activist英国文学作品赏析

英国文学作品赏析

The features of Charles Dickens

1. His critical realism: While sticking to the principle of faithful representation of the 18th-century

realist novel, he carried the duty to the criticism of the society and the defense of the mass.

2. He is a mas

ter storyteller. With his first sentence, he engages the reader’s attention and holds it

to the end.

3. What he writes is mainly the middle and lower-middle class life in London.

4. He is a master of language with a large vocabulary and an adeptness with the vernacular.

5. He is a great humorist as well as a great painter of pathos. He always mingles the two to make

his fictional world realistic.

6.

His

characters

are

not

only

true

to

life

but

also

large

than

life.

There

are

both

individual

characters and type characters.

II. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

1. Theme: The novel sharply criticizes the religious hypocrisy of charity institutions like Lowood

School, where girls are trained to be humble slaves. It rebukes the social discrimination and false

convention

about

love

and

marriage.

Besides,

the

novel

is

a

moral

fable.

It

tells

us

that

people

have to go through all kinds of physical or moral tests to obtain their final happiness.

2.

The

character

analysis

of

Jane

Eyre:

Jane

Eyre

is

an

orphan

child

with

a

fiery

spirit

and

a

longing

to

love

and

be

loved.

She

is

poor

and

plain,

but

she

dares

to

love

her

master,

a

man

superior to her in many ways, as a little governess. She is brave enough to declare to the man her

love for him. She cuts a completely new women image. She represents those middle-class working

women who are struggling for recognition of their basic rights and equality as a human being.

III. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Height

1. The novel is an extraordinary moving love story: the passion between Heathcliff and Catherine

is the most intense, beautiful, and the most horrible passions ever found among human beings.

2. It is also a work of critical realism. Heathcliff is abused, rejected and distorted by the society

only because he is a poor orphan of obscure parents. He suffers all kinds of inhuman treatment

after the death of his benefactor. He loves Catherine dearly but forced to be separated from her. So,

Heathcliff’s cruel revenge upon his enemies is justified in a way.

3. The author makes clear that it is wrong to discriminate on the basis of social status, and it is

cruel and destructive to break genuine, natural human passions. Although Catherine and Edgar’s

marriage

is

ideal

in

the

eyes

of

the

whole

neighborhood,

her

love

for

Heathcliff

is

hard

and

everlasting.

I. The features of Shaw’s plays:

1. Problem plays: He took the modern social issues as his subject with the aim of directing social

reforms. Most of his plays are concerned with political, economic, or religious problems.

2. In his characterization, he makes the tricks of showing up one character vividly at the expense

of another. His characters are the representatives of ideas, which shift and alter during the play.

3. The strong sense of comedy in his play are achieved through his witty dialogues, sharp satires,

and vivid portrayal of characters.

II. The theme of Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s profession

1. The play is not only moral, but also has a strong realistic theme. The guilt for prostitution lies

more

upon

the

social

system

than

immoral

woman.

He

shows

all

human

sufferings

are

consequences of the economic exploitation.

2. The play is a spiritual triumph for Vivie who experiences a journey from illusion to reality. At

first, she is ignorant of the evil, and through a series of temptations, she understands the capitalist

world better.

D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers

1.

Theme:

Sociologically,

it

is

a

novel

about

modern

civilization,

the

“sickness

of

a

whole

civilization”. Psychologically, it is a case study of the Oedipus complex theory, for it

deals with a

son

who

loves

the

mother

too

dearly

and

hates

the

father

too

despisingly.

The

psychic

conflict

(between dark self and white self) in human relationships is the central theme of the novel.

2. The character analysis of Paul Morel:

He

is

a

light,

quick,

slender

boy.

From

his

childhood,

he

is

especially

sensitive,

artistic

and

imaginative,

and

he

becomes

extraordinarily

dependent

on

his

mother.

When

he

gets

older,

his

distorted relationship with his mother prevents him from loving girls as fully as he feels he should.

Besides, Paul is also an artist, and a likeable young man adored by many girls.

The features of stream of consciousness

1.

The

unspoken

thoughts

and

feelings

of

their

characters

are

described

without

resorting

to

objective description or conventional dialogue.

2.

The

flux

of

a

character’s

thoughts,

impressions,

emotions

are

often

shown

without

logical

sequence or syntax.

Wordsworth’ poem

William Wordsworth was one of the greatest poets of the ages, who excelled in vivid descriptions

of nature and the joy that could be derived from the beauties of nature. For much of his life he

lived in the Lake District, near Grasmere Lake in

He

established

his

reputation

as

a

poet

of

great

lyricism

with

his

in

Two

V

olumes

published

in

1807;

these

included

his

famous

and

On

the

Intimations

of

Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

Features of his writings

1. Chaacteristic of features of Romantic poetry;

2. Nature and ordinary people are normally the subjects of his poems;

3. Melodic in rythem;

4. Full of passion;

5. Lyricism in wording.

I. The features of Shaw’s plays:

1. Problem plays: He took the modern social issues as his subject with the aim of directing social

reforms. Most of his plays are concerned with political, economic, or religious problems.

2. In his characterization, he makes the tricks of showing up one character vividly at the expense

of another. His characters are the representatives of ideas, which shift and alter during the play.

3. The strong sense of comedy in his play are achieved through his witty dialogues, sharp satires,

and vivid portrayal of characters.

II. The theme of Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s profession

1. The play is not only moral, but also has a strong realistic theme. The guilt for prostitution lies

more

upon

the

social

system

than

immoral

woman.

He

shows

all

human

sufferings

are