, a British critical realist writer in the19th century. In this novel with a strong autobiographical color, Dickens borrowed "Little David's own history and experience" to review and summarize his life path from many aspects, reflecting his life philosophy and moral ideal.

David copperfield reveals the real face of society at that time through the joys and sorrows of the protagonist David's life, highlighting the corrosive effect of money on marriage, family and society. A series of tragedies in the novel are all caused by money. Maud Si Tong cheated David's mother because he coveted her property; Emily's elopement can't stand the temptation of money; The pain of the wakefield family and the despair of Haimu are all the consequences of money. The despicable Heep also gradually degenerated under the temptation of money, and finally ended up in a shameful life imprisonment. Dickens exposed the evil of money from the humanitarian point of view, which opened the beautiful curtain of "Victoria prosperity" and revealed the hidden social truth.

In characterization, david copperfield undoubtedly devoted all his efforts to the author. Both the hardships and bitterness he encountered as an orphan and his indomitable struggle as an adult show the painful course of a little person seeking a way out in capitalist society. After experiencing great suffering, David tasted the happiness and warmth of the world. He relied on his sincere and straightforward personality, positive spirit and pure and friendly heart towards people. Anis is also an ideal woman that the author tries to beautify. She has both external beauty and internal virtue, insisting on protecting her father who was bullied by Heep and supporting David who suffered setbacks. The final combination between her and David is "the consistency of thought and purpose", and this perfect marriage makes the ending of the novel full of happiness and hope. They are all the embodiment of Dickens' bourgeois humanitarian ideal. The formation of this thought is inseparable from Dickens' personal experience and likes and dislikes. He always believes that the moral sentiments of ordinary people in an oppressed position are far better than those of rulers and oppressors. It is based on this belief that many ordinary people in the novel, such as fishermen Peggotty and Haimu, have an honest and kind heart despite their poor family and no education, which is in sharp contrast with the rich Steerforth and his actions.

Of course, this strong contrast also reflects Dickens' own moral concept: "Good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil". The endings of all the main characters in this novel are designed along this vein. For example, Heep and Steerforth, who symbolize evil, finally got their due punishment; And kind people have also found a gratifying home. Dickens hopes to transform the society with such moral values and eliminate human evils, which is his limitation.

The artistic charm of david copperfield lies not in its tortuous and vivid structure or ups and downs, but in its realistic life atmosphere and lyrical narrative style. What attracts people in this work are the vivid characters, the concrete and vivid world and human feelings, and the personality characteristics of different characters. For example, Miss Bessie, David's aunt, vividly depicts an eccentric and charitable old woman in her manners, clothes, habits, likes and dislikes, and even gestures. As for the portrayal of the maid Peggotty, it is even more vivid.

The description of the environment in the novel is also very skillful, especially the sea storm in Yarmouth, which is magnificent and vivid, making people feel immersive.

Dickens was also a master of humor. Between the lines of his novels, you can often read his witty quips and exaggerated comedy sketches. Critics believe that david copperfield's achievements surpass all Dickens' other works.

1867 Reprinted preface

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As I wrote in the preface of the first edition of this book, it is hard for me to imagine that this book has no manuscript, and it is difficult to write a preface for it. I have always had a strong and undiminished affection for this book, and I am both happy and sorry for it. Happy, because it was finally completed on schedule; It's a pity that I have to break up with so many partners-although I'm afraid my readers don't trust me so much and it's hard to understand my personal feelings.

Besides, no matter why I tell this story, I tell it wholeheartedly.

Perhaps, readers will not feel anything when they hear that I spent two years painstakingly conceiving this book. Similarly, when I finished writing this book, I felt that I had given a part of myself to the shadowy world, and the readers didn't care. However, I can only say the above, unless I confess frankly: I don't think anyone will believe all this as true as I did when I wrote.

I said what I thought of that book then, and I still do today. Please believe me again. Of all my books, this one is my favorite. I am a doting father to all my imaginary children, and no one has ever loved them as much as I do. However, like many doting parents, I have a child in my heart that I love most. His name is david copperfield.

Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities