<老妇谭>是贝内特自认为"写得最好的作品",本文主要分析它所表达的主题:清教主义与享乐主义的碰撞;地方主义与都市主义的碰撞;两代人之间的意识碰撞;时间的流逝及作品独特的结构对主题表达所起的作用,进一步说明<老妇谭>所代表英国现实主义小说所发展的新高度.
阿诺德·贝内特(1867-1931)是英国爱德华时期著名的小说家,《老妇谭》是其代表作。1908年《老妇谭》出版后,贝内特就声称“我再也不能写出更好的作品了”,事实也确实如此,这部作品一经问世,便引起了评论家广泛的关注,给作者带来极大的声誉。可至今评论家对这部作品的研究,大多侧重于写作技巧以及结构的分析等方面,而对其中所体现的女性身份问题则少有论及。身份的建立是人类存在的重要环节,每个个体都迫切需要确立自己的身份,以便获得并维持心理上的安全感。女性身份以及女性意识问题一直是女性研究领域的重要选题。20世纪早期,英国女性获得选举权,地位的提高使得她们不甘忍受传统的性别角色,女性对自我身份的寻求成为一种必然的趋势。索非亚是《老妇谭》这部作品的女主人公,她终其一生都在父权社会中追求一种“完整的”自我身份,但社会和现实又决定她的这种追求具有乌托邦性质。在文学作品中,人的身份问题得到了最具启发性的揭示;同时运用身份理论分析文学作品,又可以使其中的意义得到更为深刻地挖掘。把身份理论和文学作品相结合,在爱德华时代女权运动的背景下,从身份的角度切入《老妇谭》的研究,可以使这部作品得到更为深刻和透彻的理解。本文以索非亚的身份追求过程为主线,结合爱德华时代的社会背景及贝内特个人的文化心理结构,重新细读这部男性作家的作品,进一步审视潜藏于文本中作者对女性的矛盾文化心态,力图从更深层次揭示爱德华时代妇女面临身份困惑的根本原因,并对时代道德现状和社会偏见进行比较深刻的阐释。文章继导论部分介绍了论文写作的理论背景和课题价值后,在第一章首先分析了少女索非亚所面临的身份问题,并展现了她对自我身份的期盼;接着在第二章分析了索非亚的身份追寻过程。然后在第三章分析了导致索非亚身份迷失的内外因素。爱德华时期沉重的传统力量和索非亚的自我抑制共同导致了她最终的身份迷失;贝内特改写又认同了父权文化对女性的角色规范,最终没让索非亚形成独立完整的女性身份,这在某种程度上折射出作家本人在创作时的身份焦虑。最后在结论部分文章试图表明:在男性为主导的社会中,女性很难抗拒强大的社会势力,也很难改变既定的人生悲剧,只有取得和男性真正意义上的身份平等,女性才能到达安宁的精神家园,不再困惑。
《交际花盛衰记》讲述了巴黎交际花埃丝黛简短、奇特，却注定悲剧的一生。她对诗人吕西安一往情深，渴望过幸福贞洁的生活。然而，交际花的身世和地位使她与沉浮在上流社会的吕西安隔着一条无法逾越的社会天堑。小说根植于社会现实，通过深刻细致的观察和典型形象的塑造，给人以强烈的真实感。其中塑造的一大批贵族、野心家、教士、银行家、妓女、犯人、警察等，再现了那个色彩斑斓却又冷酷无情的社会。
媒体推荐
我刚开始读书时，就感受到巴尔扎克作品的魅力，景仰之余，爱不释卷。巴尔扎克动荡不安和伟大的一生，至今还得在他的浩瀚宏伟的巨著中追忆。
--【法]亨利特罗亚
在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者之一。
--【法】雨果
Honoré de Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, translated either as The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans or as The Harlot High and Low, was published in four parts from 1838-1847. It continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré, who was a main character in Illusions perdues, a preceding Balzac novel. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes forms part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine.
Plot summary
Lucien de Rubempré and "Abbé Herrera" (Vautrin) have made a pact, in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. Esther Van Gobseck throws a wrench into Vautrin's best-laid plans, however, because Lucien falls in love with her and she with him. Instead of forcing Lucien to abandon her, he allows Lucien this secret affair, but also makes good use of it. For four years, Esther remains locked away in a house in Paris, taking walks only at night. One night, however, the Baron de Nucingen spots her and falls deeply in love with her. When Vautrin realizes that Nucingen's obsession is with Esther, he decides to use her powers to help advance Lucien.
The plan is the following: Vautrin and Lucien are 60,000 francs in debt because of the lifestyle that Lucien has had to maintain. They also need one million francs to buy the old Rubempré land back, so that Lucien can marry Clotilde, the rich but ugly daughter of the Grandlieu's. Esther will be the tool they use to get as much money as possible out of the impossibly rich Nucingen. Things don't work out as smoothly as Vautrin would have liked, however, because Esther commits suicide after giving herself to Nucingen for the first and only time (after making him wait for months). Since the police have already been suspicious of Vautrin and Lucien, they arrest the two on suspicion of murder over the suicide. This turn of events is particularly tragic because it turns out that only hours before, Esther had actually inherited a huge amount of money from an estranged family member. If only she had held on, she could have married Lucien herself.
Lucien, ever the poet, doesn't do well in prison. Although Vautrin actually manages to fool his interrogators into believing that he might be Carlos Herrera, a priest on a secret mission for the Spanish king, Lucien succumbs to the wiles of his interviewer. He tells his interrogator everything, including Vautrin's true identity. Afterwards he regrets what he has done and hangs himself in his cell.
His suicide, like Esther's, is badly timed. In an effort not to compromise the high society ladies who were involved with him, the justices had arranged to let Lucien go. But when he kills himself, things get more sticky and the maneuverings more desperate. It turns out that Vautrin possesses the very compromising letters sent by these women to Lucien, and he uses them to negotiate his release. He also manages to save and help several of his accomplices along the way, helping them to avoid a death sentence or abject poverty.
At the end of the novel, Vautrin actually becomes a member of the police force before retiring in 1845. The nobility that was so fearful for its reputation moves on to other affairs.
Main characters
* Esther Van Gobseck, former courtesan and lover of Lucien, assigned to seducing Nucingen. Commits suicide after sleeping with Nucingen for money.
* Lucien de Rubempré, ambitious young man protected by Vautrin, trying to marry Clotilde de Grandlieu. Commits suicide in prison.
* Vautrin, escaped convict with the alias Carlos Herrera, real name Jacques Collin, nickname Trompe-la-Mort. Has a weakness for pretty young men, tries to help Lucien move up in society in every evil way possible.
* Baron de Nucingen, obsessed with Esther and the target of Vautrin's money machinations.
* Jacqueline Collin, aunt of Vautrin, alias of Asie. Charged with watching over Esther and helping Vautrin in his various schemes.
* Clotilde de Grandlieu, target of Lucien's affections, key to his advancement in society. But he cannot marry her unless he buys back his family's ancient land, worth one million francs. Her father prevents the marriage after finding out that the money, which actually came from Esther, did not really come from an inheritance (from Lucien's father), like Lucien was saying.
* Comtesse de Sérizy and Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, former lovers of Lucien of whom Vautrin possesses very compromising letters.
* Camusot de Marville, Comte de Granville, judge and magistrate respectively. Try to work out the case of Vautrin and Lucien without compromising the women involved.
* Peyrade, Contenson, Corentin, Bibi-Lupin, spies of various sorts associated with the police. Try to get Vautrin for various personal reasons.
媒体推荐
我刚开始读书时，就感受到巴尔扎克作品的魅力，景仰之余，爱不释卷。巴尔扎克动荡不安和伟大的一生，至今还得在他的浩瀚宏伟的巨著中追忆。
--【法]亨利特罗亚
在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者之一。
--【法】雨果
Honoré de Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, translated either as The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans or as The Harlot High and Low, was published in four parts from 1838-1847. It continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré, who was a main character in Illusions perdues, a preceding Balzac novel. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes forms part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine.
Plot summary
Lucien de Rubempré and "Abbé Herrera" (Vautrin) have made a pact, in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. Esther Van Gobseck throws a wrench into Vautrin's best-laid plans, however, because Lucien falls in love with her and she with him. Instead of forcing Lucien to abandon her, he allows Lucien this secret affair, but also makes good use of it. For four years, Esther remains locked away in a house in Paris, taking walks only at night. One night, however, the Baron de Nucingen spots her and falls deeply in love with her. When Vautrin realizes that Nucingen's obsession is with Esther, he decides to use her powers to help advance Lucien.
The plan is the following: Vautrin and Lucien are 60,000 francs in debt because of the lifestyle that Lucien has had to maintain. They also need one million francs to buy the old Rubempré land back, so that Lucien can marry Clotilde, the rich but ugly daughter of the Grandlieu's. Esther will be the tool they use to get as much money as possible out of the impossibly rich Nucingen. Things don't work out as smoothly as Vautrin would have liked, however, because Esther commits suicide after giving herself to Nucingen for the first and only time (after making him wait for months). Since the police have already been suspicious of Vautrin and Lucien, they arrest the two on suspicion of murder over the suicide. This turn of events is particularly tragic because it turns out that only hours before, Esther had actually inherited a huge amount of money from an estranged family member. If only she had held on, she could have married Lucien herself.
Lucien, ever the poet, doesn't do well in prison. Although Vautrin actually manages to fool his interrogators into believing that he might be Carlos Herrera, a priest on a secret mission for the Spanish king, Lucien succumbs to the wiles of his interviewer. He tells his interrogator everything, including Vautrin's true identity. Afterwards he regrets what he has done and hangs himself in his cell.
His suicide, like Esther's, is badly timed. In an effort not to compromise the high society ladies who were involved with him, the justices had arranged to let Lucien go. But when he kills himself, things get more sticky and the maneuverings more desperate. It turns out that Vautrin possesses the very compromising letters sent by these women to Lucien, and he uses them to negotiate his release. He also manages to save and help several of his accomplices along the way, helping them to avoid a death sentence or abject poverty.
At the end of the novel, Vautrin actually becomes a member of the police force before retiring in 1845. The nobility that was so fearful for its reputation moves on to other affairs.
Main characters
* Esther Van Gobseck, former courtesan and lover of Lucien, assigned to seducing Nucingen. Commits suicide after sleeping with Nucingen for money.
* Lucien de Rubempré, ambitious young man protected by Vautrin, trying to marry Clotilde de Grandlieu. Commits suicide in prison.
* Vautrin, escaped convict with the alias Carlos Herrera, real name Jacques Collin, nickname Trompe-la-Mort. Has a weakness for pretty young men, tries to help Lucien move up in society in every evil way possible.
* Baron de Nucingen, obsessed with Esther and the target of Vautrin's money machinations.
* Jacqueline Collin, aunt of Vautrin, alias of Asie. Charged with watching over Esther and helping Vautrin in his various schemes.
* Clotilde de Grandlieu, target of Lucien's affections, key to his advancement in society. But he cannot marry her unless he buys back his family's ancient land, worth one million francs. Her father prevents the marriage after finding out that the money, which actually came from Esther, did not really come from an inheritance (from Lucien's father), like Lucien was saying.
* Comtesse de Sérizy and Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, former lovers of Lucien of whom Vautrin possesses very compromising letters.
* Camusot de Marville, Comte de Granville, judge and magistrate respectively. Try to work out the case of Vautrin and Lucien without compromising the women involved.
* Peyrade, Contenson, Corentin, Bibi-Lupin, spies of various sorts associated with the police. Try to get Vautrin for various personal reasons.
巴尔扎克在《幻灭》中描写未来的大作家德·阿泰兹时，说过这样一句话：“他要像莫里哀那样，先成为深刻的哲学家，再写喜剧。”看来，这正是《人间喜剧》的作者对自己提出的要求。而且他也和德·阿泰兹一样，在巴黎的六层阁楼上受过饥饿和寒冷的折磨，在人类知识的宝藏中耐心地挖掘过，在“毒气熏蒸”的巴黎社会中生活过、搏斗过、感受过。
人们常说《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是巴尔扎克的代表作。实际上，在表现作家本人的思想感情和直接的生活体验方面，《幻灭》比其他小说具有更大的代表性。书中几个主要人物的遭遇，大部分取自作家本人的经历，他们的激情、幻想和苦难，他几乎全都亲自体尝过。他把自己二十年的奋斗历程分别给了三个不同类型的青年：他在大卫·赛夏的故事里，倾诉了自己经营印刷所、铸字厂和受债务迫害的惨痛经验；在吕西安的遭遇里，溶入了自己在文坛和新闻出版界的沉浮；他把自己从生活和创作中总结出的各种信念和主张给了德·阿泰兹；同时让卢斯托和伏脱冷充当了他剖析社会的代言人。可以想见，作家对这部作品是倾注了极大热情的。他在给韩斯卡夫人的信中，曾将《幻灭》称作“我的作品中居首位的著作”①，声称这部小说“充分地表现了我们的时代”②。在《幻灭》第三部初版序言中，巴尔扎克明确宣称这是“风俗研究”中“迄今最为重要的一部著作”。
《幻灭》的中心内容，是两个有才能、有抱负的青年理想破灭的故事。主人公吕西安是一位诗人，在外省颇有些名气。他带着满脑子幻想来到巴黎，结果在巴黎新闻界恶劣风气的影响下，离开了严肃的创作道路，变成无耻的报痞文氓，最后在党派倾轧、文坛斗争中身败名裂。他的妹夫大卫·赛夏是个埋头苦干的发明家，因为敌不过同行的阴险算计，被迫放弃发明专利，从此弃绝了科学研究的理想。
作者将这两个青年的遭遇与整整一代青年的精神状态，与整个社会生活，特别是巴黎生活的影响紧紧联系在一起，使之具有了普遍意义。在巴尔扎克笔下，十九世纪的巴黎好比希腊神话中的塞壬女仙，不断地吸引着和毁灭着外省的青年。
“巴黎就像一座盅惑人的碉堡，所有的外省青年都准备向它进攻……在这些才能、意志和成就的较量中，有着三十年来一代青年的惨史。”③
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①巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1843年3月2日）。
②巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1842年12 月21日）。
③巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第三部初版序言（1843）。
在这儿，巴黎显然是作为资本主义生活法则的表征出现的。随着封建所有制的解体，等级门阀观念的削弱，凭借个人才智到社会上寻求发迹的机会，已成为法国青年的普遍幻想，也是家家户户对那些稍有天赋的孩子必然抱有的期望。所以巴尔扎克不无嘲讽地写道：“拿破仑的榜样，使多少平凡的人狂妄自大，成为十九世纪的致命伤。”这种幻想是历史发展的必然产物，也反映了时代的进步。因为在封建时代，每个人的身分地位是早已划定了的，只有资本主义自由竞争，以及与自由竞争相适应的社会制度和政治制度产生以后，才给个人的发展提供了可能。
巴黎是法国政治、经济、文化的中心，是十八世纪末叶资产阶级革命的发源地。资产阶级的意识形态，必然以巴黎为圆心向外省扩散；巴黎的财富、权力，对外省青年必然具有无法抗拒的魅力。人人都想到巴黎去碰运气，如此便形成各种人才云集巴黎、互相竞争角逐的局面。竞争者是如此之多，真正能爬上显赫地位的又如此之少，这就必然挑起无穷无尽极其残酷的斗争，由此产生一首首个人奋斗的诗篇，一出出理想破灭的悲剧，同时也产生了十九世纪文学中的一个普遍的主题——个人与社会的对抗。巴尔扎克的哲理深度在于：他不仅意识到时代给个人的发展提供了可能，刺激了青年一代的美妙幻想；同时看到了社会还包含着那么多阻碍个人发展的因素，看到了物的统治使多少人才遭受摧残，多少理想归于幻灭。这种理想与现实的矛盾，个人发展的可能性与阻碍可能性转化为现实性的社会环境的矛盾，构成了小说的悲剧冲突。
既然冲突主要是在个人与环境之间展开，对主人公不幸命运的描绘，必然与对整个社会的批判揭露交织在一起。作者并不是孤立地塑造人物，而是将人物放在历史的框架内，让整个社会在他周围活动着，呼吸着，影响着他的思想，制约着他的行动。人物在生活的波涛中沉浮，距离自己最初的目标愈来愈远，终于被卷进危险的深渊。《幻灭》好像一幅巨型壁画，展示了法国大革命以后从外省到巴黎的广阔图景，描绘出王政复辟时期种种最富特征意义的现象：一方面，贵族的高贵姓氏和显赫地位仍然强烈地吸引着爱慕虚荣的青年；另一方面，资产者的财富已成为控制和奴役一切的力量，在野的资产阶级自由党在社会上比执政的保王党更有势力。这两大阶级的争夺，牵动着文坛上两派势力的斗争，也支配着吕西安的思想和命运。在这里，作者敏锐地指出了在复辟时期还处于萌芽状态的资本集中现象，描绘出工商业的竞争、同行间的倾轧和吞并是以何等阴险毒辣的方式在进行。大卫·赛夏就是在这类斗争中受围猎的一个牺牲品。在这些不同的角斗场上，作者勾勒了众多的不同阶层、不同身分的人物……总之，《幻灭》好比社会的缩影，集中了法国社会在新旧交替时期的种种怪现象。其中最富时代特色的现象之一，就是刚起步不久的新闻界。
在十九世纪的法国文学中，正面揭露新闻界内幕的作品，巴尔扎克的《幻灭》属于最早的，也是写得最大胆的一部。他撕开报界这座圣殿的帷幕，让人们看到这是个拿灵魂作交易的铺子。他一桩一件列举新闻界那些见不得人的勾当，惹得新闻界的首脑和文艺界的“执政”们暴跳如雷。在巴尔扎克看来，报界既是现代社会恶劣风气的集中而露骨的表现，也是进一步毒化社会风气的大痈疽，正是报界这股邪恶的势力，“扼杀了大量的青春和才能”①，把无数吕西安式的青年引向毁灭。
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①巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第二部初版序言。
《幻灭》的主人公吕西安不是英雄（当然也不是坏蛋），而是一个中间人物。作者是把他作为思想性格有严重弱点，而又有相当天赋的一类青年来刻画的。这是十九世纪上半期法国社会的典型环境中的一种典型性格。他聪明，有才华，但是自私、虚荣，野心很大而又意志薄弱，总想抄近路一步登天，没有毅力在真学问上下功夫。所以他经不起浮华世界的引诱，不可避免地走向了堕落。对这样一个人物，作者的态度是既有批判，也有同情。对于他的错误和失败，作者既不完全归咎于社会，也不完全归咎于个人。社会环境的恶劣影响，正是通过吕西安自身的弱点起作用的。
吕西安到巴黎以后，面前清清楚楚摆着两条路。一是德·阿泰兹和他的小团体的道路，这条路艰苦、漫长，然而清白可靠。要走这条路，吕西安缺的是坚强的意志和恒心。另一条就是斐诺已经取得成功、卢斯托正尾随其后的道路，这条路肮脏、危险，然而表面看来是名利双收的捷径。要走这条路，吕西安却又缺乏作恶的魄力和本领。因此吕西安两条路都走不通。
大卫·赛夏是与吕西安完全不同类型的一个青年。他正直宽厚、淳朴善良。他没有什么向上爬的野心，但并非没有才能或抱负。他用全副精力从事一项科学发明，想为他所爱的人挣起一份家业，他不乏恒心与毅力，却仍遭到惨败，原因是他的心地过于单纯，对现实缺乏透彻的理解，不像德·阿泰兹等人对人对事都有极冷静的分析。他在虎狼成群的社会里毫无自卫的准备；出没在生存竞争的枪林弹雨中却不穿铠甲，不戴头盔。因此他当科学家绰绰有余，作买卖必定亏本，竞争中必定一败涂地。
德·阿泰兹是理想化了的巴尔扎克。小团体的道路正是作者为自己选择的生活道路。他相信，尽管社会环境险恶，只要有坚定的意志和恒久的努力，仍然可以开拓自我，战胜激流险滩，到达胜利的彼岸。所以，《幻灭》一书所描写的虽是理想的破灭，却并不给人以悲观的印象。因为作者在揭露黑暗的同时，也着力刻画了一些追求正义者、自强不息者，时刻让读者感觉到有一股不与恶浊环境同流合污的对抗力量，也就是说，巴尔扎克认为：人是可以与社会较量的。
艾 珉
一九九二年七月
书摘： “好吧，那么我对今天的戏就按照我的印象来报导，”吕西安气愤愤的说。
年轻的女主角对舞台监督说：“你好糊涂！他是柯拉莉的情人啊。”
舞台监督立刻回过身来招呼吕西安：“先生，我去报告经理。”
可见报纸在小事情上也显出无边的威力，使吕西安的虚荣心感到满足。经理出来和德·雷托雷公爵和舞蹈明星蒂丽娅商量，要求把吕西安安插在他们紧靠前台的包厢里。公爵见是吕西安，答应了。
年轻的雷托雷提到夏特莱男爵和德·巴日东太太，说道：
“两个人被你摆布得好苦啊。”
吕西安道：“再看明天吧。到此为止，都是我的朋友们出场，只能算轻装的步兵，今晚我才亲自放炮。明天你就知道为什么我们取笑波特莱。文章的题目叫做《从一八一一年的波特莱到一八二一年的波特莱》。在不认恩主，向波旁家卖身投靠的人里头，夏特莱是个典型。我的本事要他们完全领教过了，再上德·蒙柯奈太太家。”
吕西安和青年公爵谈话之间尽量卖弄才华，急于向这位爵爷证明，德·埃斯巴太太和德·巴日东太太瞧他不起是有眼无珠，大错特错。可是他终于显了原形：他想自称为德·吕邦泼雷，而德·雷托雷公爵偏偏捉弄他，叫他沙尔东。
公爵说：“你应该做保王党。你已经显出你的才气，现在要表示你识时务了。要得到王上的诏书准许你改用母系的姓，唯一的办法是先为宫廷出一番力，再要求这个恩典。自由党永远不能使你成为伯爵！真正可怕的力量，报刊，早晚要被政府压倒的。报刊非加以箝制不可，这件事已经拖延太久了。言论自由此刻到了最后阶段，你该尽量利用，造成你的声势。再过几年，在法国用姓氏和头衔做资本，比才干更可靠。有了这两样，一切都不成问题：才智，门第，美貌，要什么有什么。你此刻做自由党，目的只应该是将来投靠保王党的时候多沾一些便宜。”
公爵告诉吕西安，他在佛洛丽纳的半夜餐席上遇到的公使，要请他吃饭，希望他不要拒绝。吕西安被公爵的议论打动了；几个月之前以为永远走不进去的上流社会向他开了门，更使他喜出望外。他暗暗赞叹笔杆子的力量。报刊，才智，竟是现代社会的敲门砖。吕西安心上想，说不定卢斯托正在后悔，不该把他引进庙堂；吕西安为自己打算，已经觉得需要筑起壁垒，把从外省赶到巴黎来的野心家拦在外面。他不敢问自己，倘若有个诗人象他当初投奔艾蒂安那样来找他，他会采取什么态度。吕西安心事重重的神气瞒不过年轻的公爵，原因也被他猜着了；因为公爵向这个缺乏意志而欲望不小的野心家揭露了政治舞台的远景，正如早先记者们象魔鬼把耶稣带到圣殿的顶上①，让吕西安看到文坛和文坛的财富。吕西安不知道被他的小报伤害的一些人正在设计划策对付他，其中也有德·雷托雷公爵参加。公爵向德·埃斯巴太太圈子里的人提到吕西安的才气，叫他们听着吃惊。他受德·巴日东太太委托，做一番试探工作，本来希望在昂必居喜剧院遇到吕西安。其实上流社会也罢，新闻记者也罢，都谈不到深谋远虑，别以为他们的陷阱经过什么周密的安排。他们并没定下方案，奸诈的权术也不过做到哪里是哪里，主要是始终存着心，随机应变，不管好事坏事，都准备利用，但等对方在情欲播弄之下自己送上门来。在佛洛丽纳家吃消夜那天，青年公爵就摸清吕西安的性格，刚才便觑准他的虚荣心进攻，同时借他来练练自己的外交手腕。
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①魔弹试探耶稣，忽而带他到旷野里，忽而带往殿堂顶上，忽而带上高山。见《新约·马太福音》第四章。
散了戏，吕西安赶往圣菲阿克街写剧评，有心写得泼辣，尖刻，想试试自己的力量。那出戏比上回全景剧场的那一出高明；可是他想知道是否真象人家说的，能够把一本好戏压下去，把一本坏戏捧出来。第二天他和柯拉莉吃着中饭，翻开报纸；他跟昂必居喜剧院捣乱的事已经先和柯拉莉说了。吕西安念了他攻击德·巴日东太太和夏特莱的文章，然后很奇怪的发现，他的剧评一夜之间忽然变得非常缓和，除掉他极风趣的分析原封不动之外，结论竟是赞美。这出戏尽可使剧院大大的赚一笔。吕西安的气恼简直没法形容，决意向卢斯托抗议。他已经以为人家少不了他了，他不愿意做傻子，听人支配，受人宰割。吕西安为了肯定自己的势力，替道里阿和斐诺的杂志写好一篇文章，把批评拿当作品的议论归纳起来，做一番比较。答应给小报长期执笔的小品，也乘兴写了一篇。年轻的记者都有一股热情，写稿很认真，往往很冒失的拿出自己的全部精华。全景剧场的经理贴了一出新排的喜剧，让佛洛丽纳和柯拉莉当晚轮空。吃消夜之前还要赌钱。吕西安看过新戏彩排，预先写好评论，免得临时闹稿荒；卢斯托上门来拿稿子。小报靠吕西安写的巴黎花絮风行一时；吕西安把才写的一个有趣的短篇念给卢斯托听了，卢斯托亲着他两颊，说他真是新闻界的天使。
“那么干吗你忽发奇想，要改我的稿子呢？”吕西安问。他写那篇精彩的文章原是想发泄他的怨气的。
“我改你稿子？”卢斯托叫起来。
“那么谁改的？”
艾蒂安笑道：“朋友，你还不懂生意经。昂必居订我们二十份报，实际只送去九份，就是经理，乐队指挥，舞台监督，他们的情妇，另外还有三个股东。大街上的戏院每家都用这个方式报效我们报馆八百法郎。白送斐诺的包厢也抵得这个数目，演员和编剧订的报还不算在内。坏蛋斐诺在大街上捞到八千法郎。小戏院如此，大戏院可想而知！你明白没有？咱们不能不尽量客气。”
“我明白了，我不能照我的心思写稿子……”
卢斯托道：“那跟你有什么相干，只要你油水捞饱就行了。再说，你对戏院有什么过不去呢？要砸掉昨天的戏，总得有个理由。为破坏而破坏，只能损害报纸。按照是非曲直去打击人，报纸还有什么作用？可是经理招待不周吗？”（第2部第28章）
Plot summary
Lucien Chardon, the son of a lower middle-class father and an impoverished mother of remote aristocratic descent, is the pivotal figure of the entire work. Living at Angoulême, he is impoverished, impatient, handsome and ambitious. His widowed mother, his sister Ève and his best friend, David Séchard, do nothing to lessen his high opinion of his own talents, for it is an opinion they share.
Even as Part I of Illusions perdues, Les Deux poètes (The Two Poets), begins, Lucien has already written a historical novel and a sonnet sequence, whereas David is a scientist. But both, according to Balzac, are "poets" in that they creatively seek truth. Theirs is a fraternity of poetic aspiration, whether as scientist or writer: thus, even before David marries Ève, the two young men are spiritual brothers.
Lucien is introduced into the drawing-room of the leading figure of Angoulême high society, Mme de Bargeton, who rapidly becomes infatuated with him. It is not long before the pair flee to Paris where Lucien adopts his maternal patronymic of de Rubempré and hopes to make his mark as a poet. Mme de Bargeton, on the other hand, recognises her mésalliance and, though remaining in Paris, severs all ties with Lucien, abandoning him to a life of destitution.
In Part II, Un Grand homme de province à Paris, Lucien is contrasted both with the journalist Lousteau and the high-minded writer Daniel d’Arthez. Jilted by Mme de Bargeton for the adventurer Sixte du Châtelet, he moves in a social circle of high-class actress-prostitutes and their journalist lovers: soon he becomes the lover of Coralie. As a literary journalist he prostitutes his talent. But he still harbours the ambition of belonging to high society and longs to assume by royal warrant the surname and coat of arms of the de Rubemprés. He therefore switches his allegiance from the liberal opposition press to the one or two royalist newspapers that support the government. This act of betrayal earns him the implacable hatred of his erstwhile journalist colleagues, who destroy Coralie’s theatrical reputation. In the depths of his despair he forges his brother-in-law’s name on three promissory notes. This is his ultimate betrayal of his integrity as a person. After Coralie’s death he returns in disgrace to Angoulême, stowed away behind the Châtelets’ carriage: Mme de Bargeton has just married du Châtelet, who has been appointed prefect of that region.
Meanwhile, at Angoulême David Séchard is betrayed on all sides but is supported by his loving wife. He invents a new and cheaper method of paper production: thus, at a thematic level, the commercialization of paper-manufacturing processes is very closely interwoven with the commercialization of literature. Lucien’s forgery of his brother-in-law’s signature almost bankrupts David, who has to sell the secret of his invention to business rivals. He is about to commit suicide when he is approached by a sham Jesuit priest, the Abbé Carlos Herrera: this, in another guise, is the escaped convict Vautrin whom Balzac had already presented in Le Père Goriot. Herrera takes Lucien under his protection and they drive off to Paris, there to begin a fresh assault on the capital.
Fundamental themes of the work
The novel has four main themes.
(1) The lifestyle of the provinces is juxtaposed with that of the metropolis, as Balzac contrasts the varying tempos of life at Angoulême and in Paris, the different standards obtaining in those cities, and their different perceptions.
(2) Balzac explores the artistic life of Paris in 1821-22, and furthermore the nature of the artistic life generally. Lucien, who was already a not quite published author when the novel begins, fails to get that early literary work published whilst he is in Paris and during his time in the capital writes nothing of any consequence. Daniel d’Arthez, on the other hand, does not actively seek literary fame: it comes to him because of his solid literary merit.
(3) Balzac denounces journalism, presenting it as the most pernicious form of intellectual prostitution.
(4) Balzac affirms the duplicity – and two-facedness – of all things, both in Paris and at Angoulême: e.g., the character of Lucien de Rubempré, who even has two surnames; David Séchard’s ostensible friend, the notary Petit-Claud, who operates against his client, not for him; the legal comptes (accounts) which are contes fantastiques (fantastic tales); the theatre which lives by make-believe; high society likewise; the Abbé Carlos Herrera who is a sham priest, and in fact a criminal; the Sin against the Holy Ghost, whereby Lucien abandons his true integrity as a person, forging his brother-in-law’s signature and even contemplating suicide.
Narrative strategies
(1) Although Illusions perdues is a commentary upon the contemporary world, Balzac is tantalizingly vague in his delineation of the historico-political background. His delineation of the broader social background is far more precise.
(2) Illusions perdues is remarkable for its innumerable changes of tempo. However, even the change of tempo from Part II to Part III is but a superficial point of contrast between life as it is lived in the capital and life in the provinces. Everywhere the same laws of human behaviour apply. A person’s downfall may come from the rapier thrust of the journalist or from the slowly strangling machinations of the law.
(3) Most notably in La Cousine Bette Balzac was one of the first novelists to employ the technique of in medias res. In Illusions perdues there is an unusual example of this, Part II of the novel serving as the prelude to the extended flashback which follows in Part III.
(4) Illusions perdues is also full of the "sublimities and degradations", "excited emphasis" and "romantic rhetoric" to which F.R. Leavis[1] has objected in Le Père Goriot. Characters and viewpoints are polarized. There is the strong and perhaps somewhat artificial contrast between Lucien and David, art and science, Lousteau and d’Arthez, journalism and literature, Paris and the provinces, etc. And this polarization reaches the point of melodrama as Balzac appears to draw moral distinctions between "vice" and "virtue". Coralie is the Fallen Woman, Ève an Angel of strength and purity. Yet Balzac also describes Coralie’s love for Lucien as a form of redemptive purity, an "absolution" and a "benediction". Thus, through what structurally is melodrama, he underlines what he considers to be the fundamental resemblance of opposites.
(5) Introduced into narrative fiction by the Gothic novel (The Castle of Otranto, The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk), melodrama was widespread in literature around the time when Illusions perdues was written. Jane Austen satirizes it in Northanger Abbey. Eugène Sue made regular use of it. Instances in Illusions perdues are the use of improbable coincidence; Lucien, in an endeavour to pay Coralie’s funeral expenses, writing bawdy love-songs when her body is hardly yet cold; and the deus ex machina (or Satanas ex machina?) in the form of Herrera’s appearance at the end of the novel.
(6) Like all the major works of the Comédie humaine, Illusions perdues pre-eminently focuses on the social nexus. Within the nexus of love, in her relationship with Lucien, Coralie is life-giving: her love has a sacramental quality. However, in an environment of worldly manœuvring her influence upn him is fatal. She is, in other words, both a Fallen and a Risen Woman; all depends upon the nexus within which she is viewed. In the unpropitious environment of Angoulême Mme de Bargeton is an absurd bluestocking; transplanted to Paris, she undergoes an immediate "metamorphosis", becoming a true denizen of high society – and rightfully, in Part III, the occupant of the préfecture at Angoulême. As to whether Lucien’s writings have any value, the social laws are paramount: this is a fact which he does not realize until it is too late.
(7) A parallel ambiguity is present in the character of the epicene Lucien de Rubempré. Mme de Bargeton finds no fault with his amorous competence, nor does Coralie. Yet, partly because of his existential circumstances and also because of the narrative context in which Balzac places him, it appears that Lucien is fundamentally homosexual. This, incidentally, is almost the first appearance of homosexuality in modern literature.
(8) Illusions perdues is, according to Donald Adamson, "a revelation of the secret workings of the world, rather than a Bildungsroman illuminating the development of character"[2].
The success of this novel inspired Balzac to write a four-part sequel, Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. Illusions perdues and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes form part of the Comédie humaine, the series of novels and short stories written by Balzac depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and July Monarchy (1815-1848).
人们常说《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是巴尔扎克的代表作。实际上，在表现作家本人的思想感情和直接的生活体验方面，《幻灭》比其他小说具有更大的代表性。书中几个主要人物的遭遇，大部分取自作家本人的经历，他们的激情、幻想和苦难，他几乎全都亲自体尝过。他把自己二十年的奋斗历程分别给了三个不同类型的青年：他在大卫·赛夏的故事里，倾诉了自己经营印刷所、铸字厂和受债务迫害的惨痛经验；在吕西安的遭遇里，溶入了自己在文坛和新闻出版界的沉浮；他把自己从生活和创作中总结出的各种信念和主张给了德·阿泰兹；同时让卢斯托和伏脱冷充当了他剖析社会的代言人。可以想见，作家对这部作品是倾注了极大热情的。他在给韩斯卡夫人的信中，曾将《幻灭》称作“我的作品中居首位的著作”①，声称这部小说“充分地表现了我们的时代”②。在《幻灭》第三部初版序言中，巴尔扎克明确宣称这是“风俗研究”中“迄今最为重要的一部著作”。
《幻灭》的中心内容，是两个有才能、有抱负的青年理想破灭的故事。主人公吕西安是一位诗人，在外省颇有些名气。他带着满脑子幻想来到巴黎，结果在巴黎新闻界恶劣风气的影响下，离开了严肃的创作道路，变成无耻的报痞文氓，最后在党派倾轧、文坛斗争中身败名裂。他的妹夫大卫·赛夏是个埋头苦干的发明家，因为敌不过同行的阴险算计，被迫放弃发明专利，从此弃绝了科学研究的理想。
作者将这两个青年的遭遇与整整一代青年的精神状态，与整个社会生活，特别是巴黎生活的影响紧紧联系在一起，使之具有了普遍意义。在巴尔扎克笔下，十九世纪的巴黎好比希腊神话中的塞壬女仙，不断地吸引着和毁灭着外省的青年。
“巴黎就像一座盅惑人的碉堡，所有的外省青年都准备向它进攻……在这些才能、意志和成就的较量中，有着三十年来一代青年的惨史。”③
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①巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1843年3月2日）。
②巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1842年12 月21日）。
③巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第三部初版序言（1843）。
在这儿，巴黎显然是作为资本主义生活法则的表征出现的。随着封建所有制的解体，等级门阀观念的削弱，凭借个人才智到社会上寻求发迹的机会，已成为法国青年的普遍幻想，也是家家户户对那些稍有天赋的孩子必然抱有的期望。所以巴尔扎克不无嘲讽地写道：“拿破仑的榜样，使多少平凡的人狂妄自大，成为十九世纪的致命伤。”这种幻想是历史发展的必然产物，也反映了时代的进步。因为在封建时代，每个人的身分地位是早已划定了的，只有资本主义自由竞争，以及与自由竞争相适应的社会制度和政治制度产生以后，才给个人的发展提供了可能。
巴黎是法国政治、经济、文化的中心，是十八世纪末叶资产阶级革命的发源地。资产阶级的意识形态，必然以巴黎为圆心向外省扩散；巴黎的财富、权力，对外省青年必然具有无法抗拒的魅力。人人都想到巴黎去碰运气，如此便形成各种人才云集巴黎、互相竞争角逐的局面。竞争者是如此之多，真正能爬上显赫地位的又如此之少，这就必然挑起无穷无尽极其残酷的斗争，由此产生一首首个人奋斗的诗篇，一出出理想破灭的悲剧，同时也产生了十九世纪文学中的一个普遍的主题——个人与社会的对抗。巴尔扎克的哲理深度在于：他不仅意识到时代给个人的发展提供了可能，刺激了青年一代的美妙幻想；同时看到了社会还包含着那么多阻碍个人发展的因素，看到了物的统治使多少人才遭受摧残，多少理想归于幻灭。这种理想与现实的矛盾，个人发展的可能性与阻碍可能性转化为现实性的社会环境的矛盾，构成了小说的悲剧冲突。
既然冲突主要是在个人与环境之间展开，对主人公不幸命运的描绘，必然与对整个社会的批判揭露交织在一起。作者并不是孤立地塑造人物，而是将人物放在历史的框架内，让整个社会在他周围活动着，呼吸着，影响着他的思想，制约着他的行动。人物在生活的波涛中沉浮，距离自己最初的目标愈来愈远，终于被卷进危险的深渊。《幻灭》好像一幅巨型壁画，展示了法国大革命以后从外省到巴黎的广阔图景，描绘出王政复辟时期种种最富特征意义的现象：一方面，贵族的高贵姓氏和显赫地位仍然强烈地吸引着爱慕虚荣的青年；另一方面，资产者的财富已成为控制和奴役一切的力量，在野的资产阶级自由党在社会上比执政的保王党更有势力。这两大阶级的争夺，牵动着文坛上两派势力的斗争，也支配着吕西安的思想和命运。在这里，作者敏锐地指出了在复辟时期还处于萌芽状态的资本集中现象，描绘出工商业的竞争、同行间的倾轧和吞并是以何等阴险毒辣的方式在进行。大卫·赛夏就是在这类斗争中受围猎的一个牺牲品。在这些不同的角斗场上，作者勾勒了众多的不同阶层、不同身分的人物……总之，《幻灭》好比社会的缩影，集中了法国社会在新旧交替时期的种种怪现象。其中最富时代特色的现象之一，就是刚起步不久的新闻界。
在十九世纪的法国文学中，正面揭露新闻界内幕的作品，巴尔扎克的《幻灭》属于最早的，也是写得最大胆的一部。他撕开报界这座圣殿的帷幕，让人们看到这是个拿灵魂作交易的铺子。他一桩一件列举新闻界那些见不得人的勾当，惹得新闻界的首脑和文艺界的“执政”们暴跳如雷。在巴尔扎克看来，报界既是现代社会恶劣风气的集中而露骨的表现，也是进一步毒化社会风气的大痈疽，正是报界这股邪恶的势力，“扼杀了大量的青春和才能”①，把无数吕西安式的青年引向毁灭。
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①巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第二部初版序言。
《幻灭》的主人公吕西安不是英雄（当然也不是坏蛋），而是一个中间人物。作者是把他作为思想性格有严重弱点，而又有相当天赋的一类青年来刻画的。这是十九世纪上半期法国社会的典型环境中的一种典型性格。他聪明，有才华，但是自私、虚荣，野心很大而又意志薄弱，总想抄近路一步登天，没有毅力在真学问上下功夫。所以他经不起浮华世界的引诱，不可避免地走向了堕落。对这样一个人物，作者的态度是既有批判，也有同情。对于他的错误和失败，作者既不完全归咎于社会，也不完全归咎于个人。社会环境的恶劣影响，正是通过吕西安自身的弱点起作用的。
吕西安到巴黎以后，面前清清楚楚摆着两条路。一是德·阿泰兹和他的小团体的道路，这条路艰苦、漫长，然而清白可靠。要走这条路，吕西安缺的是坚强的意志和恒心。另一条就是斐诺已经取得成功、卢斯托正尾随其后的道路，这条路肮脏、危险，然而表面看来是名利双收的捷径。要走这条路，吕西安却又缺乏作恶的魄力和本领。因此吕西安两条路都走不通。
大卫·赛夏是与吕西安完全不同类型的一个青年。他正直宽厚、淳朴善良。他没有什么向上爬的野心，但并非没有才能或抱负。他用全副精力从事一项科学发明，想为他所爱的人挣起一份家业，他不乏恒心与毅力，却仍遭到惨败，原因是他的心地过于单纯，对现实缺乏透彻的理解，不像德·阿泰兹等人对人对事都有极冷静的分析。他在虎狼成群的社会里毫无自卫的准备；出没在生存竞争的枪林弹雨中却不穿铠甲，不戴头盔。因此他当科学家绰绰有余，作买卖必定亏本，竞争中必定一败涂地。
德·阿泰兹是理想化了的巴尔扎克。小团体的道路正是作者为自己选择的生活道路。他相信，尽管社会环境险恶，只要有坚定的意志和恒久的努力，仍然可以开拓自我，战胜激流险滩，到达胜利的彼岸。所以，《幻灭》一书所描写的虽是理想的破灭，却并不给人以悲观的印象。因为作者在揭露黑暗的同时，也着力刻画了一些追求正义者、自强不息者，时刻让读者感觉到有一股不与恶浊环境同流合污的对抗力量，也就是说，巴尔扎克认为：人是可以与社会较量的。
艾 珉
一九九二年七月
书摘： “好吧，那么我对今天的戏就按照我的印象来报导，”吕西安气愤愤的说。
年轻的女主角对舞台监督说：“你好糊涂！他是柯拉莉的情人啊。”
舞台监督立刻回过身来招呼吕西安：“先生，我去报告经理。”
可见报纸在小事情上也显出无边的威力，使吕西安的虚荣心感到满足。经理出来和德·雷托雷公爵和舞蹈明星蒂丽娅商量，要求把吕西安安插在他们紧靠前台的包厢里。公爵见是吕西安，答应了。
年轻的雷托雷提到夏特莱男爵和德·巴日东太太，说道：
“两个人被你摆布得好苦啊。”
吕西安道：“再看明天吧。到此为止，都是我的朋友们出场，只能算轻装的步兵，今晚我才亲自放炮。明天你就知道为什么我们取笑波特莱。文章的题目叫做《从一八一一年的波特莱到一八二一年的波特莱》。在不认恩主，向波旁家卖身投靠的人里头，夏特莱是个典型。我的本事要他们完全领教过了，再上德·蒙柯奈太太家。”
吕西安和青年公爵谈话之间尽量卖弄才华，急于向这位爵爷证明，德·埃斯巴太太和德·巴日东太太瞧他不起是有眼无珠，大错特错。可是他终于显了原形：他想自称为德·吕邦泼雷，而德·雷托雷公爵偏偏捉弄他，叫他沙尔东。
公爵说：“你应该做保王党。你已经显出你的才气，现在要表示你识时务了。要得到王上的诏书准许你改用母系的姓，唯一的办法是先为宫廷出一番力，再要求这个恩典。自由党永远不能使你成为伯爵！真正可怕的力量，报刊，早晚要被政府压倒的。报刊非加以箝制不可，这件事已经拖延太久了。言论自由此刻到了最后阶段，你该尽量利用，造成你的声势。再过几年，在法国用姓氏和头衔做资本，比才干更可靠。有了这两样，一切都不成问题：才智，门第，美貌，要什么有什么。你此刻做自由党，目的只应该是将来投靠保王党的时候多沾一些便宜。”
公爵告诉吕西安，他在佛洛丽纳的半夜餐席上遇到的公使，要请他吃饭，希望他不要拒绝。吕西安被公爵的议论打动了；几个月之前以为永远走不进去的上流社会向他开了门，更使他喜出望外。他暗暗赞叹笔杆子的力量。报刊，才智，竟是现代社会的敲门砖。吕西安心上想，说不定卢斯托正在后悔，不该把他引进庙堂；吕西安为自己打算，已经觉得需要筑起壁垒，把从外省赶到巴黎来的野心家拦在外面。他不敢问自己，倘若有个诗人象他当初投奔艾蒂安那样来找他，他会采取什么态度。吕西安心事重重的神气瞒不过年轻的公爵，原因也被他猜着了；因为公爵向这个缺乏意志而欲望不小的野心家揭露了政治舞台的远景，正如早先记者们象魔鬼把耶稣带到圣殿的顶上①，让吕西安看到文坛和文坛的财富。吕西安不知道被他的小报伤害的一些人正在设计划策对付他，其中也有德·雷托雷公爵参加。公爵向德·埃斯巴太太圈子里的人提到吕西安的才气，叫他们听着吃惊。他受德·巴日东太太委托，做一番试探工作，本来希望在昂必居喜剧院遇到吕西安。其实上流社会也罢，新闻记者也罢，都谈不到深谋远虑，别以为他们的陷阱经过什么周密的安排。他们并没定下方案，奸诈的权术也不过做到哪里是哪里，主要是始终存着心，随机应变，不管好事坏事，都准备利用，但等对方在情欲播弄之下自己送上门来。在佛洛丽纳家吃消夜那天，青年公爵就摸清吕西安的性格，刚才便觑准他的虚荣心进攻，同时借他来练练自己的外交手腕。
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①魔弹试探耶稣，忽而带他到旷野里，忽而带往殿堂顶上，忽而带上高山。见《新约·马太福音》第四章。
散了戏，吕西安赶往圣菲阿克街写剧评，有心写得泼辣，尖刻，想试试自己的力量。那出戏比上回全景剧场的那一出高明；可是他想知道是否真象人家说的，能够把一本好戏压下去，把一本坏戏捧出来。第二天他和柯拉莉吃着中饭，翻开报纸；他跟昂必居喜剧院捣乱的事已经先和柯拉莉说了。吕西安念了他攻击德·巴日东太太和夏特莱的文章，然后很奇怪的发现，他的剧评一夜之间忽然变得非常缓和，除掉他极风趣的分析原封不动之外，结论竟是赞美。这出戏尽可使剧院大大的赚一笔。吕西安的气恼简直没法形容，决意向卢斯托抗议。他已经以为人家少不了他了，他不愿意做傻子，听人支配，受人宰割。吕西安为了肯定自己的势力，替道里阿和斐诺的杂志写好一篇文章，把批评拿当作品的议论归纳起来，做一番比较。答应给小报长期执笔的小品，也乘兴写了一篇。年轻的记者都有一股热情，写稿很认真，往往很冒失的拿出自己的全部精华。全景剧场的经理贴了一出新排的喜剧，让佛洛丽纳和柯拉莉当晚轮空。吃消夜之前还要赌钱。吕西安看过新戏彩排，预先写好评论，免得临时闹稿荒；卢斯托上门来拿稿子。小报靠吕西安写的巴黎花絮风行一时；吕西安把才写的一个有趣的短篇念给卢斯托听了，卢斯托亲着他两颊，说他真是新闻界的天使。
“那么干吗你忽发奇想，要改我的稿子呢？”吕西安问。他写那篇精彩的文章原是想发泄他的怨气的。
“我改你稿子？”卢斯托叫起来。
“那么谁改的？”
艾蒂安笑道：“朋友，你还不懂生意经。昂必居订我们二十份报，实际只送去九份，就是经理，乐队指挥，舞台监督，他们的情妇，另外还有三个股东。大街上的戏院每家都用这个方式报效我们报馆八百法郎。白送斐诺的包厢也抵得这个数目，演员和编剧订的报还不算在内。坏蛋斐诺在大街上捞到八千法郎。小戏院如此，大戏院可想而知！你明白没有？咱们不能不尽量客气。”
“我明白了，我不能照我的心思写稿子……”
卢斯托道：“那跟你有什么相干，只要你油水捞饱就行了。再说，你对戏院有什么过不去呢？要砸掉昨天的戏，总得有个理由。为破坏而破坏，只能损害报纸。按照是非曲直去打击人，报纸还有什么作用？可是经理招待不周吗？”（第2部第28章）
Plot summary
Lucien Chardon, the son of a lower middle-class father and an impoverished mother of remote aristocratic descent, is the pivotal figure of the entire work. Living at Angoulême, he is impoverished, impatient, handsome and ambitious. His widowed mother, his sister Ève and his best friend, David Séchard, do nothing to lessen his high opinion of his own talents, for it is an opinion they share.
Even as Part I of Illusions perdues, Les Deux poètes (The Two Poets), begins, Lucien has already written a historical novel and a sonnet sequence, whereas David is a scientist. But both, according to Balzac, are "poets" in that they creatively seek truth. Theirs is a fraternity of poetic aspiration, whether as scientist or writer: thus, even before David marries Ève, the two young men are spiritual brothers.
Lucien is introduced into the drawing-room of the leading figure of Angoulême high society, Mme de Bargeton, who rapidly becomes infatuated with him. It is not long before the pair flee to Paris where Lucien adopts his maternal patronymic of de Rubempré and hopes to make his mark as a poet. Mme de Bargeton, on the other hand, recognises her mésalliance and, though remaining in Paris, severs all ties with Lucien, abandoning him to a life of destitution.
In Part II, Un Grand homme de province à Paris, Lucien is contrasted both with the journalist Lousteau and the high-minded writer Daniel d’Arthez. Jilted by Mme de Bargeton for the adventurer Sixte du Châtelet, he moves in a social circle of high-class actress-prostitutes and their journalist lovers: soon he becomes the lover of Coralie. As a literary journalist he prostitutes his talent. But he still harbours the ambition of belonging to high society and longs to assume by royal warrant the surname and coat of arms of the de Rubemprés. He therefore switches his allegiance from the liberal opposition press to the one or two royalist newspapers that support the government. This act of betrayal earns him the implacable hatred of his erstwhile journalist colleagues, who destroy Coralie’s theatrical reputation. In the depths of his despair he forges his brother-in-law’s name on three promissory notes. This is his ultimate betrayal of his integrity as a person. After Coralie’s death he returns in disgrace to Angoulême, stowed away behind the Châtelets’ carriage: Mme de Bargeton has just married du Châtelet, who has been appointed prefect of that region.
Meanwhile, at Angoulême David Séchard is betrayed on all sides but is supported by his loving wife. He invents a new and cheaper method of paper production: thus, at a thematic level, the commercialization of paper-manufacturing processes is very closely interwoven with the commercialization of literature. Lucien’s forgery of his brother-in-law’s signature almost bankrupts David, who has to sell the secret of his invention to business rivals. He is about to commit suicide when he is approached by a sham Jesuit priest, the Abbé Carlos Herrera: this, in another guise, is the escaped convict Vautrin whom Balzac had already presented in Le Père Goriot. Herrera takes Lucien under his protection and they drive off to Paris, there to begin a fresh assault on the capital.
Fundamental themes of the work
The novel has four main themes.
(1) The lifestyle of the provinces is juxtaposed with that of the metropolis, as Balzac contrasts the varying tempos of life at Angoulême and in Paris, the different standards obtaining in those cities, and their different perceptions.
(2) Balzac explores the artistic life of Paris in 1821-22, and furthermore the nature of the artistic life generally. Lucien, who was already a not quite published author when the novel begins, fails to get that early literary work published whilst he is in Paris and during his time in the capital writes nothing of any consequence. Daniel d’Arthez, on the other hand, does not actively seek literary fame: it comes to him because of his solid literary merit.
(3) Balzac denounces journalism, presenting it as the most pernicious form of intellectual prostitution.
(4) Balzac affirms the duplicity – and two-facedness – of all things, both in Paris and at Angoulême: e.g., the character of Lucien de Rubempré, who even has two surnames; David Séchard’s ostensible friend, the notary Petit-Claud, who operates against his client, not for him; the legal comptes (accounts) which are contes fantastiques (fantastic tales); the theatre which lives by make-believe; high society likewise; the Abbé Carlos Herrera who is a sham priest, and in fact a criminal; the Sin against the Holy Ghost, whereby Lucien abandons his true integrity as a person, forging his brother-in-law’s signature and even contemplating suicide.
Narrative strategies
(1) Although Illusions perdues is a commentary upon the contemporary world, Balzac is tantalizingly vague in his delineation of the historico-political background. His delineation of the broader social background is far more precise.
(2) Illusions perdues is remarkable for its innumerable changes of tempo. However, even the change of tempo from Part II to Part III is but a superficial point of contrast between life as it is lived in the capital and life in the provinces. Everywhere the same laws of human behaviour apply. A person’s downfall may come from the rapier thrust of the journalist or from the slowly strangling machinations of the law.
(3) Most notably in La Cousine Bette Balzac was one of the first novelists to employ the technique of in medias res. In Illusions perdues there is an unusual example of this, Part II of the novel serving as the prelude to the extended flashback which follows in Part III.
(4) Illusions perdues is also full of the "sublimities and degradations", "excited emphasis" and "romantic rhetoric" to which F.R. Leavis[1] has objected in Le Père Goriot. Characters and viewpoints are polarized. There is the strong and perhaps somewhat artificial contrast between Lucien and David, art and science, Lousteau and d’Arthez, journalism and literature, Paris and the provinces, etc. And this polarization reaches the point of melodrama as Balzac appears to draw moral distinctions between "vice" and "virtue". Coralie is the Fallen Woman, Ève an Angel of strength and purity. Yet Balzac also describes Coralie’s love for Lucien as a form of redemptive purity, an "absolution" and a "benediction". Thus, through what structurally is melodrama, he underlines what he considers to be the fundamental resemblance of opposites.
(5) Introduced into narrative fiction by the Gothic novel (The Castle of Otranto, The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk), melodrama was widespread in literature around the time when Illusions perdues was written. Jane Austen satirizes it in Northanger Abbey. Eugène Sue made regular use of it. Instances in Illusions perdues are the use of improbable coincidence; Lucien, in an endeavour to pay Coralie’s funeral expenses, writing bawdy love-songs when her body is hardly yet cold; and the deus ex machina (or Satanas ex machina?) in the form of Herrera’s appearance at the end of the novel.
(6) Like all the major works of the Comédie humaine, Illusions perdues pre-eminently focuses on the social nexus. Within the nexus of love, in her relationship with Lucien, Coralie is life-giving: her love has a sacramental quality. However, in an environment of worldly manœuvring her influence upn him is fatal. She is, in other words, both a Fallen and a Risen Woman; all depends upon the nexus within which she is viewed. In the unpropitious environment of Angoulême Mme de Bargeton is an absurd bluestocking; transplanted to Paris, she undergoes an immediate "metamorphosis", becoming a true denizen of high society – and rightfully, in Part III, the occupant of the préfecture at Angoulême. As to whether Lucien’s writings have any value, the social laws are paramount: this is a fact which he does not realize until it is too late.
(7) A parallel ambiguity is present in the character of the epicene Lucien de Rubempré. Mme de Bargeton finds no fault with his amorous competence, nor does Coralie. Yet, partly because of his existential circumstances and also because of the narrative context in which Balzac places him, it appears that Lucien is fundamentally homosexual. This, incidentally, is almost the first appearance of homosexuality in modern literature.
(8) Illusions perdues is, according to Donald Adamson, "a revelation of the secret workings of the world, rather than a Bildungsroman illuminating the development of character"[2].
The success of this novel inspired Balzac to write a four-part sequel, Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. Illusions perdues and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes form part of the Comédie humaine, the series of novels and short stories written by Balzac depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and July Monarchy (1815-1848).
悭吝精明的百万富翁有一位天真美丽的独生女儿，她爱上了一个破产落魄的亲戚，为了资助他“闯天下”，倾囊赠予全部积蓄，从而激怒爱财如命的父亲，父女间发生激烈冲突，胆小而贤惠的慈母从此一病不起；可在期待中丧失父亲，又白白浪费青春的痴情姑娘，最终等到的却是发财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》讲述的是老葛朗台的独生女儿天真美丽的欧也妮爱上了破产落魄的表弟夏尔。为了资助夏尔，她将父亲的金币全部赠给了他，这一举动激怒了老葛朗台，父女俩儿发生了激烈的冲突。一向胆小而贤淑的母亲因此一病不起，而欧也妮这个痴情的姑娘最终等到的却是发了小财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》是巴尔扎克讽刺作品中最具有活力的一部力作。小说中，老葛朗台与传统的守财奴的形象不大一样，它不仅热衷于守财，更善于发财，他精于算计，能审时度势，平时不动声色，看准时机一定会果断出击。索漠城里，谁都尝到过他的厉害，但他们反倒更敬佩他了，把他看成索漠城的光荣，这是因为金钱在当时社会具有无边的魅力。老葛朗台死后，虽然欧也妮.葛朗台有了一大笔遗产和收入，可是她和以前一样，过着俭朴的生活。她也是精打细算地，积攒了许多年的家产，有人说她和她的父亲一样吝啬。可是，她把钱用到了慈善机构和教育上。她和她的爸爸形成了鲜明的对照。
这本书浓缩之后可能就是一句人生格言，或者，是富含着哲理的一句话，不过他很重要。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》这部小说揭露了当时资产阶级社会中赤裸裸的金钱关系，我读了这本书受益无穷，我十分喜欢它。
Plot Summary
Eugenie Grandet is set in the town of Saumur. Eugenie's father Felix is a former cooper who has become wealthy through both business ventures and inheritance. However he is very miserly, and he, his wife, daughter and their servant Nanon live in a run down old house which he is too miserly to repair. His banker des Grassins wishes Eugenie to marry his son Adolphe, and his lawyer Cruchot wishes Eugenie to marry his nephew President Cruchot des Bonfons. The two families constantly visit the Grandets to get Felix's favour, and Felix in turn plays them off against each other for his own advantage.
One day in 1819, Felix's nephew Charles Grandet arrives from Paris unexpectedly at their home having been sent there by his father Guillaume. Charles does not realise that his father has gone bankrupt and plans to takes his own life. Guillaume reveals this to his brother Felix in a confidential letter which Charles has carried.
Charles is a spoilt, and indolent young man, who is having an affair with an older woman. His father's ruin and suicide are soon published in the newspaper, and his uncle Felix reveals his problems to him. Felix considers Charles to be a burden, and plans to send him off overseas to make his own fortune. However, Eugenie and Charles fall in love with each other, and hope to eventually marry. She gives him some of her own money to help with his trading ventures.
Meanwhile Felix hatches a plan to profit from his brother's ruin. He announces to Cruchot des Bonfons that he plans to liquidate his brother's business, and so avoid a declaration of bankruptcy, and therefore save the family honour. Cruchot des Bonfons volunteers to go Paris to make the arrangements provided that Felix pays his expenses. The des Grassins then visit just as they are in the middle of discussions, and the banker des Grassins volunteers to do Felix's bidding for free. So Felix accepts des Grassins offer instead of Cruchot des Bonfons. The business is liquidated, and the creditors get 46% of their debts, in exchange for their bank bills. Felix then ignores all demands to pay the rest, whilst selling the bank bills at a profit.
By now Charles has left to travel overseas. He entrusts Eugenie with a small gold plated cabinet which contains pictures of his parents.
Later Felix is angered when he discovers that Eugenie has given her money (all in gold coins) to Charles. This leads to his wife falling ill, and his daughter being confined to her room. Eventually they are reconciled, and Felix reluctantly agrees that Eugenie can marry Charles.
In 1827 Charles returns to France. By now both of Eugenie's parents have died. However Charles is no longer in love with Eugenie. He has become very wealthy through his trading, but he has also become extremely corrupt. He becomes engaged to the daughter of an impoverished aristocratic family, in order to make himself respectable. He writes to Eugenie to announce his marriage plans, and to break off their engagement. He also sends a cheque to pay off the money that she gave him. Eugenie is heartbroken, especially when she discovers that Charles had been back in France for a month when he wrote to her. She sends back the cabinet.
Eugenie then decides to become engaged to Cruchot des Bonfons on two conditions. One is that she remains a virgin, and the other is that he agrees to go to Paris to act for her to pay off all the debts due Guillaume Grandet's creditor's. Bonfons de Cruchot carries out the debt payment in full. This comes just in time for Charles who finds that his future father-in-law objects to letting his daughter marry the son of a bankrupt. When Charles meets Bonfons de Cruchot, he discovers that Eugenie is in fact far wealthier than he is. During his brief stay at Saumur, he had assumed from the state of their home that his relatives were poor.
Bonfons de Cruchot marries Eugenie hopeful of becoming fabulously wealthy. However he dies young, and at the end of the book Eugenie is a very wealthy widow having now inherited her husband's fortune. However she is also very unhappy, and tells her servant Nanon "You are the only one who loves me". She lives in the miserly way in which she was brought up, though without her father's obsession for gold.
Adaptations
Adaptation for cinema:
* 1921 - The Conquering Power - by Rex Ingram - starring Alice Terry (Eugénie), Rudolph Valentino (Charles), Ralph Lewis (Father), Carrie Daumery (Mother), Bridgetta Clark (Mrs Des Grassins)
* 1946 - Eugenia Grandet - by Mario Soldati - starring Alida Valli
* 1965 - Eugenie Grandet - by Rex Tucker - starring Valerie Gearon (Eugénie), Mary Kerridge (Madame des Grassins), Beatrix Lehmann (Madame Grandet), Jonathan Cecil (Adolphe)
* 1993 - Eugénie Grandet, by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe; starring: Alexandra London (Eugénie), Jean Carmet (Father Grandet), Dominique Labourier (Mother Grandet), Claude Jade (Lucienne des Grassins).
《欧也妮.葛朗台》讲述的是老葛朗台的独生女儿天真美丽的欧也妮爱上了破产落魄的表弟夏尔。为了资助夏尔，她将父亲的金币全部赠给了他，这一举动激怒了老葛朗台，父女俩儿发生了激烈的冲突。一向胆小而贤淑的母亲因此一病不起，而欧也妮这个痴情的姑娘最终等到的却是发了小财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》是巴尔扎克讽刺作品中最具有活力的一部力作。小说中，老葛朗台与传统的守财奴的形象不大一样，它不仅热衷于守财，更善于发财，他精于算计，能审时度势，平时不动声色，看准时机一定会果断出击。索漠城里，谁都尝到过他的厉害，但他们反倒更敬佩他了，把他看成索漠城的光荣，这是因为金钱在当时社会具有无边的魅力。老葛朗台死后，虽然欧也妮.葛朗台有了一大笔遗产和收入，可是她和以前一样，过着俭朴的生活。她也是精打细算地，积攒了许多年的家产，有人说她和她的父亲一样吝啬。可是，她把钱用到了慈善机构和教育上。她和她的爸爸形成了鲜明的对照。
这本书浓缩之后可能就是一句人生格言，或者，是富含着哲理的一句话，不过他很重要。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》这部小说揭露了当时资产阶级社会中赤裸裸的金钱关系，我读了这本书受益无穷，我十分喜欢它。
Plot Summary
Eugenie Grandet is set in the town of Saumur. Eugenie's father Felix is a former cooper who has become wealthy through both business ventures and inheritance. However he is very miserly, and he, his wife, daughter and their servant Nanon live in a run down old house which he is too miserly to repair. His banker des Grassins wishes Eugenie to marry his son Adolphe, and his lawyer Cruchot wishes Eugenie to marry his nephew President Cruchot des Bonfons. The two families constantly visit the Grandets to get Felix's favour, and Felix in turn plays them off against each other for his own advantage.
One day in 1819, Felix's nephew Charles Grandet arrives from Paris unexpectedly at their home having been sent there by his father Guillaume. Charles does not realise that his father has gone bankrupt and plans to takes his own life. Guillaume reveals this to his brother Felix in a confidential letter which Charles has carried.
Charles is a spoilt, and indolent young man, who is having an affair with an older woman. His father's ruin and suicide are soon published in the newspaper, and his uncle Felix reveals his problems to him. Felix considers Charles to be a burden, and plans to send him off overseas to make his own fortune. However, Eugenie and Charles fall in love with each other, and hope to eventually marry. She gives him some of her own money to help with his trading ventures.
Meanwhile Felix hatches a plan to profit from his brother's ruin. He announces to Cruchot des Bonfons that he plans to liquidate his brother's business, and so avoid a declaration of bankruptcy, and therefore save the family honour. Cruchot des Bonfons volunteers to go Paris to make the arrangements provided that Felix pays his expenses. The des Grassins then visit just as they are in the middle of discussions, and the banker des Grassins volunteers to do Felix's bidding for free. So Felix accepts des Grassins offer instead of Cruchot des Bonfons. The business is liquidated, and the creditors get 46% of their debts, in exchange for their bank bills. Felix then ignores all demands to pay the rest, whilst selling the bank bills at a profit.
By now Charles has left to travel overseas. He entrusts Eugenie with a small gold plated cabinet which contains pictures of his parents.
Later Felix is angered when he discovers that Eugenie has given her money (all in gold coins) to Charles. This leads to his wife falling ill, and his daughter being confined to her room. Eventually they are reconciled, and Felix reluctantly agrees that Eugenie can marry Charles.
In 1827 Charles returns to France. By now both of Eugenie's parents have died. However Charles is no longer in love with Eugenie. He has become very wealthy through his trading, but he has also become extremely corrupt. He becomes engaged to the daughter of an impoverished aristocratic family, in order to make himself respectable. He writes to Eugenie to announce his marriage plans, and to break off their engagement. He also sends a cheque to pay off the money that she gave him. Eugenie is heartbroken, especially when she discovers that Charles had been back in France for a month when he wrote to her. She sends back the cabinet.
Eugenie then decides to become engaged to Cruchot des Bonfons on two conditions. One is that she remains a virgin, and the other is that he agrees to go to Paris to act for her to pay off all the debts due Guillaume Grandet's creditor's. Bonfons de Cruchot carries out the debt payment in full. This comes just in time for Charles who finds that his future father-in-law objects to letting his daughter marry the son of a bankrupt. When Charles meets Bonfons de Cruchot, he discovers that Eugenie is in fact far wealthier than he is. During his brief stay at Saumur, he had assumed from the state of their home that his relatives were poor.
Bonfons de Cruchot marries Eugenie hopeful of becoming fabulously wealthy. However he dies young, and at the end of the book Eugenie is a very wealthy widow having now inherited her husband's fortune. However she is also very unhappy, and tells her servant Nanon "You are the only one who loves me". She lives in the miserly way in which she was brought up, though without her father's obsession for gold.
Adaptations
Adaptation for cinema:
* 1921 - The Conquering Power - by Rex Ingram - starring Alice Terry (Eugénie), Rudolph Valentino (Charles), Ralph Lewis (Father), Carrie Daumery (Mother), Bridgetta Clark (Mrs Des Grassins)
* 1946 - Eugenia Grandet - by Mario Soldati - starring Alida Valli
* 1965 - Eugenie Grandet - by Rex Tucker - starring Valerie Gearon (Eugénie), Mary Kerridge (Madame des Grassins), Beatrix Lehmann (Madame Grandet), Jonathan Cecil (Adolphe)
* 1993 - Eugénie Grandet, by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe; starring: Alexandra London (Eugénie), Jean Carmet (Father Grandet), Dominique Labourier (Mother Grandet), Claude Jade (Lucienne des Grassins).
巴尔扎克从1829年开始创作《人间喜剧》，到1848年，其间经过20年。从创作发展道路看，大约可分为三个阶段：①1829～1835年，是他的创作走上成熟的时期，这期间，一共写了40多部，大都是中、短篇小说。《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是这一时期的代表作。前者真实、生动地再现了19世纪初期法国的外省生活，塑造了在法国大革命变动中发迹的资产阶级人物，特别是刻画了一个狡狯、贪婪、吝啬的暴发户的典型形象，揭露了资本主义社会人与人之间的金钱关系；后者是巴尔扎克最知名的作品，深刻反映了复辟王朝的社会状况，以高老头的父爱反衬出金钱的罪恶，尤其刻画了资产阶级个人野心家的典型。②1836～1842年共写了30多部作品。其中最重要的是《幻灭》，它深刻反映了复辟王朝时期尖锐的阶级对立和党派斗争，还描写了经济领域的自由竞争吞并现象。③1843～1848年。当时正是七月王朝末期，阶级斗争十分尖锐，社会腐败日益明显，因而，七月王朝的现实便成为他作品中正面描写的重大题材。代表作《农民》是一部直接描写农村阶级斗争的长篇小说。它通过复辟王朝时期农村中资产阶级联合农民同返回农村的贵族地主进行较量，终于把贵族赶走的过程，深刻反映了当时法国农村发生的变化。这一阶段另一部代表作《贝姨》通过对好色的于洛男爵和暴发户克勒凡的刻画，及对七月王朝社会现象的广阔细致的描绘，抨击了七月王朝腐朽的本质。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
《人间喜剧》共包括90多部长篇、中篇、短篇小说，出现了2400多个人物，触及到社会各阶层，包括资产者、贵族、野心家、政治家、司法人员、军人、教士、艺术家、农民、工人、科学家、职员、警探等，被称为“社会百科全书”，为世界文学史所罕见。恩格斯认为《人间喜剧》是一部伟大的作品，称赞作者“提供了一部法国‘社会’特别是巴黎‘上流社会’的卓越的现实主义历史”。恩格斯还说,巴尔扎克的“伟大作品是对上流社会必然崩溃的一曲无尽的挽歌,他的全部同情都在注定要灭亡的那个阶级方面。但是，尽管如此,当他让他所深切同情的那些贵族男女行动的时候,他的嘲笑是空前尖刻,他的讽刺是空前辛辣的”。
《苏城舞会》-作品介绍
作品幽默地描写了美丽而又聪慧的爱米莉小姐，因为一个神情喜欢上了一个陌生男子，甚至把他夸张想象成了亚力山大、拜仑、其它伟大的人物，但却因为荒唐的传统观念和陈腐的成见竟在一瞬之间毁掉了她梦寐以求的幸福，酿成了一生令人欲哭无泪的爱情悲剧。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
老贵族德·封丹纳伯爵对王室忠心耿耿，但在现实生活中却表现得十分实际。他让三个儿子和两个女儿都与资产者新贵联姻，为的是弥补自己财力的空虚，表现出他对江河日下的命运的清醒认识。三女爱米莉虽是最年轻的一个，但其观念之陈腐既甚于兄姐，也甚于老父。她虚荣而固执的认为一位巴黎女子，可以跑到沙漠里去住帐篷，但是绝不会坐到店铺的柜台里。决不屈尊下嫁的门阀之见酿成了她的婚姻悲剧，使她失去了爱情的幸福，也失去了她所追求的虚荣。而审时度势，善于顺应潮流，且有务实精神的贵族后裔马克西米利安，却成了政治舞台和经济生活中的佼佼者。巴尔扎克对封建传统观念的嘲弄是辛辣的，对社会情势的把握是准确的。最后爱米莉看着旧日爱人出神的时候,输掉了牌局,德·佩塞波里主教和蔼地说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”一语双关,指爱米莉因为分神出错了牌，打错了红心王；又讽刺她因为门第偏见和虚荣错失了自己最爱的人，同时也错失了自己最向往的虚荣生活。
《苏城舞会》巴尔扎克
《苏城舞会》发表于七月革命前夕的1829年，尚属巴尔扎克的试笔之作，但作者形象地刻画了复辟时期贵族的尴尬地位。随着贵族阶级经济力量的衰落, 比较明智的贵族不断改变着以往根深蒂固的封建意识,纷纷与资产阶级联姻,以维持和加强自我在经济上和政治上的实力地位。《苏城舞会》中的封丹纳伯爵就是这样的识时务者，封丹纳伯爵虽然出身于古老的贵族世家，但他看到了贵族不可避免的衰亡命运因而赞同儿子、女儿与资产者结亲。巴尔扎克写出了社会风气的变化，对门阀的尊崇让位于对金钱的膜拜，资产阶级妇女取代了贵妇人，活跃在上流社会中。巴尔扎克的阶级同情,是在注定要灭亡的贵族一边的,然而他同情的泪水挡不住他现实主义的目光, 他不得不违背自己的阶级同情和政治偏爱,如泣如诉地描绘了他心爱的贵族阶级的必然没落而不配有更好的命运。
《苏城舞会》-作品引用
爱米莉是巴黎贵族世家德.封丹纳伯爵的女儿。她不仅长得美丽，而且才华出众。在社交界里，她被骄傲的女皇。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
这年夏季，德.封丹纳一家来到苏城避暑。每逢星期日，这儿都举行盛大的露天舞会。爱米莉别出心裁地把自己打扮成一个村姑去参加舞会。在舞会上，爱米莉偶然发现一个青年，她被他漂亮的外表所吸引，并从他潇洒的风度和华丽的服饰断定：“他肯定是贵族。”后来她认识了她眼中的贵族——龙格威并且两人情投意合。
在回去时她鼓足勇气问道：“你是贵族吗？”
龙格威面色阴沉，他说：“我爱你。难道还有别的比这更重要吗？”他那坚定的口气和目光使她羞愧得低下了头。
后爱米莉走进市中心的一家布店，一个意想不到的场面惊得她瞠目结舌：龙格威坐在柜台里，正用商人熟练的动作数着金币。
龙格威看见爱米莉，惶惑不安地来到她面前说：“小姐，这种生意上麻烦弄得人不可开交。我希望你能理解......”
“这跟我毫无相干！”爱米莉说完转身便走。
龙格威多次求见，都遭到她的拒绝。她用最刻毒的言语来咒骂世上的一切商人。
即使舅公告诉爱米莉：龙格威出身贵族家庭，为了哥哥的前程，他放弃了财产和爵位的继承。他要靠自己的力量来生活，他是个有为的青年。爱米莉听了无动于衷。
在一个舞会上，龙格威来到她跟前，恳切地说：“爱米莉，丢掉那种过份的虚荣心吧！”爱米莉尖刻地答道：“我宁可跟情人到沙漠上去，也不愿陪他去坐柜台！”格威面色苍白，表情痛苦地说：“那我只得离开巴黎......”爱米莉不耐烦地打断他的话：“等你回来我也许已经同别人结婚了。”龙格威到意大利去了。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
由于爱米莉那种高傲的门第观念和好挑剔的性格，那些过去的追求者都成了她现在的敌人。社会舆论使她变得非常孤立。德.封丹纳的门庭显得空前冷落。随着年华的逝去，爱米莉的父母先后去世，舅公成了她唯一的保护人。爱米莉为了自己不成为老处女，只得同年迈的舅公结婚。在豪华的婚礼上，人们从她美丽的脸颊上看到一种失败的笑容。海军基地中将对年轻的夫人百般体贴。为了使她开心，他不停地举行着宴会。可是，表面的富丽堂皇永远无法填补爱米莉空虚的心灵。
二年之后，龙格威在一次公开宴会上出现。爱米莉听说龙格威的哥哥去世后，他不仅继承了父兄的遗产，而且得到了世袭议院贵族封号。事到如今，悔之晚矣！爱米莉全身哆嗦，她神志恍惚地打出一张牌，在座的主教讥讽地笑着说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”
《苏城舞会》-艺术价值
巴尔扎克善于通过环境描写再现时代风貌，他的作品富有时代气息，具有非凡的艺术魅力。他还把环境描写同人物塑造紧密结合起来，善于对人物外貌作精细描写，又擅长刻画人物的心理变化，并运用个性化的语言和夸张手法来充实和突出性格特征，使人物显得有血有肉。巴尔扎克的小说构思巧妙，结构多种多样而又具有独特的风格。他的不少作品还带有浓厚的浪漫色彩，大大丰富和发展了现实主义创作方法。他的创作方法和艺术技巧对后世的法国文学乃至世界文学产生了极其深远的影响。作为艺术巨匠的巴尔扎克，在他描写人物的多方面成就中，通过一系列具体而典型的细节描写来突出人物性格特点，这点则更可称道。这种对细节描写的逼真同样使人物更具真实感，更富感染力。
巴尔扎克的世界观充满了矛盾，并充分体现在其作品中。《苏城舞会》通过对小说主人公形象、命运的分析，探讨女性意识对作品主题及人物的影响，洞察和解读作家内心复杂而真实的潜隐思想。
The first edition of this novella was published in 1830 by Mame and Delaunay-Vallée in the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life). It was republished in 1835 by Madame Charles-Béchet, in 1839 in the Charpentier edition, and then in 1842 in the first volume of the Furne edition of la Comédie Humaine.
Analysis
In writing this novella Balzac seems to have been inspired by the fables of La Fontaine, especially La fille ("The Girl") and Héron ("The Heron"). There is also an allusion to La Fontaine in the choice of Émilie’s surname. The plot is similar to that of another of Balzac's works, La Vieille Fille (The Old Maid), the subject of which hesitates between several suitors and finishes by making do with the only one left.
A similar plot informs Aleksandr Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin, which was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832.
Plot
After having haughtily refused a number of suitors, under the pretext that they are not peers of France, Émilie de Fontaine falls in love with a mysterious young man who quietly appeared at the village dance at Sceaux. Despite his refined appearance and aristocratic bearing, the unknown (Maximilien Longueville) never tells his identity and seems interested in nobody but his sister, a sickly young girl. But he is not insensible to the attention Émilie gives him and he accepts the invitation of Émilie’s father, the Comte de Fontaine. Émilie and Maximilien soon fall in love. The Comte de Fontaine, concerned for his daughter, decides to investigate this mysterious young man, and he discovers him on the Rue du Sentier, a simple cloth merchant, which horrifies Émilie. Piqued, she marries a 70 year old uncle for his title of Vice Admiral, the Comte de Kergarouët.
Several years after her marriage, Émilie discovers that Maximilien is not a clothier at all, but in fact a Vicomte de Longueville who has become a Peer of France. The young man finally explains why he secretly tended a store: he did it in order to support his family, sacrificing himself for his sick sister and for his brother, who had departed the country.
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
《人间喜剧》共包括90多部长篇、中篇、短篇小说，出现了2400多个人物，触及到社会各阶层，包括资产者、贵族、野心家、政治家、司法人员、军人、教士、艺术家、农民、工人、科学家、职员、警探等，被称为“社会百科全书”，为世界文学史所罕见。恩格斯认为《人间喜剧》是一部伟大的作品，称赞作者“提供了一部法国‘社会’特别是巴黎‘上流社会’的卓越的现实主义历史”。恩格斯还说,巴尔扎克的“伟大作品是对上流社会必然崩溃的一曲无尽的挽歌,他的全部同情都在注定要灭亡的那个阶级方面。但是，尽管如此,当他让他所深切同情的那些贵族男女行动的时候,他的嘲笑是空前尖刻,他的讽刺是空前辛辣的”。
《苏城舞会》-作品介绍
作品幽默地描写了美丽而又聪慧的爱米莉小姐，因为一个神情喜欢上了一个陌生男子，甚至把他夸张想象成了亚力山大、拜仑、其它伟大的人物，但却因为荒唐的传统观念和陈腐的成见竟在一瞬之间毁掉了她梦寐以求的幸福，酿成了一生令人欲哭无泪的爱情悲剧。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
老贵族德·封丹纳伯爵对王室忠心耿耿，但在现实生活中却表现得十分实际。他让三个儿子和两个女儿都与资产者新贵联姻，为的是弥补自己财力的空虚，表现出他对江河日下的命运的清醒认识。三女爱米莉虽是最年轻的一个，但其观念之陈腐既甚于兄姐，也甚于老父。她虚荣而固执的认为一位巴黎女子，可以跑到沙漠里去住帐篷，但是绝不会坐到店铺的柜台里。决不屈尊下嫁的门阀之见酿成了她的婚姻悲剧，使她失去了爱情的幸福，也失去了她所追求的虚荣。而审时度势，善于顺应潮流，且有务实精神的贵族后裔马克西米利安，却成了政治舞台和经济生活中的佼佼者。巴尔扎克对封建传统观念的嘲弄是辛辣的，对社会情势的把握是准确的。最后爱米莉看着旧日爱人出神的时候,输掉了牌局,德·佩塞波里主教和蔼地说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”一语双关,指爱米莉因为分神出错了牌，打错了红心王；又讽刺她因为门第偏见和虚荣错失了自己最爱的人，同时也错失了自己最向往的虚荣生活。
《苏城舞会》巴尔扎克
《苏城舞会》发表于七月革命前夕的1829年，尚属巴尔扎克的试笔之作，但作者形象地刻画了复辟时期贵族的尴尬地位。随着贵族阶级经济力量的衰落, 比较明智的贵族不断改变着以往根深蒂固的封建意识,纷纷与资产阶级联姻,以维持和加强自我在经济上和政治上的实力地位。《苏城舞会》中的封丹纳伯爵就是这样的识时务者，封丹纳伯爵虽然出身于古老的贵族世家，但他看到了贵族不可避免的衰亡命运因而赞同儿子、女儿与资产者结亲。巴尔扎克写出了社会风气的变化，对门阀的尊崇让位于对金钱的膜拜，资产阶级妇女取代了贵妇人，活跃在上流社会中。巴尔扎克的阶级同情,是在注定要灭亡的贵族一边的,然而他同情的泪水挡不住他现实主义的目光, 他不得不违背自己的阶级同情和政治偏爱,如泣如诉地描绘了他心爱的贵族阶级的必然没落而不配有更好的命运。
《苏城舞会》-作品引用
爱米莉是巴黎贵族世家德.封丹纳伯爵的女儿。她不仅长得美丽，而且才华出众。在社交界里，她被骄傲的女皇。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
这年夏季，德.封丹纳一家来到苏城避暑。每逢星期日，这儿都举行盛大的露天舞会。爱米莉别出心裁地把自己打扮成一个村姑去参加舞会。在舞会上，爱米莉偶然发现一个青年，她被他漂亮的外表所吸引，并从他潇洒的风度和华丽的服饰断定：“他肯定是贵族。”后来她认识了她眼中的贵族——龙格威并且两人情投意合。
在回去时她鼓足勇气问道：“你是贵族吗？”
龙格威面色阴沉，他说：“我爱你。难道还有别的比这更重要吗？”他那坚定的口气和目光使她羞愧得低下了头。
后爱米莉走进市中心的一家布店，一个意想不到的场面惊得她瞠目结舌：龙格威坐在柜台里，正用商人熟练的动作数着金币。
龙格威看见爱米莉，惶惑不安地来到她面前说：“小姐，这种生意上麻烦弄得人不可开交。我希望你能理解......”
“这跟我毫无相干！”爱米莉说完转身便走。
龙格威多次求见，都遭到她的拒绝。她用最刻毒的言语来咒骂世上的一切商人。
即使舅公告诉爱米莉：龙格威出身贵族家庭，为了哥哥的前程，他放弃了财产和爵位的继承。他要靠自己的力量来生活，他是个有为的青年。爱米莉听了无动于衷。
在一个舞会上，龙格威来到她跟前，恳切地说：“爱米莉，丢掉那种过份的虚荣心吧！”爱米莉尖刻地答道：“我宁可跟情人到沙漠上去，也不愿陪他去坐柜台！”格威面色苍白，表情痛苦地说：“那我只得离开巴黎......”爱米莉不耐烦地打断他的话：“等你回来我也许已经同别人结婚了。”龙格威到意大利去了。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
由于爱米莉那种高傲的门第观念和好挑剔的性格，那些过去的追求者都成了她现在的敌人。社会舆论使她变得非常孤立。德.封丹纳的门庭显得空前冷落。随着年华的逝去，爱米莉的父母先后去世，舅公成了她唯一的保护人。爱米莉为了自己不成为老处女，只得同年迈的舅公结婚。在豪华的婚礼上，人们从她美丽的脸颊上看到一种失败的笑容。海军基地中将对年轻的夫人百般体贴。为了使她开心，他不停地举行着宴会。可是，表面的富丽堂皇永远无法填补爱米莉空虚的心灵。
二年之后，龙格威在一次公开宴会上出现。爱米莉听说龙格威的哥哥去世后，他不仅继承了父兄的遗产，而且得到了世袭议院贵族封号。事到如今，悔之晚矣！爱米莉全身哆嗦，她神志恍惚地打出一张牌，在座的主教讥讽地笑着说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”
《苏城舞会》-艺术价值
巴尔扎克善于通过环境描写再现时代风貌，他的作品富有时代气息，具有非凡的艺术魅力。他还把环境描写同人物塑造紧密结合起来，善于对人物外貌作精细描写，又擅长刻画人物的心理变化，并运用个性化的语言和夸张手法来充实和突出性格特征，使人物显得有血有肉。巴尔扎克的小说构思巧妙，结构多种多样而又具有独特的风格。他的不少作品还带有浓厚的浪漫色彩，大大丰富和发展了现实主义创作方法。他的创作方法和艺术技巧对后世的法国文学乃至世界文学产生了极其深远的影响。作为艺术巨匠的巴尔扎克，在他描写人物的多方面成就中，通过一系列具体而典型的细节描写来突出人物性格特点，这点则更可称道。这种对细节描写的逼真同样使人物更具真实感，更富感染力。
巴尔扎克的世界观充满了矛盾，并充分体现在其作品中。《苏城舞会》通过对小说主人公形象、命运的分析，探讨女性意识对作品主题及人物的影响，洞察和解读作家内心复杂而真实的潜隐思想。
The first edition of this novella was published in 1830 by Mame and Delaunay-Vallée in the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life). It was republished in 1835 by Madame Charles-Béchet, in 1839 in the Charpentier edition, and then in 1842 in the first volume of the Furne edition of la Comédie Humaine.
Analysis
In writing this novella Balzac seems to have been inspired by the fables of La Fontaine, especially La fille ("The Girl") and Héron ("The Heron"). There is also an allusion to La Fontaine in the choice of Émilie’s surname. The plot is similar to that of another of Balzac's works, La Vieille Fille (The Old Maid), the subject of which hesitates between several suitors and finishes by making do with the only one left.
A similar plot informs Aleksandr Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin, which was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832.
Plot
After having haughtily refused a number of suitors, under the pretext that they are not peers of France, Émilie de Fontaine falls in love with a mysterious young man who quietly appeared at the village dance at Sceaux. Despite his refined appearance and aristocratic bearing, the unknown (Maximilien Longueville) never tells his identity and seems interested in nobody but his sister, a sickly young girl. But he is not insensible to the attention Émilie gives him and he accepts the invitation of Émilie’s father, the Comte de Fontaine. Émilie and Maximilien soon fall in love. The Comte de Fontaine, concerned for his daughter, decides to investigate this mysterious young man, and he discovers him on the Rue du Sentier, a simple cloth merchant, which horrifies Émilie. Piqued, she marries a 70 year old uncle for his title of Vice Admiral, the Comte de Kergarouët.
Several years after her marriage, Émilie discovers that Maximilien is not a clothier at all, but in fact a Vicomte de Longueville who has become a Peer of France. The young man finally explains why he secretly tended a store: he did it in order to support his family, sacrificing himself for his sick sister and for his brother, who had departed the country.
巴尔扎克（1799~1850）是法国现实主义文学大师，他一生创作的91部长、中、短篇小说，全部收入《人间喜剧》中，除了广为人知的《欧也妮·葛朗台》、《高老头》等，还有《贝姨》、《都兰趣话》等。
《贝姨》是他的一部著名小说。本书的主人公贝姨，是一个生在乡下的姑娘，带着一身的乡里气息，由于美丽善良又得到高贵的堂姐的关切来到了法国巴黎城里，性格倔强的贝姨一方面满怀着对堂姐的妒忌，一方面又以自己好胜的忘我勤奋学习，成立了属于自己的家庭，然而时代社会的动荡万变和本性的顽固不得不又一次下贬成工人，接下来的故事并不会就此平淡度过，贝姨没有放弃和屈服于现状，为着自己的目标继续活着，坚强地拼搏，最终得到了他的满足——有了一份自己的事业。
贝姨是巴尔扎克笔下相当特殊的一个形象。小说以其命名，可见作家对她的重视。她为某种情欲所左右，但色调构成却十分复杂。集“丑”与“恶”于一身，是这个人物给读者的第一印象。作家为她勾画了一幅令人生厌、令人生畏的漫画像，又赋予她同样令人生厌、令人生畏的嫉妒心。这种仿佛与生俱来的怪癖心理，侵扰着她自己的灵魂，也破坏着别人的幸福；在与瓦莱丽的淫荡结合后，更形成为一种巨大的，甚至能“毁灭整个城市”的邪恶力量。 但是，贝姨的形象又远非“恶”的化身。
In the 1840s, a serial format known as the roman-feuilleton was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable feuilleton author in France. Writing quickly and with intense focus, Balzac produced La Cousine Bette, one of his longest novels, in two months. It was published in Le Constitutionnel at the end of 1846, then collected with a companion work, Le Cousin Pons, the following year.
The novel's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. The patriarch of the Hulot family, meanwhile, is consumed by his own sexual desire. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. Balzac based the character of Bette in part on his mother and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. At least one scene involving Baron Hulot was likely based on an event in the life of Balzac's friend, the novelist Victor Hugo.
La Cousine Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text. It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Valérie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes. A number of film versions of the story have been produced, including a 1971 BBC mini-series starring Margaret Tyzack and Dame Helen Mirren, and a 1998 feature film with Jessica Lange in the title role.
By 1846 Honoré de Balzac had achieved tremendous fame as a writer, but his finances and health were deteriorating rapidly. After writing a series of potboiler novels in the 1820s, he published his first book under his own name, Les Chouans, in 1829. He followed this with dozens of well-received novels and stories, including La Peau de chagrin (1831), Le Père Goriot (1835), and the two-volume Illusions perdues (1837 and 1839). Because of his lavish lifestyle and penchant for financial speculation, however, he spent most of his life trying to repay a variety of debts. He wrote tirelessly, driven as much by economic necessity as by the muse and black coffee. This regimen of constant work exhausted his body and brought reprimands from his doctor.[2]
As his work gained recognition, Balzac began corresponding with a Polish Baronness named Ewelina Hańska, who first contacted him through an anonymous 1832 letter signed "L'Étrangère". They developed an affectionate friendship in letters, and when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac sought her hand in marriage. He visited her often in Poland and Germany, but various complications prohibited their union. One of these was an affair Balzac had with his housekeeper, Louise Breugniot. As she became aware of his affection for Mme. Hanska, Breugniot stole a collection of their letters and used them to extort money from Balzac. Even after this episode, however, he grew closer to Mme. Hanska with each visit and by 1846 he had begun preparing a home to share with her. He grew hopeful that they could marry when she became pregnant, but she fell ill in December and suffered a miscarriage.[3]
The mid-nineteenth century was a time of profound transformation in French government and society. The reign of King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him to abdicate. He was replaced by Louis-Philippe, who named himself "King of the French", rather than the standard "King of France" – an indication that he answered more to the nascent bourgeoisie than the aristocratic Ancien Régime. The change in government took place while the economy in France was moving from mercantilism to industrial development. This opened new opportunities for individuals hoping to acquire wealth, and led to significant changes in social norms. Members of the aristocracy, for example, were forced to relate socially to the nouveau riche, usually with tense results. The democratic spirit of the French Revolution also affected social interactions, with a shift in popular allegiance away from the church and the monarchy.[4]
In the mid-nineteenth century, a new style of novel became popular in France. The serial format known as the roman-feuilleton presented stories in short regular installments, often accompanied by melodramatic plots and stock characters. Although Balzac's La Vielle fille (1836) was the first such work published in France,[5] the roman-feuilleton gained prominence thanks mostly to his friends Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas, père.[6] Balzac disliked their serial writing, however, especially Sue's socialist depiction of lower-class suffering.[7] Balzac wanted to dethrone what he called "les faux dieux de cette littérature bâtarde" ("the false gods of this bastard literature").[8] He also wanted to show the world that, despite his poor health and tumultuous career, he was "plus jeune, plus frais, et plus grand que jamais" ("younger, fresher, and greater than ever").[8] His first efforts to render a quality feuilleton were unsuccessful. Even though Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (published in segments from 1838 to 1847) was celebrated by critics, Balzac complained to Mme. Hanska that he was "doing pue Sue".[9] He tried again in 1844 with Modeste Mignon, but public reactions were mixed.[10] Two years later Balzac began a new project, determined to create something from his "own old pen again".[9]
Writing and publication
Balzac first visited the Château de Saché in 1832, when he wrote the autobiographical novel Louis Lambert.[11]
After resting for a week in June 1846 at the Château de Saché in Tours, Balzac returned to Paris and began working on a short story called "Le Parasite", which he eventually developed into the novel Le Cousin Pons. He intended from the start to pair it with another novel, collecting them under the title Les Parents pauvres ("The Poor Relations"). He based the second book on a story his sister Laure Surville had written called "La Cousine Rosalie" and published in 1844 in Le Journal des enfants.[12] Writing intensively, he produced the entire novel, named La Cousine Bette after the main character, in two months. This was a significant accomplishment owing to his bad health, but its length made Balzac's writing speed especially remarkable.[13] One critic calls the writing of Les Parents pauvres Balzac's "last explosion of creative energy".[14] Another suggests that this effort was "almost the last straw which broke down Balzac's gigantic strength".[15]
Balzac's usual mode of revision involved vast, complicated edits made to galley proofs he received from the printer. When creating La Cousine Bette, however, he submitted the work to his editor piece by piece, without viewing a single proof.[15] The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. He produced an average of eight pages each day, but was struck by the unexpected enormity of the story as it evolved.[16] Balzac was paid 12,836 francs for the series, which was later published with Le Cousin Pons as a twelve-volume book by Chiendowski and Pétion.[17] The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.[18]
Plot summary
While caring for him, Bette refers to Wenceslas Steinbock as "mon enfant ... un garçon qui se relève du cercueil" ("my child ... a son risen from the grave").[19]
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.")[20] At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the hand of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine. Mme. Hulot resists Crevel's advances, and he turns his attention elsewhere.
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a deep but hidden resentment of her relatives' success. A peasant woman with none of the physical beauty of her cousin, Bette has rejected a series of marriage proposals from middle-class suitors, and remains unmarried at the age of 42. One day she comes upon a young unsuccessful Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, attempting suicide in the tiny apartment upstairs from her own. As she nourishes him back to health, she develops a maternal fondness for him. She also befriends Valérie, the wife of a War Department clerk named Marneffe; the two women form a bond of mutual affection and protection.
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Hulot's despair is quickly alleviated when he meets and falls in love with Valérie Marneffe. He showers her with gifts, and soon establishes a luxurious house for her and M. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department. These debts, compounded by the money he borrowed to lavish on Josépha, threaten the Hulot family's financial security. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers. Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's company, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. She works behind the scenes with Valérie to extract more money from Baron Hulot. Valérie also seduces Crevel and watches with delight as they vie for her attention. With Bette's help, Valérie turns to Steinbock and draws him into her bedroom. When Hortense learns of his infidelity, she leaves Steinbock and returns with their son to live with her mother Adeline. Valérie also proclaims her love to a Brazilian Baron named Henri Montès de Montéjanos, and swears devotion constantly to each of the five men.
When Baron Hulot marries the kitchen maid Agathe, his son Victorin concludes: "les enfants ne peuvent pas empêcher la folie des ancêtres en enfance" ("children cannot interfere with the insane acts of their parents in their second childhood").[21]
Baron Hulot's brother, known as "le maréchal" ("the Marshal"), hires Bette as his housekeeper, and they develop a mild affection. He learns of his brother's infidelities (and the difficulties they have caused Adeline, who refuses to leave her husband), and promises to marry Bette if she will provide details. She agrees eagerly, delighted at the prospect of finally securing an enviable marriage. While investigating his brother's behavior, however, the Marshal discovers Baron Hulot's scheme in Algiers. He is overwhelmed by the disgrace, and his health deteriorates. Bette's last hope for a brighter future dies with him.
When Valérie becomes pregnant, she tells each of her lovers (and her husband) that he is the father. She gives birth to a stillborn child, however, and her husband dies soon thereafter. Hulot and Crevel are ecstatic when they hear this news, each believing that he will become her only love once the official mourning period has passed. Valérie chooses Crevel for his comfortable fortune, and they quickly wed. This news outrages Baron Montès, and he devises a plot to poison the newlyweds. Crevel and Valérie die slowly, their bodies devoured by an exotic Brazilian toxin.
Victorin Hulot is later visited by the Prince of Wissembourg, who delivers news of economic good fortune. The Marshal, prior to his death, had made arrangements for repayment of the Baron's debts, as well as employment for Adeline in a Catholic charity. Baron Hulot has disappeared, and Adeline spends her free time searching for him in houses of ill repute. She eventually finds him living with a fifteen-year-old courtesan, and begs him to return to the family. He agrees, but as he climbs into the carriage, Hulot asks: "mais pourrai-je emmener la petite?" ("But can I take the girl?")[22] The Hulot home is reunited for a time, and Bette's fury at their apparent happiness hastens her death. One evening after the funeral, Adeline overhears Hulot seducing a kitchen maid named Agathe. On her deathbed, Adeline delivers her first rebuke to her husband: "[D]ans un moment, tu seras libre, et tu pourras faire une baronne Hulot." ("In a moment, you will be free, and you can make another Baronne Hulot.")[23] Soon after burying his wife, Hulot marries Agathe.
Characters and inspirations
The death of Marshal Hulot has been called "one of the most moving in all of Balzac".[24]
Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began La Cousine Bette, and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive back-stories and biographical depth. For example, Célestin Crevel first appeared in Balzac's 1837 novel César Birotteau, working for the title character. Having accumulated a considerable fortune in that book, Crevel spends his time in La Cousine Bette enjoying the spoils of his labor. Another important recurring character is Marshal Hulot, who first appeared as a colonel in Les Chouans. In the years between that story and La Cousine Bette, he became the Count of Forzheim; in a letter to the Constitutionnel, Balzac described how Marshal Hulot gained this title. The presence of Crevel and Marshal Hulot – among others – in La Cousine Bette allows a continuation of each character's life story, adding emphasis or complexity to earlier events.[25]
Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot. When he resurfaces in La Cousine Bette, he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Although Vautrin's presence in La Cousine Bette is brief, his earlier adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. For example, several scenes feature artists like Jean-Jacques Bixiou, who first appeared in 1837's Les Employés and in many other books thereafter. The world of Parisian nightlife is quickly brought to mind with the inclusion of several characters from Les Comédiens sans le savoir (1846), and Bianchon appears – as always – when a doctor is needed.[26]
Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction. It enables a depth of characterization that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. "When the characters reappear", notes the critic Samuel Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see."[27] Some readers, however, are intimidated by the depth created by these interdependent stories, and feel deprived of important context for the characters. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin".[28] The characterization in La Cousine Bette is considered especially skillful. Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters, says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work. Almost every example arises quite naturally out of the situation."[29] Biographer Noel Gerson calls the characters in La Cousine Bette "among the most memorable Balzac ever sketched".[30]
Bette Fischer
Lisbeth Fischer (Cousin Bette) is described as "maigre, brune ... les sourcils épais et réunis par un bouquet ... quelques verrues dans sa face longue et simiesque" ("lean, brown, with ... thick eyebrows joining in a tuft ... and some moles on her narrow simian face").[31]
Descriptions of Bette are often connected to savagery and animal imagery. Her name, for example, is a homophone in French for "bête" ("beast"). One passage explains that "elle ressemblait aux singes habillés en femmes" ("she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys in petticoats");[32] elsewhere her voice is described as having "une jalousie de tigre" ("tiger-like jealousy").[33] Her beastly rage comes to the surface with ferocity when she learns of Steinbock's engagement to Hortense:
La physionomie de la Lorraine était devenue terrible. Ses yeux noirs et pénétrants avaient la fixité de ceux des tigres. Sa figure ressemblait à celles que nous supposons aux pythonisses, elle serrait les dents pour les empêcher de claquer, et une affreuse convulsion faisait trembler ses membres. Elle avait glissé sa main crochue entre son bonnet et ses cheveux pour les empoigner et soutenir sa tête, devenue trop lourde; elle brûlait! La fumée de l'incendie qui la ravageait semblait passer par ses rides comme par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique.
The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption.[34]
When she learns that her cousin Adeline has been welcoming Steinbock into the Hulot home, Bette swears revenge: "Adeline! se dit Lisbeth, ô Adeline, tu me le payeras, je te rendrai plus laide que moi!" ("'Adeline!' muttered Lisbeth. 'Oh, Adeline, you shall pay for this! I will make you uglier than I am.'")[34] Her cruelty and lust for revenge lead critics to call her "demonic"[35] and "one of Balzac's most terrifying creations".[36] Because of her willingness to manipulate the people around her, Bette has been compared to Iago in William Shakespeare's play Othello.[37] Her fierce persona is attributed partly to her peasant background, and partly to her virginity, which provides (according to Balzac) "une force diabolique ou la magie noire de la volonté" ("diabolical strength, or the black magic of the Will").[38][39]
In a letter to Mme. Hanska, Balzac indicated that he based the character of Bette on three women from his life: his mother, Mme. Hanska's aunt Rosalie Rzewuska, and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. Balzac had a tumultuous relationship with his mother for most of his life, and he incorporated some of her personality (particularly her "obstinate persistence in living",[40] as one critic calls it) into Bette.[41] Rosalie Rzewuska disapproved of Mme. Hanska's relationship with Balzac; biographers agree that her cold determination was part of the author's recipe for Bette.[42] Elements taken from Marceline Desbordes-Valmore are more complex; she faced many setbacks in life and she and Balzac became friends after she left the theatre to take up poetry.[43]
Valérie Marneffe
Bette's co-conspirator in the destruction of the Hulot family is beautiful and greedy Valérie Marneffe, the unsatisfied wife of a War Department clerk. They develop a deep friendship, which many critics consider an example of lesbian affection.[44] Because of their relationship and similar goals, the critic Frederic Jameson says that "Valérie serves as a kind of emanation of Bette".[45]
Valérie Marneffe "attirait tous les regards, excitait tous les désirs, dans le cercle où elle rayonnait" ("attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she shone upon").[46]
Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him.[47] She explains bluntly that her position as a married woman provides subtleties and options unavailable to the common prostitute who has one set price; after Marneffe dies, Valérie jockeys for position between Hulot and Montés (while also sleeping with Steinbock), then discards them all to marry Crevel, who offers the most wealth. She amuses herself by mocking her lovers' devotion, and this wickedness – not to mention her gruesome demise – has led some critics to speculate that she is actually the focus of Balzac's morality tale.[48]
In one important scene, Valérie models for Steinbock as Delilah, standing victorious over the ruined Samson. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. Samson n'est rien, là. C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout." ("What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything.")[49]
Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Hanska is similar in some ways to Valérie's manipulation of Steinbock.[50] Critics also connect the pride and anguish felt by Balzac during Mme. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child.[51] Although he never ascribed to Mme. Hanska any of the traits in Valérie's treacherous character, he felt a devotion similar to that of Hulot. He once wrote to her: "je fais pour mon Eve toute les folies qu'un Hulot fait pour une Marneffe, je te donnerai mon sang, mon honneur, ma vie" ("I commit for [you] all the follies that a Hulot commits for Madame Marneffe; I give you my blood, my honor, my life").[52]
Hector and Adeline Hulot
Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family. As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without irony – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress.[53]
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy personified. Like her cousin Bette, she comes from a peasant background, but has internalized the ideals of 19th-century womanhood, including devotion, grace, and deference. She reveals in the first scene that she has known for years about her husband's infidelities, but refuses to condemn him. Adeline's forgiving nature is often considered a significant character flaw. Some suggest that she is partly to blame for Hulot's wandering affection. C.A. Prendergast, for example, calls her forgiveness "an inadequate and even positively disastrous response" to her situation.[54] He further suggests that Adeline, by choosing the role of quiet and dutiful wife, has excised from herself the erotic power to which the Baron is drawn. "[O]ne could at the very least offer the tentative speculation that Hulot's obsessional debauchery is in part the result of a certain poverty in Adeline, that the terrible logic of Hulot's excess is partially shaped by a crucial deficiency in his wife."[55] Others are less accusatory; Adeline's nearly infinite mercy, they say, is evidence of foolishness. Critic Herbert J. Hunt declares that she shows "more imbecility than Christian patience",[56] and David Bellos points out that, like her husband, she is driven by passion – albeit of a different kind: "Adeline's desire (for good, for the family, for Hector, for God) is so radically different from the motivating desires of the other characters that she seems in their context to be without desire...."[57]
Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars, and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself".[58] Balzac's friend Victor Hugo, meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins.[59]
Wenceslas Steinbock
"Quoique Steinbock eût vingt-neuf ans, il paraissait, comme certains blonds, avoir cinq ou six ans de moins ... cette jeunesse ... avait cédé sous les fatigues et les misères de l'exil" ("Though Steinbock was nine-and-twenty, like many fair men, he looked five or six years younger ... his youth ... had faded under the fatigue and stress of life in exile".)[60]
The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft".[61]
Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself. Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character (as he felt about most groups he observed). Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: "Soyez mon amie, dit-il avec une de ces démonstrations caressantes si familières aux Polonais, et qui les font accuser assez injustement de servilité." ("'Be my sweetheart,' he added, with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for which they are unjustly accused of servility.")[62][63]
Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Like Louis Lambert and Lucien Chardon in Illusions perdues, he is a brilliant man – just as Balzac considered himself to be. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide. Later, when he leaves Bette's circle of influence, he fails again. Thus he demonstrates Balzac's conviction that genius alone is useless without determination.[64] Bellos organizes Steinbock and Bette into a duality of weakness and strength; whereas the Polish artist is unable to direct his energies into productive work, Bette draws strength from her virginity and thus becomes powerful by denying the lust to which Steinbock falls prey.[65] Steinbock's drive is further eroded by the praise he receives for his art, which gives him an inflated sense of accomplishment. One critic refers to the artist's downfall as "vanity ... spoiled by premature renown".[66]
Style
If Balzac's goal was (as he claimed) to write a realist novel from his "own old pen" rather than mimic the style of Eugène Sue, history and literary criticism have declared him successful. William Stowe calls La Cousine Bette "a masterpiece of classical realism"[67] and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to War and Peace.[68] Some sections of the book are criticized for being melodramatic, and Balzac biographer V. S. Pritchett even refers to a representative excerpt as "bad writing".[69] Most critics, however, consider the moralistic elements of the novel deceptively complex, and some point out that the roman-feuilleton format required a certain level of titillation to keep readers engaged.[70] Others indicate that Balzac's interest in the theatre was an important reason for the inclusion of melodramatic elements.[71]
Émile Zola said that Balzac's fiction was "uniquement le compte-rendu brutal de ce que l'écrivain a observé" ("only the brutal report of what the writer has observed").[72]
Balzac's trademark realism begins on the first page of the novel, wherein Crevel is described wearing a National Guard uniform, complete with the Légion d'honneur. Details from the 1830s also appear in the novel's geographic locations. The Hulot family home, for example, is found in the aristocratic area of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Germain.[73] Bette's residence is on the opposite end of the social spectrum, in the impoverished residential area which surrounded the Louvre: "Les ténèbres, le silence, l'air glacial, la profondeur caverneuse du sol concourent à faire de ces maisons des espèces de cryptes, des tombeaux vivants." ("Darkness, silence, an icy chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living.")[74] Descriptions of her meager quarters are – as usual in Balzac's work – an acute reflection of her personality. The same is true of the Marneffe home at the outset: it contains "les trompeuses apparences de ce faux luxe" ("the illusory appearance of sham luxury"),[75] from the shabby chairs in the drawing-room to the dust-coated bedroom.[76]
Precise detail is not spared in descriptions of decay and disease, two vivid elements in the novel. Marneffe, for example, represents crapulence. His decrepit body is a symbol of society's weakness at the time, worn away from years of indulgence. The poison which kills Valérie and Crevel is also described in ghastly detail. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." ("She is losing her hair and teeth, her skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands are horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, and the flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors.")[77]
La Cousine Bette is unapologetic in its bleak outlook, and makes blunt connections between characters' origins and behavior. For these reasons, it is considered a key antecedent to naturalist literature. Novelist Émile Zola called it an important "roman expérimental" ("experimental novel"),[78] and praised its acute exploration of the characters' motivations.[79][80] Some critics note that La Cousine Bette showed an evolution in Balzac's style – one which he had little time to develop. Pointing to the nuance of plot and comprehensive narration style, Stowe suggests that the novel "might in happier circumstances have marked the beginning of a new, mature 'late Balzac'".[81]
Themes
Passion, vice, and virtue
Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is desire incarnate; his wandering libido bypasses concern for his wife, brother, children, finances, and even his own health. Bette, of course, is living vengeance, and Adeline desperately yearns for the happy home she imagined in the early years of marriage. Each character is driven by a fiery passion, which in most cases consumes the individual.[82] As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." ("Passion is martyrdom.")[83]
After acknowledging herself as Delilah, Valérie warns her guests: "Prenez garde à vos toupets, messieurs!" ("Take care of your wigs, gentlemen!")[84]
The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. As one critic says, "life's truths are viewed in their most atrocious form".[85] Mocking the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution while acknowledging her own malicious intent, Valérie says with regard to Delilah: "La vertu coupe la tête, le Vice ne vous coupe que les cheveux." ("Virtue cuts off your head; vice only cuts off your hair.")[84] Hulot is not intentionally cruel, but his actions are no less devastating to the people around him.[86]
On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. Hortense ridicules her aunt when Bette mentions her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock, providing a psychological catalyst for the ensuing conflict.[87] Victorin repeatedly expresses outrage at his father's philandering, yet crosses a significant moral boundary when he agrees to fund Mme. Nourrison's plan to eradicate Valérie. As one critic puts it, Victorin's decision marks a point in the novel where "the scheme of right versus wrong immediately dissolves into a purely amoral conflict of different interests and passions, regulated less by a transcendent moral law than by the relative capacity of the different parties for cunning and ruthlessness."[88] The cruelties of the Hulot children are brief but significant, owing as much to their obliviousness (intentional in the case of Victorin, who asks not to learn the details of Mme. Nourrison's scheme) as to malicious forethought.[89]
The question of Adeline's virtue is similarly complicated. Although she is forgiving to the point of absurdity, she is often considered more of a dupe than a martyr. Some have compared her to Balzac's title character in Le Père Goriot, who sacrifices himself for his daughters.[90] As Bellos puts it: "Adeline's complicity with Hector certainly makes her more interesting as a literary character, but it undermines her role as the symbol of virtue in the novel."[91] This complicity reaches an apex when she unsuccessfully attempts to sell her affections to Crevel (who has since lost interest) in order to repay her husband's debts. Her flirtation with prostitution is sometimes considered more egregious than Valérie's overt extortion, since Adeline is soiling her own dignity in the service of Baron Hulot's infidelity. For the remainder of the novel, Adeline trembles uncontrollably, a sign of her weakness.[92] Later, when she visits the singer Josépha (on whom her husband once doted), Adeline is struck by the splendor earned by a life of materialistic seduction. She wonders aloud if she is capable of providing the carnal pleasures Hulot seeks outside of their home.[93]
Ultimately, both vice and virtue fail. Valérie is devoured by Montés' poison, a consequence of her blithe attitude toward his emotion. Bette is unsuccessful in her effort to crush her cousin's family, and dies (as one critic puts it) "in the margins".[94] Adeline's Catholic mercy, on the other hand, fails to redeem her husband, and her children are similarly powerless – as Victorin finally admits on the novel's last page. Like Raphael de Valentin in Balzac's 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin, Hulot is left with nothing but "vouloir": desire, a force which is both essential for human existence and eventually apocalyptic.[95]
Gender and homoeroticism
Gender roles, especially the figure of the ideal woman, are central to La Cousine Bette. The four leading female characters (Bette, Valérie, Adeline, and Hortense) embody stereotypically feminine traits. Each pair of women revolves around a man, and they compete for his attention: Valérie and Adeline for Baron Hulot; Bette and Hortense for Wenceslas Steinbock. Balzac's study of masculinity is limited to the insatiable lust of Hulot and the weak-willed inconstancy of Steinbock, with the occasional appearance of Victorin as a sturdy patriarch in his father's absence.[96]
French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted lesbian relationships similar to (though more explicit than) that of Bette and Valérie, as in his 1893 painting "In Bed".[97]
Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),[98] with similar descriptions elsewhere. Her relationship and attitude toward Steinbock, moreover, hint at her masculinity. She commands him into submission, and even binds him with economic constraints by lending him the money to develop his sculpture. Her domination is tempered by maternal compassion, but the couple's relationship is compared to an abusive marriage: "Il fut comme une femme qui pardonne les mauvais traitements d'une semaine à cause des caresses d'un fugitif raccommodement." ("He was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake of a kiss and a brief reconciliation.")[99][100]
Bette's relationship with Valérie is layered with overtones of lesbianism. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")[101] by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" ("I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours!")[102] This affection may have been platonic, but neighbors of the Marneffes – along with many readers – suspect that their bond transcends friendship.[103] As with Steinbock, Bette and Valérie assume butch and femme roles; the narration even mentions "Le contraste de la mâle et sèche nature de la Lorraine avec la jolie nature créole de Valérie" ("The contrast between Lisbeth's dry masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness").[104] The homoeroticism evolves through the novel, as Bette feeds on Valérie's power to seduce and control the Hulot men. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure."[105]
Wealth and society
Balzac once wrote: "The worst fault of the July Revolution is that it did not allow Louis-Philippe three months of dictatorship in which to put the rights of the people and the throne on a secure basis."[106]
As with many of his novels, Balzac analyzes the influence of history and social status in La Cousine Bette. The book takes places between 1838 and 1846, when the reign of Louis-Philippe reflected and directed significant changes in the social structure. Balzac was a legitimist favoring the House of Bourbon, and idolized Napoleon Bonaparte as a paragon of effective absolutist power. Balzac felt that French society under the House of Orléans lacked strong leadership, and was fragmented by the demands of parliament. He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the nation, and that its absence heralded moral decay.[107]
Balzac demonstrated these beliefs through the characters' lives in La Cousine Bette. The conflict between Baron Hulot and the perfumer Crevel mirrors the animosity between the aristocracy of the Ancien Régime and the newly-developed bourgeoisie of traders and industrial entrepreneurs. Although he despised the socialist politics of Eugène Sue, Balzac worried that bourgeois desperation for financial gain drove people from life's important virtues. The characters – especially Bette, Valérie, and Crevel – are fixated on their need for money, and do whatever they must to obtain it.[108] As Crevel explains to Adeline: "Vous vous abusez, cher ange, si vous croyez que c'est le roi Louis-Philippe qui règne ... au-dessus de la Charte il y a la sainte, la vénérée, la solide, l'aimable, la gracieuse, la belle, la noble, la jeune, la toute-puissante pièce de cent sous!" ("You are quite mistaken, my angel, if you suppose that King Louis-Philippe rules us ... supreme above the Charter reigns the holy, venerated, substantial, delightful, obliging, beautiful, noble, ever-youthful, and all-powerful five-franc piece!")[109]
Themes of corruption and salvation are brought to the fore as Valérie and Crevel lie dying from the mysterious poison. When his daughter urges him to meet with a priest, Crevel angrily refuses, mocking the church and indicating that his social stature will be his salvation: "la mort regarde à deux fois avant de frapper un maire de Paris!" ("Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris.")[110] Valérie, meanwhile, makes a deathbed conversion and urges Bette to abandon her quest for revenge. Ever the courtesan, Valérie describes her new Christianity in terms of seduction: "je ne puis maintenant plaire qu'à Dieu! je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" ("I can please no one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation...!")[111]
Reception and adaptations
In 1921 actor Bette Davis, born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, chose Bette as her stage name in honor of Balzac's character.[112]
The critical reaction to La Cousine Bette was immediate and positive, which Balzac did not expect. Whether due to the intensity of its creation or the tumult of his personal life, the author was surprised by the praise he received. He wrote: "I did not realize how good La Cousine Bette is.... There is an immense reaction in my favour. I have won!"[113] The collected edition sold consistently well, and was reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the century. 20th-century critics remain enthusiastic in their praise for the novel; Saintsbury insists it is "beyond all question one of the very greatest of [Balzac's] works".[114] Biographer Graham Robb calls La Cousine Bette "the masterpiece of his premature old age".[115]
Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. Chief among these were disciples of the utopian theorist Charles Fourier; they disapproved of the "immorality" inherent in the novel's bleak resolution. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. They lambasted him for not commenting more on the characters' degenerate behavior – the same stylistic choice later celebrated by naturalist writers Émile Zola and Hippolyte Taine.[116]
Balzac's novel has been adapted several times for the screen. The first was in 1927, when French filmmaker Max DeRieux directed Alice Tissot in the title role.[117] Margaret Tyzack played the role of Bette in the five part serial Cousin Bette aired on the BBC, which also starred Helen Mirren as Valérie Marneffe.[118] The film Cousin Bette was released in 1998, directed by Des McAnuff. Jessica Lange starred in the title role, joined by Bob Hoskins as Crevel, and Elisabeth Shue as the singer Jenny Cadine. Screenwriters Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr changed the story significantly, and eliminated Valérie. The 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue. Stephen Holden of the New York Times commented that the movie "treats the novel as a thoroughly modern social comedy peopled with raging narcissists, opportunists and flat-out fools".[119][120]
La Cousine Bette was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay Stage Beauty (based on his stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty). The Antaeus Company in North Hollywood produced a workshop in 2008 and presented the world premiere of Cousin Bette in early 2010 in North Hollywood, California.[121] The adaptation retains many of the main characters but places Bette as the story's narrator.
《贝姨》是他的一部著名小说。本书的主人公贝姨，是一个生在乡下的姑娘，带着一身的乡里气息，由于美丽善良又得到高贵的堂姐的关切来到了法国巴黎城里，性格倔强的贝姨一方面满怀着对堂姐的妒忌，一方面又以自己好胜的忘我勤奋学习，成立了属于自己的家庭，然而时代社会的动荡万变和本性的顽固不得不又一次下贬成工人，接下来的故事并不会就此平淡度过，贝姨没有放弃和屈服于现状，为着自己的目标继续活着，坚强地拼搏，最终得到了他的满足——有了一份自己的事业。
贝姨是巴尔扎克笔下相当特殊的一个形象。小说以其命名，可见作家对她的重视。她为某种情欲所左右，但色调构成却十分复杂。集“丑”与“恶”于一身，是这个人物给读者的第一印象。作家为她勾画了一幅令人生厌、令人生畏的漫画像，又赋予她同样令人生厌、令人生畏的嫉妒心。这种仿佛与生俱来的怪癖心理，侵扰着她自己的灵魂，也破坏着别人的幸福；在与瓦莱丽的淫荡结合后，更形成为一种巨大的，甚至能“毁灭整个城市”的邪恶力量。 但是，贝姨的形象又远非“恶”的化身。
In the 1840s, a serial format known as the roman-feuilleton was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable feuilleton author in France. Writing quickly and with intense focus, Balzac produced La Cousine Bette, one of his longest novels, in two months. It was published in Le Constitutionnel at the end of 1846, then collected with a companion work, Le Cousin Pons, the following year.
The novel's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. The patriarch of the Hulot family, meanwhile, is consumed by his own sexual desire. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. Balzac based the character of Bette in part on his mother and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. At least one scene involving Baron Hulot was likely based on an event in the life of Balzac's friend, the novelist Victor Hugo.
La Cousine Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text. It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Valérie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes. A number of film versions of the story have been produced, including a 1971 BBC mini-series starring Margaret Tyzack and Dame Helen Mirren, and a 1998 feature film with Jessica Lange in the title role.
By 1846 Honoré de Balzac had achieved tremendous fame as a writer, but his finances and health were deteriorating rapidly. After writing a series of potboiler novels in the 1820s, he published his first book under his own name, Les Chouans, in 1829. He followed this with dozens of well-received novels and stories, including La Peau de chagrin (1831), Le Père Goriot (1835), and the two-volume Illusions perdues (1837 and 1839). Because of his lavish lifestyle and penchant for financial speculation, however, he spent most of his life trying to repay a variety of debts. He wrote tirelessly, driven as much by economic necessity as by the muse and black coffee. This regimen of constant work exhausted his body and brought reprimands from his doctor.[2]
As his work gained recognition, Balzac began corresponding with a Polish Baronness named Ewelina Hańska, who first contacted him through an anonymous 1832 letter signed "L'Étrangère". They developed an affectionate friendship in letters, and when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac sought her hand in marriage. He visited her often in Poland and Germany, but various complications prohibited their union. One of these was an affair Balzac had with his housekeeper, Louise Breugniot. As she became aware of his affection for Mme. Hanska, Breugniot stole a collection of their letters and used them to extort money from Balzac. Even after this episode, however, he grew closer to Mme. Hanska with each visit and by 1846 he had begun preparing a home to share with her. He grew hopeful that they could marry when she became pregnant, but she fell ill in December and suffered a miscarriage.[3]
The mid-nineteenth century was a time of profound transformation in French government and society. The reign of King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him to abdicate. He was replaced by Louis-Philippe, who named himself "King of the French", rather than the standard "King of France" – an indication that he answered more to the nascent bourgeoisie than the aristocratic Ancien Régime. The change in government took place while the economy in France was moving from mercantilism to industrial development. This opened new opportunities for individuals hoping to acquire wealth, and led to significant changes in social norms. Members of the aristocracy, for example, were forced to relate socially to the nouveau riche, usually with tense results. The democratic spirit of the French Revolution also affected social interactions, with a shift in popular allegiance away from the church and the monarchy.[4]
In the mid-nineteenth century, a new style of novel became popular in France. The serial format known as the roman-feuilleton presented stories in short regular installments, often accompanied by melodramatic plots and stock characters. Although Balzac's La Vielle fille (1836) was the first such work published in France,[5] the roman-feuilleton gained prominence thanks mostly to his friends Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas, père.[6] Balzac disliked their serial writing, however, especially Sue's socialist depiction of lower-class suffering.[7] Balzac wanted to dethrone what he called "les faux dieux de cette littérature bâtarde" ("the false gods of this bastard literature").[8] He also wanted to show the world that, despite his poor health and tumultuous career, he was "plus jeune, plus frais, et plus grand que jamais" ("younger, fresher, and greater than ever").[8] His first efforts to render a quality feuilleton were unsuccessful. Even though Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (published in segments from 1838 to 1847) was celebrated by critics, Balzac complained to Mme. Hanska that he was "doing pue Sue".[9] He tried again in 1844 with Modeste Mignon, but public reactions were mixed.[10] Two years later Balzac began a new project, determined to create something from his "own old pen again".[9]
Writing and publication
Balzac first visited the Château de Saché in 1832, when he wrote the autobiographical novel Louis Lambert.[11]
After resting for a week in June 1846 at the Château de Saché in Tours, Balzac returned to Paris and began working on a short story called "Le Parasite", which he eventually developed into the novel Le Cousin Pons. He intended from the start to pair it with another novel, collecting them under the title Les Parents pauvres ("The Poor Relations"). He based the second book on a story his sister Laure Surville had written called "La Cousine Rosalie" and published in 1844 in Le Journal des enfants.[12] Writing intensively, he produced the entire novel, named La Cousine Bette after the main character, in two months. This was a significant accomplishment owing to his bad health, but its length made Balzac's writing speed especially remarkable.[13] One critic calls the writing of Les Parents pauvres Balzac's "last explosion of creative energy".[14] Another suggests that this effort was "almost the last straw which broke down Balzac's gigantic strength".[15]
Balzac's usual mode of revision involved vast, complicated edits made to galley proofs he received from the printer. When creating La Cousine Bette, however, he submitted the work to his editor piece by piece, without viewing a single proof.[15] The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. He produced an average of eight pages each day, but was struck by the unexpected enormity of the story as it evolved.[16] Balzac was paid 12,836 francs for the series, which was later published with Le Cousin Pons as a twelve-volume book by Chiendowski and Pétion.[17] The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.[18]
Plot summary
While caring for him, Bette refers to Wenceslas Steinbock as "mon enfant ... un garçon qui se relève du cercueil" ("my child ... a son risen from the grave").[19]
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.")[20] At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the hand of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine. Mme. Hulot resists Crevel's advances, and he turns his attention elsewhere.
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a deep but hidden resentment of her relatives' success. A peasant woman with none of the physical beauty of her cousin, Bette has rejected a series of marriage proposals from middle-class suitors, and remains unmarried at the age of 42. One day she comes upon a young unsuccessful Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, attempting suicide in the tiny apartment upstairs from her own. As she nourishes him back to health, she develops a maternal fondness for him. She also befriends Valérie, the wife of a War Department clerk named Marneffe; the two women form a bond of mutual affection and protection.
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Hulot's despair is quickly alleviated when he meets and falls in love with Valérie Marneffe. He showers her with gifts, and soon establishes a luxurious house for her and M. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department. These debts, compounded by the money he borrowed to lavish on Josépha, threaten the Hulot family's financial security. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers. Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's company, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. She works behind the scenes with Valérie to extract more money from Baron Hulot. Valérie also seduces Crevel and watches with delight as they vie for her attention. With Bette's help, Valérie turns to Steinbock and draws him into her bedroom. When Hortense learns of his infidelity, she leaves Steinbock and returns with their son to live with her mother Adeline. Valérie also proclaims her love to a Brazilian Baron named Henri Montès de Montéjanos, and swears devotion constantly to each of the five men.
When Baron Hulot marries the kitchen maid Agathe, his son Victorin concludes: "les enfants ne peuvent pas empêcher la folie des ancêtres en enfance" ("children cannot interfere with the insane acts of their parents in their second childhood").[21]
Baron Hulot's brother, known as "le maréchal" ("the Marshal"), hires Bette as his housekeeper, and they develop a mild affection. He learns of his brother's infidelities (and the difficulties they have caused Adeline, who refuses to leave her husband), and promises to marry Bette if she will provide details. She agrees eagerly, delighted at the prospect of finally securing an enviable marriage. While investigating his brother's behavior, however, the Marshal discovers Baron Hulot's scheme in Algiers. He is overwhelmed by the disgrace, and his health deteriorates. Bette's last hope for a brighter future dies with him.
When Valérie becomes pregnant, she tells each of her lovers (and her husband) that he is the father. She gives birth to a stillborn child, however, and her husband dies soon thereafter. Hulot and Crevel are ecstatic when they hear this news, each believing that he will become her only love once the official mourning period has passed. Valérie chooses Crevel for his comfortable fortune, and they quickly wed. This news outrages Baron Montès, and he devises a plot to poison the newlyweds. Crevel and Valérie die slowly, their bodies devoured by an exotic Brazilian toxin.
Victorin Hulot is later visited by the Prince of Wissembourg, who delivers news of economic good fortune. The Marshal, prior to his death, had made arrangements for repayment of the Baron's debts, as well as employment for Adeline in a Catholic charity. Baron Hulot has disappeared, and Adeline spends her free time searching for him in houses of ill repute. She eventually finds him living with a fifteen-year-old courtesan, and begs him to return to the family. He agrees, but as he climbs into the carriage, Hulot asks: "mais pourrai-je emmener la petite?" ("But can I take the girl?")[22] The Hulot home is reunited for a time, and Bette's fury at their apparent happiness hastens her death. One evening after the funeral, Adeline overhears Hulot seducing a kitchen maid named Agathe. On her deathbed, Adeline delivers her first rebuke to her husband: "[D]ans un moment, tu seras libre, et tu pourras faire une baronne Hulot." ("In a moment, you will be free, and you can make another Baronne Hulot.")[23] Soon after burying his wife, Hulot marries Agathe.
Characters and inspirations
The death of Marshal Hulot has been called "one of the most moving in all of Balzac".[24]
Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began La Cousine Bette, and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive back-stories and biographical depth. For example, Célestin Crevel first appeared in Balzac's 1837 novel César Birotteau, working for the title character. Having accumulated a considerable fortune in that book, Crevel spends his time in La Cousine Bette enjoying the spoils of his labor. Another important recurring character is Marshal Hulot, who first appeared as a colonel in Les Chouans. In the years between that story and La Cousine Bette, he became the Count of Forzheim; in a letter to the Constitutionnel, Balzac described how Marshal Hulot gained this title. The presence of Crevel and Marshal Hulot – among others – in La Cousine Bette allows a continuation of each character's life story, adding emphasis or complexity to earlier events.[25]
Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot. When he resurfaces in La Cousine Bette, he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Although Vautrin's presence in La Cousine Bette is brief, his earlier adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. For example, several scenes feature artists like Jean-Jacques Bixiou, who first appeared in 1837's Les Employés and in many other books thereafter. The world of Parisian nightlife is quickly brought to mind with the inclusion of several characters from Les Comédiens sans le savoir (1846), and Bianchon appears – as always – when a doctor is needed.[26]
Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction. It enables a depth of characterization that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. "When the characters reappear", notes the critic Samuel Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see."[27] Some readers, however, are intimidated by the depth created by these interdependent stories, and feel deprived of important context for the characters. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin".[28] The characterization in La Cousine Bette is considered especially skillful. Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters, says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work. Almost every example arises quite naturally out of the situation."[29] Biographer Noel Gerson calls the characters in La Cousine Bette "among the most memorable Balzac ever sketched".[30]
Bette Fischer
Lisbeth Fischer (Cousin Bette) is described as "maigre, brune ... les sourcils épais et réunis par un bouquet ... quelques verrues dans sa face longue et simiesque" ("lean, brown, with ... thick eyebrows joining in a tuft ... and some moles on her narrow simian face").[31]
Descriptions of Bette are often connected to savagery and animal imagery. Her name, for example, is a homophone in French for "bête" ("beast"). One passage explains that "elle ressemblait aux singes habillés en femmes" ("she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys in petticoats");[32] elsewhere her voice is described as having "une jalousie de tigre" ("tiger-like jealousy").[33] Her beastly rage comes to the surface with ferocity when she learns of Steinbock's engagement to Hortense:
La physionomie de la Lorraine était devenue terrible. Ses yeux noirs et pénétrants avaient la fixité de ceux des tigres. Sa figure ressemblait à celles que nous supposons aux pythonisses, elle serrait les dents pour les empêcher de claquer, et une affreuse convulsion faisait trembler ses membres. Elle avait glissé sa main crochue entre son bonnet et ses cheveux pour les empoigner et soutenir sa tête, devenue trop lourde; elle brûlait! La fumée de l'incendie qui la ravageait semblait passer par ses rides comme par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique.
The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption.[34]
When she learns that her cousin Adeline has been welcoming Steinbock into the Hulot home, Bette swears revenge: "Adeline! se dit Lisbeth, ô Adeline, tu me le payeras, je te rendrai plus laide que moi!" ("'Adeline!' muttered Lisbeth. 'Oh, Adeline, you shall pay for this! I will make you uglier than I am.'")[34] Her cruelty and lust for revenge lead critics to call her "demonic"[35] and "one of Balzac's most terrifying creations".[36] Because of her willingness to manipulate the people around her, Bette has been compared to Iago in William Shakespeare's play Othello.[37] Her fierce persona is attributed partly to her peasant background, and partly to her virginity, which provides (according to Balzac) "une force diabolique ou la magie noire de la volonté" ("diabolical strength, or the black magic of the Will").[38][39]
In a letter to Mme. Hanska, Balzac indicated that he based the character of Bette on three women from his life: his mother, Mme. Hanska's aunt Rosalie Rzewuska, and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. Balzac had a tumultuous relationship with his mother for most of his life, and he incorporated some of her personality (particularly her "obstinate persistence in living",[40] as one critic calls it) into Bette.[41] Rosalie Rzewuska disapproved of Mme. Hanska's relationship with Balzac; biographers agree that her cold determination was part of the author's recipe for Bette.[42] Elements taken from Marceline Desbordes-Valmore are more complex; she faced many setbacks in life and she and Balzac became friends after she left the theatre to take up poetry.[43]
Valérie Marneffe
Bette's co-conspirator in the destruction of the Hulot family is beautiful and greedy Valérie Marneffe, the unsatisfied wife of a War Department clerk. They develop a deep friendship, which many critics consider an example of lesbian affection.[44] Because of their relationship and similar goals, the critic Frederic Jameson says that "Valérie serves as a kind of emanation of Bette".[45]
Valérie Marneffe "attirait tous les regards, excitait tous les désirs, dans le cercle où elle rayonnait" ("attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she shone upon").[46]
Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him.[47] She explains bluntly that her position as a married woman provides subtleties and options unavailable to the common prostitute who has one set price; after Marneffe dies, Valérie jockeys for position between Hulot and Montés (while also sleeping with Steinbock), then discards them all to marry Crevel, who offers the most wealth. She amuses herself by mocking her lovers' devotion, and this wickedness – not to mention her gruesome demise – has led some critics to speculate that she is actually the focus of Balzac's morality tale.[48]
In one important scene, Valérie models for Steinbock as Delilah, standing victorious over the ruined Samson. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. Samson n'est rien, là. C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout." ("What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything.")[49]
Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Hanska is similar in some ways to Valérie's manipulation of Steinbock.[50] Critics also connect the pride and anguish felt by Balzac during Mme. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child.[51] Although he never ascribed to Mme. Hanska any of the traits in Valérie's treacherous character, he felt a devotion similar to that of Hulot. He once wrote to her: "je fais pour mon Eve toute les folies qu'un Hulot fait pour une Marneffe, je te donnerai mon sang, mon honneur, ma vie" ("I commit for [you] all the follies that a Hulot commits for Madame Marneffe; I give you my blood, my honor, my life").[52]
Hector and Adeline Hulot
Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family. As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without irony – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress.[53]
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy personified. Like her cousin Bette, she comes from a peasant background, but has internalized the ideals of 19th-century womanhood, including devotion, grace, and deference. She reveals in the first scene that she has known for years about her husband's infidelities, but refuses to condemn him. Adeline's forgiving nature is often considered a significant character flaw. Some suggest that she is partly to blame for Hulot's wandering affection. C.A. Prendergast, for example, calls her forgiveness "an inadequate and even positively disastrous response" to her situation.[54] He further suggests that Adeline, by choosing the role of quiet and dutiful wife, has excised from herself the erotic power to which the Baron is drawn. "[O]ne could at the very least offer the tentative speculation that Hulot's obsessional debauchery is in part the result of a certain poverty in Adeline, that the terrible logic of Hulot's excess is partially shaped by a crucial deficiency in his wife."[55] Others are less accusatory; Adeline's nearly infinite mercy, they say, is evidence of foolishness. Critic Herbert J. Hunt declares that she shows "more imbecility than Christian patience",[56] and David Bellos points out that, like her husband, she is driven by passion – albeit of a different kind: "Adeline's desire (for good, for the family, for Hector, for God) is so radically different from the motivating desires of the other characters that she seems in their context to be without desire...."[57]
Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars, and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself".[58] Balzac's friend Victor Hugo, meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins.[59]
Wenceslas Steinbock
"Quoique Steinbock eût vingt-neuf ans, il paraissait, comme certains blonds, avoir cinq ou six ans de moins ... cette jeunesse ... avait cédé sous les fatigues et les misères de l'exil" ("Though Steinbock was nine-and-twenty, like many fair men, he looked five or six years younger ... his youth ... had faded under the fatigue and stress of life in exile".)[60]
The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft".[61]
Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself. Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character (as he felt about most groups he observed). Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: "Soyez mon amie, dit-il avec une de ces démonstrations caressantes si familières aux Polonais, et qui les font accuser assez injustement de servilité." ("'Be my sweetheart,' he added, with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for which they are unjustly accused of servility.")[62][63]
Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Like Louis Lambert and Lucien Chardon in Illusions perdues, he is a brilliant man – just as Balzac considered himself to be. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide. Later, when he leaves Bette's circle of influence, he fails again. Thus he demonstrates Balzac's conviction that genius alone is useless without determination.[64] Bellos organizes Steinbock and Bette into a duality of weakness and strength; whereas the Polish artist is unable to direct his energies into productive work, Bette draws strength from her virginity and thus becomes powerful by denying the lust to which Steinbock falls prey.[65] Steinbock's drive is further eroded by the praise he receives for his art, which gives him an inflated sense of accomplishment. One critic refers to the artist's downfall as "vanity ... spoiled by premature renown".[66]
Style
If Balzac's goal was (as he claimed) to write a realist novel from his "own old pen" rather than mimic the style of Eugène Sue, history and literary criticism have declared him successful. William Stowe calls La Cousine Bette "a masterpiece of classical realism"[67] and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to War and Peace.[68] Some sections of the book are criticized for being melodramatic, and Balzac biographer V. S. Pritchett even refers to a representative excerpt as "bad writing".[69] Most critics, however, consider the moralistic elements of the novel deceptively complex, and some point out that the roman-feuilleton format required a certain level of titillation to keep readers engaged.[70] Others indicate that Balzac's interest in the theatre was an important reason for the inclusion of melodramatic elements.[71]
Émile Zola said that Balzac's fiction was "uniquement le compte-rendu brutal de ce que l'écrivain a observé" ("only the brutal report of what the writer has observed").[72]
Balzac's trademark realism begins on the first page of the novel, wherein Crevel is described wearing a National Guard uniform, complete with the Légion d'honneur. Details from the 1830s also appear in the novel's geographic locations. The Hulot family home, for example, is found in the aristocratic area of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Germain.[73] Bette's residence is on the opposite end of the social spectrum, in the impoverished residential area which surrounded the Louvre: "Les ténèbres, le silence, l'air glacial, la profondeur caverneuse du sol concourent à faire de ces maisons des espèces de cryptes, des tombeaux vivants." ("Darkness, silence, an icy chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living.")[74] Descriptions of her meager quarters are – as usual in Balzac's work – an acute reflection of her personality. The same is true of the Marneffe home at the outset: it contains "les trompeuses apparences de ce faux luxe" ("the illusory appearance of sham luxury"),[75] from the shabby chairs in the drawing-room to the dust-coated bedroom.[76]
Precise detail is not spared in descriptions of decay and disease, two vivid elements in the novel. Marneffe, for example, represents crapulence. His decrepit body is a symbol of society's weakness at the time, worn away from years of indulgence. The poison which kills Valérie and Crevel is also described in ghastly detail. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." ("She is losing her hair and teeth, her skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands are horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, and the flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors.")[77]
La Cousine Bette is unapologetic in its bleak outlook, and makes blunt connections between characters' origins and behavior. For these reasons, it is considered a key antecedent to naturalist literature. Novelist Émile Zola called it an important "roman expérimental" ("experimental novel"),[78] and praised its acute exploration of the characters' motivations.[79][80] Some critics note that La Cousine Bette showed an evolution in Balzac's style – one which he had little time to develop. Pointing to the nuance of plot and comprehensive narration style, Stowe suggests that the novel "might in happier circumstances have marked the beginning of a new, mature 'late Balzac'".[81]
Themes
Passion, vice, and virtue
Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is desire incarnate; his wandering libido bypasses concern for his wife, brother, children, finances, and even his own health. Bette, of course, is living vengeance, and Adeline desperately yearns for the happy home she imagined in the early years of marriage. Each character is driven by a fiery passion, which in most cases consumes the individual.[82] As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." ("Passion is martyrdom.")[83]
After acknowledging herself as Delilah, Valérie warns her guests: "Prenez garde à vos toupets, messieurs!" ("Take care of your wigs, gentlemen!")[84]
The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. As one critic says, "life's truths are viewed in their most atrocious form".[85] Mocking the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution while acknowledging her own malicious intent, Valérie says with regard to Delilah: "La vertu coupe la tête, le Vice ne vous coupe que les cheveux." ("Virtue cuts off your head; vice only cuts off your hair.")[84] Hulot is not intentionally cruel, but his actions are no less devastating to the people around him.[86]
On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. Hortense ridicules her aunt when Bette mentions her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock, providing a psychological catalyst for the ensuing conflict.[87] Victorin repeatedly expresses outrage at his father's philandering, yet crosses a significant moral boundary when he agrees to fund Mme. Nourrison's plan to eradicate Valérie. As one critic puts it, Victorin's decision marks a point in the novel where "the scheme of right versus wrong immediately dissolves into a purely amoral conflict of different interests and passions, regulated less by a transcendent moral law than by the relative capacity of the different parties for cunning and ruthlessness."[88] The cruelties of the Hulot children are brief but significant, owing as much to their obliviousness (intentional in the case of Victorin, who asks not to learn the details of Mme. Nourrison's scheme) as to malicious forethought.[89]
The question of Adeline's virtue is similarly complicated. Although she is forgiving to the point of absurdity, she is often considered more of a dupe than a martyr. Some have compared her to Balzac's title character in Le Père Goriot, who sacrifices himself for his daughters.[90] As Bellos puts it: "Adeline's complicity with Hector certainly makes her more interesting as a literary character, but it undermines her role as the symbol of virtue in the novel."[91] This complicity reaches an apex when she unsuccessfully attempts to sell her affections to Crevel (who has since lost interest) in order to repay her husband's debts. Her flirtation with prostitution is sometimes considered more egregious than Valérie's overt extortion, since Adeline is soiling her own dignity in the service of Baron Hulot's infidelity. For the remainder of the novel, Adeline trembles uncontrollably, a sign of her weakness.[92] Later, when she visits the singer Josépha (on whom her husband once doted), Adeline is struck by the splendor earned by a life of materialistic seduction. She wonders aloud if she is capable of providing the carnal pleasures Hulot seeks outside of their home.[93]
Ultimately, both vice and virtue fail. Valérie is devoured by Montés' poison, a consequence of her blithe attitude toward his emotion. Bette is unsuccessful in her effort to crush her cousin's family, and dies (as one critic puts it) "in the margins".[94] Adeline's Catholic mercy, on the other hand, fails to redeem her husband, and her children are similarly powerless – as Victorin finally admits on the novel's last page. Like Raphael de Valentin in Balzac's 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin, Hulot is left with nothing but "vouloir": desire, a force which is both essential for human existence and eventually apocalyptic.[95]
Gender and homoeroticism
Gender roles, especially the figure of the ideal woman, are central to La Cousine Bette. The four leading female characters (Bette, Valérie, Adeline, and Hortense) embody stereotypically feminine traits. Each pair of women revolves around a man, and they compete for his attention: Valérie and Adeline for Baron Hulot; Bette and Hortense for Wenceslas Steinbock. Balzac's study of masculinity is limited to the insatiable lust of Hulot and the weak-willed inconstancy of Steinbock, with the occasional appearance of Victorin as a sturdy patriarch in his father's absence.[96]
French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted lesbian relationships similar to (though more explicit than) that of Bette and Valérie, as in his 1893 painting "In Bed".[97]
Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),[98] with similar descriptions elsewhere. Her relationship and attitude toward Steinbock, moreover, hint at her masculinity. She commands him into submission, and even binds him with economic constraints by lending him the money to develop his sculpture. Her domination is tempered by maternal compassion, but the couple's relationship is compared to an abusive marriage: "Il fut comme une femme qui pardonne les mauvais traitements d'une semaine à cause des caresses d'un fugitif raccommodement." ("He was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake of a kiss and a brief reconciliation.")[99][100]
Bette's relationship with Valérie is layered with overtones of lesbianism. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")[101] by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" ("I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours!")[102] This affection may have been platonic, but neighbors of the Marneffes – along with many readers – suspect that their bond transcends friendship.[103] As with Steinbock, Bette and Valérie assume butch and femme roles; the narration even mentions "Le contraste de la mâle et sèche nature de la Lorraine avec la jolie nature créole de Valérie" ("The contrast between Lisbeth's dry masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness").[104] The homoeroticism evolves through the novel, as Bette feeds on Valérie's power to seduce and control the Hulot men. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure."[105]
Wealth and society
Balzac once wrote: "The worst fault of the July Revolution is that it did not allow Louis-Philippe three months of dictatorship in which to put the rights of the people and the throne on a secure basis."[106]
As with many of his novels, Balzac analyzes the influence of history and social status in La Cousine Bette. The book takes places between 1838 and 1846, when the reign of Louis-Philippe reflected and directed significant changes in the social structure. Balzac was a legitimist favoring the House of Bourbon, and idolized Napoleon Bonaparte as a paragon of effective absolutist power. Balzac felt that French society under the House of Orléans lacked strong leadership, and was fragmented by the demands of parliament. He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the nation, and that its absence heralded moral decay.[107]
Balzac demonstrated these beliefs through the characters' lives in La Cousine Bette. The conflict between Baron Hulot and the perfumer Crevel mirrors the animosity between the aristocracy of the Ancien Régime and the newly-developed bourgeoisie of traders and industrial entrepreneurs. Although he despised the socialist politics of Eugène Sue, Balzac worried that bourgeois desperation for financial gain drove people from life's important virtues. The characters – especially Bette, Valérie, and Crevel – are fixated on their need for money, and do whatever they must to obtain it.[108] As Crevel explains to Adeline: "Vous vous abusez, cher ange, si vous croyez que c'est le roi Louis-Philippe qui règne ... au-dessus de la Charte il y a la sainte, la vénérée, la solide, l'aimable, la gracieuse, la belle, la noble, la jeune, la toute-puissante pièce de cent sous!" ("You are quite mistaken, my angel, if you suppose that King Louis-Philippe rules us ... supreme above the Charter reigns the holy, venerated, substantial, delightful, obliging, beautiful, noble, ever-youthful, and all-powerful five-franc piece!")[109]
Themes of corruption and salvation are brought to the fore as Valérie and Crevel lie dying from the mysterious poison. When his daughter urges him to meet with a priest, Crevel angrily refuses, mocking the church and indicating that his social stature will be his salvation: "la mort regarde à deux fois avant de frapper un maire de Paris!" ("Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris.")[110] Valérie, meanwhile, makes a deathbed conversion and urges Bette to abandon her quest for revenge. Ever the courtesan, Valérie describes her new Christianity in terms of seduction: "je ne puis maintenant plaire qu'à Dieu! je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" ("I can please no one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation...!")[111]
Reception and adaptations
In 1921 actor Bette Davis, born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, chose Bette as her stage name in honor of Balzac's character.[112]
The critical reaction to La Cousine Bette was immediate and positive, which Balzac did not expect. Whether due to the intensity of its creation or the tumult of his personal life, the author was surprised by the praise he received. He wrote: "I did not realize how good La Cousine Bette is.... There is an immense reaction in my favour. I have won!"[113] The collected edition sold consistently well, and was reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the century. 20th-century critics remain enthusiastic in their praise for the novel; Saintsbury insists it is "beyond all question one of the very greatest of [Balzac's] works".[114] Biographer Graham Robb calls La Cousine Bette "the masterpiece of his premature old age".[115]
Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. Chief among these were disciples of the utopian theorist Charles Fourier; they disapproved of the "immorality" inherent in the novel's bleak resolution. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. They lambasted him for not commenting more on the characters' degenerate behavior – the same stylistic choice later celebrated by naturalist writers Émile Zola and Hippolyte Taine.[116]
Balzac's novel has been adapted several times for the screen. The first was in 1927, when French filmmaker Max DeRieux directed Alice Tissot in the title role.[117] Margaret Tyzack played the role of Bette in the five part serial Cousin Bette aired on the BBC, which also starred Helen Mirren as Valérie Marneffe.[118] The film Cousin Bette was released in 1998, directed by Des McAnuff. Jessica Lange starred in the title role, joined by Bob Hoskins as Crevel, and Elisabeth Shue as the singer Jenny Cadine. Screenwriters Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr changed the story significantly, and eliminated Valérie. The 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue. Stephen Holden of the New York Times commented that the movie "treats the novel as a thoroughly modern social comedy peopled with raging narcissists, opportunists and flat-out fools".[119][120]
La Cousine Bette was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay Stage Beauty (based on his stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty). The Antaeus Company in North Hollywood produced a workshop in 2008 and presented the world premiere of Cousin Bette in early 2010 in North Hollywood, California.[121] The adaptation retains many of the main characters but places Bette as the story's narrator.
这篇小说塑造了一个放高利贷的守财奴形象，这一形象概括了私有心理的最令人作呕的特点。主人公曾经是一个有热情，有抱负的人，但饱经沧桑后却总结出一条无耻的信条：金钱就是一切。金钱的腐蚀作用使它自己的主人也沦为了奴隶。
邦斯舅舅是音乐家，一个诚实而高尚的自食其力的人。他非常喜欢绘画艺术，为了丰富自己所收藏的名画，他不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思。当人们不知道他手中有这一切宝藏时，谁也不把他放在心上。
为了夺取孤零汉邦斯的遗产，像王室首席推事加缪索之流的一些冠冕堂皇的人便千万百计，使尽种种手段下毒手害他，不达目的誓不罢休。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种高尚的爱好，对他那些有钱的亲戚来说，名画只不过是发财的手段而已。
《邦斯舅舅》-银屏再现
影片根据法国著名的批判现实主义作家巴尔扎克的代表作《邦斯舅舅》改编而成。
诚实而高尚的主人公邦斯是一位音乐家，收藏了大量珍贵的艺术品，一次他与自己唯一的亲戚加缪索一家发生争吵，有人怀疑他要取消侄女的继承权。邦斯患病期间，只有他的朋友施密克和女门房西卜太太照顾他。而女门房的真正目在于邦斯收藏品，企图窃为己有。在老邦斯病危之际，人们上演了一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧。影片为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。
根据法国名作家巴尔扎原著改编，一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧，为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。邦斯的一生是善良的一生，一生都在音乐环境和古代艺术品的熏陶中生活，心地单纯看待，世态人情还带着儿童的天真。在他身上同时还具有收藏艺术品的雅癖和贪吃美食的恶癖。邦斯丑陋的外貌与金子般的内心、邦斯的善良与周围污浊的世界形成鲜明对比，表现在金钱贪欲下善良的人悲剧命运。
《邦斯舅舅》-人物形象
邦斯舅舅：
是一个善良的破落贵族形象。
他年轻是写过不少感伤乐曲，给巴黎的妇女浅唱低吟。因为相貌生得奇丑，一生未能结婚。青年时期获得艺术的最高奖--罗马奖，被政府送到罗马深造，但在音乐上没有取得突出成就，而是迷恋于漫游意大利的名城，并养成了收集古代艺术精品的癖好，成为一个贪心的收藏家、艺术鉴赏家。他在留学期间收集的古玩耗尽了他全部的奖学金及父母的遗产。在德国音乐氛围和意大利艺术珍品的陶醉之中，他忘却了城市的苦恼，但是生计问题使她东颠西跑，去女子学堂兼课才能维持起码的生活，当他的一颗心沉浸在欣赏人类美妙艺术杰作时，不幸染上了贪嘴的恶习，为此怀着期待的心情日夜盼望着接到阔亲戚的邀请去美餐一顿。在外甥媳妇家，他受到了冷遇，连仆人们都咒骂他"吃白食的人又来了。"从此邦斯遭到阔亲戚们的误解，特别是外甥家的误解，而一病不起。在他病情日益加重时，他身边的仆人古董商马古斯波冷医生等对他收藏的古玩珍品估价，发现他收藏的各种艺术品十分名贵，总价达到一百八十万法郎，于是他们展开了掠夺。他们收买心腹，打听病情，无情包围，暗中控制，为防止遗产的外流费尽心计，甚至偷盗邦斯的遗嘱，折磨邦斯的病情，加速邦斯的死亡。邦斯死后，他一生收藏的艺术品全部落入外甥的手中，而参与阴谋的窃夺者们几乎都分了肥。
《邦斯舅舅》-艺术赏析
一部传统的小说，自然可以用传统的方法去解读。让我们着重看一看《邦斯舅舅》中的主要人物邦斯舅舅。
邦斯舅舅是个旧时代的“遗迹”。小说一开始，便以极富象征和概括性的手法，为我们描绘了他那悲剧性的外表及这外表所兆示的悲剧性的命运。
故事发生在十九世纪四十年代的巴黎，那是七月王朝统治时期，法国社会生活的各个方面正经受着激烈的动荡。贵族阶级逐渐没落，资产阶级政客、大银行家，投机商和大批食利者占据了法国的政治和经济舞台，而邦斯舅舅在这个时代的的舞台上是显得那么格格不入：他“衣着的某些细微之处依旧忠实地保留着一八○六年的式样，让人回想起第一帝国时代。”这个“又干又瘦的”老人，“在缀着白色金属扣的暗绿色上衣外，又套着一件栗色的斯宾塞！……一个穿斯宾塞的人，要知道在这一八四四年，不啻于拿破仑尊驾一时复生，”
怪不得他一出场，巴黎街头早已麻木的无聊看客也不由得发出含义丰富的微笑，带着讥刺、嘲弄或怜悯：他“身上无意中留存了某个时代的全部笑料，看起来活脱是整整一个时代的化身”，“就像人们说帝国式样家具一样，毫不犹豫地称他为帝国时代人物。”
这位“帝国时代人物”，原本是个颇有才华的音乐家，他的曲子还获得过罗马大奖。当初，国家把他派往罗马，本想把他造就成一个伟大的音乐家，可他却在那儿染上了古董癖，还 “染上了七大原罪中恐怕上帝惩罚最轻的一桩：贪馋”。
一方面，邦斯那颗“生机盎然的心灵永不疲惫地欣赏着人类壮丽的创造”，在收藏和欣赏人类的艺术创造中得到慰藉和升华；另一方面，他那张挑剔的嘴巴充满嗜欲，腐蚀了他的气节，那“嗜欲潜伏在人的心中，无处不在，在那儿发号施令，要冲破人的意志和荣誉的缺口……”
从表面看，似乎是邦斯犯的那桩原罪――“贪馋”把他推向悲剧的道路，由一个具有艺术追求的音乐家“沦落到一个吃白食”；养成了“吃好喝好”的恶习，“只要能够继续活个痛快，尝到所有那些时鲜的瓜果蔬菜，敞开肚子大吃（话虽俗，但却富有表现力）那些制作精细的美味佳肴，什么下贱事都能做得出来”。他不仅为满足自己的贪馋付出了沉重的代价，丧失了独立的人格，而且还被腐蚀了灵魂，“对交际场上那些客套，那些取代了真情的虚伪表演全已习以为常，说起来恭维话来，那简直就像花几个小钱一样方便”。
然而，这仅仅是邦斯人生悲剧的一个方面，一个非本质的方面。他的悲剧的深刻原因，在于他的“穷”，在于他与他的那些富有、显赫的“亲戚”根本上的格格不入。一个在一八四四年还穿着斯宾塞的“帝国时代人物”，偏偏又生活在一群七月革命的既得利益者之中。在他身边，有法国药材界巨头博比诺，“当年闹七月革命，好处尽让博比诺得了，至少与波旁王族第二分支得到好处不相上下”；有 “不惜牺牲自己的长子”，拼命向政界爬的老卡缪佐；有野心勃勃一心想当司法部长的最高法院庭长；有公证人出身，后来当上了巴黎某区区长，捞尽了好处的卡尔多。邦斯担任乐队指挥的那家戏院的经理，也同样是个典型的资产阶级暴发户。
从本质上讲，邦斯是个艺术家。只有在艺术的天地里，他才拥有青春；只有与艺术交流时，他才显得那么才气横溢。在乐队的指挥台上，他的手势是那么有力；在他的那间充满人类美的创造的收藏室里，他是那么幸福。对于艺术和美的创造，他是那么一往情深。他“热爱艺术”，“对任何手工艺品，对任何神奇的创造，无不感到一种难以满足的欲望，那是一位男士对一位美丽的恋人的爱”。甚至，当他因为得不到爱而绝望，投入到“连富有德行的僧侣也不可避免的罪过――贪馋”的怀抱时，也是“像投入到对艺术品的热爱和对音乐的崇拜之中”。
然而，他对艺术的热爱是与他所处的那个时代的价值取向和道德标准相悖的。对七月王朝时期那些资产阶级暴发户来说，音乐只是那些音乐家的一种“糊口的”手段，戏院经理戈迪萨尔看重邦斯的，不是他的才华，而是邦斯编的乐曲可以给他招徕观众，带来滚滚财源；对爱慕虚荣，耍尽一切手段要让丈夫当上议员，乃至司法部长的德・玛维尔庭长太太来说，邦斯搜集的那些艺术品，那些稀世珍品，“纯粹是一钱不值的玩艺”，艺术痴迷的邦斯，完全是“一个怪物”。
在这些人的府上，邦斯老人经受着百般的奚落、嘲讽和耍弄，最终被逐出“他们的天地”，实在是不可避免的。在他们这里，没有艺术的位置，他们“崇拜的是成功，看重的只是一八三○年以来猎取的一切：巨大的财富或显赫的社会地位”。剧院的头牌舞女爱洛伊斯・布利兹图说得是那么一针见血：如今这个世道，“当老板的斤斤计较，做国王的巧取豪夺，当大臣的营私舞弊，有钱的吝啬抠门……艺术家就太惨了！”看来，邦斯由艺术家沦为“吃白食的”，这不能不说艺术本身的沦丧，而邦斯的悲剧，恐怕就是艺术的悲剧了。
《邦斯舅舅》-小说简介
邦斯，天真可爱的德国老头儿。一生独居。除了在音乐方面的才华，就只剩下收藏这一爱好来丰富他的人生了。
没有遗产，只靠着在戏院做音乐指挥的微薄薪水，可怜的老头儿不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思，凭着自己小小的聪明，以极其便宜的价格收藏了许多的名画。
邦斯美术馆可谓是收藏颇丰。邦斯对于美术品的爱好正如情人爱一个美丽的情妇，永远不知餍足。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种时尚的爱好。他的美术馆是给自己时时刻刻享受的。然而，对于邦斯的亲人以及周围的邻居来说，却并非如此。
邦斯好心的给自己唯一的承继人－－外甥的女儿做媒，当外甥一家人都看好的小伙子拒绝了这门亲事，外甥媳妇为了保住自己的面子，而到处宣扬此事是邦斯舅舅的恶意的报复。以致于连老头儿一向尊敬的人都对邦斯不理不睬！
可怜的老头儿一生从未有过半点害人之心，怎么能够承受如此沉重而致命的打击？
邦斯因此而一病不起。身边只有忠诚的许模克和门房太太的照顾！
门房太太照顾好人儿邦斯和许模克已经有十年了。虽有些唠叨，却也是善良的，跟许模克一样，对邦斯如此的珍爱那些收藏觉得有些好笑，却也是小心翼翼的守护着。
只是所有的一切在古董商雷蒙诺克和犹太人收藏家玛古斯背着邦斯看过他的美术馆之后改变！
犹太人玛古斯是跟邦斯暗中较劲的收藏家。对邦斯的收藏一直虎视眈眈。
门房太太希望能够在邦斯的遗嘱上占有一个名字，在这个愿望没有得到邦斯的直接确定之后，为了能从邦斯的收
藏中分得一杯残羹，由一丝不苟的诚实一刹那间变成无恶不作！
古董商雷蒙诺克，其奸刁阴狠不下于犹太人，一个小钱都要挣的贪得无厌，怎能放过可怜的邦斯那些价值连城的收藏？
贫困潦倒的初级法庭律师弗莱齐埃，有着一双可怕的绿眼睛和凶恶的气息，好比青天上的云一样的明显。将邦斯的收藏作为自己可以接触邦斯的唯一承继人——邦斯的外甥——最高法庭庭长的垫脚石！
最高法庭庭长一家，当他们不知道邦斯手中有着那大批的宝藏之时，从未把邦斯放在心上。作为邦斯舅舅唯一的亲人，甚至连老头儿来家里吃晚饭也加以刻意羞辱，不惜破坏邦斯的声誉以维护自己的面子。然而当得知邦斯有着一笔极其可观的遗产时，这些冠冕堂皇的人便千方百计、使尽种种手段下毒害他，不达目的誓不罢休！
老实，谦和，天真的邦斯和许模克怎么能够想到又怎么能够相信这些人内心里的贪婪、狠毒、奸诈？
The novella grew in 1847 into a full-length novel with a male poor relation, Pons, as its subject, whereas La Cousine Bette describes the female aspect of that subordinate relationship. The two novels were thus similar yet diametrically different. They were complementary, forming two parts of a whole.
Le Cousin Pons has been classified by Balzac as the second Episode of Les Parents pauvres, the first Episode being La Cousine Bette. Especially admired by Paul Bourget, it is one of the very greatest of his novels.
Plot summary
The novella was based on a short story by an acquaintance of Balzac, Albéric Second,[1] as Tim Farrant has demonstrated. Its original title was to have been “Le Parasite”. Sylvain Pons, a musician in a Parisian boulevard orchestra, has a close friend in another musician from that same orchestra, the German pianist Wilhelm Schmucke. They lodge with Mme Cibot, but Pons – unlike Schmucke – has two failings: his passion (which is almost a mania) for collecting works of art, and his passion for good food. Schmucke, on the other hand, has only one passion, and that is his affection for Pons. Pons, being a gourmet, much enjoys dining regularly with his wealthy lawyer cousins M. and Mme Camusot de Marville, for their food is more interesting than Mme Cibot’s and full of gastronomic surprises. In an endeavour to remain on good terms with the Camusots, and to repay their favour, he tries to find a bridegroom for their unappealing only child Cécile. However, when this ill-considered marriage project falls through, Pons is banished from the house.
The novella becomes a novel as Mme Camusot learns of the value of Pons’s art collection and strives to obtain possession of it as the basis of a dowry for her daughter. In this new development of the plot line a bitter struggle ensues between various vulture-like figures all of whom are keen to lay their hands on the collection: Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Mme Camusot – and Mme Cibot herself. Betraying his client Mme Cibot’s interests, the unsavoury barrister Fraisier acts for the Camusots. Mme Cibot sells Rémonencq eight of Pons’s choicest paintings, untruthfully stating in the receipt that they are works of lesser value. She also steals one for herself.
Horrified to discover his betrayal by Mme Cibot, and the plots that are raging around him, Pons dies, bequeathing all his worldly possessions to Schmucke. The latter is browbeaten out of them by Fraisier. He in turn dies a broken-hearted man, for in Pons he has lost all that he valued in the world. The art collection comes to the Camusot de Marville family, and the vultures profit from their ill-gotten gains.
Fundamental themes of the work
(1) Le Cousin Pons is set entirely in Paris, where, as Balzac informs us in his Avant-propos (Foreword) to the Comédie humaine, “the extremes of good and evil are to be found”. However, Le Cousin Pons is not exclusively about the clash of extremes. Some characters, even the eponymous hero himself, are presented in a nuanced way.
(2) Balzac’s hatred of the bourgeoisie is epitomized by the greedy, money-obsessed M. and Mme Camusot de Marville who put up with the weekly visits of their poor relation Sylvain Pons until they realize he is a very wealthy art collector, whereupon their sole concern is to exploit him. Balzac also presents the lawyer Fraisier and the doctor Poulain in an ambivalent light.
(3) The morals of the working-class characters, e.g., La Cibot and Rémonencq, are scarcely any better than those of the bourgeoisie. As in Balzac’s novel of the countryside, Les Paysans, the proletarian world is displayed in a fiercely aggressive, acquisitive light – almost to the extent of engaging in bitter class conflict.
(4) The values of art are contrasted with those of money. As Balzac says in Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, “la Charte ( Charter of 1814 ) a proclamé le règne de l’argent, le succès devient alors la raison suprême d’une époque athée”. Artistic values aside, Balzac displays the reification or materialization of the world.
(5) The law is seen by Balzac as a (totally illegal!) way of depriving people of their rightful property. Harassed by Fraisier, Schmucke renounces his property rights. Pons’s second will is more vulnerable than the first.
(6) Balzac subverts conventional social values as social norms are revealed to be a fiction. The values of the Camusot de Marville family are materialistic. It is not the personality of Cécile Camusot herself but Pons’s art collection which is “the heroine of this story”; it is that, not her value as a person, which secures her marriage. The union of the Topinards, who are not strictly married, is the kindest, most affectionate relationship of man and woman in the novel. The friendship of Pons and Schmucke is true love but not love within marriage. The two men are poor and physically ugly but their relationship is golden and pure. Their Platonic friendship runs parallel to the idealizing function of art.
(7) Though not a lover in the human physical sense, Pons is a man with an overriding passion, the passion for artistic beauty. In its etymological sense passion equates to suffering. Pons is a Christ-like figure, like some other characters in Balzac's novels (e.g., Joseph Bridau in La Rabouilleuse, and Goriot). He is a man with a mania or idee fixe, and this passion is the cause of his suffering and death.
Narrative strategies
(1) As has been shown by Donald Adamson, Le Cousin Pons began its existence as a novella, or nouvelle, and was suddenly transformed into a full-length novel. This process of transformation necessitated certain inconsistencies and an uneasy transition from long-short story to fiction of sizable proportions and complexity. Though this longer fiction is often referred to as “Part II” of the novel, Balzac himself does not embark upon his “Part II” of Le Cousin Pons until all the new characters – the corrupt Mme Cibot, Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Poulain and Fraisier – have been introduced. It is in dispute whether these two narrative elements have been fused into a perfect whole. V.S. Pritchett considers that Balzac has been totally successful in combining the two storylines.[2]
(2) Le Cousin Pons thus became one of Balzac’s four inheritance novels (the others being Eugénie Grandet, Ursule Mirouët and La Rabouilleuse). From being the vignette of a downtrodden elderly man it mutated into a story of conflict, though with a plot far less complex than that of La Cousine Bette or Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. The struggle for an inheritance was one of the narrative situations most congenial to Balzac.
(3) In the tradition of melodrama Schmucke represents “extreme good”, Mme Camusot “extreme evil”, whereas Pons is an amalgam of the two whilst, Janus-like, Mme Cibot embodies aspects of both. The lurid tones of Pons’s deathbed scene are the height of melodrama. In this drama of light and darkness, or chiaroscuro, the art collection is the heroine of the story.
(4) Roman-feuilleton (serial (literature)). The serialization of novels was a feature of the rapid growth of the newspaper industry in France after 1814. Leading feuilletonistes were Eugène Sue, Alexandre Dumas, père, Paul Féval, père, Frédéric Soulié and Eugène Scribe. Balzac became increasingly preoccupied by their popularity in the 1840s and tried to emulate them. This involved incorporating many features of melodrama; it also encouraged the ending of each serialized extract on a note of high suspense.
(5) The serialization of fiction also necessitated the increasing use of dialogue. This is particularly so in the later stages of the novel. In Donald Adamson’s words, “the second half of Le Cousin Pons is surely unsurpassed in the extent to which it uses dialogue and in the variety of purposes to which dialogue is applied. It contains few narrative interludes or other digressions”.[3] This gave the novel its markedly dramatic flavour.
邦斯舅舅是音乐家，一个诚实而高尚的自食其力的人。他非常喜欢绘画艺术，为了丰富自己所收藏的名画，他不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思。当人们不知道他手中有这一切宝藏时，谁也不把他放在心上。
为了夺取孤零汉邦斯的遗产，像王室首席推事加缪索之流的一些冠冕堂皇的人便千万百计，使尽种种手段下毒手害他，不达目的誓不罢休。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种高尚的爱好，对他那些有钱的亲戚来说，名画只不过是发财的手段而已。
《邦斯舅舅》-银屏再现
影片根据法国著名的批判现实主义作家巴尔扎克的代表作《邦斯舅舅》改编而成。
诚实而高尚的主人公邦斯是一位音乐家，收藏了大量珍贵的艺术品，一次他与自己唯一的亲戚加缪索一家发生争吵，有人怀疑他要取消侄女的继承权。邦斯患病期间，只有他的朋友施密克和女门房西卜太太照顾他。而女门房的真正目在于邦斯收藏品，企图窃为己有。在老邦斯病危之际，人们上演了一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧。影片为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。
根据法国名作家巴尔扎原著改编，一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧，为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。邦斯的一生是善良的一生，一生都在音乐环境和古代艺术品的熏陶中生活，心地单纯看待，世态人情还带着儿童的天真。在他身上同时还具有收藏艺术品的雅癖和贪吃美食的恶癖。邦斯丑陋的外貌与金子般的内心、邦斯的善良与周围污浊的世界形成鲜明对比，表现在金钱贪欲下善良的人悲剧命运。
《邦斯舅舅》-人物形象
邦斯舅舅：
是一个善良的破落贵族形象。
他年轻是写过不少感伤乐曲，给巴黎的妇女浅唱低吟。因为相貌生得奇丑，一生未能结婚。青年时期获得艺术的最高奖--罗马奖，被政府送到罗马深造，但在音乐上没有取得突出成就，而是迷恋于漫游意大利的名城，并养成了收集古代艺术精品的癖好，成为一个贪心的收藏家、艺术鉴赏家。他在留学期间收集的古玩耗尽了他全部的奖学金及父母的遗产。在德国音乐氛围和意大利艺术珍品的陶醉之中，他忘却了城市的苦恼，但是生计问题使她东颠西跑，去女子学堂兼课才能维持起码的生活，当他的一颗心沉浸在欣赏人类美妙艺术杰作时，不幸染上了贪嘴的恶习，为此怀着期待的心情日夜盼望着接到阔亲戚的邀请去美餐一顿。在外甥媳妇家，他受到了冷遇，连仆人们都咒骂他"吃白食的人又来了。"从此邦斯遭到阔亲戚们的误解，特别是外甥家的误解，而一病不起。在他病情日益加重时，他身边的仆人古董商马古斯波冷医生等对他收藏的古玩珍品估价，发现他收藏的各种艺术品十分名贵，总价达到一百八十万法郎，于是他们展开了掠夺。他们收买心腹，打听病情，无情包围，暗中控制，为防止遗产的外流费尽心计，甚至偷盗邦斯的遗嘱，折磨邦斯的病情，加速邦斯的死亡。邦斯死后，他一生收藏的艺术品全部落入外甥的手中，而参与阴谋的窃夺者们几乎都分了肥。
《邦斯舅舅》-艺术赏析
一部传统的小说，自然可以用传统的方法去解读。让我们着重看一看《邦斯舅舅》中的主要人物邦斯舅舅。
邦斯舅舅是个旧时代的“遗迹”。小说一开始，便以极富象征和概括性的手法，为我们描绘了他那悲剧性的外表及这外表所兆示的悲剧性的命运。
故事发生在十九世纪四十年代的巴黎，那是七月王朝统治时期，法国社会生活的各个方面正经受着激烈的动荡。贵族阶级逐渐没落，资产阶级政客、大银行家，投机商和大批食利者占据了法国的政治和经济舞台，而邦斯舅舅在这个时代的的舞台上是显得那么格格不入：他“衣着的某些细微之处依旧忠实地保留着一八○六年的式样，让人回想起第一帝国时代。”这个“又干又瘦的”老人，“在缀着白色金属扣的暗绿色上衣外，又套着一件栗色的斯宾塞！……一个穿斯宾塞的人，要知道在这一八四四年，不啻于拿破仑尊驾一时复生，”
怪不得他一出场，巴黎街头早已麻木的无聊看客也不由得发出含义丰富的微笑，带着讥刺、嘲弄或怜悯：他“身上无意中留存了某个时代的全部笑料，看起来活脱是整整一个时代的化身”，“就像人们说帝国式样家具一样，毫不犹豫地称他为帝国时代人物。”
这位“帝国时代人物”，原本是个颇有才华的音乐家，他的曲子还获得过罗马大奖。当初，国家把他派往罗马，本想把他造就成一个伟大的音乐家，可他却在那儿染上了古董癖，还 “染上了七大原罪中恐怕上帝惩罚最轻的一桩：贪馋”。
一方面，邦斯那颗“生机盎然的心灵永不疲惫地欣赏着人类壮丽的创造”，在收藏和欣赏人类的艺术创造中得到慰藉和升华；另一方面，他那张挑剔的嘴巴充满嗜欲，腐蚀了他的气节，那“嗜欲潜伏在人的心中，无处不在，在那儿发号施令，要冲破人的意志和荣誉的缺口……”
从表面看，似乎是邦斯犯的那桩原罪――“贪馋”把他推向悲剧的道路，由一个具有艺术追求的音乐家“沦落到一个吃白食”；养成了“吃好喝好”的恶习，“只要能够继续活个痛快，尝到所有那些时鲜的瓜果蔬菜，敞开肚子大吃（话虽俗，但却富有表现力）那些制作精细的美味佳肴，什么下贱事都能做得出来”。他不仅为满足自己的贪馋付出了沉重的代价，丧失了独立的人格，而且还被腐蚀了灵魂，“对交际场上那些客套，那些取代了真情的虚伪表演全已习以为常，说起来恭维话来，那简直就像花几个小钱一样方便”。
然而，这仅仅是邦斯人生悲剧的一个方面，一个非本质的方面。他的悲剧的深刻原因，在于他的“穷”，在于他与他的那些富有、显赫的“亲戚”根本上的格格不入。一个在一八四四年还穿着斯宾塞的“帝国时代人物”，偏偏又生活在一群七月革命的既得利益者之中。在他身边，有法国药材界巨头博比诺，“当年闹七月革命，好处尽让博比诺得了，至少与波旁王族第二分支得到好处不相上下”；有 “不惜牺牲自己的长子”，拼命向政界爬的老卡缪佐；有野心勃勃一心想当司法部长的最高法院庭长；有公证人出身，后来当上了巴黎某区区长，捞尽了好处的卡尔多。邦斯担任乐队指挥的那家戏院的经理，也同样是个典型的资产阶级暴发户。
从本质上讲，邦斯是个艺术家。只有在艺术的天地里，他才拥有青春；只有与艺术交流时，他才显得那么才气横溢。在乐队的指挥台上，他的手势是那么有力；在他的那间充满人类美的创造的收藏室里，他是那么幸福。对于艺术和美的创造，他是那么一往情深。他“热爱艺术”，“对任何手工艺品，对任何神奇的创造，无不感到一种难以满足的欲望，那是一位男士对一位美丽的恋人的爱”。甚至，当他因为得不到爱而绝望，投入到“连富有德行的僧侣也不可避免的罪过――贪馋”的怀抱时，也是“像投入到对艺术品的热爱和对音乐的崇拜之中”。
然而，他对艺术的热爱是与他所处的那个时代的价值取向和道德标准相悖的。对七月王朝时期那些资产阶级暴发户来说，音乐只是那些音乐家的一种“糊口的”手段，戏院经理戈迪萨尔看重邦斯的，不是他的才华，而是邦斯编的乐曲可以给他招徕观众，带来滚滚财源；对爱慕虚荣，耍尽一切手段要让丈夫当上议员，乃至司法部长的德・玛维尔庭长太太来说，邦斯搜集的那些艺术品，那些稀世珍品，“纯粹是一钱不值的玩艺”，艺术痴迷的邦斯，完全是“一个怪物”。
在这些人的府上，邦斯老人经受着百般的奚落、嘲讽和耍弄，最终被逐出“他们的天地”，实在是不可避免的。在他们这里，没有艺术的位置，他们“崇拜的是成功，看重的只是一八三○年以来猎取的一切：巨大的财富或显赫的社会地位”。剧院的头牌舞女爱洛伊斯・布利兹图说得是那么一针见血：如今这个世道，“当老板的斤斤计较，做国王的巧取豪夺，当大臣的营私舞弊，有钱的吝啬抠门……艺术家就太惨了！”看来，邦斯由艺术家沦为“吃白食的”，这不能不说艺术本身的沦丧，而邦斯的悲剧，恐怕就是艺术的悲剧了。
《邦斯舅舅》-小说简介
邦斯，天真可爱的德国老头儿。一生独居。除了在音乐方面的才华，就只剩下收藏这一爱好来丰富他的人生了。
没有遗产，只靠着在戏院做音乐指挥的微薄薪水，可怜的老头儿不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思，凭着自己小小的聪明，以极其便宜的价格收藏了许多的名画。
邦斯美术馆可谓是收藏颇丰。邦斯对于美术品的爱好正如情人爱一个美丽的情妇，永远不知餍足。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种时尚的爱好。他的美术馆是给自己时时刻刻享受的。然而，对于邦斯的亲人以及周围的邻居来说，却并非如此。
邦斯好心的给自己唯一的承继人－－外甥的女儿做媒，当外甥一家人都看好的小伙子拒绝了这门亲事，外甥媳妇为了保住自己的面子，而到处宣扬此事是邦斯舅舅的恶意的报复。以致于连老头儿一向尊敬的人都对邦斯不理不睬！
可怜的老头儿一生从未有过半点害人之心，怎么能够承受如此沉重而致命的打击？
邦斯因此而一病不起。身边只有忠诚的许模克和门房太太的照顾！
门房太太照顾好人儿邦斯和许模克已经有十年了。虽有些唠叨，却也是善良的，跟许模克一样，对邦斯如此的珍爱那些收藏觉得有些好笑，却也是小心翼翼的守护着。
只是所有的一切在古董商雷蒙诺克和犹太人收藏家玛古斯背着邦斯看过他的美术馆之后改变！
犹太人玛古斯是跟邦斯暗中较劲的收藏家。对邦斯的收藏一直虎视眈眈。
门房太太希望能够在邦斯的遗嘱上占有一个名字，在这个愿望没有得到邦斯的直接确定之后，为了能从邦斯的收
藏中分得一杯残羹，由一丝不苟的诚实一刹那间变成无恶不作！
古董商雷蒙诺克，其奸刁阴狠不下于犹太人，一个小钱都要挣的贪得无厌，怎能放过可怜的邦斯那些价值连城的收藏？
贫困潦倒的初级法庭律师弗莱齐埃，有着一双可怕的绿眼睛和凶恶的气息，好比青天上的云一样的明显。将邦斯的收藏作为自己可以接触邦斯的唯一承继人——邦斯的外甥——最高法庭庭长的垫脚石！
最高法庭庭长一家，当他们不知道邦斯手中有着那大批的宝藏之时，从未把邦斯放在心上。作为邦斯舅舅唯一的亲人，甚至连老头儿来家里吃晚饭也加以刻意羞辱，不惜破坏邦斯的声誉以维护自己的面子。然而当得知邦斯有着一笔极其可观的遗产时，这些冠冕堂皇的人便千方百计、使尽种种手段下毒害他，不达目的誓不罢休！
老实，谦和，天真的邦斯和许模克怎么能够想到又怎么能够相信这些人内心里的贪婪、狠毒、奸诈？
The novella grew in 1847 into a full-length novel with a male poor relation, Pons, as its subject, whereas La Cousine Bette describes the female aspect of that subordinate relationship. The two novels were thus similar yet diametrically different. They were complementary, forming two parts of a whole.
Le Cousin Pons has been classified by Balzac as the second Episode of Les Parents pauvres, the first Episode being La Cousine Bette. Especially admired by Paul Bourget, it is one of the very greatest of his novels.
Plot summary
The novella was based on a short story by an acquaintance of Balzac, Albéric Second,[1] as Tim Farrant has demonstrated. Its original title was to have been “Le Parasite”. Sylvain Pons, a musician in a Parisian boulevard orchestra, has a close friend in another musician from that same orchestra, the German pianist Wilhelm Schmucke. They lodge with Mme Cibot, but Pons – unlike Schmucke – has two failings: his passion (which is almost a mania) for collecting works of art, and his passion for good food. Schmucke, on the other hand, has only one passion, and that is his affection for Pons. Pons, being a gourmet, much enjoys dining regularly with his wealthy lawyer cousins M. and Mme Camusot de Marville, for their food is more interesting than Mme Cibot’s and full of gastronomic surprises. In an endeavour to remain on good terms with the Camusots, and to repay their favour, he tries to find a bridegroom for their unappealing only child Cécile. However, when this ill-considered marriage project falls through, Pons is banished from the house.
The novella becomes a novel as Mme Camusot learns of the value of Pons’s art collection and strives to obtain possession of it as the basis of a dowry for her daughter. In this new development of the plot line a bitter struggle ensues between various vulture-like figures all of whom are keen to lay their hands on the collection: Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Mme Camusot – and Mme Cibot herself. Betraying his client Mme Cibot’s interests, the unsavoury barrister Fraisier acts for the Camusots. Mme Cibot sells Rémonencq eight of Pons’s choicest paintings, untruthfully stating in the receipt that they are works of lesser value. She also steals one for herself.
Horrified to discover his betrayal by Mme Cibot, and the plots that are raging around him, Pons dies, bequeathing all his worldly possessions to Schmucke. The latter is browbeaten out of them by Fraisier. He in turn dies a broken-hearted man, for in Pons he has lost all that he valued in the world. The art collection comes to the Camusot de Marville family, and the vultures profit from their ill-gotten gains.
Fundamental themes of the work
(1) Le Cousin Pons is set entirely in Paris, where, as Balzac informs us in his Avant-propos (Foreword) to the Comédie humaine, “the extremes of good and evil are to be found”. However, Le Cousin Pons is not exclusively about the clash of extremes. Some characters, even the eponymous hero himself, are presented in a nuanced way.
(2) Balzac’s hatred of the bourgeoisie is epitomized by the greedy, money-obsessed M. and Mme Camusot de Marville who put up with the weekly visits of their poor relation Sylvain Pons until they realize he is a very wealthy art collector, whereupon their sole concern is to exploit him. Balzac also presents the lawyer Fraisier and the doctor Poulain in an ambivalent light.
(3) The morals of the working-class characters, e.g., La Cibot and Rémonencq, are scarcely any better than those of the bourgeoisie. As in Balzac’s novel of the countryside, Les Paysans, the proletarian world is displayed in a fiercely aggressive, acquisitive light – almost to the extent of engaging in bitter class conflict.
(4) The values of art are contrasted with those of money. As Balzac says in Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, “la Charte ( Charter of 1814 ) a proclamé le règne de l’argent, le succès devient alors la raison suprême d’une époque athée”. Artistic values aside, Balzac displays the reification or materialization of the world.
(5) The law is seen by Balzac as a (totally illegal!) way of depriving people of their rightful property. Harassed by Fraisier, Schmucke renounces his property rights. Pons’s second will is more vulnerable than the first.
(6) Balzac subverts conventional social values as social norms are revealed to be a fiction. The values of the Camusot de Marville family are materialistic. It is not the personality of Cécile Camusot herself but Pons’s art collection which is “the heroine of this story”; it is that, not her value as a person, which secures her marriage. The union of the Topinards, who are not strictly married, is the kindest, most affectionate relationship of man and woman in the novel. The friendship of Pons and Schmucke is true love but not love within marriage. The two men are poor and physically ugly but their relationship is golden and pure. Their Platonic friendship runs parallel to the idealizing function of art.
(7) Though not a lover in the human physical sense, Pons is a man with an overriding passion, the passion for artistic beauty. In its etymological sense passion equates to suffering. Pons is a Christ-like figure, like some other characters in Balzac's novels (e.g., Joseph Bridau in La Rabouilleuse, and Goriot). He is a man with a mania or idee fixe, and this passion is the cause of his suffering and death.
Narrative strategies
(1) As has been shown by Donald Adamson, Le Cousin Pons began its existence as a novella, or nouvelle, and was suddenly transformed into a full-length novel. This process of transformation necessitated certain inconsistencies and an uneasy transition from long-short story to fiction of sizable proportions and complexity. Though this longer fiction is often referred to as “Part II” of the novel, Balzac himself does not embark upon his “Part II” of Le Cousin Pons until all the new characters – the corrupt Mme Cibot, Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Poulain and Fraisier – have been introduced. It is in dispute whether these two narrative elements have been fused into a perfect whole. V.S. Pritchett considers that Balzac has been totally successful in combining the two storylines.[2]
(2) Le Cousin Pons thus became one of Balzac’s four inheritance novels (the others being Eugénie Grandet, Ursule Mirouët and La Rabouilleuse). From being the vignette of a downtrodden elderly man it mutated into a story of conflict, though with a plot far less complex than that of La Cousine Bette or Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. The struggle for an inheritance was one of the narrative situations most congenial to Balzac.
(3) In the tradition of melodrama Schmucke represents “extreme good”, Mme Camusot “extreme evil”, whereas Pons is an amalgam of the two whilst, Janus-like, Mme Cibot embodies aspects of both. The lurid tones of Pons’s deathbed scene are the height of melodrama. In this drama of light and darkness, or chiaroscuro, the art collection is the heroine of the story.
(4) Roman-feuilleton (serial (literature)). The serialization of novels was a feature of the rapid growth of the newspaper industry in France after 1814. Leading feuilletonistes were Eugène Sue, Alexandre Dumas, père, Paul Féval, père, Frédéric Soulié and Eugène Scribe. Balzac became increasingly preoccupied by their popularity in the 1840s and tried to emulate them. This involved incorporating many features of melodrama; it also encouraged the ending of each serialized extract on a note of high suspense.
(5) The serialization of fiction also necessitated the increasing use of dialogue. This is particularly so in the later stages of the novel. In Donald Adamson’s words, “the second half of Le Cousin Pons is surely unsurpassed in the extent to which it uses dialogue and in the variety of purposes to which dialogue is applied. It contains few narrative interludes or other digressions”.[3] This gave the novel its markedly dramatic flavour.
如果人世间真有一块驴皮，使你的一切愿望都能实现，同时随着愿望的实现，驴皮将会缩小，你的生命也会缩短，试问，你是否愿意接受这块驴皮?
对大多数人来说，答案将是肯定的。且不说那些如本书的主人翁那样，穷途末路， 已经输掉身上最后一枚金币，准备投水自杀的人，世上有许多人，面对金钱和物质享受的诱惑，还不是将名誉、地位、家庭、祖国，甚至自己的生命，全部置诸脑后，而甘冒天下之大不韪，不顾道德、法律、舆论的阻力，杀人放火，诈骗盗窃，无所不为，小小一张驴皮，哪里阻止得住他们?然而这块小小的驴皮， 巴尔扎克还是费尽心思才得到的。 巴尔扎克经过十载艰辛，深刻地体验了金钱的威力和贫穷的痛苦，深知一个人如果疯狂地追求金钱，世间上很少有力量能够阻止他。巴尔扎克首先想到的力量，是良心的谴责和特殊的疾病。在这部小说里，召开盛大宴会的东道主是泰伊番，而且在小说里一再提到《红色旅馆》 ，可见泰伊番是经常出现在巴尔扎克脑际的一个人。为什么这个形象会缠住巴尔扎克，挥之不去呢?原来在《红色旅馆》里，泰伊番是个杀人犯，他用最要好的朋友的解剖刀，杀害了一个商人，盗走了商人的十万法郎珠宝，逃之天天，害得他的最要好的朋友被军事法庭判处死刑。泰伊番因此发了财，当上银行家，拥有价值一百万的地产，在社交场所出观时，他很爱笑，举止态度完全像个慈祥的老好人。他完全逃脱了法律的制裁，正在安享他：的不义之财。 巴尔扎克没有违反现实对这样一个人给于间的制裁， 正如《驴皮记》里拉斐尔得到六百万遗产以后，泰伊番所说的：“拉斐尔先生已成为六百万法郎的富翁，登上了权的宝座。他是国王，他可以为所欲为，他凌驾一切，像所有的富翁那样。对他来说，从今以后，所谓‘法国人在法律面前人人平等’，不过是记载在大宪章里的一句谎言。他不会服从法律，法律倒要服从他。没有为百万富翁而设的断头台，也没有对他们的行刑的刽子手。”拉斐尔回答道：“他们都是给自己行刑的刽子手。”
Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other "philosophical tales", was released one month later.
Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end.
La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. The book served as the catalyst for a series of letters he exchanged with a Polish baroness named Ewelina Hańska, who later became his wife. It also inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche.
对大多数人来说，答案将是肯定的。且不说那些如本书的主人翁那样，穷途末路， 已经输掉身上最后一枚金币，准备投水自杀的人，世上有许多人，面对金钱和物质享受的诱惑，还不是将名誉、地位、家庭、祖国，甚至自己的生命，全部置诸脑后，而甘冒天下之大不韪，不顾道德、法律、舆论的阻力，杀人放火，诈骗盗窃，无所不为，小小一张驴皮，哪里阻止得住他们?然而这块小小的驴皮， 巴尔扎克还是费尽心思才得到的。 巴尔扎克经过十载艰辛，深刻地体验了金钱的威力和贫穷的痛苦，深知一个人如果疯狂地追求金钱，世间上很少有力量能够阻止他。巴尔扎克首先想到的力量，是良心的谴责和特殊的疾病。在这部小说里，召开盛大宴会的东道主是泰伊番，而且在小说里一再提到《红色旅馆》 ，可见泰伊番是经常出现在巴尔扎克脑际的一个人。为什么这个形象会缠住巴尔扎克，挥之不去呢?原来在《红色旅馆》里，泰伊番是个杀人犯，他用最要好的朋友的解剖刀，杀害了一个商人，盗走了商人的十万法郎珠宝，逃之天天，害得他的最要好的朋友被军事法庭判处死刑。泰伊番因此发了财，当上银行家，拥有价值一百万的地产，在社交场所出观时，他很爱笑，举止态度完全像个慈祥的老好人。他完全逃脱了法律的制裁，正在安享他：的不义之财。 巴尔扎克没有违反现实对这样一个人给于间的制裁， 正如《驴皮记》里拉斐尔得到六百万遗产以后，泰伊番所说的：“拉斐尔先生已成为六百万法郎的富翁，登上了权的宝座。他是国王，他可以为所欲为，他凌驾一切，像所有的富翁那样。对他来说，从今以后，所谓‘法国人在法律面前人人平等’，不过是记载在大宪章里的一句谎言。他不会服从法律，法律倒要服从他。没有为百万富翁而设的断头台，也没有对他们的行刑的刽子手。”拉斐尔回答道：“他们都是给自己行刑的刽子手。”
Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other "philosophical tales", was released one month later.
Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end.
La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. The book served as the catalyst for a series of letters he exchanged with a Polish baroness named Ewelina Hańska, who later became his wife. It also inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche.
本书是西蒙娜·德·波伏娃继《第二性》之后一部描写知识分子命运的辉煌巨著，作者以遒劲有力的笔触，深刻展现了二次大战后法国知识界彷徨歧路、求索奋进的众生相。这里有历经磨难而坚守生活信念的作家，有鄙视功名而始终不甘寂寞的精神分析专家，有锐意进取而终于落拓的哲学家……
作者以其敏锐的观察力和洞察力，深刻动人地描写了他们的追求与幻灭、希望与失望、沉沦与奋起，使本书成为观照那一时代知识分子心态与命运的一面镜子。
The book follows the personal lives of a close-knit group of French intellectuals from the end of WWII to the mid fifties. The title refers to the scholar-bureaucrats of imperial China. The characters at times see themselves as ineffectual "mandarins" as they attempt to discern what role, if any, intellectuals will have in influencing the political landscape of the world after WWII. As in Beauvoir's other works, themes of Feminism, Existentialism, and personal morality are explored as the characters navigate not only the intellectual and political landscape but also their shifting relationships with each other.
The British novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch described the book as "endearing because of its persistent seriousness"
Characters
Henri Perron (considered to be Albert Camus) is the editor of the leftist newspaper L'Espoir. He is unhappily married to Paula. Henri primarily sees himself as a writer and struggles with his increasing involvement in the political arena.
Robert Dubreuilh (considered to be Jean-Paul Sartre) is the founder and leader of the SRL, a liberal, non-Communist political group. He is partly responsible for Henri's literary success, and the two are close personal friends.
Anne Dubreuilh (considered to be Beauvoir herself) is the wife of Robert. She is a practicing psychoanalyst. She has an affair with the American writer Lewis Brogan. Her reflections on the lives of the other characters comprises a large portion of the text.
Paula Perron is Henri's wife. She is unrelentingly committed to her relationship with Henri, despite his indifference. She develops severe delusions and paranoia regarding this relationship and is forced to seek medical treatment.
Nadine Dubreuilh is Robert and Anne's daughter. Nadine is haunted by the death of her boyfriend Diego during the French Resistance. She has an affair with Henri early in the course of the novel and later marries Henri and has a child by him.
Lewis Brogan (considered to be Nelson Algren, to whom the book is dedicated) is an American writer with whom Anne has an extended affair.
Scriassine David Cesarani in his biography Arthur Koestler, The Homeless Mind, suggests that Scriassine's character is drawn on Arthur Koestler.
作者以其敏锐的观察力和洞察力，深刻动人地描写了他们的追求与幻灭、希望与失望、沉沦与奋起，使本书成为观照那一时代知识分子心态与命运的一面镜子。
The book follows the personal lives of a close-knit group of French intellectuals from the end of WWII to the mid fifties. The title refers to the scholar-bureaucrats of imperial China. The characters at times see themselves as ineffectual "mandarins" as they attempt to discern what role, if any, intellectuals will have in influencing the political landscape of the world after WWII. As in Beauvoir's other works, themes of Feminism, Existentialism, and personal morality are explored as the characters navigate not only the intellectual and political landscape but also their shifting relationships with each other.
The British novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch described the book as "endearing because of its persistent seriousness"
Characters
Henri Perron (considered to be Albert Camus) is the editor of the leftist newspaper L'Espoir. He is unhappily married to Paula. Henri primarily sees himself as a writer and struggles with his increasing involvement in the political arena.
Robert Dubreuilh (considered to be Jean-Paul Sartre) is the founder and leader of the SRL, a liberal, non-Communist political group. He is partly responsible for Henri's literary success, and the two are close personal friends.
Anne Dubreuilh (considered to be Beauvoir herself) is the wife of Robert. She is a practicing psychoanalyst. She has an affair with the American writer Lewis Brogan. Her reflections on the lives of the other characters comprises a large portion of the text.
Paula Perron is Henri's wife. She is unrelentingly committed to her relationship with Henri, despite his indifference. She develops severe delusions and paranoia regarding this relationship and is forced to seek medical treatment.
Nadine Dubreuilh is Robert and Anne's daughter. Nadine is haunted by the death of her boyfriend Diego during the French Resistance. She has an affair with Henri early in the course of the novel and later marries Henri and has a child by him.
Lewis Brogan (considered to be Nelson Algren, to whom the book is dedicated) is an American writer with whom Anne has an extended affair.
Scriassine David Cesarani in his biography Arthur Koestler, The Homeless Mind, suggests that Scriassine's character is drawn on Arthur Koestler.
故事发生于法国大革题命期间，英国londan律师席尼·卡顿，深深地爱上了巴黎女子露丝·曼纳。但露丝．曼纳却仅仅只是把他当作普通朋友，嫁给了法国贵族青年查尔斯·达雷。当法国政治局势陷入一团混乱时，查尔斯·达雷遭到暴民囚禁，露丝·曼纳走投无路，只好向席尼·卡饰顿请求帮助。席尼·卡顿为成全所爱之的幸福，竟然以牺牲自己生命的方式来挽救情敌，在黑牢探监之际施展策划周密的调包计将查尔斯·达雷救了出来，而他则义无反顾地步上断头台。男主角的高尚情操足以令天下人同声一哭。
双城记-创作团队
导演： 杰克·康威 罗伯特·Z·伦纳德
主演： 罗纳德·考尔曼 唐纳德·伍兹 伊丽莎白·艾兰
编剧 Writer：查尔斯·狄更斯 Charles Dickens 塞缪尔·N·贝尔曼 S.N. Behrman W.P. Lipscomb Thomas
制作人 Produced by：大卫·O·塞尔兹尼克 David O. Selznick
双城记-影评
这是一个最好的时代，也是一个最坏的时代；这是明智的时代，这是愚昧的时代；这是信任的纪元，这是怀疑的纪元；这是光明的季节，这是黑暗的季节；这是希望的春日，这是失望的冬日；我们面前应有尽有，我们面前一无所有；我们都将直上天堂，我们都将直下地狱。。。
——狄更斯 《双城记》
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.
——Charles Dichens (A Tale of Two Cities)
为什么叫双城记？狄更斯的这部作品，让我想起了卡萨布兰卡，为了所爱的人，放弃了所爱的人。了解这个时代的背景是很重要的，不然前面会觉的转的太快。总的来说，大作家的小说还是无懈可击的。当下的社会与狄更斯眼中书中的时代是否相似？我们的出口又在哪里？欣赏狄更斯的这段名言。
双城记-幕后花絮
本片改编自狄更斯的同名不朽名著《双城记》，在大制作家大卫．塞茨尼克与导演杰克．康韦的倾力摄制下，完成了这部反映法国大革命时代悲剧的杰作，也是根据本书拍摄的六个电影版本中成绩最好的一部。狄更斯的小说利用各种元素描述一个动人心魄催人泪下的爱情故事，自出版以来受到无数读者的热心追捧，一版再版。本片并没有完全包括小说展现出来的所有元素，但却没有遗漏任何最为重要的情节。当然，没有哪一部通过优秀的小说改编的电...
双城记-《双城记》原著简介：
1775年12月的一个月夜，寓居巴黎的年轻医生梅尼特散步时，突然被厄弗里蒙地侯爵兄弟强迫出诊。在侯爵府第中，他目睹一个发狂的绝色农妇和一个身受剑伤的少年饮恨而死的惨状，并获悉侯爵兄弟为了片刻淫乐杀害他们全家的内情。他拒绝侯爵兄弟的重金贿赂，写信向朝廷告发。不料控告信落到被告人手中，医生被关进巴士底狱，从此与世隔绝，杳无音讯。两年后，妻子心碎而死。幼小的孤女路茜被好友劳雷接到伦敦，在善良的女仆普洛斯抚养下长大。
18 年后，梅尼特医生获释。这位精神失常的白发老人被巴黎圣安东尼区的一名酒贩、他旧日的仆人得伐石收留。这时，女儿路茜已经成长，专程接他去英国居住。旅途上，他们邂逅法国青年查理·代尔纳，受到他的细心照料。
原来代尔纳就是侯爵的儿子。他憎恨自己家族的罪恶，毅然放弃财产的继承权和贵族的姓氏，移居伦敦，当了一名法语教师。在与梅尼特父女的交往中，他对路茜产生了真诚的爱情。梅尼特为了女儿的幸福，决定埋葬过去，欣然同意他们的婚事。
在法国，代尔纳父母相继去世，叔父厄弗里蒙地侯爵继续为所欲为。当他那狂载的马车若无其事地轧死一个农民的孩子后，终于被孩子父亲用刀杀死。一场革命的风暴正在酝酿之中，得伐石的酒店就是革命活动的联络点，他的妻子不停地把贵族的暴行编织成不同的花纹，记录在围巾上，渴望复仇。
1739年法国大革命的风暴终于袭来了。巴黎人民攻占了巴士底狱，把贵族一个个送上断头台。远在伦敦的代尔纳为了营救管家盖白勒，冒险回国，一到巴黎就被捕入狱。梅尼特父女闻讯后星夜赶到。医生的出庭作证使代尔纳回到妻子的身边。可是，几小时后，代尔纳又被逮捕。在法庭上，得伐石宣读了当年医生在狱中写下的血书：向苍天和大地控告厄弗里蒙地家族的最后一个人。法庭判处代尔纳死刑。
就在这时，一直暗暗爱慕路茜的律师助手卡尔登来到巴黎，买通狱卒，混入监狱，顶替了昏迷中的代尔纳，梅尼特父女早已准备就绪，代尔纳一到，马上出发。一行人顺利地离开法国。
得伐石太太在代尔纳被判决后，又到梅尼特住所搜捕路茜及其幼女，在与普洛斯的争斗中，因枪支走火而毙命。而断头台上，卡尔登为了爱情，从容献身。
双城记-导读
双城记双城记
世界名著《双城记》---作者狄更斯"A Tale of Two Cities" (1859) by Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)
《双城记》是狄更斯最重要的代表作之一。早在创作《双城记》之前很久，狄更斯就对法国大革命极为关注，反复研读英国历史学家卡莱尔的《法国革命史》和其他学者的有关著作。他对法国大革命的浓厚兴趣发端于对当时英国潜伏着的严重的社会危机的担忧。1854年底，他说：“我相信，不满情绪像这样冒烟比火烧起来还要坏得多，这特别像法国在第一次革命爆发前的公众心理，这就有危险，由于千百种原因——如收成不好、贵族阶级的专横与无能把已经紧张的局面最后一次加紧、海外战争的失利、国内偶发事件等等——变成那次从未见过的一场可怕的大火。”可见，《双城记》这部历史小说的创作动机在于借古讽今，以法国大革命的历史经验为借鉴，给英国统治阶级敲响警钟；同时，通过对革命恐怖的极端描写，也对心怀愤懑、希图以暴力对抗暴政的人民群众提出警告，幻想为社会矛盾日益加深的英国现状寻找一条出路。
从这个目的出发，小说深刻地揭露了法国大革命前深深激化了的社会矛盾，强烈地抨击贵族阶级的荒淫残暴，并深切地同情下层人民的苦难。作品尖锐地指出，人民群众的忍耐是有限度的，在贵族阶级的残暴统治下，人民群众迫于生计，必然奋起反抗。这种反抗是正义的。小说还描绘了起义人民攻击巴士底狱等壮观场景，表现了人民群众的伟大力量。然而，作者站在资产阶级人道主义的立场上，即反对残酷压迫人民的暴政，也反对革命人民反抗暴政的暴力。在狄更斯笔下，整个革命被描写成一场毁灭一切的巨大灾难，它无情地惩罚罪恶的贵族阶级，也盲目地杀害无辜的人们。
这部小说塑造了三类人物。一类是以厄弗里蒙地侯爵兄弟为代表的封建贵族，他们“唯一不可动摇的哲学就是压迫人”，是作者痛加鞭挞的对象。另一类是得伐石夫妇等革命群众。必须指出的是，他们的形象是被扭曲的。例如得伐石的妻子狄安娜，她出生于被侮辱、被迫害的农家，对封建贵族怀着深仇大恨，作者深切地同情她的悲惨遭遇，革命爆发前后很赞赏她坚强的性格、卓越的才智和非凡的组织领导能力；但当革命进一步深入时，就笔锋一转，把她贬斥为一个冷酷、凶狠、狭隘的复仇者。尤其是当她到医生住所搜捕路茜和小路茜时，更被表现为嗜血成性的狂人。最后，作者让她死在自己的枪口之下，明确地表示了否定的态度。第三类是理想化人物，是作者心目中以人道主义解决社会矛盾、以博爱战胜仇恨的榜样，包括梅尼特父女、代尔纳、劳雷和卡尔登等。梅尼特医生被侯爵兄弟害得家破人亡，对侯爵兄弟怀有深仇大恨，但是为了女儿的爱，可以摒弃宿仇旧恨；代尔纳是侯爵兄弟的子侄，他大彻大悟，谴责自己家族的罪恶，抛弃爵位和财产，决心以自己的行动来“赎罪”。这对互相辉映的人物，一个是贵族暴政的受害者，宽容为怀；一个是贵族侯爵的继承人，主张仁爱。他们中间，更有作为女儿和妻子的路茜。在爱的纽带的维系下，他们组成一个互相谅解、感情融洽的幸福家庭。这显然是作者设想的一条与暴力革命截然相反的解决社会矛盾的出路，是不切实际的。
《双城记》有其不同于一般历史小说的地方，它的人物和主要情节都是虚构的。在法国大革命广阔的真实背景下，作者以虚构人物梅尼特医生的经历为主线索，把冤狱、爱情与复仇三个互相独立而又互相关联的故事交织在一起，情节错综，头绪纷繁。作者采取倒叙、插叙、伏笔、铺垫等手法，使小说结构完整严密，情节曲折紧张而富有戏剧性，表现了卓越的艺术技巧。《双城记》风格肃穆、沉郁，充满忧愤，但缺少早期作品的幽默。
It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events, most notably Charles Darnay, a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.
The novel was published in weekly installments (not monthly, as with most of his other novels). The first installment ran in the first issue of Dickens' literary periodical All the Year Round appearing on 30 April 1859; the thirty-first and last ran on 25 November of the same year.
Plot summary
Book the First: Recalled to Life
“ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... ”
—Opening line of A Tale of Two Cities
It is 1775. Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, is travelling from England to France to bring Dr. Alexandre Manette to London. At Dover, before crossing to France, he meets seventeen-year-old Lucie Manette and reveals to her that her father, Dr. Manette, is not dead, as she had been told. He has been a prisoner in the Bastille for the last 18 years.
Lorry and Lucie travel to Saint Antoine, a suburb of Paris, where they meet the Defarges. Monsieur Ernest and Madame Therese Defarge own a wine shop. They also (secretly) lead a band of revolutionaries, who refer to each other by the codename "Jacques" (drawn from the name of an actual French revolutionary group, the Jacquerie).
Monsieur Defarge (who was Dr. Manette's servant before Manette's imprisonment, and now has care of him) takes them to see Dr. Manette. Manette has withdrawn from reality due to the horror of his imprisonment. He sits in a dark room all day making shoes, a trade he had learned whilst imprisoned. At first he does not know his daughter, but eventually recognizes her by her long golden hair which resembles her mother's. Dr. Manette had long kept a strand of his wife's hair which was found on his sleeve when he was imprisoned. Lucie's eyes are blue also just like his. Lorry and Lucie take him back to England.
Book the Second: The Golden Thread
"The Golden Thread" redirects here. For the legal judgement, see Golden thread (law).
It is now 1780. French emigrant Charles Darnay is being tried at the Old Bailey for treason. Two British spies, John Barsad and Roger Cly, are trying to frame the innocent Darnay for their own gain. They claim that Darnay, a Frenchman, gave information about British troops in North America to the French. Darnay is acquitted when a witness who claims he would be able to recognise Darnay anywhere cannot tell Darnay apart from a barrister present in court (not one of those defending Darnay), Sydney Carton, who just happens to look almost identical to him.
In Paris, the Marquis St. Evrémonde (Monseigneur), Darnay's uncle, runs over and kills the son of the peasant Gaspard; he throws a coin to Gaspard to compensate him for his loss. Monsieur Defarge comforts Gaspard. As the Marquis's coach drives off, Defarge throws the coin back into the coach, enraging the Marquis.
Arriving at his château, the Marquis meets with his nephew: Charles Darnay. (Darnay's real surname, therefore, is Evrémonde; out of disgust with his family, Darnay has adopted a version of his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais.) They argue: Darnay has sympathy for the peasantry, while the Marquis is cruel and heartless:
"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend," observed the Marquis, "will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof," looking up to it, "shuts out the sky."
That night, Gaspard (who has followed the Marquis to his château, hanging under his coach) murders the Marquis in his sleep. He leaves a note saying, "Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from JACQUES."
In London, Darnay gets Dr. Manette's permission to wed Lucie. But Carton confesses his love to Lucie as well. Knowing she will not love him in return, Carton promises to "embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you".
On the morning of the marriage, Darnay, at Dr. Manette's request, reveals who his family is, a detail which Dr. Manette had asked him to withhold until then. This unhinges Dr. Manette, who reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. His sanity is restored before Lucie returns from her honeymoon; to prevent a further relapse, Lorry destroys the shoemaking bench, which Dr. Manette had brought with him from Paris.
It is 14 July 1789. The Defarges help to lead the storming of the Bastille. Defarge enters Dr. Manette's former cell, "One Hundred and Five, North Tower". The reader does not know what Monsieur Defarge is searching for until Book 3, Chapter 9. (It is a statement in which Dr. Manette explains why he was imprisoned.)
In the summer of 1792, a letter reaches Tellson's bank. Mr. Lorry, who is planning to go to Paris to save the French branch of Tellson's, announces that the letter is addressed to Evrémonde. Nobody knows who Evrémonde is, because Darnay has kept his real name name a secret in England. Darnay acquires the letter by pretending Evrémonde is an acquaintance of his. The letter turns out to be from Gabelle, a servant of the former Marquis. Gabelle has been imprisoned, and begs the new Marquis to come to his aid. Darnay, who feels guilty, leaves for Paris to help Gabelle.
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm
"The Sea Rises", an illustration for Book 2, Chapter 21 by "Phiz"
In France, Darnay is denounced for emigrating from France, and imprisoned in La Force Prison in Paris. Dr. Manette and Lucie—along with Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and "Little Lucie", the daughter of Charles and Lucie Darnay—come to Paris and meet Mr. Lorry to try to free Darnay. A year and three months pass, and Darnay is finally tried.
Dr. Manette, who is seen as a hero for his imprisonment in the hated Bastille, is able to get him released. But that same evening Darnay is again arrested, and is put on trial again the next day, under new charges brought by the Defarges and one "unnamed other". We soon discover that this other is Dr. Manette, through the testimony of his statement (his own account of his imprisonment, written in the Bastille in the "last month of the tenth year of [his] captivity"); Manette does not know that his statement has been found, and is horrified when his words are used to condemn Darnay.
On an errand, Miss Pross is amazed to see her long-lost brother, Solomon Pross, but Pross does not want to be recognised. Sydney Carton suddenly appears (stepping forward from the shadows much as he had done after Darnay's first trial in London) and identifies Solomon Pross as John Barsad, one of the men who tried to frame Darnay for treason at his first trial in London. Carton threatens to reveal Solomon's identity as a Briton and an opportunist who spies for the French or the British as it suits him. If this were revealed, Solomon would surely be executed, so Carton's hand is strong.
Darnay is confronted at the tribunal by Monsieur Defarge, who identifies Darnay as the Marquis St. Evrémonde and reads the letter Dr. Manette had hidden in his cell in the Bastille. Defarge can identify Darnay as Evrémonde because Barsad told him Darnay's identity when Barsad was fishing for information at the Defarges' wine shop in Book 2, Chapter 16. The letter describes how Dr. Manette was locked away in the Bastille by the deceased Marquis Evrémonde (Darnay's father) and his twin brother (who held the title of Marquis when we met him earlier in the book, and is the Marquis who was killed by Gaspard; Darnay's uncle) for trying to report their crimes against a peasant family. The younger brother had become infatuated with a girl. He had kidnapped and raped her and killed her husband, the knowledge of which killed her father, and her brother died in the act of fighting to protect her honor. Prior to his death, the brother of the raped peasant had hidden the last member of the family, his younger sister, "somewhere safe". The paper concludes by condemning the Evrémondes, "them and their descendants, to the last of their race". Dr. Manette is horrified, but his protests are ignored—he is not allowed to take back his condemnation. Darnay is sent to the Conciergerie and sentenced to be guillotined the next day.
Carton wanders into the Defarges' wine shop, where he overhears Madame Defarge talking about her plans to have the rest of Darnay's family (Lucie and "Little Lucie") condemned. Carton discovers that Madame Defarge was the surviving sister of the peasant family savaged by the Evrémondes. The only plot detail that might give one any sympathy for Madame Defarge is the loss of her family and that she has no (family) name. "Defarge" is her married name, and Dr. Manette cannot learn her family name, though he asks her dying sister for it. The next morning, when Dr. Manette returns shattered after having spent the previous night in many failed attempts to save Charles' life, he reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. Carton urges Lorry to flee Paris with Lucie, her father and "Little Lucie".
That same morning Carton visits Darnay in prison. Carton drugs Darnay, and Barsad (whom Carton is blackmailing) has Darnay carried out of the prison. Carton—who looks so similar to Darnay that a witness at Darnay's trial in England could not tell them apart—has decided to pretend to be Darnay, and to be executed in his place. He does this out of love for Lucie, recalling his earlier promise to her. Following Carton's earlier instructions, Darnay's family and Lorry flee Paris and France with an unconscious man in their coach who carries Carton's identification papers, but is actually Darnay.
Meanwhile Madame Defarge, armed with a pistol, goes to the residence of Lucie's family, hoping to catch them mourning for Darnay (since it was illegal to sympathise with or mourn for an enemy of the Republic); however, Lucie, her child, Dr. Manette and Mr. Lorry are already gone. To give them time to escape, Miss Pross confronts Madame Defarge and they struggle. Pross speaks only English and Defarge speaks only French, so neither can understand each other verbally. In the fight, Madame Defarge's pistol goes off, killing her; the noise of the shot and the shock of Madame Defarge's death cause Miss Pross to go permanently deaf.
The novel concludes with the guillotining of Sydney Carton. Carton's unspoken last thoughts are prophetic: Carton foresees that many of the revolutionaries, including Defarge, Barsad and The Vengeance (a lieutenant of Madame Defarge) will be sent to the guillotine themselves, and that Darnay and Lucie will have a son whom they will name after Carton: a son who will fulfill all the promise that Carton wasted. Lucie and Darnay have a first son earlier in the book who is born and dies within a single paragraph. It seems likely that this first son appears in the novel so that their later son, named after Carton, can represent another way in which Carton restores Lucie and Darnay through his sacrifice.
“ It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known. ”
—Final sentence of A Tale of Two Cities
Analysis
A Tale of Two Cities is one of only two works of historical fiction by Charles Dickens (Barnaby Rudge is the other one). It has fewer characters and sub-plots than a typical Charles Dickens novel. The author's primary historical source was The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle: Charles Dickens wrote in his Preface to Tale that "no one can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Mr. Carlyle's wonderful book" Carlyle's view that history cycles through destruction and resurrection was an important influence on the novel, illustrated especially well by the life and death of Sydney Carton.
Language
Dickens uses literal translations of French idioms for characters who can't speak English, such as "What the devil do you do in that galley there?!!" and "Where is my husband? ---Here you see me." The Penguin Classics edition of the novel notes that "Not all readers have regarded the experiment as a success."
Humor
Dickens is renowned for his humor, but A Tale of Two Cities is one of his least comical books. Nonetheless, Jerry Cruncher, Miss Pross, and Mr. Stryver provide much comedy. Dickens also uses sarcasm as humour in the book to show different points of view. The book is full of tragic situations, therefore, leaving little room for intended humor provided by Dickens.
Foreshadowing
A Tale of Two Cities contains much foreshadowing:
* Carton's promise to Lucie, the "echoing footsteps" heard by the Manettes in their quiet home, and the wine spilling from the wine cask are only a few of dozens of instances.
* Carton promises Lucie he would die for her because he loves her so much.
* Echoing footsteps can either be the people coming into their lives or the revolutionaries.
* The wine spilling in the streets can be blood running through the streets of France.
* The wine cask breaking is a corrupted government, freedom, or blood from guillotine.
* The negro cupids show danger, and death from the guillotine.
Themes
"Recalled to Life"
In Dickens' England, resurrection always sat firmly in a Christian context. Most broadly, Sydney Carton is resurrected in spirit at the novel's close (even as he, paradoxically, gives up his physical life to save Darnay's—just as, in Christian belief, Christ died for the sins of all people.) More concretely, "Book the First" deals with the rebirth of Dr. Manette from the living death of his incarceration.
Resurrection appears for the first time when Mr. Lorry replies to the message carried by Jerry Cruncher with the words "Recalled to Life". Resurrection also appears during Mr. Lorry's coach ride to Dover, as he constantly ponders a hypothetical conversation with Dr. Manette: ("Buried how long?" "Almost eighteen years." ... "You know that you are recalled to life?" "They tell me so.") He believes he is helping with Dr. Manette's revival, and imagines himself "digging" Dr. Manette up from his grave.
Resurrection is the main theme in the novel. In Jarvis Lorry's thoughts of Dr. Manette, resurrection is first spotted as a theme. It is also the last theme: Carton's sacrifice. Dickens originally wanted to call the entire novel Recalled to Life. (This instead became the title of the first of the novel's three "books".)
Jerry is also part of the recurring theme: he himself is involved in death and resurrection in way that the reader does not yet know. The first piece of foreshadowing comes in his remark to himself: "You'd be in a blazing bad way, if recalling to life was to come into fashion, Jerry!" The black humour of this statement becomes obvious only much later on. Five years later, one cloudy and very dark night (in June 1780), Mr. Lorry reawakens the reader's interest in the mystery by telling Jerry it is "Almost a night ... to bring the dead out of their graves". Jerry responds firmly that he has never seen the night do that.
It turns out that Jerry Cruncher's involvement with the theme of resurrection is that he is what the Victorians called a "Resurrection Man", one who (illegally) digs up dead bodies to sell to medical men (there was no legal way to procure cadavers for study at that time).
The opposite of resurrection is of course death. Death and resurrection appear often in the novel. Dickens is angered that in France and England, courts hand out death sentences for insignificant crimes. In France, peasants are even put to death without any trial, at the whim of a noble. The Marquis tells Darnay with pleasure that "[I]n the next room (my bedroom), one fellow ... was poniarded on the spot for professing some insolent delicacy respecting his daughter—his daughter!"
Interestingly, the demolition of Dr. Manette's shoe-making workbench by Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry is described as "the burning of the body". It seems clear that this is a rare case where death or destruction (the opposite of resurrection) has a positive connotation, since the "burning" helps liberate the doctor from the memory of his long imprisonment. But Dickens' description of this kind and healing act is strikingly odd:
"The Accomplices", an illustration for Book 2, Chapter 19 by "Phiz"
So wicked do destruction and secrecy appear to honest minds, that Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross, while engaged in the commission of their deed and in the removal of its traces, almost felt, and almost looked, like accomplices in a horrible crime.
Sydney Carton's martyrdom atones for all his past wrongdoings. He even finds God during the last few days of his life, repeating Christ's soothing words, "I am the resurrection and the life". Resurrection is the dominant theme of the last part of the novel. Darnay is rescued at the last moment and recalled to life; Carton chooses death and resurrection to a life better than that which he has ever known: "it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there ... he looked sublime and prophetic".
In the broadest sense, at the end of the novel Dickens foresees a resurrected social order in France, rising from the ashes of the old one.
Water
Many in the Jungian archetypal tradition might agree with Hans Biedermann, who writes that water "is the fundamental symbol of all the energy of the unconscious—an energy that can be dangerous when it overflows its proper limits (a frequent dream sequence)." This symbolism suits Dickens' novel; in A Tale of Two Cities, the frequent images of water stand for the building anger of the peasant mob, an anger that Dickens sympathises with to a point, but ultimately finds irrational and even animalistic.
Early in the book, Dickens suggests this when he writes, “[T]he sea did what it liked, and what it liked was destruction.” The sea here represents the coming mob of revolutionaries. After Gaspard murders the Marquis, he is “hanged there forty feet high—and is left hanging, poisoning the water.” The poisoning of the well represents the bitter impact of Gaspard's execution on the collective feeling of the peasants.
After Gaspard’s death, the storming of the Bastille is led (from the St. Antoine neighbourhood, at least) by the Defarges; “As a whirlpool of boiling waters has a centre point, so, all this raging circled around Defarge’s wine shop, and every human drop in the cauldron had a tendency to be sucked towards the vortex...” The crowd is envisioned as a sea. “With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into a detested word [the word Bastille], the living sea rose, wave upon wave, depth upon depth, and overflowed the city...”
Darnay’s jailer is described as “unwholesomely bloated in both face and person, as to look like a man who had been drowned and filled with water.” Later, during the Reign of Terror, the revolution had grown “so much more wicked and distracted ... that the rivers of the South were encumbered with bodies of the violently drowned by night...” Later a crowd is “swelling and overflowing out into the adjacent streets ... the Carmagnole absorbed them every one and whirled them away.”
During the fight with Miss Pross, Madame Defarge clings to her with “more than the hold of a drowning woman”. Commentators on the novel have noted the irony that Madame Defarge is killed by her own gun, and perhaps Dickens means by the above quote to suggest that such vicious vengefulness as Madame Defarge's will eventually destroy even its perpetrators.
So many read the novel in a Freudian light, as exalting the (British) superego over the (French) id. Yet in Carton's last walk, he watches an eddy that "turned and turned purposeless, until the stream absorbed it, and carried it onto the sea"—his fulfilment, while masochistic and superego-driven, is nonetheless an ecstatic union with the subconscious.
Darkness and light
As is common in English literature, good and evil are symbolised with light and darkness. Lucie Manette is often associated with light and Madame Defarge with darkness.
Lucie meets her father for the first time in a room kept by the Defarges:." Lucie's hair symbolises joy as she winds "the golden thread that bound them all together". She is adorned with "diamonds, very bright and sparkling", and symbolic of the happiness of the day of her marriage.
Darkness represents uncertainty, fear and peril. It is dark when Mr. Lorry rides to Dover; it is dark in the prisons; dark shadows follow Madame Defarge; dark, gloomy doldrums disturb Dr. Manette; his capture and captivity are shrouded in darkness; the Marquis’s estate is burned in the dark of night; Jerry Cruncher raids graves in the darkness; Charles's second arrest also occurs at night. Both Lucie and Mr. Lorry feel the dark threat that is Madame Defarge. "That dreadful woman seems to throw a shadow on me," remarks Lucie. Although Mr. Lorry tries to comfort her, "the shadow of the manner of these Defarges was dark upon himself". Madame Defarge is "like a shadow over the white road", the snow symbolising purity and Madame Defarge's darkness corruption. Dickens also compares the dark colour of blood to the pure white snow: the blood takes on the shade of the crimes of its shedders.
Social injustice
Charles Dickens was a champion of the maltreated poor because of his terrible experience when he was forced to work in a factory as a child. His sympathies, however, lie only up to a point with the revolutionaries; he condemns the mob madness which soon sets in. When madmen and -women massacre eleven hundred detainees in one night and hustle back to sharpen their weapons on the grindstone, they display "eyes which any unbrutalised beholder would have given twenty years of life, to petrify with a well-directed gun".
The reader is shown the poor are brutalised in France and England alike. As crime proliferates, the executioner in England is "stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now hanging housebreaker ... now burning people in the hand" or hanging a broke man for stealing sixpence. In France, a boy is sentenced to have his hands removed and be burned alive, only because he did not kneel down in the rain before a parade of monks passing some fifty yards away. At the lavish residence of Monseigneur, we find "brazen ecclesiastics of the worst world worldly, with sensual eyes, loose tongues, and looser lives ... Military officers destitute of military knowledge ... [and] Doctors who made great fortunes ... for imaginary disorders".
The Marquis recalls with pleasure the days when his family had the right of life and death over their slaves, "when many such dogs were taken out to be hanged". He won't even allow a widow to put up a board bearing her dead husband’s name, to discern his resting place from all the others. He orders Madame Defarge's sick brother-in-law to heave a cart all day and allay frogs at night to exacerbate the young man's illness and hasten his death.
In England, even banks endorse unbalanced sentences: a man may be condemned to death for nicking a horse or opening a letter. Conditions in the prisons are dreadful. "Most kinds of debauchery and villainy were practised, and ... dire diseases were bred", sometimes killing the judge before the accused.
So riled is Dickens at the brutality of English law that he depicts some of its punishments with sarcasm: "the whipping-post, another dear old institution, very humanising and softening to behold in action". He faults the law for not seeking reform: "Whatever is right" is the dictum of the Old Bailey. The gruesome portrayal of quartering highlights its atrocity.
Without entirely forgiving him, Dickens understands that Jerry Cruncher robs graves only to feed his son, and reminds the reader that Mr. Lorry is more likely to rebuke Jerry for his humble social status than anything else. Jerry reminds Mr. Lorry that doctors, men of the cloth, undertakers and watchmen are also conspirators in the selling of bodies.
Dickens wants his readers to be careful that the same revolution that so damaged France will not happen in Britain, which (at least at the beginning of the book) is shown to be nearly as unjust as France. But his warning is addressed not to the British lower classes, but to the aristocracy. He repeatedly uses the metaphor of sowing and reaping; if the aristocracy continues to plant the seeds of a revolution through behaving unjustly, they can be certain of harvesting that revolution in time. The lower classes do not have any agency in this metaphor: they simply react to the behaviour of the aristocracy. In this sense it can be said that while Dickens sympathises with the poor, he identifies with the rich: they are the book's audience, its "us" and not its "them". "Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind".
Relation to Dickens' personal life
Some have argued that in A Tale of Two Cities Dickens reflects on his recently begun affair with eighteen-year-old actress Ellen Ternan, which was possibly asexual but certainly romantic. Lucie Manette resembles Ternan physically, and some have seen "a sort of implied emotional incest" in the relationship between Dr. Manette and his daughter.
After starring in a play by Wilkie Collins entitled The Frozen Deep, Dickens was first inspired to write Tale. In the play, Dickens played the part of a man who sacrifices his own life so that his rival may have the woman they both love; the love triangle in the play became the basis for the relationships between Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette, and Sydney Carton in Tale.
Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay may also bear importantly on Dickens' personal life. The plot hinges on the near-perfect resemblance between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay; the two look so alike that Carton twice saves Darnay through the inability of others to tell them apart. It is implied that Carton and Darnay not only look alike, but they have the same "genetic" endowments (to use a term that Dickens would not have known): Carton is Darnay made bad. Carton suggests as much:
'Do you particularly like the man [Darnay]?' he muttered, at his own image [which he is regarding in a mirror]; 'why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like; you know that. Ah, confound you! What a change you have made in yourself! A good reason for talking to a man, that he shows you what you have fallen away from and what you might have been! Change places with him, and would you have been looked at by those blue eyes [belonging to Lucie Manette] as he was, and commiserated by that agitated face as he was? Come on, and have it out in plain words! You hate the fellow.'
Many have felt that Carton and Darnay are doppelgängers, which Eric Rabkin defines as a pair "of characters that together, represent one psychological persona in the narrative". If so, they would prefigure such works as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Darnay is worthy and respectable but dull (at least to most modern readers), Carton disreputable but magnetic.
One can only suspect whose psychological persona it is that Carton and Darnay together embody (if they do), but it is often thought to be the psyche of Dickens himself. Dickens was quite aware that between them, Carton and Darnay shared his own initials.
Characters
Many of Dickens' characters are "flat", not "round", in the novelist E. M. Forster's famous terms, meaning roughly that they have only one mood. In Tale, for example, the Marquis is unremittingly wicked and relishes being so; Lucie is perfectly loving and supportive. (As a corollary, Dickens often gives these characters verbal tics or visual quirks that he mentions over and over, such as the dints in the nose of the Marquis.) Forster believed that Dickens never truly created rounded characters, but a character such as Carton surely at least comes closer to roundness.
* Sydney Carton – A quick-minded but depressed English barrister alcoholic, and cynic; his Christ-like self-sacrifice redeems his own life and that of Charles Darnay.
* Lucie Manette – An ideal Victorian lady, perfect in every way. She was loved by both Carton and Charles Darnay (whom she marries), and is the daughter of Dr. Manette. She is the "golden thread" after whom Book Two is named, so called because she holds her father's and her family's lives together (and because of her blond hair like her mother's). She also ties nearly every character in the book together.
* Charles Darnay – A young French noble of the Evrémonde family. In disgust at the cruelty of his family to the French peasantry, he has taken on the name "Darnay" (after his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais) and left France for England.
* Dr. Alexandre Manette – Lucie's father, kept a prisoner in the Bastille for eighteen years.
* Monsieur Ernest Defarge – The owner of a French wine shop and leader of the Jacquerie; husband of Madame Defarge; servant to Dr. Manette as a youth. One of the key revolutionary leaders, he leads the revolution with a noble cause, unlike many of other revolutionaries.
* Madame Therese Defarge – A vengeful female revolutionary, arguably the novel's antagonist
* The Vengeance – A companion of Madame Defarge referred to as her "shadow" and lieutenant, a member of the sisterhood of women revolutionaries in Saint Antoine, and revolutionary zealot. (Many Frenchmen and women did change their names to show their enthusiasm for the Revolution)
* Jarvis Lorry – An elderly manager at Tellson's Bank and a dear friend of Dr. Manette.
* Miss Pross – Lucie Manette's governess since Lucie was ten years old. Fiercely loyal to Lucie and to England.
* The Marquis St. Evrémonde – The cruel uncle of Charles Darnay.
* John Barsad (real name Solomon Pross) – A spy for Britain who later becomes a spy for France (at which point he must hide that he is British). He is the long-lost brother of Miss Pross.
* Roger Cly – Another spy, Barsad's collaborator.
* Jerry Cruncher – Porter and messenger for Tellson's Bank and secret "Resurrection Man" (body-snatcher). His first name is short for Jeremiah.
* Young Jerry Cruncher - Son of Jerry and Mrs. Cruncher. Young Jerry often follows his father around to his father's odd jobs, and at one point in the story, follows his father at night and discovers that his father is a resurrection man. Young Jerry looks up to his father as a role model, and aspires to become a resurrection man himself when he grows up.
* Mrs. Cruncher - Wife of Jerry Cruncher. She is a very religious woman, but her husband, being a bit paranoid, claims she is praying against him, and that is why he doesn't succeed at work often. She is often abused verbally, and almost as often, abused physically, by Jerry, but at the end of the story, he appears to feel a bit guilty about this.
* Mr. Stryver – An arrogant and ambitious barrister, senior to Sydney Carton. There is a frequent mis-perception that Stryver's full name is "C. J. Stryver", but this is very unlikely. The mistake comes from a line in Book 2, Chapter 12: "After trying it, Stryver, C. J., was satisfied that no plainer case could be." The initials C. J. almost certainly refer to a legal title (probably "chief justice"); Stryver is imagining that he is playing every role in a trial in which he browbeats Lucie Manette into marrying him.
* The Seamstress – A young woman caught up in The Terror. She precedes Sydney Carton, who comforts her, to the guillotine.
* Gabelle – Gabelle is "the Postmaster, and some other taxing functionary, united" for the tenants of the Marquis St. Evrémonde. Gabelle is imprisoned by the revolutionaries, and his beseeching letter brings Darnay to France. Gabelle is "named after the hated salt tax".
* Gaspard – Gaspard is the man whose son is run over by the Marquis. He then kills the Marquis and goes into hiding for a year. He eventually is found, arrested, and executed.
Adaptations
Films
There have been at least five feature films based on the book:
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1911 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1917 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1922 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1935 black-and-white MGM film starring Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone and Edna Mae Oliver. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1958 version, starring Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Christopher Lee, Leo McKern and Donald Pleasance.
In the 1981 film History of the World, Part I, the French Revolution segment appears to be a pastiche of A Tale of Two Cities.
In the film A Simple Wish, the protagonist's father Oliver (possibly a reference to another of Dickens' famous novels, Oliver Twist) is vying for a spot in his theatre company's production of a musical of A Tale of Two Cities, of which we see the beginning and end, using the two famous quotes, including "It is a far, far better thing that I do", as part of a few solos.
Terry Gilliam also developed a film version in the mid-1990s with Mel Gibson and Liam Neeson. The project was eventually abandoned.
Radio
In 1938, The Mercury Theatre on the Air (aka The Campbell Playhouse) produced a radio adapted version starring Orson Welles.
In 1945, a portion of the novel was adapted to the syndicated program The Weird Circle as "Dr. Manette's Manuscript."
In 1950, a radio adaptation written by Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud was broadcast by the BBC. They had written it in 1935, as a stage play, but it was not produced.
In June 1989, BBC Radio 4 produced a 7-hour drama adapted for radio by Nick McCarty and directed by Ian Cotterell. This adaptation is occasionally repeated by BBC Radio 7. The cast included:
* Charles Dance as Sydney Carton
* Maurice Denham as Dr. Alexandre Manette
* Charlotte Attenborough as Lucie Manette
* Richard Pasco as Jarvis Lorry
* John Duttine as Charles Darnay
* Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Miss Pross
* Margaret Robertson as Madame Defarge
* John Hollis as Jerry Cruncher
* John Bull as Ernest Defarge
* Aubrey Woods as Mr. Stryver
* Eva Stuart as Mrs. Cruncher
* John Moffat as Marquis St. Evremonde
* Geoffrey Whitehead as John Barsad and Jacques #2
* Nicholas Courtney as Jacques #3 and The Woodcutter
Television programs
An 8-part mini-series was produced by the BBC in 1957 starring Peter Wyngarde as "Sydney Carton", Edward de Souza as "Charles Darnay" and Wendy Hutchinson as "Lucie Manette".
Another mini-series, this one in 10 parts, was produced by the BBC in 1965.
A third BBC mini-series (in 8 parts) was produced in 1980 starring Paul Shelley as "Carton/Darnay", Sally Osborne as "Lucie Manette" and Nigel Stock as "Jarvis Lorry".
The novel was adapted into a 1980 television movie starring Chris Sarandon as "Sydney Carton/Charles Darnay". Peter Cushing as "Dr. Alexandre Manette", Alice Krige as "Lucie Manette", Flora Robson as "Miss Pross", Barry Morse as "The Marquis St. Evremonde" and Billie Whitelaw as "Madame Defarge".
In 1989 Granada Television made a mini-series starring James Wilby as "Sydney Carton", Serena Gordon as "Lucie Manette", Xavier Deluc as "Charles Darnay", Anna Massey as "Miss Pross" and John Mills as "Jarvis Lorry", which was shown on American television as part of the PBS television series Masterpiece Theatre.
In the 1970 Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "The Attila the Hun Show", the sketch "The News for Parrots" included a scene of A Tale of Two Cities (As told for parrots).
The children's television series Wishbone adapted the novel for the episode "A Tale of Two Sitters".
This novel was also mentioned in the Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold, where Oscar was learning how to read.
Books
In Nicholas Meyer's novel The Canary Trainer, descended from Charles and Lucie, once more titled the Marquis de St. Evremonde, attends the Paris Opera during the events of The Phantom of the Opera.
American author Susanne Alleyn's novel A Far Better Rest, a reimagining of A Tale of Two Cities from the point of view of Sydney Carton, was published in the USA in 2000.
Diane Mayer self-published her novel Evremonde through iUniverse in 2005; it tells the story of Charles and Lucie Darnay and their children after the French Revolution.
Simplified versions of A Tale of Two Cities for English language learners have been published by Penguin Readers, in several levels of difficulty.
Stage musicals
There have been four musicals based on the novel:
A 1968 stage version, Two Cities, the Spectacular New Musical, with music by Jeff Wayne, lyrics by Jerry Wayne and starring Edward Woodward.
A Tale of Two Cities, Jill Santoriello's musical adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, was performed at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, in October and November 2007. James Stacy Barbour ("Sydney Carton") and Jessica Rush ("Lucie Manette") were among the cast. A production of the musical began previews on Broadway on 19 August 2008, opening on 18 September at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Warren Carlyle is the director/choreographer; the cast includes James Stacy Barbour as "Sydney Carton", Brandi Burkhardt as "Lucie Manette", Aaron Lazar as "Charles Darnay", Gregg Edelman as "Dr. Manette", Katherine McGrath as "Miss Pross", Michael Hayward-Jones as "Jarvis Lorry" and Natalie Toro as "Madame Defarge".
In 2006, Howard Goodall collaborated with Joanna Read in writing a separate musical adaptation of the novel called Two Cities. The central plot and characters were maintained, though Goodall set the action during the Russian Revolution.
The novel has also been adapted as a musical by Takarazuka Revue, the all-female opera company in Japan. The first production was in 1984, starring Mao Daichi at the Grand Theater, and the second was in 2003, starring Jun Sena at the Bow Hall.
Opera
Arthur Benjamin's operatic version of the novel, subtitled Romantic Melodrama in six scenes, was premiered by the BBC on 17 April 1953, conducted by the composer; it received its stage premiere at Sadler's Wells on 22 July 1957, under the baton of Leon Lovett.
双城记-创作团队
导演： 杰克·康威 罗伯特·Z·伦纳德
主演： 罗纳德·考尔曼 唐纳德·伍兹 伊丽莎白·艾兰
编剧 Writer：查尔斯·狄更斯 Charles Dickens 塞缪尔·N·贝尔曼 S.N. Behrman W.P. Lipscomb Thomas
制作人 Produced by：大卫·O·塞尔兹尼克 David O. Selznick
双城记-影评
这是一个最好的时代，也是一个最坏的时代；这是明智的时代，这是愚昧的时代；这是信任的纪元，这是怀疑的纪元；这是光明的季节，这是黑暗的季节；这是希望的春日，这是失望的冬日；我们面前应有尽有，我们面前一无所有；我们都将直上天堂，我们都将直下地狱。。。
——狄更斯 《双城记》
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.
——Charles Dichens (A Tale of Two Cities)
为什么叫双城记？狄更斯的这部作品，让我想起了卡萨布兰卡，为了所爱的人，放弃了所爱的人。了解这个时代的背景是很重要的，不然前面会觉的转的太快。总的来说，大作家的小说还是无懈可击的。当下的社会与狄更斯眼中书中的时代是否相似？我们的出口又在哪里？欣赏狄更斯的这段名言。
双城记-幕后花絮
本片改编自狄更斯的同名不朽名著《双城记》，在大制作家大卫．塞茨尼克与导演杰克．康韦的倾力摄制下，完成了这部反映法国大革命时代悲剧的杰作，也是根据本书拍摄的六个电影版本中成绩最好的一部。狄更斯的小说利用各种元素描述一个动人心魄催人泪下的爱情故事，自出版以来受到无数读者的热心追捧，一版再版。本片并没有完全包括小说展现出来的所有元素，但却没有遗漏任何最为重要的情节。当然，没有哪一部通过优秀的小说改编的电...
双城记-《双城记》原著简介：
1775年12月的一个月夜，寓居巴黎的年轻医生梅尼特散步时，突然被厄弗里蒙地侯爵兄弟强迫出诊。在侯爵府第中，他目睹一个发狂的绝色农妇和一个身受剑伤的少年饮恨而死的惨状，并获悉侯爵兄弟为了片刻淫乐杀害他们全家的内情。他拒绝侯爵兄弟的重金贿赂，写信向朝廷告发。不料控告信落到被告人手中，医生被关进巴士底狱，从此与世隔绝，杳无音讯。两年后，妻子心碎而死。幼小的孤女路茜被好友劳雷接到伦敦，在善良的女仆普洛斯抚养下长大。
18 年后，梅尼特医生获释。这位精神失常的白发老人被巴黎圣安东尼区的一名酒贩、他旧日的仆人得伐石收留。这时，女儿路茜已经成长，专程接他去英国居住。旅途上，他们邂逅法国青年查理·代尔纳，受到他的细心照料。
原来代尔纳就是侯爵的儿子。他憎恨自己家族的罪恶，毅然放弃财产的继承权和贵族的姓氏，移居伦敦，当了一名法语教师。在与梅尼特父女的交往中，他对路茜产生了真诚的爱情。梅尼特为了女儿的幸福，决定埋葬过去，欣然同意他们的婚事。
在法国，代尔纳父母相继去世，叔父厄弗里蒙地侯爵继续为所欲为。当他那狂载的马车若无其事地轧死一个农民的孩子后，终于被孩子父亲用刀杀死。一场革命的风暴正在酝酿之中，得伐石的酒店就是革命活动的联络点，他的妻子不停地把贵族的暴行编织成不同的花纹，记录在围巾上，渴望复仇。
1739年法国大革命的风暴终于袭来了。巴黎人民攻占了巴士底狱，把贵族一个个送上断头台。远在伦敦的代尔纳为了营救管家盖白勒，冒险回国，一到巴黎就被捕入狱。梅尼特父女闻讯后星夜赶到。医生的出庭作证使代尔纳回到妻子的身边。可是，几小时后，代尔纳又被逮捕。在法庭上，得伐石宣读了当年医生在狱中写下的血书：向苍天和大地控告厄弗里蒙地家族的最后一个人。法庭判处代尔纳死刑。
就在这时，一直暗暗爱慕路茜的律师助手卡尔登来到巴黎，买通狱卒，混入监狱，顶替了昏迷中的代尔纳，梅尼特父女早已准备就绪，代尔纳一到，马上出发。一行人顺利地离开法国。
得伐石太太在代尔纳被判决后，又到梅尼特住所搜捕路茜及其幼女，在与普洛斯的争斗中，因枪支走火而毙命。而断头台上，卡尔登为了爱情，从容献身。
双城记-导读
双城记双城记
世界名著《双城记》---作者狄更斯"A Tale of Two Cities" (1859) by Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)
《双城记》是狄更斯最重要的代表作之一。早在创作《双城记》之前很久，狄更斯就对法国大革命极为关注，反复研读英国历史学家卡莱尔的《法国革命史》和其他学者的有关著作。他对法国大革命的浓厚兴趣发端于对当时英国潜伏着的严重的社会危机的担忧。1854年底，他说：“我相信，不满情绪像这样冒烟比火烧起来还要坏得多，这特别像法国在第一次革命爆发前的公众心理，这就有危险，由于千百种原因——如收成不好、贵族阶级的专横与无能把已经紧张的局面最后一次加紧、海外战争的失利、国内偶发事件等等——变成那次从未见过的一场可怕的大火。”可见，《双城记》这部历史小说的创作动机在于借古讽今，以法国大革命的历史经验为借鉴，给英国统治阶级敲响警钟；同时，通过对革命恐怖的极端描写，也对心怀愤懑、希图以暴力对抗暴政的人民群众提出警告，幻想为社会矛盾日益加深的英国现状寻找一条出路。
从这个目的出发，小说深刻地揭露了法国大革命前深深激化了的社会矛盾，强烈地抨击贵族阶级的荒淫残暴，并深切地同情下层人民的苦难。作品尖锐地指出，人民群众的忍耐是有限度的，在贵族阶级的残暴统治下，人民群众迫于生计，必然奋起反抗。这种反抗是正义的。小说还描绘了起义人民攻击巴士底狱等壮观场景，表现了人民群众的伟大力量。然而，作者站在资产阶级人道主义的立场上，即反对残酷压迫人民的暴政，也反对革命人民反抗暴政的暴力。在狄更斯笔下，整个革命被描写成一场毁灭一切的巨大灾难，它无情地惩罚罪恶的贵族阶级，也盲目地杀害无辜的人们。
这部小说塑造了三类人物。一类是以厄弗里蒙地侯爵兄弟为代表的封建贵族，他们“唯一不可动摇的哲学就是压迫人”，是作者痛加鞭挞的对象。另一类是得伐石夫妇等革命群众。必须指出的是，他们的形象是被扭曲的。例如得伐石的妻子狄安娜，她出生于被侮辱、被迫害的农家，对封建贵族怀着深仇大恨，作者深切地同情她的悲惨遭遇，革命爆发前后很赞赏她坚强的性格、卓越的才智和非凡的组织领导能力；但当革命进一步深入时，就笔锋一转，把她贬斥为一个冷酷、凶狠、狭隘的复仇者。尤其是当她到医生住所搜捕路茜和小路茜时，更被表现为嗜血成性的狂人。最后，作者让她死在自己的枪口之下，明确地表示了否定的态度。第三类是理想化人物，是作者心目中以人道主义解决社会矛盾、以博爱战胜仇恨的榜样，包括梅尼特父女、代尔纳、劳雷和卡尔登等。梅尼特医生被侯爵兄弟害得家破人亡，对侯爵兄弟怀有深仇大恨，但是为了女儿的爱，可以摒弃宿仇旧恨；代尔纳是侯爵兄弟的子侄，他大彻大悟，谴责自己家族的罪恶，抛弃爵位和财产，决心以自己的行动来“赎罪”。这对互相辉映的人物，一个是贵族暴政的受害者，宽容为怀；一个是贵族侯爵的继承人，主张仁爱。他们中间，更有作为女儿和妻子的路茜。在爱的纽带的维系下，他们组成一个互相谅解、感情融洽的幸福家庭。这显然是作者设想的一条与暴力革命截然相反的解决社会矛盾的出路，是不切实际的。
《双城记》有其不同于一般历史小说的地方，它的人物和主要情节都是虚构的。在法国大革命广阔的真实背景下，作者以虚构人物梅尼特医生的经历为主线索，把冤狱、爱情与复仇三个互相独立而又互相关联的故事交织在一起，情节错综，头绪纷繁。作者采取倒叙、插叙、伏笔、铺垫等手法，使小说结构完整严密，情节曲折紧张而富有戏剧性，表现了卓越的艺术技巧。《双城记》风格肃穆、沉郁，充满忧愤，但缺少早期作品的幽默。
It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events, most notably Charles Darnay, a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.
The novel was published in weekly installments (not monthly, as with most of his other novels). The first installment ran in the first issue of Dickens' literary periodical All the Year Round appearing on 30 April 1859; the thirty-first and last ran on 25 November of the same year.
Plot summary
Book the First: Recalled to Life
“ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... ”
—Opening line of A Tale of Two Cities
It is 1775. Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, is travelling from England to France to bring Dr. Alexandre Manette to London. At Dover, before crossing to France, he meets seventeen-year-old Lucie Manette and reveals to her that her father, Dr. Manette, is not dead, as she had been told. He has been a prisoner in the Bastille for the last 18 years.
Lorry and Lucie travel to Saint Antoine, a suburb of Paris, where they meet the Defarges. Monsieur Ernest and Madame Therese Defarge own a wine shop. They also (secretly) lead a band of revolutionaries, who refer to each other by the codename "Jacques" (drawn from the name of an actual French revolutionary group, the Jacquerie).
Monsieur Defarge (who was Dr. Manette's servant before Manette's imprisonment, and now has care of him) takes them to see Dr. Manette. Manette has withdrawn from reality due to the horror of his imprisonment. He sits in a dark room all day making shoes, a trade he had learned whilst imprisoned. At first he does not know his daughter, but eventually recognizes her by her long golden hair which resembles her mother's. Dr. Manette had long kept a strand of his wife's hair which was found on his sleeve when he was imprisoned. Lucie's eyes are blue also just like his. Lorry and Lucie take him back to England.
Book the Second: The Golden Thread
"The Golden Thread" redirects here. For the legal judgement, see Golden thread (law).
It is now 1780. French emigrant Charles Darnay is being tried at the Old Bailey for treason. Two British spies, John Barsad and Roger Cly, are trying to frame the innocent Darnay for their own gain. They claim that Darnay, a Frenchman, gave information about British troops in North America to the French. Darnay is acquitted when a witness who claims he would be able to recognise Darnay anywhere cannot tell Darnay apart from a barrister present in court (not one of those defending Darnay), Sydney Carton, who just happens to look almost identical to him.
In Paris, the Marquis St. Evrémonde (Monseigneur), Darnay's uncle, runs over and kills the son of the peasant Gaspard; he throws a coin to Gaspard to compensate him for his loss. Monsieur Defarge comforts Gaspard. As the Marquis's coach drives off, Defarge throws the coin back into the coach, enraging the Marquis.
Arriving at his château, the Marquis meets with his nephew: Charles Darnay. (Darnay's real surname, therefore, is Evrémonde; out of disgust with his family, Darnay has adopted a version of his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais.) They argue: Darnay has sympathy for the peasantry, while the Marquis is cruel and heartless:
"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend," observed the Marquis, "will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof," looking up to it, "shuts out the sky."
That night, Gaspard (who has followed the Marquis to his château, hanging under his coach) murders the Marquis in his sleep. He leaves a note saying, "Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from JACQUES."
In London, Darnay gets Dr. Manette's permission to wed Lucie. But Carton confesses his love to Lucie as well. Knowing she will not love him in return, Carton promises to "embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you".
On the morning of the marriage, Darnay, at Dr. Manette's request, reveals who his family is, a detail which Dr. Manette had asked him to withhold until then. This unhinges Dr. Manette, who reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. His sanity is restored before Lucie returns from her honeymoon; to prevent a further relapse, Lorry destroys the shoemaking bench, which Dr. Manette had brought with him from Paris.
It is 14 July 1789. The Defarges help to lead the storming of the Bastille. Defarge enters Dr. Manette's former cell, "One Hundred and Five, North Tower". The reader does not know what Monsieur Defarge is searching for until Book 3, Chapter 9. (It is a statement in which Dr. Manette explains why he was imprisoned.)
In the summer of 1792, a letter reaches Tellson's bank. Mr. Lorry, who is planning to go to Paris to save the French branch of Tellson's, announces that the letter is addressed to Evrémonde. Nobody knows who Evrémonde is, because Darnay has kept his real name name a secret in England. Darnay acquires the letter by pretending Evrémonde is an acquaintance of his. The letter turns out to be from Gabelle, a servant of the former Marquis. Gabelle has been imprisoned, and begs the new Marquis to come to his aid. Darnay, who feels guilty, leaves for Paris to help Gabelle.
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm
"The Sea Rises", an illustration for Book 2, Chapter 21 by "Phiz"
In France, Darnay is denounced for emigrating from France, and imprisoned in La Force Prison in Paris. Dr. Manette and Lucie—along with Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and "Little Lucie", the daughter of Charles and Lucie Darnay—come to Paris and meet Mr. Lorry to try to free Darnay. A year and three months pass, and Darnay is finally tried.
Dr. Manette, who is seen as a hero for his imprisonment in the hated Bastille, is able to get him released. But that same evening Darnay is again arrested, and is put on trial again the next day, under new charges brought by the Defarges and one "unnamed other". We soon discover that this other is Dr. Manette, through the testimony of his statement (his own account of his imprisonment, written in the Bastille in the "last month of the tenth year of [his] captivity"); Manette does not know that his statement has been found, and is horrified when his words are used to condemn Darnay.
On an errand, Miss Pross is amazed to see her long-lost brother, Solomon Pross, but Pross does not want to be recognised. Sydney Carton suddenly appears (stepping forward from the shadows much as he had done after Darnay's first trial in London) and identifies Solomon Pross as John Barsad, one of the men who tried to frame Darnay for treason at his first trial in London. Carton threatens to reveal Solomon's identity as a Briton and an opportunist who spies for the French or the British as it suits him. If this were revealed, Solomon would surely be executed, so Carton's hand is strong.
Darnay is confronted at the tribunal by Monsieur Defarge, who identifies Darnay as the Marquis St. Evrémonde and reads the letter Dr. Manette had hidden in his cell in the Bastille. Defarge can identify Darnay as Evrémonde because Barsad told him Darnay's identity when Barsad was fishing for information at the Defarges' wine shop in Book 2, Chapter 16. The letter describes how Dr. Manette was locked away in the Bastille by the deceased Marquis Evrémonde (Darnay's father) and his twin brother (who held the title of Marquis when we met him earlier in the book, and is the Marquis who was killed by Gaspard; Darnay's uncle) for trying to report their crimes against a peasant family. The younger brother had become infatuated with a girl. He had kidnapped and raped her and killed her husband, the knowledge of which killed her father, and her brother died in the act of fighting to protect her honor. Prior to his death, the brother of the raped peasant had hidden the last member of the family, his younger sister, "somewhere safe". The paper concludes by condemning the Evrémondes, "them and their descendants, to the last of their race". Dr. Manette is horrified, but his protests are ignored—he is not allowed to take back his condemnation. Darnay is sent to the Conciergerie and sentenced to be guillotined the next day.
Carton wanders into the Defarges' wine shop, where he overhears Madame Defarge talking about her plans to have the rest of Darnay's family (Lucie and "Little Lucie") condemned. Carton discovers that Madame Defarge was the surviving sister of the peasant family savaged by the Evrémondes. The only plot detail that might give one any sympathy for Madame Defarge is the loss of her family and that she has no (family) name. "Defarge" is her married name, and Dr. Manette cannot learn her family name, though he asks her dying sister for it. The next morning, when Dr. Manette returns shattered after having spent the previous night in many failed attempts to save Charles' life, he reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. Carton urges Lorry to flee Paris with Lucie, her father and "Little Lucie".
That same morning Carton visits Darnay in prison. Carton drugs Darnay, and Barsad (whom Carton is blackmailing) has Darnay carried out of the prison. Carton—who looks so similar to Darnay that a witness at Darnay's trial in England could not tell them apart—has decided to pretend to be Darnay, and to be executed in his place. He does this out of love for Lucie, recalling his earlier promise to her. Following Carton's earlier instructions, Darnay's family and Lorry flee Paris and France with an unconscious man in their coach who carries Carton's identification papers, but is actually Darnay.
Meanwhile Madame Defarge, armed with a pistol, goes to the residence of Lucie's family, hoping to catch them mourning for Darnay (since it was illegal to sympathise with or mourn for an enemy of the Republic); however, Lucie, her child, Dr. Manette and Mr. Lorry are already gone. To give them time to escape, Miss Pross confronts Madame Defarge and they struggle. Pross speaks only English and Defarge speaks only French, so neither can understand each other verbally. In the fight, Madame Defarge's pistol goes off, killing her; the noise of the shot and the shock of Madame Defarge's death cause Miss Pross to go permanently deaf.
The novel concludes with the guillotining of Sydney Carton. Carton's unspoken last thoughts are prophetic: Carton foresees that many of the revolutionaries, including Defarge, Barsad and The Vengeance (a lieutenant of Madame Defarge) will be sent to the guillotine themselves, and that Darnay and Lucie will have a son whom they will name after Carton: a son who will fulfill all the promise that Carton wasted. Lucie and Darnay have a first son earlier in the book who is born and dies within a single paragraph. It seems likely that this first son appears in the novel so that their later son, named after Carton, can represent another way in which Carton restores Lucie and Darnay through his sacrifice.
“ It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known. ”
—Final sentence of A Tale of Two Cities
Analysis
A Tale of Two Cities is one of only two works of historical fiction by Charles Dickens (Barnaby Rudge is the other one). It has fewer characters and sub-plots than a typical Charles Dickens novel. The author's primary historical source was The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle: Charles Dickens wrote in his Preface to Tale that "no one can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Mr. Carlyle's wonderful book" Carlyle's view that history cycles through destruction and resurrection was an important influence on the novel, illustrated especially well by the life and death of Sydney Carton.
Language
Dickens uses literal translations of French idioms for characters who can't speak English, such as "What the devil do you do in that galley there?!!" and "Where is my husband? ---Here you see me." The Penguin Classics edition of the novel notes that "Not all readers have regarded the experiment as a success."
Humor
Dickens is renowned for his humor, but A Tale of Two Cities is one of his least comical books. Nonetheless, Jerry Cruncher, Miss Pross, and Mr. Stryver provide much comedy. Dickens also uses sarcasm as humour in the book to show different points of view. The book is full of tragic situations, therefore, leaving little room for intended humor provided by Dickens.
Foreshadowing
A Tale of Two Cities contains much foreshadowing:
* Carton's promise to Lucie, the "echoing footsteps" heard by the Manettes in their quiet home, and the wine spilling from the wine cask are only a few of dozens of instances.
* Carton promises Lucie he would die for her because he loves her so much.
* Echoing footsteps can either be the people coming into their lives or the revolutionaries.
* The wine spilling in the streets can be blood running through the streets of France.
* The wine cask breaking is a corrupted government, freedom, or blood from guillotine.
* The negro cupids show danger, and death from the guillotine.
Themes
"Recalled to Life"
In Dickens' England, resurrection always sat firmly in a Christian context. Most broadly, Sydney Carton is resurrected in spirit at the novel's close (even as he, paradoxically, gives up his physical life to save Darnay's—just as, in Christian belief, Christ died for the sins of all people.) More concretely, "Book the First" deals with the rebirth of Dr. Manette from the living death of his incarceration.
Resurrection appears for the first time when Mr. Lorry replies to the message carried by Jerry Cruncher with the words "Recalled to Life". Resurrection also appears during Mr. Lorry's coach ride to Dover, as he constantly ponders a hypothetical conversation with Dr. Manette: ("Buried how long?" "Almost eighteen years." ... "You know that you are recalled to life?" "They tell me so.") He believes he is helping with Dr. Manette's revival, and imagines himself "digging" Dr. Manette up from his grave.
Resurrection is the main theme in the novel. In Jarvis Lorry's thoughts of Dr. Manette, resurrection is first spotted as a theme. It is also the last theme: Carton's sacrifice. Dickens originally wanted to call the entire novel Recalled to Life. (This instead became the title of the first of the novel's three "books".)
Jerry is also part of the recurring theme: he himself is involved in death and resurrection in way that the reader does not yet know. The first piece of foreshadowing comes in his remark to himself: "You'd be in a blazing bad way, if recalling to life was to come into fashion, Jerry!" The black humour of this statement becomes obvious only much later on. Five years later, one cloudy and very dark night (in June 1780), Mr. Lorry reawakens the reader's interest in the mystery by telling Jerry it is "Almost a night ... to bring the dead out of their graves". Jerry responds firmly that he has never seen the night do that.
It turns out that Jerry Cruncher's involvement with the theme of resurrection is that he is what the Victorians called a "Resurrection Man", one who (illegally) digs up dead bodies to sell to medical men (there was no legal way to procure cadavers for study at that time).
The opposite of resurrection is of course death. Death and resurrection appear often in the novel. Dickens is angered that in France and England, courts hand out death sentences for insignificant crimes. In France, peasants are even put to death without any trial, at the whim of a noble. The Marquis tells Darnay with pleasure that "[I]n the next room (my bedroom), one fellow ... was poniarded on the spot for professing some insolent delicacy respecting his daughter—his daughter!"
Interestingly, the demolition of Dr. Manette's shoe-making workbench by Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry is described as "the burning of the body". It seems clear that this is a rare case where death or destruction (the opposite of resurrection) has a positive connotation, since the "burning" helps liberate the doctor from the memory of his long imprisonment. But Dickens' description of this kind and healing act is strikingly odd:
"The Accomplices", an illustration for Book 2, Chapter 19 by "Phiz"
So wicked do destruction and secrecy appear to honest minds, that Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross, while engaged in the commission of their deed and in the removal of its traces, almost felt, and almost looked, like accomplices in a horrible crime.
Sydney Carton's martyrdom atones for all his past wrongdoings. He even finds God during the last few days of his life, repeating Christ's soothing words, "I am the resurrection and the life". Resurrection is the dominant theme of the last part of the novel. Darnay is rescued at the last moment and recalled to life; Carton chooses death and resurrection to a life better than that which he has ever known: "it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there ... he looked sublime and prophetic".
In the broadest sense, at the end of the novel Dickens foresees a resurrected social order in France, rising from the ashes of the old one.
Water
Many in the Jungian archetypal tradition might agree with Hans Biedermann, who writes that water "is the fundamental symbol of all the energy of the unconscious—an energy that can be dangerous when it overflows its proper limits (a frequent dream sequence)." This symbolism suits Dickens' novel; in A Tale of Two Cities, the frequent images of water stand for the building anger of the peasant mob, an anger that Dickens sympathises with to a point, but ultimately finds irrational and even animalistic.
Early in the book, Dickens suggests this when he writes, “[T]he sea did what it liked, and what it liked was destruction.” The sea here represents the coming mob of revolutionaries. After Gaspard murders the Marquis, he is “hanged there forty feet high—and is left hanging, poisoning the water.” The poisoning of the well represents the bitter impact of Gaspard's execution on the collective feeling of the peasants.
After Gaspard’s death, the storming of the Bastille is led (from the St. Antoine neighbourhood, at least) by the Defarges; “As a whirlpool of boiling waters has a centre point, so, all this raging circled around Defarge’s wine shop, and every human drop in the cauldron had a tendency to be sucked towards the vortex...” The crowd is envisioned as a sea. “With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into a detested word [the word Bastille], the living sea rose, wave upon wave, depth upon depth, and overflowed the city...”
Darnay’s jailer is described as “unwholesomely bloated in both face and person, as to look like a man who had been drowned and filled with water.” Later, during the Reign of Terror, the revolution had grown “so much more wicked and distracted ... that the rivers of the South were encumbered with bodies of the violently drowned by night...” Later a crowd is “swelling and overflowing out into the adjacent streets ... the Carmagnole absorbed them every one and whirled them away.”
During the fight with Miss Pross, Madame Defarge clings to her with “more than the hold of a drowning woman”. Commentators on the novel have noted the irony that Madame Defarge is killed by her own gun, and perhaps Dickens means by the above quote to suggest that such vicious vengefulness as Madame Defarge's will eventually destroy even its perpetrators.
So many read the novel in a Freudian light, as exalting the (British) superego over the (French) id. Yet in Carton's last walk, he watches an eddy that "turned and turned purposeless, until the stream absorbed it, and carried it onto the sea"—his fulfilment, while masochistic and superego-driven, is nonetheless an ecstatic union with the subconscious.
Darkness and light
As is common in English literature, good and evil are symbolised with light and darkness. Lucie Manette is often associated with light and Madame Defarge with darkness.
Lucie meets her father for the first time in a room kept by the Defarges:." Lucie's hair symbolises joy as she winds "the golden thread that bound them all together". She is adorned with "diamonds, very bright and sparkling", and symbolic of the happiness of the day of her marriage.
Darkness represents uncertainty, fear and peril. It is dark when Mr. Lorry rides to Dover; it is dark in the prisons; dark shadows follow Madame Defarge; dark, gloomy doldrums disturb Dr. Manette; his capture and captivity are shrouded in darkness; the Marquis’s estate is burned in the dark of night; Jerry Cruncher raids graves in the darkness; Charles's second arrest also occurs at night. Both Lucie and Mr. Lorry feel the dark threat that is Madame Defarge. "That dreadful woman seems to throw a shadow on me," remarks Lucie. Although Mr. Lorry tries to comfort her, "the shadow of the manner of these Defarges was dark upon himself". Madame Defarge is "like a shadow over the white road", the snow symbolising purity and Madame Defarge's darkness corruption. Dickens also compares the dark colour of blood to the pure white snow: the blood takes on the shade of the crimes of its shedders.
Social injustice
Charles Dickens was a champion of the maltreated poor because of his terrible experience when he was forced to work in a factory as a child. His sympathies, however, lie only up to a point with the revolutionaries; he condemns the mob madness which soon sets in. When madmen and -women massacre eleven hundred detainees in one night and hustle back to sharpen their weapons on the grindstone, they display "eyes which any unbrutalised beholder would have given twenty years of life, to petrify with a well-directed gun".
The reader is shown the poor are brutalised in France and England alike. As crime proliferates, the executioner in England is "stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now hanging housebreaker ... now burning people in the hand" or hanging a broke man for stealing sixpence. In France, a boy is sentenced to have his hands removed and be burned alive, only because he did not kneel down in the rain before a parade of monks passing some fifty yards away. At the lavish residence of Monseigneur, we find "brazen ecclesiastics of the worst world worldly, with sensual eyes, loose tongues, and looser lives ... Military officers destitute of military knowledge ... [and] Doctors who made great fortunes ... for imaginary disorders".
The Marquis recalls with pleasure the days when his family had the right of life and death over their slaves, "when many such dogs were taken out to be hanged". He won't even allow a widow to put up a board bearing her dead husband’s name, to discern his resting place from all the others. He orders Madame Defarge's sick brother-in-law to heave a cart all day and allay frogs at night to exacerbate the young man's illness and hasten his death.
In England, even banks endorse unbalanced sentences: a man may be condemned to death for nicking a horse or opening a letter. Conditions in the prisons are dreadful. "Most kinds of debauchery and villainy were practised, and ... dire diseases were bred", sometimes killing the judge before the accused.
So riled is Dickens at the brutality of English law that he depicts some of its punishments with sarcasm: "the whipping-post, another dear old institution, very humanising and softening to behold in action". He faults the law for not seeking reform: "Whatever is right" is the dictum of the Old Bailey. The gruesome portrayal of quartering highlights its atrocity.
Without entirely forgiving him, Dickens understands that Jerry Cruncher robs graves only to feed his son, and reminds the reader that Mr. Lorry is more likely to rebuke Jerry for his humble social status than anything else. Jerry reminds Mr. Lorry that doctors, men of the cloth, undertakers and watchmen are also conspirators in the selling of bodies.
Dickens wants his readers to be careful that the same revolution that so damaged France will not happen in Britain, which (at least at the beginning of the book) is shown to be nearly as unjust as France. But his warning is addressed not to the British lower classes, but to the aristocracy. He repeatedly uses the metaphor of sowing and reaping; if the aristocracy continues to plant the seeds of a revolution through behaving unjustly, they can be certain of harvesting that revolution in time. The lower classes do not have any agency in this metaphor: they simply react to the behaviour of the aristocracy. In this sense it can be said that while Dickens sympathises with the poor, he identifies with the rich: they are the book's audience, its "us" and not its "them". "Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind".
Relation to Dickens' personal life
Some have argued that in A Tale of Two Cities Dickens reflects on his recently begun affair with eighteen-year-old actress Ellen Ternan, which was possibly asexual but certainly romantic. Lucie Manette resembles Ternan physically, and some have seen "a sort of implied emotional incest" in the relationship between Dr. Manette and his daughter.
After starring in a play by Wilkie Collins entitled The Frozen Deep, Dickens was first inspired to write Tale. In the play, Dickens played the part of a man who sacrifices his own life so that his rival may have the woman they both love; the love triangle in the play became the basis for the relationships between Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette, and Sydney Carton in Tale.
Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay may also bear importantly on Dickens' personal life. The plot hinges on the near-perfect resemblance between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay; the two look so alike that Carton twice saves Darnay through the inability of others to tell them apart. It is implied that Carton and Darnay not only look alike, but they have the same "genetic" endowments (to use a term that Dickens would not have known): Carton is Darnay made bad. Carton suggests as much:
'Do you particularly like the man [Darnay]?' he muttered, at his own image [which he is regarding in a mirror]; 'why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like; you know that. Ah, confound you! What a change you have made in yourself! A good reason for talking to a man, that he shows you what you have fallen away from and what you might have been! Change places with him, and would you have been looked at by those blue eyes [belonging to Lucie Manette] as he was, and commiserated by that agitated face as he was? Come on, and have it out in plain words! You hate the fellow.'
Many have felt that Carton and Darnay are doppelgängers, which Eric Rabkin defines as a pair "of characters that together, represent one psychological persona in the narrative". If so, they would prefigure such works as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Darnay is worthy and respectable but dull (at least to most modern readers), Carton disreputable but magnetic.
One can only suspect whose psychological persona it is that Carton and Darnay together embody (if they do), but it is often thought to be the psyche of Dickens himself. Dickens was quite aware that between them, Carton and Darnay shared his own initials.
Characters
Many of Dickens' characters are "flat", not "round", in the novelist E. M. Forster's famous terms, meaning roughly that they have only one mood. In Tale, for example, the Marquis is unremittingly wicked and relishes being so; Lucie is perfectly loving and supportive. (As a corollary, Dickens often gives these characters verbal tics or visual quirks that he mentions over and over, such as the dints in the nose of the Marquis.) Forster believed that Dickens never truly created rounded characters, but a character such as Carton surely at least comes closer to roundness.
* Sydney Carton – A quick-minded but depressed English barrister alcoholic, and cynic; his Christ-like self-sacrifice redeems his own life and that of Charles Darnay.
* Lucie Manette – An ideal Victorian lady, perfect in every way. She was loved by both Carton and Charles Darnay (whom she marries), and is the daughter of Dr. Manette. She is the "golden thread" after whom Book Two is named, so called because she holds her father's and her family's lives together (and because of her blond hair like her mother's). She also ties nearly every character in the book together.
* Charles Darnay – A young French noble of the Evrémonde family. In disgust at the cruelty of his family to the French peasantry, he has taken on the name "Darnay" (after his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais) and left France for England.
* Dr. Alexandre Manette – Lucie's father, kept a prisoner in the Bastille for eighteen years.
* Monsieur Ernest Defarge – The owner of a French wine shop and leader of the Jacquerie; husband of Madame Defarge; servant to Dr. Manette as a youth. One of the key revolutionary leaders, he leads the revolution with a noble cause, unlike many of other revolutionaries.
* Madame Therese Defarge – A vengeful female revolutionary, arguably the novel's antagonist
* The Vengeance – A companion of Madame Defarge referred to as her "shadow" and lieutenant, a member of the sisterhood of women revolutionaries in Saint Antoine, and revolutionary zealot. (Many Frenchmen and women did change their names to show their enthusiasm for the Revolution)
* Jarvis Lorry – An elderly manager at Tellson's Bank and a dear friend of Dr. Manette.
* Miss Pross – Lucie Manette's governess since Lucie was ten years old. Fiercely loyal to Lucie and to England.
* The Marquis St. Evrémonde – The cruel uncle of Charles Darnay.
* John Barsad (real name Solomon Pross) – A spy for Britain who later becomes a spy for France (at which point he must hide that he is British). He is the long-lost brother of Miss Pross.
* Roger Cly – Another spy, Barsad's collaborator.
* Jerry Cruncher – Porter and messenger for Tellson's Bank and secret "Resurrection Man" (body-snatcher). His first name is short for Jeremiah.
* Young Jerry Cruncher - Son of Jerry and Mrs. Cruncher. Young Jerry often follows his father around to his father's odd jobs, and at one point in the story, follows his father at night and discovers that his father is a resurrection man. Young Jerry looks up to his father as a role model, and aspires to become a resurrection man himself when he grows up.
* Mrs. Cruncher - Wife of Jerry Cruncher. She is a very religious woman, but her husband, being a bit paranoid, claims she is praying against him, and that is why he doesn't succeed at work often. She is often abused verbally, and almost as often, abused physically, by Jerry, but at the end of the story, he appears to feel a bit guilty about this.
* Mr. Stryver – An arrogant and ambitious barrister, senior to Sydney Carton. There is a frequent mis-perception that Stryver's full name is "C. J. Stryver", but this is very unlikely. The mistake comes from a line in Book 2, Chapter 12: "After trying it, Stryver, C. J., was satisfied that no plainer case could be." The initials C. J. almost certainly refer to a legal title (probably "chief justice"); Stryver is imagining that he is playing every role in a trial in which he browbeats Lucie Manette into marrying him.
* The Seamstress – A young woman caught up in The Terror. She precedes Sydney Carton, who comforts her, to the guillotine.
* Gabelle – Gabelle is "the Postmaster, and some other taxing functionary, united" for the tenants of the Marquis St. Evrémonde. Gabelle is imprisoned by the revolutionaries, and his beseeching letter brings Darnay to France. Gabelle is "named after the hated salt tax".
* Gaspard – Gaspard is the man whose son is run over by the Marquis. He then kills the Marquis and goes into hiding for a year. He eventually is found, arrested, and executed.
Adaptations
Films
There have been at least five feature films based on the book:
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1911 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1917 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1922 silent film.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1935 black-and-white MGM film starring Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone and Edna Mae Oliver. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
* A Tale of Two Cities, a 1958 version, starring Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Christopher Lee, Leo McKern and Donald Pleasance.
In the 1981 film History of the World, Part I, the French Revolution segment appears to be a pastiche of A Tale of Two Cities.
In the film A Simple Wish, the protagonist's father Oliver (possibly a reference to another of Dickens' famous novels, Oliver Twist) is vying for a spot in his theatre company's production of a musical of A Tale of Two Cities, of which we see the beginning and end, using the two famous quotes, including "It is a far, far better thing that I do", as part of a few solos.
Terry Gilliam also developed a film version in the mid-1990s with Mel Gibson and Liam Neeson. The project was eventually abandoned.
Radio
In 1938, The Mercury Theatre on the Air (aka The Campbell Playhouse) produced a radio adapted version starring Orson Welles.
In 1945, a portion of the novel was adapted to the syndicated program The Weird Circle as "Dr. Manette's Manuscript."
In 1950, a radio adaptation written by Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud was broadcast by the BBC. They had written it in 1935, as a stage play, but it was not produced.
In June 1989, BBC Radio 4 produced a 7-hour drama adapted for radio by Nick McCarty and directed by Ian Cotterell. This adaptation is occasionally repeated by BBC Radio 7. The cast included:
* Charles Dance as Sydney Carton
* Maurice Denham as Dr. Alexandre Manette
* Charlotte Attenborough as Lucie Manette
* Richard Pasco as Jarvis Lorry
* John Duttine as Charles Darnay
* Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Miss Pross
* Margaret Robertson as Madame Defarge
* John Hollis as Jerry Cruncher
* John Bull as Ernest Defarge
* Aubrey Woods as Mr. Stryver
* Eva Stuart as Mrs. Cruncher
* John Moffat as Marquis St. Evremonde
* Geoffrey Whitehead as John Barsad and Jacques #2
* Nicholas Courtney as Jacques #3 and The Woodcutter
Television programs
An 8-part mini-series was produced by the BBC in 1957 starring Peter Wyngarde as "Sydney Carton", Edward de Souza as "Charles Darnay" and Wendy Hutchinson as "Lucie Manette".
Another mini-series, this one in 10 parts, was produced by the BBC in 1965.
A third BBC mini-series (in 8 parts) was produced in 1980 starring Paul Shelley as "Carton/Darnay", Sally Osborne as "Lucie Manette" and Nigel Stock as "Jarvis Lorry".
The novel was adapted into a 1980 television movie starring Chris Sarandon as "Sydney Carton/Charles Darnay". Peter Cushing as "Dr. Alexandre Manette", Alice Krige as "Lucie Manette", Flora Robson as "Miss Pross", Barry Morse as "The Marquis St. Evremonde" and Billie Whitelaw as "Madame Defarge".
In 1989 Granada Television made a mini-series starring James Wilby as "Sydney Carton", Serena Gordon as "Lucie Manette", Xavier Deluc as "Charles Darnay", Anna Massey as "Miss Pross" and John Mills as "Jarvis Lorry", which was shown on American television as part of the PBS television series Masterpiece Theatre.
In the 1970 Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "The Attila the Hun Show", the sketch "The News for Parrots" included a scene of A Tale of Two Cities (As told for parrots).
The children's television series Wishbone adapted the novel for the episode "A Tale of Two Sitters".
This novel was also mentioned in the Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold, where Oscar was learning how to read.
Books
In Nicholas Meyer's novel The Canary Trainer, descended from Charles and Lucie, once more titled the Marquis de St. Evremonde, attends the Paris Opera during the events of The Phantom of the Opera.
American author Susanne Alleyn's novel A Far Better Rest, a reimagining of A Tale of Two Cities from the point of view of Sydney Carton, was published in the USA in 2000.
Diane Mayer self-published her novel Evremonde through iUniverse in 2005; it tells the story of Charles and Lucie Darnay and their children after the French Revolution.
Simplified versions of A Tale of Two Cities for English language learners have been published by Penguin Readers, in several levels of difficulty.
Stage musicals
There have been four musicals based on the novel:
A 1968 stage version, Two Cities, the Spectacular New Musical, with music by Jeff Wayne, lyrics by Jerry Wayne and starring Edward Woodward.
A Tale of Two Cities, Jill Santoriello's musical adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, was performed at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, in October and November 2007. James Stacy Barbour ("Sydney Carton") and Jessica Rush ("Lucie Manette") were among the cast. A production of the musical began previews on Broadway on 19 August 2008, opening on 18 September at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Warren Carlyle is the director/choreographer; the cast includes James Stacy Barbour as "Sydney Carton", Brandi Burkhardt as "Lucie Manette", Aaron Lazar as "Charles Darnay", Gregg Edelman as "Dr. Manette", Katherine McGrath as "Miss Pross", Michael Hayward-Jones as "Jarvis Lorry" and Natalie Toro as "Madame Defarge".
In 2006, Howard Goodall collaborated with Joanna Read in writing a separate musical adaptation of the novel called Two Cities. The central plot and characters were maintained, though Goodall set the action during the Russian Revolution.
The novel has also been adapted as a musical by Takarazuka Revue, the all-female opera company in Japan. The first production was in 1984, starring Mao Daichi at the Grand Theater, and the second was in 2003, starring Jun Sena at the Bow Hall.
Opera
Arthur Benjamin's operatic version of the novel, subtitled Romantic Melodrama in six scenes, was premiered by the BBC on 17 April 1953, conducted by the composer; it received its stage premiere at Sadler's Wells on 22 July 1957, under the baton of Leon Lovett.
故事改编自狄更斯的作品《圣诞颂歌》，主要讲述了性情刻薄、冷酷的守财奴艾柏纳泽·斯克鲁奇，面对温暖的圣诞节，却讨厌周遭的一切庆祝活动。于是上天派来 3个精灵让他看看自己过去的所作所为，以及亲友私下对他的态度。这一切渐渐唤醒他人性的另一面——同情、仁慈、爱心及喜悦，瞬间，他那固有的自私及冷酷迅速崩塌，消失殆尽，从此变成了一个乐善好施的人。
The book was written and published at a time when Britain was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions, and at the time when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were being introduced. Dickens's sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and the Christmas stories of Washington Irving.
The tale was pirated immediately, was adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.
The book was written and published at a time when Britain was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions, and at the time when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were being introduced. Dickens's sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and the Christmas stories of Washington Irving.
The tale was pirated immediately, was adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.
《大卫·科波菲尔》是英国小说家查尔斯·狄更斯的第八部长篇小说，被称为他“心中最宠爱的孩子”，于一八四九至一八五O年间，分二十个部分逐月发表全书采用第一人称叙事语气，其中融进了作者本人的许多生活经历。狄更斯出身社会底层，祖父、祖母都长期在克鲁勋爵府当佣人。父亲约翰是海军军需处职员，在狄更斯十二岁那年，因负债无力偿还，带累妻子儿女和他一起住进了马夏尔西债务人监狱。当时狄更斯在泰晤士河畔的华伦黑鞋油作坊当童工，比他大两岁的姐姐范妮在皇家音乐学院学习，全家人中只有他俩没有在狱中居住。父亲出狱后，狄更斯曾一度进惠灵顿学校学习，不久又因家贫而永久辍学，十五岁时进律师事务所当学徒。后来，他学会速记，被伦敦民事律师议会聘为审案记录员。一八三一至一八三二年间，狄更斯先后担任《议会镜报》和《真阳报》派驻议会的记者。这些经历有助于他日后走上写作的道路。他一生所受学校教育不足四年，他的成功全靠自己的天才、勤奋以及艰苦生活的磨练。一八三六年，狄更斯终于以长篇小说《匹克威克外传》而名满天下，当时他年仅二十四岁。
一八四八年，范妮因患肺结核早逝，她的死使狄更斯非常悲伤，因为在众多兄弟姐妹中，只有他俩在才能、志趣上十分接近。他俩都有杰出的表演才能，童年时曾随父亲到罗彻斯特的米特尔饭店，站在大餐桌上表演歌舞，赢得众人的赞叹。范妮死后，狄更斯写下一篇七千字的回忆文章，记录他俩一起度过的充满艰辛的童年。狄更斯身后，他的好友福斯特在《狄更斯传》中首次向公众披露了狄更斯的早年，小说，根据的正是这篇回忆。狄更斯写这篇回忆是为创作一部自传体长篇小说做准备。他小说主人公取过许多名字，最后才想到“大卫·科波菲尔”。福斯特听了，立刻叫好，因为这个名字的缩写D.C.正是作者名字缩写的颠倒。于是小说主人公的名字便定了下来。
狄更斯早期作品大多是结构松散的“流浪汉传奇”，足凭借灵感信笔挥洒的即兴创作，而本书则是他的中期作品，更加注重结构技巧和艺术的分寸感。狄更斯在本书第十一章中，把他的创作方法概括为“经验想象，糅合为一”。他写小说，并不拘泥于临摹实际发生的事，而是充分发挥想象力，利用生活素材进行崭新的创造。尽管书中大卫幼年时跟母亲学字母的情景是他本人的亲身经历，大卫在母亲改嫁后，在极端孤寂的环境中阅读的正是他本人在那个年龄所读的书，母亲被折磨死后，大卫被送去当童工的年龄也正是狄更斯当童工时的年龄，然而，小说和实事完全不同：狄更斯不是孤儿，而他笔下的大卫却是“遗腹子”。同时，狄更斯又把自己父母的某些性格糅进了大卫的房东、推销商米考伯夫妇身上。
大卫早年生活的篇章以孩子的心理视角向我们展示了一个早已被成年人淡忘的童年世界，写得十分真切感人。例如：大卫以儿童特殊的敏感对追求母亲的那个冷酷、残暴、贪婪的商人默德斯东一开始就怀有敌意，当默德斯东虚情假意地伸手拍拍大卫时，他发现那只手放肆地碰到母亲的手，便生气地把它推开。大卫向母亲复述默德斯东带他出去玩时的情景，当他说到默德斯东的一个朋友在谈话中老提起一位“漂亮的小寡妇”时，母亲一边笑着，一边要他把当时的情景讲了一遍又一遍。叙事完全从天真无邪的孩子的视角出发，幼儿并不知道人家讲的就是自己的母亲，而年轻寡妇要求再醮、对幸福生活的热烈憧憬已跃然纸上。又如：大卫跟保姆佩葛蒂到她哥哥家去玩，她的哥哥辟果提先生是一位渔民。大卫看见他从海上作业后回来洗脸，觉得他与虾蟹具有某种相似之处，因为那张黑脸被热水一烫，立刻就发红了。这个奇特的联想，充满童趣和狄更斯特有的幽默。
Plot summary
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 is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr Murdstone thrashes David for falling 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 and Tommy Traddles, both of whom he meets again later on.
David returns home for the holidays to find out that his mother has had a baby boy. Soon after David goes back to Salem House, his mother and her baby die and David has to return home immediately. Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory in London, of which Murdstone is a joint owner. The grim reality of hand-to-mouth factory existence echoes Dickens' own travails in a blacking factory. His landlord, Mr Wilkins Micawber, is sent to a debtor's prison (the King's Bench Prison) after going bankrupt, and is there for several months before being released and moving to Plymouth. David now has nobody left to care for him in London, and decides to run away.
He walks all the way from London to Dover, to find his only relative, his aunt Miss Betsey. The eccentric Betsey Trotwood agrees to bring him up, despite Mr Murdstone visiting in a bid to regain custody of David. David's aunt renames him 'Trotwood Copperfield', soon shortened to "Trot", and for the rest of the novel he is called by either name, depending on whether he is communicating with someone he has known for a long time, or someone he has only recently met.
The story follows David as he grows to adulthood, and is enlivened by the many well-known characters who enter, leave and re-enter his life. These include Peggotty, his faithful former housekeeper for his mother, her family, and their orphaned niece Little Em'ly who lives with them and charms the young David. David's romantic but self-serving schoolfriend, Steerforth, seduces and dishonors Little Em'ly, triggering the novel's greatest tragedy; and his landlord's daughter and ideal "angel in the house," Agnes Wickfield, becomes his confidante. The two most familiar characters are David's sometime mentor, the constantly debt-ridden Mr Wilkins Micawber, and the devious and fraudulent clerk, Uriah Heep, whose misdeeds are eventually discovered with Micawber's assistance. Micawber is painted as a sympathetic character, even as the author deplores his financial ineptitude; and Micawber, like Dickens's own father, is briefly imprisoned for insolvency.
In typical Dickens fashion, the major characters get some measure of what they deserve, and few narrative threads are left hanging. Dan Peggotty safely transports Little Em'ly to a new life in Australia; accompanying these two central characters are Mrs. Gummidge and the Micawbers. Everybody involved finally finds security and happiness in their new lives in Australia. David first marries the beautiful but naïve Dora Spenlow, but she dies after failing to recover from a miscarriage early in their marriage. David then does some soul-searching and eventually marries and finds true happiness with the sensible Agnes, who had secretly always loved him. They have several children, including a daughter named in honor of Betsey Trotwood.
Analysis
The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of the first person narrator, David Copperfield himself, and was the first Dickens novel to be written as such a narration.
Critically, it is considered a Bildungsroman, i.e., a novel of self-cultivation, and would be influential in the genre which included Dickens's own Great Expectations (1861), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, published only two years prior, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh, H. G. Wells's Tono-Bungay, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Tolstoy regarded Dickens as the best of all English novelists, and considered Copperfield to be his finest work, ranking the "Tempest" chapter (chapter 55, LV – the story of Ham and the storm and the shipwreck) the standard by which the world's great fiction should be judged. Henry James remembered hiding under a small table as a boy to hear instalments read by his mother. Dostoyevsky read it enthralled in a Siberian prison camp. Franz Kafka called his first book Amerika a "sheer imitation". James Joyce paid it reverence through parody in Ulysses. Virginia Woolf, who normally had little regard for Dickens, confessed the durability of this one novel, belonging to "the memories and myths of life". It was Freud's favourite novel.
Characters in David Copperfield
* David Copperfield – An optimistic, diligent, and persevering character, he is the protagonist. He is later called "Trotwood Copperfield" by some ("David Copperfield" is also the name of the hero's father, who dies before David is born). He has many nicknames: James Steerforth nicknames him "Daisy", Dora calls him "Doady", and his aunt refers to him, as a reference to his would-be sister (if he had been born a girl), in and on "Trot" – as in Betsey Trotwood Copperfield.
* Clara Copperfield – David's kind mother, described as being innocently childish, who dies while David is at Salem House. She dies just after the birth of her second child, who dies along with her.
* Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to David (referred to at times as Mrs. Barkis after her marriage to Mr. Barkis). Inherits £3,000—a large sum in the mid-19th century—when Mr. Barkis dies. After his death, she becomes Betsey Trotwood's servant.
* Betsey Trotwood – David's eccentric and temperamental yet kindhearted great-aunt; she becomes his guardian after he runs away from Grinby and Murdstone's warehouse in Blackfriars (London). She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl.
* Mr. Chillip – A shy doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath of Betsey Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of a girl.
* Mr. Barkis – An aloof carter who declares his intention to marry Peggotty. He says to David: "Tell her, 'Barkis is willin'!' Just so." He is a bit of a miser, and hides his surprisingly vast liquid wealth in a plain box labeled "Old Clothes". He bequeaths to his wife the then astronomical sum of £3,000 when he dies about ten years later.
* Edward Murdstone – Young David's cruel stepfather, who canes him for falling behind in his studies. David reacts by biting Mr Murdstone, who then sends him to Salem House, the private school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. After David's mother dies, Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory, where he has to clean wine bottles. He appears at Betsey Trotwood's house after David runs away. Mr Murdstone appears to show signs of repentance when confronted with Copperfield's aunt, but later in the book we hear he has married another young woman and applied his old principles of "firmness."
* Jane Murdstone – Mr. Murdstone's equally cruel sister, who moves into the Copperfield house after Mr. Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield. She is the "Confidential Friend" of David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, and encourages many of the problems that occur between David Copperfield and Dora's father, Mr. Spenlow. Later, she rejoins her brother and his new wife in a relationship very much like the one they had with David's mother.
* Daniel Peggotty – Peggotty's brother; a humble but generous Yarmouth fisherman who takes his nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them has been orphaned. After Emily's departure, he travels around the world in search of her. He eventually finds her in London, and after that they emigrate to Australia.
* Emily (Little Em'ly) – A niece of Mr. Peggotty. She is a childhood friend of David Copperfield, who loves her in his childhood days. She leaves her cousin and fiancé, Ham, for Steerforth, but returns after Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates to Australia with Mr. Peggotty after being rescued from a London brothel.
* Ham Peggotty – A good-natured nephew of Mr. Peggotty and the fiancé of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth. He later loses his life while attempting to rescue a sailor, who happens to be Steerforth, from a shipwreck. His death is hidden from his family due to the fact that David does not want them to worry on the brink of their journey.
* Mrs. Gummidge – The widow of Daniel Peggotty's partner in a boat. She is a self-described "lone, lorn creetur" who spends much of her time pining for "the old 'un" (her late husband). After Emily runs away from home with Steerforth, she changes her attitude to better comfort everyone around her and tries to be very caring and motherly. She too emigrates to Australia with Dan and the rest of the surviving family.
* Martha Endell – A young woman of a bad reputation who helps Daniel Peggotty find his niece after she returns to London. She has worked as a prostitute, and been victim to the idea of suicide.
* Mr. Creakle – The harsh headmaster of young David's boarding school, who is assisted by Tungay. Mr. Creakle is a friend of Mr. Murdstone. He singles out David for extra torment. Later he becomes a Middlesex magistrate, and is considered enlightened for his day.
"I am married". Etching by Phiz.
* James Steerforth – A close friend of David, he is of a romantic and charming disposition and has known David ever since his first days at Salem House. Although well-liked by most, he proves himself to be lacking in character by seducing and later abandoning Little Em'ly. He eventually drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who had been trying to rescue him.
* Tommy Traddles – David's friend from Salem House. They meet again later and become eventual lifelong friends. Traddles works hard but faces great obstacles because of his lack of money and connections. He eventually succeeds in making a name and a career for himself.
* Wilkins Micawber – A gentle man who befriends David as a young boy. He suffers from much financial difficulty and even has to spend time in a debtor's prison. Eventually he emigrates to Australia where he enjoys a successful career as a sheep farmer and becomes a magistrate. He is based on Dickens' father, John Dickens.
* Mr. Dick (Richard Babley) – A slightly deranged, rather childish but amiable man who lives with Betsey Trotwood. His madness is amply described in as much as that he claims to have the "trouble" of King Charles I in his head.
* Dr. Strong – The headmaster of David's Canterbury school, whom he visits on various occasions.
* Anne Strong – The young wife of Dr. Strong. Although she remains loyal to him, she fears that he suspects that she is involved in an affair with Jack Maldon.
* Jack Maldon – A cousin and childhood sweetheart of Anne Strong. He continues to bear affection for her and tries to seduce her into leaving Dr. Strong.
* Mr. Wickfield – The father of Agnes Wickfield and lawyer to Betsey Trotwood. He is prone to alcoholism.
* Agnes Wickfield – Mr. Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since childhood. She later becomes David's second wife and mother of their children.
* Uriah Heep – A wicked young man who serves as partner to Mr. Wickfield. He is finally discovered to have stolen money and is imprisoned as a punishment. He always talks of being "'umble" (humble) and nurtures a deep hatred of David Copperfield and many others.
* Mrs. Steerforth – The wealthy widowed mother of James Steerforth. She herself is incredibly like her son.
* Miss Dartle – A strange, vitriolic woman who lives with Mrs. Steerforth. She has a secret love for Steerforth and blames others such as Emily and even Steerforth's own mother for corrupting him. She is described as being extremely skinny and displays a visible scar on her lip caused by Steerforth. She is also Steerforth's cousin.
* Mr. Spenlow – An employer of David's during his days as a proctor and the father of Dora Spenlow. He dies suddenly of a heart attack while driving his phaeton home.
* Dora Spenlow – The adorable but foolish daughter of Mr. Spenlow who becomes David's first wife. She is described as being impractical and with many similarities to David's mother. She dies of illness on the same day as her dog, Jip.
* Mr.Sharp – He was the chief teacher of Salem House and had more authority than Mr.Mell.He looked weak,both in health and character;his head seemed to be very heavy for him:he walked on one side.He had a big nose.
* Mr.Mell – A tall, thin young man with hollow cheeks.His hair was dusty and dry too,with rather short sleeves and legs.
一八四八年，范妮因患肺结核早逝，她的死使狄更斯非常悲伤，因为在众多兄弟姐妹中，只有他俩在才能、志趣上十分接近。他俩都有杰出的表演才能，童年时曾随父亲到罗彻斯特的米特尔饭店，站在大餐桌上表演歌舞，赢得众人的赞叹。范妮死后，狄更斯写下一篇七千字的回忆文章，记录他俩一起度过的充满艰辛的童年。狄更斯身后，他的好友福斯特在《狄更斯传》中首次向公众披露了狄更斯的早年，小说，根据的正是这篇回忆。狄更斯写这篇回忆是为创作一部自传体长篇小说做准备。他小说主人公取过许多名字，最后才想到“大卫·科波菲尔”。福斯特听了，立刻叫好，因为这个名字的缩写D.C.正是作者名字缩写的颠倒。于是小说主人公的名字便定了下来。
狄更斯早期作品大多是结构松散的“流浪汉传奇”，足凭借灵感信笔挥洒的即兴创作，而本书则是他的中期作品，更加注重结构技巧和艺术的分寸感。狄更斯在本书第十一章中，把他的创作方法概括为“经验想象，糅合为一”。他写小说，并不拘泥于临摹实际发生的事，而是充分发挥想象力，利用生活素材进行崭新的创造。尽管书中大卫幼年时跟母亲学字母的情景是他本人的亲身经历，大卫在母亲改嫁后，在极端孤寂的环境中阅读的正是他本人在那个年龄所读的书，母亲被折磨死后，大卫被送去当童工的年龄也正是狄更斯当童工时的年龄，然而，小说和实事完全不同：狄更斯不是孤儿，而他笔下的大卫却是“遗腹子”。同时，狄更斯又把自己父母的某些性格糅进了大卫的房东、推销商米考伯夫妇身上。
大卫早年生活的篇章以孩子的心理视角向我们展示了一个早已被成年人淡忘的童年世界，写得十分真切感人。例如：大卫以儿童特殊的敏感对追求母亲的那个冷酷、残暴、贪婪的商人默德斯东一开始就怀有敌意，当默德斯东虚情假意地伸手拍拍大卫时，他发现那只手放肆地碰到母亲的手，便生气地把它推开。大卫向母亲复述默德斯东带他出去玩时的情景，当他说到默德斯东的一个朋友在谈话中老提起一位“漂亮的小寡妇”时，母亲一边笑着，一边要他把当时的情景讲了一遍又一遍。叙事完全从天真无邪的孩子的视角出发，幼儿并不知道人家讲的就是自己的母亲，而年轻寡妇要求再醮、对幸福生活的热烈憧憬已跃然纸上。又如：大卫跟保姆佩葛蒂到她哥哥家去玩，她的哥哥辟果提先生是一位渔民。大卫看见他从海上作业后回来洗脸，觉得他与虾蟹具有某种相似之处，因为那张黑脸被热水一烫，立刻就发红了。这个奇特的联想，充满童趣和狄更斯特有的幽默。
Plot summary
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 is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr Murdstone thrashes David for falling 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 and Tommy Traddles, both of whom he meets again later on.
David returns home for the holidays to find out that his mother has had a baby boy. Soon after David goes back to Salem House, his mother and her baby die and David has to return home immediately. Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory in London, of which Murdstone is a joint owner. The grim reality of hand-to-mouth factory existence echoes Dickens' own travails in a blacking factory. His landlord, Mr Wilkins Micawber, is sent to a debtor's prison (the King's Bench Prison) after going bankrupt, and is there for several months before being released and moving to Plymouth. David now has nobody left to care for him in London, and decides to run away.
He walks all the way from London to Dover, to find his only relative, his aunt Miss Betsey. The eccentric Betsey Trotwood agrees to bring him up, despite Mr Murdstone visiting in a bid to regain custody of David. David's aunt renames him 'Trotwood Copperfield', soon shortened to "Trot", and for the rest of the novel he is called by either name, depending on whether he is communicating with someone he has known for a long time, or someone he has only recently met.
The story follows David as he grows to adulthood, and is enlivened by the many well-known characters who enter, leave and re-enter his life. These include Peggotty, his faithful former housekeeper for his mother, her family, and their orphaned niece Little Em'ly who lives with them and charms the young David. David's romantic but self-serving schoolfriend, Steerforth, seduces and dishonors Little Em'ly, triggering the novel's greatest tragedy; and his landlord's daughter and ideal "angel in the house," Agnes Wickfield, becomes his confidante. The two most familiar characters are David's sometime mentor, the constantly debt-ridden Mr Wilkins Micawber, and the devious and fraudulent clerk, Uriah Heep, whose misdeeds are eventually discovered with Micawber's assistance. Micawber is painted as a sympathetic character, even as the author deplores his financial ineptitude; and Micawber, like Dickens's own father, is briefly imprisoned for insolvency.
In typical Dickens fashion, the major characters get some measure of what they deserve, and few narrative threads are left hanging. Dan Peggotty safely transports Little Em'ly to a new life in Australia; accompanying these two central characters are Mrs. Gummidge and the Micawbers. Everybody involved finally finds security and happiness in their new lives in Australia. David first marries the beautiful but naïve Dora Spenlow, but she dies after failing to recover from a miscarriage early in their marriage. David then does some soul-searching and eventually marries and finds true happiness with the sensible Agnes, who had secretly always loved him. They have several children, including a daughter named in honor of Betsey Trotwood.
Analysis
The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of the first person narrator, David Copperfield himself, and was the first Dickens novel to be written as such a narration.
Critically, it is considered a Bildungsroman, i.e., a novel of self-cultivation, and would be influential in the genre which included Dickens's own Great Expectations (1861), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, published only two years prior, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh, H. G. Wells's Tono-Bungay, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Tolstoy regarded Dickens as the best of all English novelists, and considered Copperfield to be his finest work, ranking the "Tempest" chapter (chapter 55, LV – the story of Ham and the storm and the shipwreck) the standard by which the world's great fiction should be judged. Henry James remembered hiding under a small table as a boy to hear instalments read by his mother. Dostoyevsky read it enthralled in a Siberian prison camp. Franz Kafka called his first book Amerika a "sheer imitation". James Joyce paid it reverence through parody in Ulysses. Virginia Woolf, who normally had little regard for Dickens, confessed the durability of this one novel, belonging to "the memories and myths of life". It was Freud's favourite novel.
Characters in David Copperfield
* David Copperfield – An optimistic, diligent, and persevering character, he is the protagonist. He is later called "Trotwood Copperfield" by some ("David Copperfield" is also the name of the hero's father, who dies before David is born). He has many nicknames: James Steerforth nicknames him "Daisy", Dora calls him "Doady", and his aunt refers to him, as a reference to his would-be sister (if he had been born a girl), in and on "Trot" – as in Betsey Trotwood Copperfield.
* Clara Copperfield – David's kind mother, described as being innocently childish, who dies while David is at Salem House. She dies just after the birth of her second child, who dies along with her.
* Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to David (referred to at times as Mrs. Barkis after her marriage to Mr. Barkis). Inherits £3,000—a large sum in the mid-19th century—when Mr. Barkis dies. After his death, she becomes Betsey Trotwood's servant.
* Betsey Trotwood – David's eccentric and temperamental yet kindhearted great-aunt; she becomes his guardian after he runs away from Grinby and Murdstone's warehouse in Blackfriars (London). She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl.
* Mr. Chillip – A shy doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath of Betsey Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of a girl.
* Mr. Barkis – An aloof carter who declares his intention to marry Peggotty. He says to David: "Tell her, 'Barkis is willin'!' Just so." He is a bit of a miser, and hides his surprisingly vast liquid wealth in a plain box labeled "Old Clothes". He bequeaths to his wife the then astronomical sum of £3,000 when he dies about ten years later.
* Edward Murdstone – Young David's cruel stepfather, who canes him for falling behind in his studies. David reacts by biting Mr Murdstone, who then sends him to Salem House, the private school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. After David's mother dies, Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory, where he has to clean wine bottles. He appears at Betsey Trotwood's house after David runs away. Mr Murdstone appears to show signs of repentance when confronted with Copperfield's aunt, but later in the book we hear he has married another young woman and applied his old principles of "firmness."
* Jane Murdstone – Mr. Murdstone's equally cruel sister, who moves into the Copperfield house after Mr. Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield. She is the "Confidential Friend" of David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, and encourages many of the problems that occur between David Copperfield and Dora's father, Mr. Spenlow. Later, she rejoins her brother and his new wife in a relationship very much like the one they had with David's mother.
* Daniel Peggotty – Peggotty's brother; a humble but generous Yarmouth fisherman who takes his nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them has been orphaned. After Emily's departure, he travels around the world in search of her. He eventually finds her in London, and after that they emigrate to Australia.
* Emily (Little Em'ly) – A niece of Mr. Peggotty. She is a childhood friend of David Copperfield, who loves her in his childhood days. She leaves her cousin and fiancé, Ham, for Steerforth, but returns after Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates to Australia with Mr. Peggotty after being rescued from a London brothel.
* Ham Peggotty – A good-natured nephew of Mr. Peggotty and the fiancé of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth. He later loses his life while attempting to rescue a sailor, who happens to be Steerforth, from a shipwreck. His death is hidden from his family due to the fact that David does not want them to worry on the brink of their journey.
* Mrs. Gummidge – The widow of Daniel Peggotty's partner in a boat. She is a self-described "lone, lorn creetur" who spends much of her time pining for "the old 'un" (her late husband). After Emily runs away from home with Steerforth, she changes her attitude to better comfort everyone around her and tries to be very caring and motherly. She too emigrates to Australia with Dan and the rest of the surviving family.
* Martha Endell – A young woman of a bad reputation who helps Daniel Peggotty find his niece after she returns to London. She has worked as a prostitute, and been victim to the idea of suicide.
* Mr. Creakle – The harsh headmaster of young David's boarding school, who is assisted by Tungay. Mr. Creakle is a friend of Mr. Murdstone. He singles out David for extra torment. Later he becomes a Middlesex magistrate, and is considered enlightened for his day.
"I am married". Etching by Phiz.
* James Steerforth – A close friend of David, he is of a romantic and charming disposition and has known David ever since his first days at Salem House. Although well-liked by most, he proves himself to be lacking in character by seducing and later abandoning Little Em'ly. He eventually drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who had been trying to rescue him.
* Tommy Traddles – David's friend from Salem House. They meet again later and become eventual lifelong friends. Traddles works hard but faces great obstacles because of his lack of money and connections. He eventually succeeds in making a name and a career for himself.
* Wilkins Micawber – A gentle man who befriends David as a young boy. He suffers from much financial difficulty and even has to spend time in a debtor's prison. Eventually he emigrates to Australia where he enjoys a successful career as a sheep farmer and becomes a magistrate. He is based on Dickens' father, John Dickens.
* Mr. Dick (Richard Babley) – A slightly deranged, rather childish but amiable man who lives with Betsey Trotwood. His madness is amply described in as much as that he claims to have the "trouble" of King Charles I in his head.
* Dr. Strong – The headmaster of David's Canterbury school, whom he visits on various occasions.
* Anne Strong – The young wife of Dr. Strong. Although she remains loyal to him, she fears that he suspects that she is involved in an affair with Jack Maldon.
* Jack Maldon – A cousin and childhood sweetheart of Anne Strong. He continues to bear affection for her and tries to seduce her into leaving Dr. Strong.
* Mr. Wickfield – The father of Agnes Wickfield and lawyer to Betsey Trotwood. He is prone to alcoholism.
* Agnes Wickfield – Mr. Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since childhood. She later becomes David's second wife and mother of their children.
* Uriah Heep – A wicked young man who serves as partner to Mr. Wickfield. He is finally discovered to have stolen money and is imprisoned as a punishment. He always talks of being "'umble" (humble) and nurtures a deep hatred of David Copperfield and many others.
* Mrs. Steerforth – The wealthy widowed mother of James Steerforth. She herself is incredibly like her son.
* Miss Dartle – A strange, vitriolic woman who lives with Mrs. Steerforth. She has a secret love for Steerforth and blames others such as Emily and even Steerforth's own mother for corrupting him. She is described as being extremely skinny and displays a visible scar on her lip caused by Steerforth. She is also Steerforth's cousin.
* Mr. Spenlow – An employer of David's during his days as a proctor and the father of Dora Spenlow. He dies suddenly of a heart attack while driving his phaeton home.
* Dora Spenlow – The adorable but foolish daughter of Mr. Spenlow who becomes David's first wife. She is described as being impractical and with many similarities to David's mother. She dies of illness on the same day as her dog, Jip.
* Mr.Sharp – He was the chief teacher of Salem House and had more authority than Mr.Mell.He looked weak,both in health and character;his head seemed to be very heavy for him:he walked on one side.He had a big nose.
* Mr.Mell – A tall, thin young man with hollow cheeks.His hair was dusty and dry too,with rather short sleeves and legs.
艰难时世（Hard Times）是英国作家狄更斯的长篇小说作品，发表于1854年，故事描写某工业市镇的生活。
纺织厂厂主、银行家庞得贝（Josiah Bounderby）和退休的五金批发商人、国会议员兼教育家汤玛斯·葛莱恩（Thomas Gradgrind）是好朋友，他们一起控制著市镇的经济体系与教育机构。他们注重实利而且不讲情义，自命不凡，以功利主义作为生活原则。负责侍候庞得贝的是寡妇史巴斯特太太。
葛莱恩对子女的教育主张“实事求是，脚踏实地”，他们在学会走路时，就被赶进教室，终日和数字打交道，他们不允许阅读诗歌和故事。葛雷梗把年轻的女儿露意莎（Louisa）嫁给了年龄比她大得多的庞得贝，寡妇史巴斯特太太嫉妒她，使她受尽痛苦，导致女儿婚姻破裂。她责备父亲：“你的哲学和教育都不能救我了。”在葛莱恩自己的教育主张下，他的儿子汤姆（Tom）被迫协助庞得贝工作，他生活放荡且负债累累，偷了庞得贝银行的钱逃跑，躲到马戏团里，扮演一名小丑的角色。经过了一连串的惨痛教训，又受到马戏团的女孩西丝·朱浦（Sissy, Cecilia Jupe）的感化，逐渐的改变了生活态度，被父亲送到美洲。但病死在省亲的途中。庞得贝喜欢吹嘘自己白手起家，诬蔑工人由于妄想过奢侈生活才产生不满情绪。五年后庞得贝中风猝死在焦煤镇的街上，露意莎再嫁了人。
Background
The novel is unusual in that it did not contain illustrations; nor is it set in or around London (both usual in Dickens' novels). Instead the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town partially based upon 19th-century Preston.
Dickens' reasons for writing Hard Times were mostly monetary. Sales of his weekly periodical, Household Words, were low, and he hoped the inclusion of this novel in instalments would increase sales. Since publication it has received a mixed response from a diverse range of critics, such as F.R. Leavis, George Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Macaulay, mainly focusing on Dickens' treatment of trade unions and his post-Industrial Revolution pessimism regarding the divide between capitalistic mill owners and undervalued workers during the Victorian era.
Prevalence of utilitarianism
The Utilitarians were one of the targets of this novel. Utilitarianism was a prevalent school of thought during this period, its most famous proponents being Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Theoretical Utilitarian ethics hold that promotion of general social welfare is the ultimate goal for the individual and society in general: "the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people." Dickens believed that in practical terms, the pursuit of a totally rationalized society could lead to great misery.
Bentham's former secretary, Edwin Karbunkle, helped design the Poor Law of 1834, which deliberately made workhouse life as uncomfortable as possible. In the novel, this is conveyed in Bitzer's response to Gradgrind's appeal for compassion.
Dickens was appalled by what was, in his interpretation, a selfish philosophy, which was combined with materialist laissez-faire capitalism in the education of some children at the time, as well as in industrial practices. In Dickens' interpretation, the prevalence of utilitarian values in educational institutions promoted contempt between mill owners and workers, creating young adults whose imaginations had been neglected, due to an over-emphasis on facts at the expense of more imaginative pursuits.
Dickens wished to satirize radical Utilitarians whom he described in a letter to Charles Knight as "see[ing] figures and averages, and nothing else." He also wished to campaign for reform of working conditions. Dickens had visited factories in Manchester as early as 1839, and was appalled by the environment in which workers toiled. Drawing upon his own childhood experiences, Dickens resolved to "strike the heaviest blow in my power" for those who laboured in horrific conditions.
John Stuart Mill had a similar, rigorous education to that of Louisa Gradgrind, consisting of analytical, logical, mathematical, and statistical exercises. In his twenties, Mill had a nervous breakdown, believing his capacity for emotion had been enervated by his father's stringent emphasis on analysis and mathematics in his education. In the book, Louisa herself follows a parallel course, being unable to express herself and falling into a temporary depression as a result of her dry education.
Publication
The novel was published as a serial in his weekly publication, Household Words. Sales were highly responsive and encouraging for Dickens who remarked that he was "Three parts mad, and the fourth delirious, with perpetual rushing at Hard Times". The novel was serialised, every week, between April 1 and August 12, 1854. It sold well, and a complete volume was published in August, totalling 110,000 words. Another related novel, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, was also published in this magazine.
Synopsis
The novel follows a classical tripartite structure, and the titles of each book are related to Galatians 6:7, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The interpretation of this quote being, whatever is effected upon or done in the present will have a direct effect on what happens later. Book I is entitled "Sowing", Book II is entitled "Reaping", and the third is "Garnering."
Book I: Sowing
Mr. Gradgrind, whose voice is "dictatorial", opens the novel by stating "Now, what I want is facts" at his school in Coketown. He is a man of "facts and calculations." He interrogates one of his pupils, Sissy, whose father is involved with the circus, the members of which are "Fancy" in comparison to Gradgrind's espousal of "Fact." Since her father rides and tends to horses, Gradgrind offers Sissy the definition of horse. She is rebuffed for not being able to define a horse factually; her classmate Bitzer does, however, provide a more zoological profile description and factual definition. She does not learn easily, and is censured for suggesting that she would carpet a floor with pictures of flowers "So you would carpet your room—or your husband's room, if you were a grown woman, and had a husband—with representations of flowers, would you? Why would you?" She is taught to disregard Fancy altogether. It is Fancy Vs Fact.
Louisa and Thomas, two of Mr. Gradgrind's children, pay a visit after school to the touring circus run by Mr. Sleary, only to find their father, who is disconcerted by their trip since he believes the circus to be the bastion of Fancy and conceit. With their father, Louisa and Tom trudge off in a despondent mood. Mr. Gradgrind has three younger children: Adam Smith, (after the famous theorist of laissez-faire policy), Malthus (after Rev. Thomas Malthus, who wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population, warning of the dangers of future overpopulation) and Jane.
Gradgrind apprehends Louisa and Tom, his two eldest children, at the circus.
Josiah Bounderby, "a man perfectly devoid of sentiment", is revealed as being Gradgrind's boss. Bounderby is a manufacturer and mill owner who is affluent as a result of his enterprise and capital. Bounderby is what one might call a "self-made man" who has risen from the gutter. He is not averse to giving dramatic summaries of his childhood, which terrify Mr. Gradgrind's wife who is often rendered insensate by these horrific stories. He is described in an acerbic manner as being "the Bully of Humility."
Mr. Gradgrind and Bounderby visit the public-house where Sissy resides to inform her that she cannot attend the school anymore due to the risk of her ideas propagating in the class. Sissy meets the two collaborators, informing them her father has abandoned her not out of malice, but out of desire for Sissy to lead a better life without him. This was the reasoning behind him enlisting her at Gradgrind's school and Gradgrind is outraged at this desertion. At this point members of the circus appear, fronted by their manager Mr. Sleary. Mr. Gradgrind gives Sissy a choice: either to return to the circus and forfeit her education, or to continue her education and never to return to the circus. Sleary and Gradgrind both have their say on the matter, and at the behest of Josephine Sleary she decides to leave the circus and bid all the close friends she had formed farewell.
Back at the Gradgrind house, Tom and Louisa sit down and discuss their feelings, however repressed they seem to be. Tom, already at this present stage of education finds himself in a state of dissatisfaction, and Louisa also expresses her discontent at her childhood while staring into the fire. Louisa's ability to wonder, however, has not been entirely extinguished by her rigorous education based in Fact.
We are introduced to the workers at the mills, known as the "Hands." Amongst them is a man named Stephen Blackpool or "Old Stephen" who has led a toilsome life. He is described as a "man of perfect integrity." He has ended his day's work, and his close companion Rachael is about somewhere. He eventually meets up with her, and they walk home discussing their day. On entering his house he finds that his drunken wretch of a wife, who has been in exile from Coketown, has made an unwelcome return to his house. She is unwell, and mumbles inebriated remarks to Stephen, who is greatly perturbed by this event.
The next day, Stephen makes a visit to Bounderby to try and end his woeful, childless marriage through divorce. Mrs. Sparsit, Mr. Bounderby's paid companion, is "dejected by the impiety" of Stephen and Bounderby explains that he could not afford to effect an annulment anyway. Stephen is very bewildered and dejected by this verdict given by Bounderby.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gradgrind prepares to talk to his daughter about a "business proposal", but she is seemingly apathetic in his company, and this seems to frustrate Mr. Gradgrind's efforts. He says that a proposal of marriage has been made to Louisa by Josiah Bounderby, who is some 30 years her senior. Gradgrind uses statistics to prove that an age inequity in marriage does not prove an unhappy or short marriage however. Louisa passively accepts this offer. Bounderby is rendered ecstatic by the news, as is Louisa's mother, who again is so overwhelmed that she is overcome yet again. Sissy is confounded by but piteous of Louisa.
Bounderby and Louisa get married, and they set out to their honeymoon in "Lyon"; so Bounderby can observe the progress of his 'Hands' (labourers who work in his factories there). Tom, her brother, bumps into her before they leave. They hug each other, Tom bidding her farewell and promising to look for her after they come back from their honeymoon.
Book 2: Reaping
Book Two opens with the attention focused on Bounderby's new bank in Coketown, of which Bitzer alongside the austere Mrs. Sparsit keep watch at night for intruders or burglars. A dashing gentleman enters, asking for directions to Bounderby's house, as Gradgrind has sent him from London, along with a letter. It is James Harthouse, a languid fellow, who was unsure what to do with his life, so became an MP as he saw it as a way out. For this, Dickens despises him.
Harthouse is introduced to Bounderby, who again reverts to almost improbable stories of his childhood to entertain Gradgrind. Harthouse is utterly bored by the blusterous millowner, yet is astounded by his wife, Louisa, and notices her melancholy nature. Louisa's brother Tom works for Bounderby, and he has become reckless and wayward in his conduct, despite his meticulous education. Tom decides to take a liking to James Harthouse, on the basis of his clothes, showing his superficiality. Tom is later debased to animal status, as he comes to be referred to as the "whelp", a denunciatory term for a young man. Tom is very forthcoming in his contempt for Bounderby in the presence of Harthouse, who soaks up all these secretive revelations.
Stephen is called to Bounderby's mansion, where he informs him of his abstention from joining the union led by the orator Slackbridge, and Bounderby accuses Stephen of fealty and of pledging an oath of secrecy to the union. Stephen denies this, and states that he avoided the Union because of a promise he'd made earlier to Rachael. Bounderby is bedevilled by this conflict of interest and accuses Stephen of being waspish. He dismisses him on the spot, on the basis that he has betrayed both employer and union. Later on a bank theft takes place at the Bounderby bank, and Stephen Blackpool is inculpated in the crime, due to him loitering around the bank at Tom's promise of better times to come, the night before the robbery.
Sparsit observes that the relationship between James Harthouse and Louisa is moving towards a near tryst. She sees Louisa as moving down her "staircase", metaphorically speaking. She sets off from the bank to spy upon them, and catches them at what seems to be a propitious moment. However, despite Harthouse confessing his love to Louisa, Louisa is restrained, and refuses an affair. Sparsit is infatuated with the idea that the two do not know they are being observed. Harthouse departs as does Louisa, and Mrs. Sparsit tries to stay in pursuit, thinking that Louisa is going to assent to the affair, though Louisa has not. She follows Louisa to the railway station assuming that Louisa has hired a coachman to dispatch her to Coketown. Sparsit however, misses the fact that Louisa has instead boarded a train to her father's house. Sparsit relinquishes defeat and proclaims "I have lost her!" When Louisa arrives at her father's house, she is revealed to be in an extreme state of disconsolate grief. She accuses her father of denying her the opportunity to have an innocent childhood, and that her rigorous education has stifled her ability to express her emotions. Louisa collapses at her father's feet, into an insensible torpor.
Book 3: Garnering
Mrs. Sparsit arrives at Mr. Bounderby's house, and reveals to him the news her surveillance has brought. Mr. Bounderby, who is rendered irate by this news, journeys to Stone Lodge, where Louisa is resting. Mr. Gradgrind tries to disperse calm upon the scene, and reveals that Louisa resisted the temptation of adultery. Bounderby is inconsolable and he is immensely indignant and ill-mannered towards everyone present, including Mrs. Sparsit, for her falsehood. Bounderby finishes by offering the ultimatum to Louisa of returning to him, by 12 o'clock the next morning, else the marriage is forfeited. Suffice it to say, Mr. Bounderby resumes his bachelorhood when the request is not met.
The discomfited Harthouse leaves Coketown, on an admonition from Sissy Jupe, never to return. He submits. Meanwhile, Mr. Gradgrind and Louisa cast suspicions that Tom, the "whelp", may have committed the bank robbery. Stephen Blackpool who has been absent from Coketown, trying to find mill work under a pseudonym, tries to exculpate himself from the robbery. On walking back to Coketown, he falls down the Old Hell Shaft, an old pit, completing his terminal bad luck in life. He is rescued by villagers, but after speaking to Rachael for the last time, he dies.
Louisa suspects that Tom had a word with Stephen, making a false offer to him, and therefore urging him to loiter outside of the bank. Mr. Gradgrind and Sissy concur with this theory and resolve to find Tom, since he is in danger. Sissy makes a plan for rescue and escape, however, and she reveals that she suspected Tom early on during the proceedings. She sends Tom off to the circus that she used to be a part of, namely Mr. Sleary's. Louisa and Sissy travel to the circus; Tom is there, disguised in blackface. Remorselessly, Tom says that he had little money, and that robbery was the only solution to his dilemma. Mr. Sleary is not aware of this and agrees to help him reach Liverpool, and Mr. Gradgrind, prays that his son is able to board a ship that will send him to the faraway Americas. The party is stopped, however, by Bitzer, who is anxious to claim his reward for the misdemeanour. The "excellent young man" is entreated to show compassion and questions whether he has a heart, to which Bitzer, cynically responds, that of course he has a heart, and that the "circulation could not be carried on without one." Sleary is dismayed by this revelation, and agrees to take Bitzer and Tom to the bank without any further delays. However, he sees that Mr. Gradgrind has been kind to Sissy, and agrees to detain and divert Bitzer whilst Tom leaves for Liverpool.
Returning to Coketown, Mrs. Sparsit is relieved of her duty to Bounderby who has no qualms about firing a lady, however "highly connected" she may be. The final chapter of the book details the fates of the characters. Mrs. Sparsit returns to live with her aunt, Lady Scadgers. The two have feelings of acrimony towards each other. Bounderby dies of a fit in a street one day. Tom dies in the Americas, having begged for penitence in a half-written letter to his sister, Louisa. Louisa herself grows old and never remarries. Mr. Gradgrind abandons his Utilitarian stance, which brings contempt from his fellow MPs, who give him a hard time. Rachael continues to labour while still consistently maintaining her work ethic and honesty. Sissy is the moral victor of the story, as her children have also escaped the desiccative education of the Gradgrind school and grown learned in "childish lore."
Major characters
Mr. Gradgrind
Thomas Gradgrind is a utilitarian who is the founder of the educational system in Coketown. "Eminently practical" is Gradgrind's recurring description throughout the novel, and practicality is something he zealously aspires to. He represents the stringency of Fact, statistics and other materialistic pursuits. He is a "square" person and this can be seen not only through Dickens´description of his personality but also through the description of his physical appearance, "square shoulders".
Only after his daughter's breakdown does he come to a realisation that things such as poetry, fiction and other pursuits are not "destructive nonsense." In the third book, not only does he notice the existence of the unknown thought of "fancy" but he ironically asks Bitzer (one of his students in book the first, who gives a perfect description of a horse) if he has a heart (to save Tom) and in this situation, Bitzer again gives a very scientific response.
Mr. Bounderby
Josiah Bounderby is a business associate of Mr. Gradgrind. A thunderous merchant given to lecturing others, and boasting about being a self-made man. He employs many of the other central characters of the novel, and his rise to prosperity is shown to be an example of social mobility. He marries Mr. Gradgrind's daughter Louisa, some 30 years his junior, in what turns out to be a loveless marriage. They then had no children. Bounderby is the main target of Dickens' attack on the supposed moral superiority of the wealthy, and is revealed to be an hypocrite in his sensational comeuppance at the end of the novel. He is the " bully of humility" as he tells everyone that he is a "self made man" and that his mother left him to be looked after by his grandmother but then, due to Mrs. Sparsit's wrong accusation of thinking that Mrs. Pegler was the bank robber, we find that he has been lying.
He uses Mrs. Sparsit in order to give him status as she belonged to the "Powlers" a very important family in the same way as Bounderby takes advantage of Mrs. Sparsit expecting people of a lower status to respect her presence.
Louisa
Louisa (Loo) Gradgrind, later Louisa Bounderby, is the unemotional, distant and eldest child of the Gradgrind family. She has been taught to abnegate her emotions, and finds it hard to express herself clearly, saying as a child she has "unmanageable thoughts." She is married to Josiah Bounderby, in a very logical and businesslike manner, representing the emphasis on factuality and business pathos of her education. Her union is a disaster and she is tempted into adultery by James Harthouse, yet she manages to resist this temptation with help from Sissy.
All her life she has been "gazing into the fire" "wondering" in the first book we find that she wonders not knowing what it is she is wondering about, in book two with Mrs. Gradgrind's death we get the impression that she well will find out as Mrs. Gradgrind (another victim of the system) says: "there is something wrong" she dies without knowing what it is. It is at the end of book two after Harthouse's love declaration when Louisa understands the meaning of love, fancy, everything that until that moment her life had lacked. She realizes how immature the decision of marrying Bounderby was (only because of Tom's insistence). She then goes to complain to her father and all he says is: "I never knew you were unhappy my child". This shows how Louisa has made him recognize the existence of fancy. Fancy is transmitted through a chain, as Harthouse does to Louisa and Louisa to Gradgrind. The chain breaks at the end of the novel when Gradgrind tries to pass it onto Bitzer.
Sissy Jupe
Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe is the embodiment of imagination, hope and faith. Abandoned by her father, a circus performer at Sleary's circus. Gradgrind offers Sissy the chance to study at his school and to come and live at Stone Lodge with the Gradgrind children. Sleary also offers her a place and tells her she will be treated like one of the family, but Sissy follows her father's wishes of her having a good education, goes to live with Gradgrind. She goes through "hard times" when she is with the Gradgrinds at the beginning because she does not understand the difference between a life based upon facts and one based upon fancy, like hers. When she does notice this, she leaves school in order to look after ill Mrs. Gradgrind. She always asks Mr. Gradgrind if a letter from her father arrived.
Due to Sissy's high morals and natural warm-heartedness she has a huge influence on the Gradgrind family. When Mrs Gradgrind dies she largely takes over the role of mothering the younger Gradgrind Children: Jane, Adam Smith and Malthus.
She is the biggest representative of fancy in the novel. She offers the contrast between fact and fancy. She finishes happy and surrounded by children.
Tom
Thomas (Tom) Gradgrind, Junior is the eldest son and second child of the Gradgrinds. Tom develops as a thoroughly contemptible character. Initially sullen and bitterly resentful of his father's Utilitarian Gradgrindian education, Tom has a very strong relationship with his sister Louisa. At length, Tom starts work in Bounderby's bank (which he later robs), and descends into sybaritic gambling and drinking - he is indiscreet over Louisa's marriage to Bounderby with James Harthouse. Nonetheless Louisa never ceases to deeply adore Tom, and she aids Sissy and Mr. Gradgrind in saving her brother from arrest. It is also hinted that Tom has romantic feelings for Sissy that are partly reciprocated. He is, ultimately, an insecure wastrel.
Known as "the whelp" (small puppy) this is the way of Dickens mocking this character. He takes advantage of his loving sister in order to get out of the life that his father is giving him which he doesn't like. We might feel sympathy towards him at some points of the novel (mostly in book one) as he has the same kind of feelings as Louisa.
He tells Blackpool to wait for him outside the bank and if he has something to give him, he will make sure Bitzer gives it to him. He tricks him by doing so as he only does so in order to make him look as if it was him who robbed the bank, maybe as a form of revenge after Bounderby sacking him. He is found out in book three where Blackpool is shown to be innocent. Mr. Gradgrind makes signs to put them up in the whole town clearing Blackpool's name and putting the blame on his own son.
Old Stephen
Stephen Blackpool, or "Old Stephen" as he is referred to by his fellow Hands, is a worker at one of Bounderby's mills. His life is immensely strenuous, and he is married to a constantly inebriated wife who comes and goes throughout the novel. She remains anonymous and unidentified throughout the novel. He forms a close bond with Rachael, a co-worker. After a dispute with Bounderby, he is dismissed from his work at the Coketown mills and is forced to find work elsewhere. Whilst absent from Coketown he is accused of a crime for which he has been framed. Tragically, on his way back to vindicate himself, he falls down a mine-shaft. He is rescued but dies of his injuries.
Stephen is a man "of perfect integrity", a man who will never give up his moral standpoint to follow along with the crowd, a quality which leads to the conflict with Slackbridge and the Trade Union.
Other characters
Bitzer – is a very pale classmate of Sissy's and brought up on facts and is taught to operate according to self-interest. He takes up a job in Bounderby's bank, and later tries to arrest Tom.
Mrs. Sparsit – is a "classical" widow who has fallen upon despairing circumstances. She is employed by Bounderby, yet her officiousness and prying get her fired in a humorous send-off by Bounderby.
James Harthouse – enters the novel in the 2nd book. James is an indolent, languid, upper-class gentleman, who attempts to woo Louisa, and gets sent away by Sissy.
Mrs. Pegler – a "mysterious old woman" who turns out to be Bounderby's mother.
Slackbridge – trade union leader
Various circus folk", including Signor Jupe (Sissy's father, who never actually appears in the novel), his dog Merrylegs, Mr. Sleary (the lisping manager of the circus) and Cupid, used to represent that the world of the circus is not always as pure as is represented by Sissy and Sleary.
Mrs. Gradgrind – the wife of Mr. Gradgrind, who is an invalid and complains constantly. Her marriage to Thomas is a precursor of Louisa's marriage to Bounderby.
Mr. M'Choakumchild – the teacher of the class containing Sissy Jupe and Bitzer, says very little but his name suggests a cold personality that stifles imagination.
Major themes
Relating back to Dickens' aim to "strike the heaviest blow in my power," he wished to educate readers about the working conditions of some of the factories in the industrial towns of Manchester, and Preston. Relating to this also, Dickens wished to expose the assumption that prosperity runs parallel to morality, something which is cruelly shattered in this novel by his portrayal of the moral monsters, Mr. Bounderby, and James Harthouse, the cynical aristocrats. Dickens was also campaigning for the importance of imagination in life, and not for people's life to be reduced to a collection of material facts and statistical analyses. Dickens' favourable portrayal of the Circus, which he describes as caring so "little for Plain Fact", is an example of this.
Fact vs. Fancy
This theme is developed early on, the bastion of Fact being the eminently practical Mr. Gradgrind, and his model school, which teaches nothing but Facts. Any imaginative or aesthetic subjects are eradicated from the curriculum, but analysis, deduction and mathematics are emphasised. Conversely, Fancy is the opposite of Fact, encompassing, fiction, music, poetry, and novelty shows such as Sleary's circus. It is interesting that Mr. Sleary is reckoned to be a fool by the Fact men, but it is Sleary who realises people must be "amuthed" (amused). This is made cognisant by Tom's sybaritic gambling and Louisa, who is virtually soulless as a young child, and as a married woman. Bitzer, who has adhered to Gradgrind's teachings as a child, turns out to be an uncompassionate egotist.
Officiousness and spying
Prying and knowledge is key to several characters, namely Mrs. Sparsit and Mr. Bounderby. Mr. Bounderby spends his whole time fabricating stories about his childhood, covering up the real nature of his upbringing, which is solemnly revealed at the end of the novel. While not a snooper himself, he is undone by Sparsit unwittingly revealing the mysterious old woman to be his own mother, and she unravels Josiah's secrets about his upbringing and fictitious stories. Mr. Bounderby himself superintends through calculating tabular statements and statistics, and is always secretly rebuking the people of Coketown for indulging in conceitful activities. This gives Bounderby a sense of superiority, as it does with Mrs. Sparsit, who prides herself on her salacious knowledge gained from spying on others. All "superintendents" of the novel are undone in one way, or another.
Honesty
This is closely related to Dickens' typical social commentary, which is a theme he uses throughout his entire œuvre. Dickens portrays the wealthy in this novel as being morally corrupt. Bounderby has no moral scruples; he fires Blackpool "for a novelty". He also conducts himself without any shred of decency, frequently losing his temper. He is cynically false about his childhood. Harthouse, a leisured gent, is compared to an "iceberg" who will cause a wreck unwittingly, due to him being "not a moral sort of fellow", as he states himself. Stephen Blackpool, a destitute worker, is equipped with perfect morals, always abiding by his promises, and always thoughtful and considerate of others, as is Sissy Jupe.
Literary significance & criticism
Critics have had a diverse range of opinions on the novel. Renowned critic John Ruskin declared Hard Times to be his favourite Dickens work due to its exploration of important social questions. However, Thomas Macaulay branded it "sullen socialism", on the grounds that Dickens did not fully comprehend the politics of the time. This point was also made by George Bernard Shaw, who decreed Hard Times to be a novel of "passionate revolt against the whole industrial order of the modern world." Shaw criticized the novel for its failure to provide an accurate account of trade unionism of the time, deeming Dickens' character of Slackbridge, the poisonous orator as "a mere figment of middle-class imagination."
F. R. Leavis, in his controversial book, The Great Tradition, described the book as essentially being a moral fable, and awarded it the distinction of being a work of art, decreeing it the only significant novel of Dickens worth scrutinizing.
Walter Allen, in an introduction to an alternative edition, characterised Hard Times as being an unsurpassed "critique of industrial society", which was later superseded by works of D. H. Lawrence. Other writers have described the novel as being, as G. K. Chesterton commented in his work Appreciations and Criticisms, "the harshest of his stories"; whereas George Orwell praised the novel (and Dickens himself) for "generous anger."
纺织厂厂主、银行家庞得贝（Josiah Bounderby）和退休的五金批发商人、国会议员兼教育家汤玛斯·葛莱恩（Thomas Gradgrind）是好朋友，他们一起控制著市镇的经济体系与教育机构。他们注重实利而且不讲情义，自命不凡，以功利主义作为生活原则。负责侍候庞得贝的是寡妇史巴斯特太太。
葛莱恩对子女的教育主张“实事求是，脚踏实地”，他们在学会走路时，就被赶进教室，终日和数字打交道，他们不允许阅读诗歌和故事。葛雷梗把年轻的女儿露意莎（Louisa）嫁给了年龄比她大得多的庞得贝，寡妇史巴斯特太太嫉妒她，使她受尽痛苦，导致女儿婚姻破裂。她责备父亲：“你的哲学和教育都不能救我了。”在葛莱恩自己的教育主张下，他的儿子汤姆（Tom）被迫协助庞得贝工作，他生活放荡且负债累累，偷了庞得贝银行的钱逃跑，躲到马戏团里，扮演一名小丑的角色。经过了一连串的惨痛教训，又受到马戏团的女孩西丝·朱浦（Sissy, Cecilia Jupe）的感化，逐渐的改变了生活态度，被父亲送到美洲。但病死在省亲的途中。庞得贝喜欢吹嘘自己白手起家，诬蔑工人由于妄想过奢侈生活才产生不满情绪。五年后庞得贝中风猝死在焦煤镇的街上，露意莎再嫁了人。
Background
The novel is unusual in that it did not contain illustrations; nor is it set in or around London (both usual in Dickens' novels). Instead the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town partially based upon 19th-century Preston.
Dickens' reasons for writing Hard Times were mostly monetary. Sales of his weekly periodical, Household Words, were low, and he hoped the inclusion of this novel in instalments would increase sales. Since publication it has received a mixed response from a diverse range of critics, such as F.R. Leavis, George Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Macaulay, mainly focusing on Dickens' treatment of trade unions and his post-Industrial Revolution pessimism regarding the divide between capitalistic mill owners and undervalued workers during the Victorian era.
Prevalence of utilitarianism
The Utilitarians were one of the targets of this novel. Utilitarianism was a prevalent school of thought during this period, its most famous proponents being Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Theoretical Utilitarian ethics hold that promotion of general social welfare is the ultimate goal for the individual and society in general: "the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people." Dickens believed that in practical terms, the pursuit of a totally rationalized society could lead to great misery.
Bentham's former secretary, Edwin Karbunkle, helped design the Poor Law of 1834, which deliberately made workhouse life as uncomfortable as possible. In the novel, this is conveyed in Bitzer's response to Gradgrind's appeal for compassion.
Dickens was appalled by what was, in his interpretation, a selfish philosophy, which was combined with materialist laissez-faire capitalism in the education of some children at the time, as well as in industrial practices. In Dickens' interpretation, the prevalence of utilitarian values in educational institutions promoted contempt between mill owners and workers, creating young adults whose imaginations had been neglected, due to an over-emphasis on facts at the expense of more imaginative pursuits.
Dickens wished to satirize radical Utilitarians whom he described in a letter to Charles Knight as "see[ing] figures and averages, and nothing else." He also wished to campaign for reform of working conditions. Dickens had visited factories in Manchester as early as 1839, and was appalled by the environment in which workers toiled. Drawing upon his own childhood experiences, Dickens resolved to "strike the heaviest blow in my power" for those who laboured in horrific conditions.
John Stuart Mill had a similar, rigorous education to that of Louisa Gradgrind, consisting of analytical, logical, mathematical, and statistical exercises. In his twenties, Mill had a nervous breakdown, believing his capacity for emotion had been enervated by his father's stringent emphasis on analysis and mathematics in his education. In the book, Louisa herself follows a parallel course, being unable to express herself and falling into a temporary depression as a result of her dry education.
Publication
The novel was published as a serial in his weekly publication, Household Words. Sales were highly responsive and encouraging for Dickens who remarked that he was "Three parts mad, and the fourth delirious, with perpetual rushing at Hard Times". The novel was serialised, every week, between April 1 and August 12, 1854. It sold well, and a complete volume was published in August, totalling 110,000 words. Another related novel, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, was also published in this magazine.
Synopsis
The novel follows a classical tripartite structure, and the titles of each book are related to Galatians 6:7, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The interpretation of this quote being, whatever is effected upon or done in the present will have a direct effect on what happens later. Book I is entitled "Sowing", Book II is entitled "Reaping", and the third is "Garnering."
Book I: Sowing
Mr. Gradgrind, whose voice is "dictatorial", opens the novel by stating "Now, what I want is facts" at his school in Coketown. He is a man of "facts and calculations." He interrogates one of his pupils, Sissy, whose father is involved with the circus, the members of which are "Fancy" in comparison to Gradgrind's espousal of "Fact." Since her father rides and tends to horses, Gradgrind offers Sissy the definition of horse. She is rebuffed for not being able to define a horse factually; her classmate Bitzer does, however, provide a more zoological profile description and factual definition. She does not learn easily, and is censured for suggesting that she would carpet a floor with pictures of flowers "So you would carpet your room—or your husband's room, if you were a grown woman, and had a husband—with representations of flowers, would you? Why would you?" She is taught to disregard Fancy altogether. It is Fancy Vs Fact.
Louisa and Thomas, two of Mr. Gradgrind's children, pay a visit after school to the touring circus run by Mr. Sleary, only to find their father, who is disconcerted by their trip since he believes the circus to be the bastion of Fancy and conceit. With their father, Louisa and Tom trudge off in a despondent mood. Mr. Gradgrind has three younger children: Adam Smith, (after the famous theorist of laissez-faire policy), Malthus (after Rev. Thomas Malthus, who wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population, warning of the dangers of future overpopulation) and Jane.
Gradgrind apprehends Louisa and Tom, his two eldest children, at the circus.
Josiah Bounderby, "a man perfectly devoid of sentiment", is revealed as being Gradgrind's boss. Bounderby is a manufacturer and mill owner who is affluent as a result of his enterprise and capital. Bounderby is what one might call a "self-made man" who has risen from the gutter. He is not averse to giving dramatic summaries of his childhood, which terrify Mr. Gradgrind's wife who is often rendered insensate by these horrific stories. He is described in an acerbic manner as being "the Bully of Humility."
Mr. Gradgrind and Bounderby visit the public-house where Sissy resides to inform her that she cannot attend the school anymore due to the risk of her ideas propagating in the class. Sissy meets the two collaborators, informing them her father has abandoned her not out of malice, but out of desire for Sissy to lead a better life without him. This was the reasoning behind him enlisting her at Gradgrind's school and Gradgrind is outraged at this desertion. At this point members of the circus appear, fronted by their manager Mr. Sleary. Mr. Gradgrind gives Sissy a choice: either to return to the circus and forfeit her education, or to continue her education and never to return to the circus. Sleary and Gradgrind both have their say on the matter, and at the behest of Josephine Sleary she decides to leave the circus and bid all the close friends she had formed farewell.
Back at the Gradgrind house, Tom and Louisa sit down and discuss their feelings, however repressed they seem to be. Tom, already at this present stage of education finds himself in a state of dissatisfaction, and Louisa also expresses her discontent at her childhood while staring into the fire. Louisa's ability to wonder, however, has not been entirely extinguished by her rigorous education based in Fact.
We are introduced to the workers at the mills, known as the "Hands." Amongst them is a man named Stephen Blackpool or "Old Stephen" who has led a toilsome life. He is described as a "man of perfect integrity." He has ended his day's work, and his close companion Rachael is about somewhere. He eventually meets up with her, and they walk home discussing their day. On entering his house he finds that his drunken wretch of a wife, who has been in exile from Coketown, has made an unwelcome return to his house. She is unwell, and mumbles inebriated remarks to Stephen, who is greatly perturbed by this event.
The next day, Stephen makes a visit to Bounderby to try and end his woeful, childless marriage through divorce. Mrs. Sparsit, Mr. Bounderby's paid companion, is "dejected by the impiety" of Stephen and Bounderby explains that he could not afford to effect an annulment anyway. Stephen is very bewildered and dejected by this verdict given by Bounderby.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gradgrind prepares to talk to his daughter about a "business proposal", but she is seemingly apathetic in his company, and this seems to frustrate Mr. Gradgrind's efforts. He says that a proposal of marriage has been made to Louisa by Josiah Bounderby, who is some 30 years her senior. Gradgrind uses statistics to prove that an age inequity in marriage does not prove an unhappy or short marriage however. Louisa passively accepts this offer. Bounderby is rendered ecstatic by the news, as is Louisa's mother, who again is so overwhelmed that she is overcome yet again. Sissy is confounded by but piteous of Louisa.
Bounderby and Louisa get married, and they set out to their honeymoon in "Lyon"; so Bounderby can observe the progress of his 'Hands' (labourers who work in his factories there). Tom, her brother, bumps into her before they leave. They hug each other, Tom bidding her farewell and promising to look for her after they come back from their honeymoon.
Book 2: Reaping
Book Two opens with the attention focused on Bounderby's new bank in Coketown, of which Bitzer alongside the austere Mrs. Sparsit keep watch at night for intruders or burglars. A dashing gentleman enters, asking for directions to Bounderby's house, as Gradgrind has sent him from London, along with a letter. It is James Harthouse, a languid fellow, who was unsure what to do with his life, so became an MP as he saw it as a way out. For this, Dickens despises him.
Harthouse is introduced to Bounderby, who again reverts to almost improbable stories of his childhood to entertain Gradgrind. Harthouse is utterly bored by the blusterous millowner, yet is astounded by his wife, Louisa, and notices her melancholy nature. Louisa's brother Tom works for Bounderby, and he has become reckless and wayward in his conduct, despite his meticulous education. Tom decides to take a liking to James Harthouse, on the basis of his clothes, showing his superficiality. Tom is later debased to animal status, as he comes to be referred to as the "whelp", a denunciatory term for a young man. Tom is very forthcoming in his contempt for Bounderby in the presence of Harthouse, who soaks up all these secretive revelations.
Stephen is called to Bounderby's mansion, where he informs him of his abstention from joining the union led by the orator Slackbridge, and Bounderby accuses Stephen of fealty and of pledging an oath of secrecy to the union. Stephen denies this, and states that he avoided the Union because of a promise he'd made earlier to Rachael. Bounderby is bedevilled by this conflict of interest and accuses Stephen of being waspish. He dismisses him on the spot, on the basis that he has betrayed both employer and union. Later on a bank theft takes place at the Bounderby bank, and Stephen Blackpool is inculpated in the crime, due to him loitering around the bank at Tom's promise of better times to come, the night before the robbery.
Sparsit observes that the relationship between James Harthouse and Louisa is moving towards a near tryst. She sees Louisa as moving down her "staircase", metaphorically speaking. She sets off from the bank to spy upon them, and catches them at what seems to be a propitious moment. However, despite Harthouse confessing his love to Louisa, Louisa is restrained, and refuses an affair. Sparsit is infatuated with the idea that the two do not know they are being observed. Harthouse departs as does Louisa, and Mrs. Sparsit tries to stay in pursuit, thinking that Louisa is going to assent to the affair, though Louisa has not. She follows Louisa to the railway station assuming that Louisa has hired a coachman to dispatch her to Coketown. Sparsit however, misses the fact that Louisa has instead boarded a train to her father's house. Sparsit relinquishes defeat and proclaims "I have lost her!" When Louisa arrives at her father's house, she is revealed to be in an extreme state of disconsolate grief. She accuses her father of denying her the opportunity to have an innocent childhood, and that her rigorous education has stifled her ability to express her emotions. Louisa collapses at her father's feet, into an insensible torpor.
Book 3: Garnering
Mrs. Sparsit arrives at Mr. Bounderby's house, and reveals to him the news her surveillance has brought. Mr. Bounderby, who is rendered irate by this news, journeys to Stone Lodge, where Louisa is resting. Mr. Gradgrind tries to disperse calm upon the scene, and reveals that Louisa resisted the temptation of adultery. Bounderby is inconsolable and he is immensely indignant and ill-mannered towards everyone present, including Mrs. Sparsit, for her falsehood. Bounderby finishes by offering the ultimatum to Louisa of returning to him, by 12 o'clock the next morning, else the marriage is forfeited. Suffice it to say, Mr. Bounderby resumes his bachelorhood when the request is not met.
The discomfited Harthouse leaves Coketown, on an admonition from Sissy Jupe, never to return. He submits. Meanwhile, Mr. Gradgrind and Louisa cast suspicions that Tom, the "whelp", may have committed the bank robbery. Stephen Blackpool who has been absent from Coketown, trying to find mill work under a pseudonym, tries to exculpate himself from the robbery. On walking back to Coketown, he falls down the Old Hell Shaft, an old pit, completing his terminal bad luck in life. He is rescued by villagers, but after speaking to Rachael for the last time, he dies.
Louisa suspects that Tom had a word with Stephen, making a false offer to him, and therefore urging him to loiter outside of the bank. Mr. Gradgrind and Sissy concur with this theory and resolve to find Tom, since he is in danger. Sissy makes a plan for rescue and escape, however, and she reveals that she suspected Tom early on during the proceedings. She sends Tom off to the circus that she used to be a part of, namely Mr. Sleary's. Louisa and Sissy travel to the circus; Tom is there, disguised in blackface. Remorselessly, Tom says that he had little money, and that robbery was the only solution to his dilemma. Mr. Sleary is not aware of this and agrees to help him reach Liverpool, and Mr. Gradgrind, prays that his son is able to board a ship that will send him to the faraway Americas. The party is stopped, however, by Bitzer, who is anxious to claim his reward for the misdemeanour. The "excellent young man" is entreated to show compassion and questions whether he has a heart, to which Bitzer, cynically responds, that of course he has a heart, and that the "circulation could not be carried on without one." Sleary is dismayed by this revelation, and agrees to take Bitzer and Tom to the bank without any further delays. However, he sees that Mr. Gradgrind has been kind to Sissy, and agrees to detain and divert Bitzer whilst Tom leaves for Liverpool.
Returning to Coketown, Mrs. Sparsit is relieved of her duty to Bounderby who has no qualms about firing a lady, however "highly connected" she may be. The final chapter of the book details the fates of the characters. Mrs. Sparsit returns to live with her aunt, Lady Scadgers. The two have feelings of acrimony towards each other. Bounderby dies of a fit in a street one day. Tom dies in the Americas, having begged for penitence in a half-written letter to his sister, Louisa. Louisa herself grows old and never remarries. Mr. Gradgrind abandons his Utilitarian stance, which brings contempt from his fellow MPs, who give him a hard time. Rachael continues to labour while still consistently maintaining her work ethic and honesty. Sissy is the moral victor of the story, as her children have also escaped the desiccative education of the Gradgrind school and grown learned in "childish lore."
Major characters
Mr. Gradgrind
Thomas Gradgrind is a utilitarian who is the founder of the educational system in Coketown. "Eminently practical" is Gradgrind's recurring description throughout the novel, and practicality is something he zealously aspires to. He represents the stringency of Fact, statistics and other materialistic pursuits. He is a "square" person and this can be seen not only through Dickens´description of his personality but also through the description of his physical appearance, "square shoulders".
Only after his daughter's breakdown does he come to a realisation that things such as poetry, fiction and other pursuits are not "destructive nonsense." In the third book, not only does he notice the existence of the unknown thought of "fancy" but he ironically asks Bitzer (one of his students in book the first, who gives a perfect description of a horse) if he has a heart (to save Tom) and in this situation, Bitzer again gives a very scientific response.
Mr. Bounderby
Josiah Bounderby is a business associate of Mr. Gradgrind. A thunderous merchant given to lecturing others, and boasting about being a self-made man. He employs many of the other central characters of the novel, and his rise to prosperity is shown to be an example of social mobility. He marries Mr. Gradgrind's daughter Louisa, some 30 years his junior, in what turns out to be a loveless marriage. They then had no children. Bounderby is the main target of Dickens' attack on the supposed moral superiority of the wealthy, and is revealed to be an hypocrite in his sensational comeuppance at the end of the novel. He is the " bully of humility" as he tells everyone that he is a "self made man" and that his mother left him to be looked after by his grandmother but then, due to Mrs. Sparsit's wrong accusation of thinking that Mrs. Pegler was the bank robber, we find that he has been lying.
He uses Mrs. Sparsit in order to give him status as she belonged to the "Powlers" a very important family in the same way as Bounderby takes advantage of Mrs. Sparsit expecting people of a lower status to respect her presence.
Louisa
Louisa (Loo) Gradgrind, later Louisa Bounderby, is the unemotional, distant and eldest child of the Gradgrind family. She has been taught to abnegate her emotions, and finds it hard to express herself clearly, saying as a child she has "unmanageable thoughts." She is married to Josiah Bounderby, in a very logical and businesslike manner, representing the emphasis on factuality and business pathos of her education. Her union is a disaster and she is tempted into adultery by James Harthouse, yet she manages to resist this temptation with help from Sissy.
All her life she has been "gazing into the fire" "wondering" in the first book we find that she wonders not knowing what it is she is wondering about, in book two with Mrs. Gradgrind's death we get the impression that she well will find out as Mrs. Gradgrind (another victim of the system) says: "there is something wrong" she dies without knowing what it is. It is at the end of book two after Harthouse's love declaration when Louisa understands the meaning of love, fancy, everything that until that moment her life had lacked. She realizes how immature the decision of marrying Bounderby was (only because of Tom's insistence). She then goes to complain to her father and all he says is: "I never knew you were unhappy my child". This shows how Louisa has made him recognize the existence of fancy. Fancy is transmitted through a chain, as Harthouse does to Louisa and Louisa to Gradgrind. The chain breaks at the end of the novel when Gradgrind tries to pass it onto Bitzer.
Sissy Jupe
Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe is the embodiment of imagination, hope and faith. Abandoned by her father, a circus performer at Sleary's circus. Gradgrind offers Sissy the chance to study at his school and to come and live at Stone Lodge with the Gradgrind children. Sleary also offers her a place and tells her she will be treated like one of the family, but Sissy follows her father's wishes of her having a good education, goes to live with Gradgrind. She goes through "hard times" when she is with the Gradgrinds at the beginning because she does not understand the difference between a life based upon facts and one based upon fancy, like hers. When she does notice this, she leaves school in order to look after ill Mrs. Gradgrind. She always asks Mr. Gradgrind if a letter from her father arrived.
Due to Sissy's high morals and natural warm-heartedness she has a huge influence on the Gradgrind family. When Mrs Gradgrind dies she largely takes over the role of mothering the younger Gradgrind Children: Jane, Adam Smith and Malthus.
She is the biggest representative of fancy in the novel. She offers the contrast between fact and fancy. She finishes happy and surrounded by children.
Tom
Thomas (Tom) Gradgrind, Junior is the eldest son and second child of the Gradgrinds. Tom develops as a thoroughly contemptible character. Initially sullen and bitterly resentful of his father's Utilitarian Gradgrindian education, Tom has a very strong relationship with his sister Louisa. At length, Tom starts work in Bounderby's bank (which he later robs), and descends into sybaritic gambling and drinking - he is indiscreet over Louisa's marriage to Bounderby with James Harthouse. Nonetheless Louisa never ceases to deeply adore Tom, and she aids Sissy and Mr. Gradgrind in saving her brother from arrest. It is also hinted that Tom has romantic feelings for Sissy that are partly reciprocated. He is, ultimately, an insecure wastrel.
Known as "the whelp" (small puppy) this is the way of Dickens mocking this character. He takes advantage of his loving sister in order to get out of the life that his father is giving him which he doesn't like. We might feel sympathy towards him at some points of the novel (mostly in book one) as he has the same kind of feelings as Louisa.
He tells Blackpool to wait for him outside the bank and if he has something to give him, he will make sure Bitzer gives it to him. He tricks him by doing so as he only does so in order to make him look as if it was him who robbed the bank, maybe as a form of revenge after Bounderby sacking him. He is found out in book three where Blackpool is shown to be innocent. Mr. Gradgrind makes signs to put them up in the whole town clearing Blackpool's name and putting the blame on his own son.
Old Stephen
Stephen Blackpool, or "Old Stephen" as he is referred to by his fellow Hands, is a worker at one of Bounderby's mills. His life is immensely strenuous, and he is married to a constantly inebriated wife who comes and goes throughout the novel. She remains anonymous and unidentified throughout the novel. He forms a close bond with Rachael, a co-worker. After a dispute with Bounderby, he is dismissed from his work at the Coketown mills and is forced to find work elsewhere. Whilst absent from Coketown he is accused of a crime for which he has been framed. Tragically, on his way back to vindicate himself, he falls down a mine-shaft. He is rescued but dies of his injuries.
Stephen is a man "of perfect integrity", a man who will never give up his moral standpoint to follow along with the crowd, a quality which leads to the conflict with Slackbridge and the Trade Union.
Other characters
Bitzer – is a very pale classmate of Sissy's and brought up on facts and is taught to operate according to self-interest. He takes up a job in Bounderby's bank, and later tries to arrest Tom.
Mrs. Sparsit – is a "classical" widow who has fallen upon despairing circumstances. She is employed by Bounderby, yet her officiousness and prying get her fired in a humorous send-off by Bounderby.
James Harthouse – enters the novel in the 2nd book. James is an indolent, languid, upper-class gentleman, who attempts to woo Louisa, and gets sent away by Sissy.
Mrs. Pegler – a "mysterious old woman" who turns out to be Bounderby's mother.
Slackbridge – trade union leader
Various circus folk", including Signor Jupe (Sissy's father, who never actually appears in the novel), his dog Merrylegs, Mr. Sleary (the lisping manager of the circus) and Cupid, used to represent that the world of the circus is not always as pure as is represented by Sissy and Sleary.
Mrs. Gradgrind – the wife of Mr. Gradgrind, who is an invalid and complains constantly. Her marriage to Thomas is a precursor of Louisa's marriage to Bounderby.
Mr. M'Choakumchild – the teacher of the class containing Sissy Jupe and Bitzer, says very little but his name suggests a cold personality that stifles imagination.
Major themes
Relating back to Dickens' aim to "strike the heaviest blow in my power," he wished to educate readers about the working conditions of some of the factories in the industrial towns of Manchester, and Preston. Relating to this also, Dickens wished to expose the assumption that prosperity runs parallel to morality, something which is cruelly shattered in this novel by his portrayal of the moral monsters, Mr. Bounderby, and James Harthouse, the cynical aristocrats. Dickens was also campaigning for the importance of imagination in life, and not for people's life to be reduced to a collection of material facts and statistical analyses. Dickens' favourable portrayal of the Circus, which he describes as caring so "little for Plain Fact", is an example of this.
Fact vs. Fancy
This theme is developed early on, the bastion of Fact being the eminently practical Mr. Gradgrind, and his model school, which teaches nothing but Facts. Any imaginative or aesthetic subjects are eradicated from the curriculum, but analysis, deduction and mathematics are emphasised. Conversely, Fancy is the opposite of Fact, encompassing, fiction, music, poetry, and novelty shows such as Sleary's circus. It is interesting that Mr. Sleary is reckoned to be a fool by the Fact men, but it is Sleary who realises people must be "amuthed" (amused). This is made cognisant by Tom's sybaritic gambling and Louisa, who is virtually soulless as a young child, and as a married woman. Bitzer, who has adhered to Gradgrind's teachings as a child, turns out to be an uncompassionate egotist.
Officiousness and spying
Prying and knowledge is key to several characters, namely Mrs. Sparsit and Mr. Bounderby. Mr. Bounderby spends his whole time fabricating stories about his childhood, covering up the real nature of his upbringing, which is solemnly revealed at the end of the novel. While not a snooper himself, he is undone by Sparsit unwittingly revealing the mysterious old woman to be his own mother, and she unravels Josiah's secrets about his upbringing and fictitious stories. Mr. Bounderby himself superintends through calculating tabular statements and statistics, and is always secretly rebuking the people of Coketown for indulging in conceitful activities. This gives Bounderby a sense of superiority, as it does with Mrs. Sparsit, who prides herself on her salacious knowledge gained from spying on others. All "superintendents" of the novel are undone in one way, or another.
Honesty
This is closely related to Dickens' typical social commentary, which is a theme he uses throughout his entire œuvre. Dickens portrays the wealthy in this novel as being morally corrupt. Bounderby has no moral scruples; he fires Blackpool "for a novelty". He also conducts himself without any shred of decency, frequently losing his temper. He is cynically false about his childhood. Harthouse, a leisured gent, is compared to an "iceberg" who will cause a wreck unwittingly, due to him being "not a moral sort of fellow", as he states himself. Stephen Blackpool, a destitute worker, is equipped with perfect morals, always abiding by his promises, and always thoughtful and considerate of others, as is Sissy Jupe.
Literary significance & criticism
Critics have had a diverse range of opinions on the novel. Renowned critic John Ruskin declared Hard Times to be his favourite Dickens work due to its exploration of important social questions. However, Thomas Macaulay branded it "sullen socialism", on the grounds that Dickens did not fully comprehend the politics of the time. This point was also made by George Bernard Shaw, who decreed Hard Times to be a novel of "passionate revolt against the whole industrial order of the modern world." Shaw criticized the novel for its failure to provide an accurate account of trade unionism of the time, deeming Dickens' character of Slackbridge, the poisonous orator as "a mere figment of middle-class imagination."
F. R. Leavis, in his controversial book, The Great Tradition, described the book as essentially being a moral fable, and awarded it the distinction of being a work of art, decreeing it the only significant novel of Dickens worth scrutinizing.
Walter Allen, in an introduction to an alternative edition, characterised Hard Times as being an unsurpassed "critique of industrial society", which was later superseded by works of D. H. Lawrence. Other writers have described the novel as being, as G. K. Chesterton commented in his work Appreciations and Criticisms, "the harshest of his stories"; whereas George Orwell praised the novel (and Dickens himself) for "generous anger."
《董贝父子》无论从形式方面还是从内容方面而论，都在狄更斯的作品中占据特别重要的地位，它突破了早期作品中流浪汉体（thepicaresque）的影响，紧紧围绕一个中心人物、一个主导观念来展开故事，在狄更斯的小说中是第一部结构严谨的代表作。作者在序言、书信中多次提到，在写《董贝父子》时，他时刻注意“扣紧该书的一般目的与设计，并以此严格束缚自己”。《董贝父子》形式上的新特点是跟内容方面的发展相联系的。在这以前，狄更斯在小说中曾抨击了负债人监狱、新的济贫法、地方上的所谓慈善事业以及大城市底层的罪恶与黑暗，多多少少把它们当作孤立的现象。《董贝父子》却试图在更严谨的形式中以现代城市为背景，通过一个资产者的典型形象表达出对资本主义社会的总体观，而不复在个别社会弊病上做文章。当然，这并不一定意味着作者的小说艺术向着更高级阶段发展——结构的严谨在美学上不一定比流浪汉体小说的松散更优越，它们可以各有各自的美，但无论如何，《董贝父子》代表了作者思想的深化，表现了他对社会问题的进一步思考。
英国19世纪小说专家凯瑟琳·蒂洛逊在她的学术名著《19世纪40年代的小说》一书中把《董贝父子》列为40年代的代表作不是偶然的。《董贝父子》具有鲜明的时代特色：作者在这里表现一个新时代——40年代工业发达的英国社会。小说中的伦敦是一个金融和商业中心、一个大港口，又是上流社会社交中心。董贝就是处在这样生活漩涡中的巨商。《董贝父子》用不少篇幅描写一个破落的航海仪器商所罗门·吉尔斯；他的小店铺里摆着些过时的仪器，从来没有人光顾，除非是进来问路或兑换零钱。吉尔斯悲叹道：“竞争、不停的竞争——新发明、层出不穷的新发明……世界把我抛在后边了”。时代的落伍者所罗门·吉尔斯和他的小店铺在小说中与董贝先生和他的大公司形成对比，愈加突出了《董贝父子》内容题材的时代特色。
狄更斯就是在这样一种背景上塑造了一个资产者的典型形象。关于《董贝父子》的创作意图，狄更斯曾说，在这里他要处理的是“傲慢”问题，正如前一部小说《马丁·柴则尔维持》里要着重描写“自私自利”。的确，在董贝形象的塑造上，作者是从傲慢入手的。小说一开始就写到，在董贝先生看来，“世界是为了董贝父子经商而创造的，太阳和月亮是为了给他们光亮而创造的。河川和海洋是为了让他们航船而构成的；虹霓使他们有逢到好天气的希望；风的顺逆影响他们实业的成败；星辰在他们的轨道内运行，保持以他们为中心的一种不能侵犯的系统”。董贝公司称霸四海，在当时的资本主义经济体系中居于中心地位，于是董贝先生就自认是世界的中心，他的傲慢由此而来。他的傲慢不是由于作为一个人有任何优越于他人的地方，而是由于他的公司的地位、他的资本力量。在董贝的形象中，狄更斯不把问题局限于一般的自私贪婪，事实上在私德方面，董贝基本上是恩格斯说的那种“具有各种私德的可敬人物”。正如西方马克思主义者A·T·杰克逊所指出的，“董贝的傲慢是他作为一家大公司的头目的地位带给他的品质”。因此，傲慢只是其表，而根本问题在于董贝作为人，与资本同一了。他失去了人的本质，只是资本的化身，亦如某些西方评论所说的，是“19世纪企业精神”的象征，“一种制度、竞争心理和冷酷无情”的典范。《董贝父子》以连载形式问世以后，当时便有评论指出： “描绘董贝这类的人物简直是当务之急——伦敦的世界里充满了冷漠的、装模作样的、僵硬的、炫耀金钱的人物，想法跟董贝一模一样……”可见董贝的形象在当时的英国社会是具有代表性的。
首先狄更斯强调了董贝作为一个资产者的非人性。他把感情完全排除在自己的视野之外：“董贝父子一向跟皮货打交道，而不跟感情打交道”。实际上《董贝父子》很少涉及具体的商业活动，它其实是一部以家庭生活为题材的小说，通过家庭关系，表现了作为丈夫、作为父亲的董贝，唯其如此，更加烘托了他的冷酷无情。
董贝父子-剧情
《董贝父子》有两处描写了董贝先生竟然流露了一种天然感情。第一次是在他太太生了男孩之后，他到卧室去看望，“对董贝太太居然也加上了一个亲密的称呼（虽然不是没有一些犹豫，因为他毕竟是一个不惯于叫出那种称呼的人），叫道：‘董贝太太，我的——我的亲爱的’。”在他们夫妻之间这一称呼是那样生疏，以至“那位生病的太太抬起眼睛朝他望去的时候，顿时间脸上涨满了微感惊讶的红晕”。其实即使这一次难得的感情流露，也不是与公司无关的。董贝先生想到自己得了儿子，从此以后“咱们的公司，不但名义上，而且事实上，又该叫做‘董贝父子’啦，董——贝父子！”他是在品尝这几个字的甜美滋味时情不自禁地叫了一声 “我的亲爱的”！从他的内心感情来说，我们无从判断这“亲爱的”是指他的太太还是更多指他的公司。同样，在《董贝父子》一书中我们始终无法判断这“董贝父子”是指公司还是指这爷儿俩的关系。这种有意无意的含混自然是意味深长的。
董贝先生第二次感情流露是在看着刚出生的儿子时，他想到“他得成就一番命中注定的事业哪。命中注定的事业，小家伙！”接着“把孩子的一只手举到自己的嘴唇上吻了一下，然后，好像深怕这种举动有损他的尊严似的，他非常不自然地走开了”。总之，就是这两次不可多得的感情流露，董贝先生也感到“犹豫”，“不习惯”，“有损尊严”，总之是“不自然”，即不合乎他那“资本化”了的本性。
在对董贝的描写中，作者把他比作“雕像”、“木头人”，“全身直挺挺的不会打弯”，或是“刮得光光、剪裁整齐的阔绅士，光溜利索，像刚印出来的钞票”。作者用一系列冰、霜、雪之类的形象来渲染董贝的特点，他的住宅阴冷，他的办公室凄凉。在保罗受洗礼的那一天，不仅教堂里寒气逼人，而且在董贝随后举行的宴会上摆着的食物都是冰冷的，与席上的整个气氛一致，作者还说，坐在首席上的董贝本人犹如一个“冰冻绅士”的标本。总之，作者通过夸张的细节描写，把董贝置于一层层冰霜的包裹之中，把他描写成一位十足的没有人性的冷血动物。
正如恩格斯所说的，资产阶级“除了快快发财以外，不知道世界上还有别的快乐”一样，继承人意味着资本的延续，也就是资产阶级理想中通向“永恒”与“不朽”的唯一道路，本质上还是发财的快乐。《董贝父子》一书的主线和总的设计都是围绕着董贝先生为自己，也是为公司，寻找继承人的故事。如果按19世纪小说专家史蒂芬·马科斯的划分，把作品划分成四个部分，那么可以看出，第一部分以继承人小保罗的诞生开始，以他的死亡告终；第二部分描写了董贝先生的悲痛以及他的第二次结婚，亦即再次要得到继承人；第三部分表现了董贝先生婚后夫妻不睦，终于导致他的夫人私奔；第四部分描写了董贝先生精神瓦解、企业倒闭，最后被他赶出家门的女儿弗洛伦斯用自己的爱给他以安慰和力量，使老年的董贝在失去资本、失去继承人之后恢复了自己的人性。而具有讽刺意味的是，“所谓董贝父子”，如书中一个人物说的“归根结蒂是董贝父女”！但开始时，董贝先生哪里能猜到等待他的命运！他把自己的感情全部倾注在公司的继承人、刚刚诞生的儿子身上，至于女儿，既然不是继承人，对董贝公司没有意义，对他本人也就没有意义，相当于“不能投资的一块劣币”。其实，就是对于他的儿子小保罗，董贝先生也只能以自己的方式去爱。这是一种异化了的感情。他只把保罗当作继承人来对待，当作“董贝父子公司”中的“子”而不是作为一个有独立生存权利的人、一个有权过快乐童年的儿童。董贝把保罗从降生到成人的时期都看作是难熬的过渡时期，“他急于进入未来，恨不得快点打发掉这中间的时光”。董贝对儿子的感情是那样的独占，他不信任奶娘波利·图德尔，生怕儿子会对她有感情，从而受到“下等人”的沾染，后来董贝还是因为她擅自把保罗带回家而把这个好心的女人打发掉，致使婴儿突然断奶，从此体弱多病。董贝先生“望子成龙”心切，他把幼小的保罗送往布林伯博士学院。这是一座以填塞死知识著称的住宿学校。在那里，孩子们白天被逼得背诵天书一样的古代典籍，晚上做梦都说希腊文！“那是一座大暖房，一架不停地移动的拔苗助长的机器，所有的孩子都提前‘开花’，但是不足三个礼拜就枯萎凋谢”。在那里，可怜的小保罗的头脑被塞满了一大堆希腊罗马的古董，他哭着说，“我要当儿童”，可那在董贝培养继承人的计划里是不允许的。保罗在这些催化剂的作用下精神备受摧残，不久以后便死去。具有讽刺意味的是，从解雇奶娘到提前送进学校的整个过程来看，不是别人，正是董贝先生自己一手促成了儿子的死亡。他完全按照自己性格的逻辑，按照他的“异化”了的感情行事，不可能有其他做法。这不能不说是董贝的悲剧。值得注意的还有，董贝不仅在儿子活着的时候对儿子的感情是“异化”的，而且在儿子死亡以后，他的反应也是“异化”的，那与其说是失去亲骨肉的切肤之痛，倒更像是他的“自我”受到打击、傲慢受到挫折而引起的痛苦。当老奶娘图德尔的丈夫向董贝表示哀悼时，董贝不仅不为之感动，反而因为不相干的人（与公司不相干）妄想分担他的痛苦而感到气愤，好像自己受了污辱。这不是被资本“异化”了的感情又是什么呢？
对董贝来说，更可悲的是，由于他的古板、冷漠、没有人情味，他的儿子与他感情疏远而衷心喜爱那些董贝所厌恶、鄙视的人——姐姐弗洛伦斯、奶娘波利·图德尔，还有公司里的小雇员沃尔特·盖伊，在自己幼小生命的最后时刻对他们恋恋不舍而把自己的父亲排除在外。在思想上父子二人更是格格不入；董贝是那样急切盼望儿子成长为精明的生意人，而幼小的保罗却问“钱能干什么？”，当父亲说钱可以办到一切，他并不信服，说“它不能救活我妈妈”。“它不是残酷的吗？”狄更斯通过儿童的眼光批判了董贝所代表的价值观。
保罗虽然年纪幼小，却总像是生活在一个彼岸世界，他“可以在糊墙纸上看出微型的老虎和狮子…… 看见一些人影冲着地板上的方块和棱形图案作怪脸，而别人却什么也看不见”。他像个老人似的长时间坐在海边上，面对着一片天水茫茫沉思不语。他纳闷“它没结没完地说些什么呀？”——“我知道他们一直是在说些什么的。说的总是同样的事情。那儿是什么地方呀？”他热切地凝望那天水之际，在大海的喧腾中，听到了时间老人的召唤，感到了死亡的预兆，最后在海涛声中他安然与世长辞……。可以说，小保罗在任何意义上也不是董贝的继承人。《董贝父子》的第一部分，也是最精采部分，便以董贝在培育继承人方面的彻底失败而告终。《董贝父子》最初连载发表时，保罗·罗贝夭亡的一章在当时读者中引起强烈反响，“举国上下，共同哀悼”，仅次于“自己家里办丧事”。当时许多人，包括政界文化界著名人物都毫不隐讳自己为小保罗的死而痛哭流涕。这当然与当时盛行的感伤主义阅读趣味分不开。小保罗的死，与《老古玩店》中小耐儿的死一样，都是19世纪小说中公认的感伤主义的典范。但是，不可否认，保罗之死的著名篇章充满了晶莹的诗意—— “小船在波上的飘荡已经引得他要去安眠了。河岸多么葱翠，长在河岸上的花草多么明艳，那芦苇又是多么婷婷袅袅！这时小船已经驶到海里，可是还在平静地向前滑去”。小保罗去了，好像得到了他的天然归宿。他不属于公司，更远离“货币、通货、钞票、外汇率”所构成的那个他命中要成就的“事业”。在那个孜孜名利的浮华世界上，保罗的死显出了超尘拔俗的光彩，在默默无言之中对以“董贝父子公司”为代表的金钱利欲做出了最有力的批判。
经过第一个打击，董贝并没有总结教训、达到自我认识。不久以后，他又处心积虑地为得到继承人而设法。他跟年轻美貌的寡妇伊迪丝·格兰杰结婚了。这纯粹是一笔交易，董贝就像在骡马市上相马似地观察伊迪丝的才华与教养，最后决定买下。伊迪丝愤然对她母亲说“十年以来，奴隶市场上的奴隶和集市上的马都没有像我这样被展览出售，炫耀给看客。”在这第二次婚姻中，董贝又失败了。在伊迪丝身上，他碰到了对手，跟他一样傲慢，跟他一样强硬。两下里冲突的结果，伊迪丝为报复丈夫而与公司的经理卡克私奔，造成了伦敦上流社会的头号丑闻。此外，董贝刚愎自用，在卡克的纵恿下投资不当，在家庭危机的同时，他的商船“子嗣”号在海上遇难，他的公司倒闭，他本人宣告破产。昔日富丽堂皇的宅第被债仅人剥得一干二净，连老鼠都不愿逗留，只剩下一个董贝像个幽灵似地在空楼中游荡。在他举刀自杀的那一刹那，女儿弗洛伦斯赶到他跟前，用自己的爱感化了他，使董贝终于认识到，自己是有罪的，“需要得到宽恕”。董贝那违背天理人性的傲慢被弗洛伦斯的爱克服了。在老年，他终于开始过上一种合乎人性的生活。董贝的命运，并不取决于外部事态的发展；是董贝自己性格的内在逻辑导致他的全面崩溃。他是在自己惩罚自己，并在一重一重的惩罚中一层一层地暴露出资产阶级本性中那些违反天理人情的因素。
若只看故事情节，我们也不能否认《董贝父子》的结局是浅薄无力的。法国著名批评家泰纳说董贝的“转变”毁了一本出色的小说。一位当代评论家用不屑的口气问道：难道要把董贝父子公司的世界贸易交给眼泪汪汪的弗洛伦斯去经营吗？在这里，我们又回到小说的时代特色问题。像弗洛伦斯那类的“安琪儿”是按照当时盛行的公式描写的，本来就不现实，而董贝先生在铁路四通八达国际贸易发达的时代是个真实的形象、一个阶级的代表。弗洛伦斯怎么可能用自己的眼泪去感化董贝的铁石心肠呢？《董贝父子》一书的价值不在于作者虚构出怎么样的方案去解决矛盾，而在于他在四十年代资本主义经济发达的历史时期塑造了一个资产阶级的典型形象，从而深刻地揭示了关于那个阶级的真理。
也是在《董贝父子》一书中，狄更斯第一次采用了一个象征来贯穿全书，以传达出一个总的世界图景、一种对时代、对社会的理解。他曾用过雾、浊流、垃圾等形象作为这种象征，而在这里是铁路。铁路——火车、铁轨——的形象在书中出现多次，往往在关键时刻渲染气氛，烘托主题。用铁路的形象来概括四十年代工业化的英国，当然是最恰当不过的，在19世纪上半叶，铁路的发展速度是惊人的。据统计，1825年还只有25英里的铁路线，到了1845年就发展成2200多公里，即在不到二十年的时间里便增加了一百倍。处在火车、电报时代的董贝比起乘驿车的匹克威克先生简直属于两个完全不同的世界。铁路的发展改变了人们的生活方式，改变了人们对空间和时间的概念，还产生了一支新的劳动队伍：铁路工人。铁路意味着力量、运动和速度，意味着更快的生活节奏。这时，铁路是社会变革的象征，它给破烂不堪的旧址带来了新的生命。书中写到，由于铁路的建设，波利·图德尔一家原来住的贫民区“斯塔格斯花园”已不复存在——“它从地面上消失了，原来一些朽烂的凉亭残存的地方，现在耸立着高大的宫殿；大理石的圆柱两边开道，通向铁路的新世界”。书中还写到，原先堆放垃圾的空地已被吞没，代之而起的是“一层层库房，里面装满了丰富的物资和贵重的商品”。而原是荒无人烟的地方现在修起了花园、别墅、教堂和令人心旷神怡的林荫大道。过去以掘煤为生的图德尔，现在也在新建设起来的铁路上当上了一名司炉工。从这个角度可以说，狄更斯是站在赞赏的立场去看以铁路为象征的工业化对社会物质发展的积极意义。
但是，另一方面，铁路、火车在狄更斯笔下又充满了威胁，它力大无穷而又难以控制，它在急驰中似有自己的目的而把人的意愿置于不顾。当保罗将要死去时，书中描写了火车的运动：“日日夜夜，往返不停，翻腾的热浪犹如生命的血流”。保罗在父亲的培养下正在悄悄死去，而车声隆隆正以雷霆万钧之势驶来，显得那样冷酷无情。保罗死后，董贝乘火车旅行，火车的机械运动与董贝的沉重心情互相衬托，后来，董贝去追赶拐骗他妻子私奔的卡克，他们一个在逃，一个紧追，这时火车像个可怕的怪兽，“混身冒火的魔鬼”，愤怒地奔腾咆哮，活像个复仇神，终于非常戏剧性地把卡克碾死。
这里，问题并不在于死在火车轮下的卡克是罪有应得。重要的是，在这里，火车的形象狰狞可怕；它的来临“伴随着大地的震响，在耳边颤抖的声浪，以及遥远的尖叫声；一片暗光由远而近，刹那间变成两支火红的眼睛和一团烈火，一路上掉着燃烧的煤块；接着，一个庞然大物咆哮着、扩展着，以不可抗拒的气势压过来”。这个形象远远超脱了卡克命运的区区小事，而提出了更大的问题：机械的物质运动所释放出来的力量对于人类社会究竟意味着什么？在这里，狄更斯表现了一个真正大作家的气魄。他透过现象去捕捉本质，通过铁路的象征对资本主义物质文明的发展表示了深深的忧虑；这奔腾向前的力量将把人类社会带往何处？这怀疑与忧虑是跟作者通过董贝的形象所提出的问题完全一致的，它们都汇为一个总的对时代的疑问：资本主义的工业——铁路——改善了人们的生存条件，但它将引起什么样的社会变化？一个董贝先生是被女儿的泪水感化了，但以铁路为标志的英国资本主义的发展不是会产生更多的董贝吗？
《董贝父子》不是社会学论文。狄更斯的魔力就在于，他提出了当时社会最本质的问题，同时又写出了人物众多、情节复杂、情调多变的一部五光十色的小说巨著。在这里，以董贝渴望子嗣的故事为中心，演出了那么多扣人心弦的悲喜剧。社会地位有天壤之别的人物，命运却那么曲折地交织在一起：第二任董贝夫人伊迪丝跟被流放的娼妓爱丽丝不仅是同父异母的姐妹，而且也是被同一个男性——卡克经理——欺辱的女性。这种情节性的背后不正是微妙地暗示着伊迪丝与董贝的婚姻的实质？《董贝父子》还充满了阴谋和悬念。卡克经理像个蜘蛛一样坐在他编织的阴谋纲络的中心，为董贝先生、伊迪丝，为弗洛伦斯和沃尔特，甚至为老实巴结的卡特尔船长都设下了圈套，派了钉哨。
可是到头来，正是他这个心腹 ——不争气的少年罗伯——出卖了他，导致他粉身碎骨在车轮之下，可谓事件本身的嘲讽。在《董贝父子》中，与正剧的主线平行，总有喜剧闹剧的副线，甚至形成一环扣一环的命运的锁链。如在董贝先生物色第二位夫人的时候，溜须拍马但又可怜可笑的托克斯小姐觊觎董贝夫人的宝座，冷落了有意于她的白格斯托克少校，而老奸巨猾的白格斯托克为了挫败托克斯小姐的野心，把伊迪丝引见给董贝，导致了他的第二次灾难性的婚姻。
在《董贝父子》一书中，狄更斯还描写了许多小人物和他们的生活。破落小商人所罗门·吉尔斯、保罗的奶娘图德尔一家、弗洛伦斯的贴身女仆苏珊等在各方面都与董贝形成对比。我们在书中看到，一方面是董贝的华贵府邸，另一方面是图德尔一家住的破烂不堪的贫民窟。尽管如此，前者冷若冰窖，后者热气腾腾，充满友爱与欢乐。在那冷酷的资本主义社会，这些小人物身上体现了人情和人性中善良美好的本能。波利·图德尔那兴旺的家族——她那丰富的乳汁和众多的孩子都描写的十分夸张、富于象征意义，体现了生的欢乐和对未来的希望。有趣的是，在作者的巧妙安排之下，这些地位低贱的小人物又不断跟董贝“遭遇”。如所罗门·吉尔斯的好友、落魄的船长内德·卡特尔竟跑去与董贝先生称兄道弟，还以自己的糖侠子等可笑的“传家宝”来当抵押，要董贝借款给他。这在董贝看来简直是骇人听闻。他摆出最威风凛凛的架势，但最没有现实感的卡特尔船长对此毫无察觉，弄得董贝反而手足无措。后来，女仆苏珊又乘董贝卧病的当儿公然向他挑战，指着他的鼻子数落他的不是，气得董贝先生目瞪口呆。这些喜剧性场面烘托出了劳动人民生动活泼的形象；是他们戳破了董贝的傲慢，使他露出了底里的空虚与软弱。在四十年代描写劳动人民形象的作品中，这种喜剧化的处理是别具一格的。
总之，穿插于故事中的众多的陪衬人物都天真无邪，不是傻得可爱就是“狡猾”得可笑。他们不仅推动情节发展，而且为全书带来了欢乐气氛和幽默情趣，使《董贝父子》成为狄更斯小说中既有深度又饶有趣味的代表作。还在连载的时候，不识字的老百姓在一天的劳累之后就要聚在一起听人朗读《董贝父子》，直至今天，它还受到广大读者的喜爱。
Plot summary
The story concerns Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company of the book's title, whose dream is to have a son to continue his business. The book begins when his son is born, and Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth. Following the advice of Mrs Louisa Chick, his sister, Dombey employs a wet nurse named Mrs Richards (Toodle). Dombey already has a daughter, Florence, whom he neglects. One day, Mrs Richards, Florence and her maid, Susan Nipper, secretly pay a visit Mrs Richard's house in Stagg's Gardens in order that she can see her children. During this trip, Florence becomes separated and is kidnapped for a short time by Good Mrs Brown before being returned to the streets. She makes her way to Dombey and Son's offices in the City and is guided there by Walter Gay, an employee, who first introduces her to his uncle, the navigation instrument maker Solomon Gill, at his shop the Midshipman.
The child, also named Paul, is weak and often ill, and does not socialize normally with others; adults call him "old fashioned". He is intensely fond of his elder sister, Florence, who is deliberately neglected by her father as irrelevant and a distraction. He is sent away to Brighton, first for his health, where he and Florence lodge with the ancient and acidic Mrs Pipchin, and then for his education to Dr and Mrs Blimber's school, where he and the other boys undergo both an intense and arduous education under the tutelage of Mr Feeder, B.A. and Cornelia Blimber. It is here that Paul is befriended by a fellow pupil, the amiable Mr Toots.
Here, Paul's health declines even further in this 'great hothouse' and he finally dies, still only six years old. Dombey pushes his daughter away from him after the death of his son, while she futilely tries to earn his love. In the meantime, Walter, who works for Dombey and Son, is sent off to work in Barbados through the manipulations of the firm's manager, Mr James Carker, 'with his white teeth', who sees him as a potential rival through his association with Florence. His boat is reported lost and he is presumed drowned. Walter's uncle leaves to go in search of Walter, leaving his great friend Captain Edward Cuttle in charge of the Midshipman. Meanwhile, Florence is now left alone with few friends to keep her company.
Dombey goes to Leamington Spa with a new friend, Major Joseph B. Bagstock. The Major deliberately sets out to befriend Dombey in order to spite his neighbour in Princess's Place, Miss Tox, who has turned cold towards him owing to her hopes - through her close friendship with Mrs Chick - of marrying Mr Dombey. At the spa, Dombey is introduced via the Major to Mrs Skewton and her widowed daughter, Mrs Edith Granger. It is here that he develops an affection for Edith, encouraged by both the Major and the avaricious mother. After they return to London, Dombey remarries, effectively 'buying' the beautiful but haughty Edith as she and her mother are in a poor financial state. The marriage is loveless; his wife despises Dombey for his overbearing pride and herself for being shallow and worthless. Her love for Florence initially prevents her from leaving, but finally she conspires with Mr Carker to ruin Dombey's public image by running away together to Dijon. They do so after her last final argument with Dombey in which he once again attempts to subdue her to his will. When he discovers that she has left him, he blames Florence for siding with her step-mother, striking her on the breast in his anger, and she is forced to run away from home. Highly distraught, she finally makes her way to The Midshipman where she lodges with Captain Cuttle as he attempts to restore her back to health. They are visited frequently by Mr Toots and his boxing companion, the Chicken, since Mr Toots has been desperately in love with Florence since their time together in Brighton.
Dombey sets out to find his wife. He is helped in this by Mrs Brown and her daughter, Alice, who, it turns out, was a former lover of Mr Carker. After being transported as a convict after he involved her in some criminal activities, she is seeking her revenge against him now she is returned to England. Going to Mrs Brown's house, Dombey overhears the conversation between Rob the Grinder - who is in the employment of Mr Carker - and the old woman as to the couple's whereabouts and sets off in pursuit. In the meantime, in Dijon, Mrs Dombey informs Carker that she sees him in no better a light than she sees Dombey, that she will not stay with him and she flees their apartment. Distraught, with both his financial and personal hopes lost, Carker flees from his former employer's pursuit. He seeks refuge back in England but, being greatly overwrought, accidentally falls under a train and is killed.
After Carker's death, it is discovered that he had been running the firm far beyond its means. This information is gleaned by Carker's brother and sister, John and Harriet, from Mr Morfin, the assistant manager at Dombey and Son, who sets out to help John Carker. He often overheard the conversations between the two brothers in which James, the younger, often abused John, the older, who was just a lowly clerk and who is sacked by Dombey because of his filial relationship to the former manager. Meanwhile, back at the Midshipman, Walter reappears, having been saved by a passing ship after floating adrift with two other sailors on some wreckage. After some time, he and Florence are finally reunited - not as 'brother' and 'sister' but as lovers, and they marry prior to sailing for China on Walter's new ship. This is also the time when Sol Gills returns to the Midshipman. As he relates to his friends, he received news whilst in Barbados that a homeward-bound China trader had picked up Walter and so had returned to England immediately. He said he had sent letters whilst in the Caribbean to his friend Ned Cuttle c/o Mrs MacStinger at Cuttle's former lodgings, and the bemused Captain recounts how he fled the place, thus never receiving them.
Florence and Walter depart and Sol Gills is entrusted with a letter, written by Walter to her father, pleading for him to be reconciled towards them both. A year passes and Alice Brown has slowly been dying despite the tender care of Harriet Carker. One night Alice's mother reveals that Alice herself is the [illegitimate]] cousin of Edith Dombey (which accounts for their similarity in appearance when they both meet). In a chapter entitled 'Retribution', Dombey and Son goes bankrupt. Dombey retires to two rooms in his house and all its contents are put up for sale. Mrs Pipchin, for some time the housekeeper, dismisses all the servants and she herself returns to Brighton, to be replaced by Mrs Richards. Dombey spends his days sunk in gloom, seeing no-one and thinking only of his daughter:
“ He thought of her as she had been that night when he and his bride came home. He thought of her as she had been in all the home events of the abandoned house. He thought, now, that of all around him, she alone had never changed. His boy had faded into dust, his proud wife had sunk into a polluted creature, his flatterer and friend had been transformed into the worst of villains, his riches had melted away, the very walls that sheltered him looked on him as a stranger; she alone had turned the same, mild gentle look upon him always. Yes, to the latest and the last. She had never changed to him - nor had he ever changed to her - and she was lost. ”
However, one day Florence returns to the house with her son, Paul, and is lovingly reunited with her father.
Dombey accompanies his daughter to her and Walter's house where he slowly starts to decline, cared for by Florence and also Susan Nipper, now Mrs Toots. They receive a visit from Edth's Cousin Feenix who takes Florence to Edith for one final time - Feenix sought Edith out in France and she returned to England under his protection. Edith gives Florence a letter, asking Dombey to forgive her her crime before her departure to the South of Italy with her elderly relative. As she says to Florence, 'I will try, then to forgive him his share of the blame. Let him try to forgive me mine!'
The final chapter (LXII) sees Dombey now a white-haired old man, 'whose face bears heavy marks of care and suffering; but they are traces of a storm that has passed on for ever, and left a clear evening in its track'.. Sol Gills and Ned Cuttle are now partners at the Midshipman, a source of great pride to the latter, and Mr and Mrs Toots announce the birth of their third daughter. Walter is doing well in business, having been appointed to a position of great confidence and trust, and Dombey is the proud grandfather of both a grandson and grand-daughter of whom he dotes on, and the book ends with the highly moving lines:
“ 'Dear grandpapa, why do you cry when you kiss me?'
He only answers, 'Little Florence! Little Florence!' and smooths away the curls that shade her earnest eyes.
”
Source
Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens, Wordsworth Classics, 1995, ISBN 1 85326 257 9
Critical appreciation
Dombey and Son was conceived first and foremost as a continuous novel. A letter from Dickens to Forster on 26th July, 1846 shows the major details of the plot and theme already substantially worked out. According to the critic George Gissing, 'Dombey was begun at Lausanne, continued at Paris, completed in London, and at English seaside places; whilst the early parts were being written, a Christmas story, The Battle of Life, was also in hand, and Dickens found it troublesome to manage both together. That he overcame the difficulty -- that, soon after, we find him travelling about England as member of an amateur dramatic company -- that he undertook all sorts of public engagements and often devoted himself to private festivity -- Dombey going on the while, from month to month -- is matter enough for astonishment to those who know anything about artistic production. But such marvels become commonplaces in the life of Charles Dickens.'
As with most of Dickens' work, a number of socially significant themes are to be found in this book. In particular the book deals with the then-prevalent common practice of arranged marriages for financial gain. Other themes to be detected within this work include child cruelty (particularly in Dombey's treatment of Florence), familial relationships, and as ever in Dickens, betrayal and deceit and the consequences thereof. Another strong central theme, which the critic George Gissing elaborates on in detail in his 1925 work The Immortal Dickens, is that of pride and arrogance, of which Paul Dombey senior is the extreme exemplification in Dickens' work.
Gissing makes a number of points about certain key inadequacies in the novel, not the least that Dickens's central character is largely unsympathetic and an unsuitable vehicle and also that after the death of the young Paul Dombey the reader is somewhat estranged from the rest of what is to follow. He notes that 'the moral theme of this book was Pride -- pride of wealth, pride of place, personal arrogance. Dickens started with a clear conception of his central character and of the course of the story in so far as it depended upon that personage; he planned the action, the play of motive, with unusual definiteness, and adhered very closely in the working to this well-laid scheme'. However, he goes on to write that,'Dombey and Son is a novel which in its beginning promises more than its progress fulfils' and gives the following reasons why:
“ Impossible to avoid the reflection that the death of Dombey's son and heir marks the end of a complete story, that we feel a gap between Chapter XVI and what comes after (the author speaks of feeling it himself, of his striving to "transfer the interest to Florence") and that the narrative of the later part is ill-constructed, often wearisome, sometimes incredible. We miss Paul, we miss Walter Gay (shadowy young hero though he be); Florence is too colourless for deep interest, and the second Mrs. Dombey is rather forced upon us than accepted as a natural figure in the drama. Dickens's familiar shortcomings are abundantly exemplified. He is wholly incapable of devising a plausible intrigue, and shocks the reader with monstrous improbabilities such as all that portion of the denouement in which old Mrs. Brown and her daughter are concerned. A favourite device with him (often employed with picturesque effect) was to bring into contact persons representing widely severed social ranks; in this book the "effect" depends too often on "incidences of the boldest artificiality," as nearly always we end by neglecting the story as a story, and surrendering ourselves to the charm of certain parts, the fascination of certain characters.' ”
Characters in the novel
Karl Ashley Smith (the University of St Andrews) in his Introduction to Wordsworth Classics' Dombey and Son makes some reflections on the novel's characters. He believes that Dombey’s power to disturb comes from his belief that human relationships can be controlled by money, giving the following examples to support this viewpoint:
“ He tries to prevent Mrs Richards from developing an attachment to Paul by emphasising the wages he pays her. Mrs Pipchin’s small talk satisfies him as ‘the sort of think for which he paid her so much a quarter’ (p.132). Worst of all, he effectively buys his second wife and expects that his wealth and position in society will be enough to keep her in awed obedience to him. Paul’s questions about money are only the first indication of the naivety of his outlook'. ”
However, he also believes that the satire against this man is tempered with compassion.
Smith also draws attention to the fact that certain characters in the novel 'develop a pattern from Dickens's earlier novels, whilst pointing the way to future works'. One such character is Little Paul who is a direct descendant of Little Nell. Another is James Carker, the ever-smiling manager of Dombey and Son. Smith notes there are strong similarities between him and the likes of Jaggers in Great Expectations and, even more so, the evil barrister, Mr Tulkinghorn, in Bleak House:
“ From Fagin (Oliver Twist) onwards, the terrifying figure exerting power over others by an infallible knowledge of their secrets becomes one of the author’s trademarks ... His gentlemanly businesslike respectability marks him out as the ancestor of Tulkinghorn in Bleak House and even of Jaggers in Great Expectations. And his involvements in the secrets of others leads him to as sticky an end as Tulkinghorn’s. The fifty-fifth chapter, where he is forced to flee his outraged employer, magnificently continues the theme of the guilt-hunted man from Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist and Jonas’s restless sense of pursuit in Martin Chuzzlewit. There is always a strong sense in Dickens of the narrative drive of discovery catching up with those who deal in darkness...' ”
Gissing looks at some of the minor characters in the novel and is particularly struck by that of Edward (Ned) Cuttle.
“ Captain Cuttle has a larger humanity than his roaring friend [Captain Bunsby], he is the creation of humour. That the Captain suffered dire things at the hands of Mrs. MacStinger is as credible as it is amusing, but he stood in no danger of Bunsby's fate; at times he can play his part in a situation purely farcical, but the man himself moves on a higher level. He is one of the most familiar to us among Dickens's characters, an instance of the novelist's supreme power, which (I like to repeat) proves itself in the bodying forth of a human personality henceforth accepted by the world. His sentences have become proverbs; the mention of his name brings before the mind's eye an image of flesh and blood -- rude, tending to the grotesque, but altogether lovable. Captain Cuttle belongs to the world of Uncle Toby, with, to be sure, a subordinate position. Analyse him as you will, make the most of those extravagances which pedants of to-day cannot away with, and in the end you will still be face to face with something vital -- explicable only as the product of genius. ”
The growth of the railways
A strong theme is the destruction and degradation (of people and places) caused by industrialisation, illustrated in particular by the building of the new railway through Camden Town (assumed to represent the London and Birmingham Railway constructed between 1833 and 1837). This reflects Dickens's apparent antipathy towards railways[citation needed], later reinforced by his involvement in a train crash in 1865. Soon after this incident he wrote two short stories (Mugby Junction and The Signal-Man) which projected a morbid view of the railways.
Final thoughts
Gissing refers to Dickens's instinctive genius for reflecting the thoughts and morals of the common man in his writing. He observes that the author was in constant communication with Forster,
“ ... as to the feeling of his readers about some proposed incident or episode; not that he feared, in any ignoble sense, to offend his public, but because his view of art involved compliance with ideals of ordinary simple folk. He held that view as a matter of course. Quite recently it has been put forth with prophetic fervour by Tolstoy, who cites Dickens among the few novelists whose work will bear this test. An instinctive sympathy with the moral (and therefore the artistic) prejudices of the everyday man guided Dickens throughout his career, teaching him when, and how far, he might strike at things he thought evil, yet never defeat his prime purpose of sending forth fiction acceptable to the multitude. Himself, in all but his genius, a representative Englishman of the middle-class, he was able to achieve this task with unfailing zeal and with entire sincerity. ”
Karl Smith, in his turn, gives his specific reasons for what makes Dombey and Son - and the works of Dickens as a whole - worth reading again and again. He observes that this is based in part on Dickens's 'recognition that solemn themes require humour and verbal vigour to accompany and complement them' and goes on to conclude:
“ Grim psychological realism, social commentary, comic absurdity and symbolic transcendence are here brought together more than in any previous novel with the possible exception of Oliver Twist. Dombey and Son not only prepares the ground for Dickens’s later masterpieces, but demands to be enjoyed for its own energy and richness. ”
Characters in "Dombey and Son"
The "Wooden Midshipman" of Uncle Sol's nautical instrument shop of the same name. Statue in the Charles Dickens Museum.
* Mr Paul Dombey – the wealthy owner of the shipping company
* Edith Granger – proud widowed daughter of Mrs Skewton, becomes second Mrs Dombey
* Mrs Fanny Dombey – Mr Dombey's first wife, mother of Florence and Paul, dies soon after Paul is born
* Master Paul Dombey (Little Dombey) – the son, is weak and often ill
* Miss Florence (Floy) Dombey – the elder daughter whom Mr Dombey neglects
* Mrs Louisa Chick – Mr Dombey's sister
* Mr Chick – husband of Mrs Chick
* Miss Lucretia Tox – friend of Mrs Chick, great admirer of Mr Dombey, and neighbour of Major Joseph Bagstock
* James Carker (Mr Carker the Manager) – devious manager in Mr Dombey's business
* John Carker (Mr Carker the Junior) – disgraced older brother of James, lower level employee in Dombey's business
* Miss Harriet Carker – sister of James and John
* Mr Morfin – assistant manager in Mr Dombey's business
* Mr Perch – messenger in Mr Dombey's business
* Solomon (Uncle Sol) Gills – ships' instrument maker and owner of the "Wooden Midshipman", a shop
* Walter Gay – nephew of Gills, friend to Florence, employee of Mr Dombey, sent away by Carker the Manager
* Captain Edward (Ned) Cuttle – retired sea captain, friend of Gills
* Major Joseph Bagstock (Josh, Joe, J.B., Old Joe) – conceited retired army major, admirer of Miss Tox, friend of Mr Dombey until his downfall
* Briggs – schoolmate of Paul's
* Tozer – schoolmate of Paul's
* Mr P. Toots – schoolmate of Paul's, later a dandy in love with Florence
* The Game Chicken – rowdy companion of Mr Toots
* Miss Susan Nipper – Florence's loyal nurse, later marries Mr. Toots
* Mrs Cleopatra Skewton – Edith Dombey's infirm mother and former lover of Bagstock
* Mr Toodle – a railway engineer
* Polly Toodle (Mrs Richards) – wife of Mr Toodle, engaged as nurse to Paul under the name Mrs Richards (by Mr Dombey's order)
* Robin Toodle (Rob the Grinder, Biler) – son of Mr Toodle and Polly, sent to Charitable Grinders school, later engaged in service to Captain Cuttle and Mr. Carker the Manager
* Good Mrs. Brown – an elderly rag dealer
* Alice – daughter of Brown, former lover of Carker's, recently returned from transportation
* Jack Bunsby – commander of a ship, and regarded as an oracle by Captain Cuttle. Eventually is wedded to Mrs MaacStinger.
* Mrs MacStinger – Captain Cuttle's landlady and nemesis
* Mrs Pipchin – stern widow who keeps an 'infantine Boarding-House of a very select description' in Brighton, where Paul is sent for his health
* Master Bitherstone – a fellow-boarder at Mrs. Pipchin's, much later a student at Doctor Blimber's
* Miss Pankey – a fellow-boarder at Mrs. Pipchin's
* Sir Barnet Skettles –
* Lady Skettles –
* Master Skettles – Brighton school pupil
* Doctor Blimber – runs a school in Brighton which Paul briefly attends
* Mrs Blimber – Doctor Blimber's wife
* Miss Cornelia Blimber – Doctor Blimber's daughter, teacher at the school
* Mr Feeder, B.A. – Doctor Blimber's assistant, teacher at the school
* Diogenes (Di) – A dog from the school, befriended by Paul and adopted by Florence after Paul's death
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel has been adapted for the screen at least three times:
* 1917 - a silent starring Norman McKinnel as Paul Dombey and Hayford Hobbs as Walter Gay
* 1969 - a television mini-series starring John Carson as Paul Dombey and Derek Seaton as Walter Gay
* 1983 - a television mini-series starring Julian Glover as Paul Dombey and Max Gold as Walter Gay
There have also been BBC radio adaptations.
In 2007, a two-part French miniseries, Dombais et Fils, was produced by France 3, directed by Laurent Jaoui and starring Christophe Malavoy as "Charles Dombais" (Paul Dombey).
It was announced in September 2009 that Andrew Davies would no longer be writing a proposed television adaptation for the BBC.
Original publication
Dombey and Son was originally published in 19 monthly instalments; each cost one shilling (except for the last, which cost two shillings, being a double issue) and contained 32 pages of text with two illustrations by Phiz:
* I - October 1846 (chapters 1-4);
* II - November 1846 (chapters 5-7);
* III - December 1846 (chapters 8-10);
* IV - January 1847 (chapters 11-13);
* V - February 1847 (chapters 14-16);
* VI - March 1847 (chapters 17-19);
* VII - April 1847 (chapters 20-22);
* VIII - May 1847 (chapters 23-25);
* IX - June 1847 (chapters 26-28);
* X - July 1847 (chapters 29-31);
* XI - August 1847 (chapters 32-34);
* XII - September 1847 (chapters 35-38);
* XIII - October 1847 (chapters 39-41);
* XIV - November 1847 (chapters 42-45);
* XV - December 1847 (chapters 46-48);
* XVI - January 1848 (chapters 49-51);
* XVII - February 1848 (chapters 52-54);
* XVIII - March 1848 (chapters 55-57);
* XIX-XX - April 1848 (chapters 58-62).
Trivia
* The motto of the publication Notes and Queries, "When found, make a note of", comes from the novel.
* In the illustrated plate, "Major Bagstock is delighted to have that opportunity," the lettering "HOTEL" on the central building in the background is written in mirror-writing. Phiz, the illustrator, evidently forgot to reverse the lettering so that it would read correctly when the plate was printed. (However, strangely, he got the other lettering in the same plate correct.)
* Sir Harry Johnston wrote a sequel to Dombey and Son in about 1920, titled The Gay-Dombeys.
* In the novel Velocity by Dean Koontz, the comatose wife of the main protagonist often makes incoherent references to the works of Dickens, the 'most mysterious' coming from Dombey and Son, "I want to know what it says, the sea. What it is that it keeps on saying."
英国19世纪小说专家凯瑟琳·蒂洛逊在她的学术名著《19世纪40年代的小说》一书中把《董贝父子》列为40年代的代表作不是偶然的。《董贝父子》具有鲜明的时代特色：作者在这里表现一个新时代——40年代工业发达的英国社会。小说中的伦敦是一个金融和商业中心、一个大港口，又是上流社会社交中心。董贝就是处在这样生活漩涡中的巨商。《董贝父子》用不少篇幅描写一个破落的航海仪器商所罗门·吉尔斯；他的小店铺里摆着些过时的仪器，从来没有人光顾，除非是进来问路或兑换零钱。吉尔斯悲叹道：“竞争、不停的竞争——新发明、层出不穷的新发明……世界把我抛在后边了”。时代的落伍者所罗门·吉尔斯和他的小店铺在小说中与董贝先生和他的大公司形成对比，愈加突出了《董贝父子》内容题材的时代特色。
狄更斯就是在这样一种背景上塑造了一个资产者的典型形象。关于《董贝父子》的创作意图，狄更斯曾说，在这里他要处理的是“傲慢”问题，正如前一部小说《马丁·柴则尔维持》里要着重描写“自私自利”。的确，在董贝形象的塑造上，作者是从傲慢入手的。小说一开始就写到，在董贝先生看来，“世界是为了董贝父子经商而创造的，太阳和月亮是为了给他们光亮而创造的。河川和海洋是为了让他们航船而构成的；虹霓使他们有逢到好天气的希望；风的顺逆影响他们实业的成败；星辰在他们的轨道内运行，保持以他们为中心的一种不能侵犯的系统”。董贝公司称霸四海，在当时的资本主义经济体系中居于中心地位，于是董贝先生就自认是世界的中心，他的傲慢由此而来。他的傲慢不是由于作为一个人有任何优越于他人的地方，而是由于他的公司的地位、他的资本力量。在董贝的形象中，狄更斯不把问题局限于一般的自私贪婪，事实上在私德方面，董贝基本上是恩格斯说的那种“具有各种私德的可敬人物”。正如西方马克思主义者A·T·杰克逊所指出的，“董贝的傲慢是他作为一家大公司的头目的地位带给他的品质”。因此，傲慢只是其表，而根本问题在于董贝作为人，与资本同一了。他失去了人的本质，只是资本的化身，亦如某些西方评论所说的，是“19世纪企业精神”的象征，“一种制度、竞争心理和冷酷无情”的典范。《董贝父子》以连载形式问世以后，当时便有评论指出： “描绘董贝这类的人物简直是当务之急——伦敦的世界里充满了冷漠的、装模作样的、僵硬的、炫耀金钱的人物，想法跟董贝一模一样……”可见董贝的形象在当时的英国社会是具有代表性的。
首先狄更斯强调了董贝作为一个资产者的非人性。他把感情完全排除在自己的视野之外：“董贝父子一向跟皮货打交道，而不跟感情打交道”。实际上《董贝父子》很少涉及具体的商业活动，它其实是一部以家庭生活为题材的小说，通过家庭关系，表现了作为丈夫、作为父亲的董贝，唯其如此，更加烘托了他的冷酷无情。
董贝父子-剧情
《董贝父子》有两处描写了董贝先生竟然流露了一种天然感情。第一次是在他太太生了男孩之后，他到卧室去看望，“对董贝太太居然也加上了一个亲密的称呼（虽然不是没有一些犹豫，因为他毕竟是一个不惯于叫出那种称呼的人），叫道：‘董贝太太，我的——我的亲爱的’。”在他们夫妻之间这一称呼是那样生疏，以至“那位生病的太太抬起眼睛朝他望去的时候，顿时间脸上涨满了微感惊讶的红晕”。其实即使这一次难得的感情流露，也不是与公司无关的。董贝先生想到自己得了儿子，从此以后“咱们的公司，不但名义上，而且事实上，又该叫做‘董贝父子’啦，董——贝父子！”他是在品尝这几个字的甜美滋味时情不自禁地叫了一声 “我的亲爱的”！从他的内心感情来说，我们无从判断这“亲爱的”是指他的太太还是更多指他的公司。同样，在《董贝父子》一书中我们始终无法判断这“董贝父子”是指公司还是指这爷儿俩的关系。这种有意无意的含混自然是意味深长的。
董贝先生第二次感情流露是在看着刚出生的儿子时，他想到“他得成就一番命中注定的事业哪。命中注定的事业，小家伙！”接着“把孩子的一只手举到自己的嘴唇上吻了一下，然后，好像深怕这种举动有损他的尊严似的，他非常不自然地走开了”。总之，就是这两次不可多得的感情流露，董贝先生也感到“犹豫”，“不习惯”，“有损尊严”，总之是“不自然”，即不合乎他那“资本化”了的本性。
在对董贝的描写中，作者把他比作“雕像”、“木头人”，“全身直挺挺的不会打弯”，或是“刮得光光、剪裁整齐的阔绅士，光溜利索，像刚印出来的钞票”。作者用一系列冰、霜、雪之类的形象来渲染董贝的特点，他的住宅阴冷，他的办公室凄凉。在保罗受洗礼的那一天，不仅教堂里寒气逼人，而且在董贝随后举行的宴会上摆着的食物都是冰冷的，与席上的整个气氛一致，作者还说，坐在首席上的董贝本人犹如一个“冰冻绅士”的标本。总之，作者通过夸张的细节描写，把董贝置于一层层冰霜的包裹之中，把他描写成一位十足的没有人性的冷血动物。
正如恩格斯所说的，资产阶级“除了快快发财以外，不知道世界上还有别的快乐”一样，继承人意味着资本的延续，也就是资产阶级理想中通向“永恒”与“不朽”的唯一道路，本质上还是发财的快乐。《董贝父子》一书的主线和总的设计都是围绕着董贝先生为自己，也是为公司，寻找继承人的故事。如果按19世纪小说专家史蒂芬·马科斯的划分，把作品划分成四个部分，那么可以看出，第一部分以继承人小保罗的诞生开始，以他的死亡告终；第二部分描写了董贝先生的悲痛以及他的第二次结婚，亦即再次要得到继承人；第三部分表现了董贝先生婚后夫妻不睦，终于导致他的夫人私奔；第四部分描写了董贝先生精神瓦解、企业倒闭，最后被他赶出家门的女儿弗洛伦斯用自己的爱给他以安慰和力量，使老年的董贝在失去资本、失去继承人之后恢复了自己的人性。而具有讽刺意味的是，“所谓董贝父子”，如书中一个人物说的“归根结蒂是董贝父女”！但开始时，董贝先生哪里能猜到等待他的命运！他把自己的感情全部倾注在公司的继承人、刚刚诞生的儿子身上，至于女儿，既然不是继承人，对董贝公司没有意义，对他本人也就没有意义，相当于“不能投资的一块劣币”。其实，就是对于他的儿子小保罗，董贝先生也只能以自己的方式去爱。这是一种异化了的感情。他只把保罗当作继承人来对待，当作“董贝父子公司”中的“子”而不是作为一个有独立生存权利的人、一个有权过快乐童年的儿童。董贝把保罗从降生到成人的时期都看作是难熬的过渡时期，“他急于进入未来，恨不得快点打发掉这中间的时光”。董贝对儿子的感情是那样的独占，他不信任奶娘波利·图德尔，生怕儿子会对她有感情，从而受到“下等人”的沾染，后来董贝还是因为她擅自把保罗带回家而把这个好心的女人打发掉，致使婴儿突然断奶，从此体弱多病。董贝先生“望子成龙”心切，他把幼小的保罗送往布林伯博士学院。这是一座以填塞死知识著称的住宿学校。在那里，孩子们白天被逼得背诵天书一样的古代典籍，晚上做梦都说希腊文！“那是一座大暖房，一架不停地移动的拔苗助长的机器，所有的孩子都提前‘开花’，但是不足三个礼拜就枯萎凋谢”。在那里，可怜的小保罗的头脑被塞满了一大堆希腊罗马的古董，他哭着说，“我要当儿童”，可那在董贝培养继承人的计划里是不允许的。保罗在这些催化剂的作用下精神备受摧残，不久以后便死去。具有讽刺意味的是，从解雇奶娘到提前送进学校的整个过程来看，不是别人，正是董贝先生自己一手促成了儿子的死亡。他完全按照自己性格的逻辑，按照他的“异化”了的感情行事，不可能有其他做法。这不能不说是董贝的悲剧。值得注意的还有，董贝不仅在儿子活着的时候对儿子的感情是“异化”的，而且在儿子死亡以后，他的反应也是“异化”的，那与其说是失去亲骨肉的切肤之痛，倒更像是他的“自我”受到打击、傲慢受到挫折而引起的痛苦。当老奶娘图德尔的丈夫向董贝表示哀悼时，董贝不仅不为之感动，反而因为不相干的人（与公司不相干）妄想分担他的痛苦而感到气愤，好像自己受了污辱。这不是被资本“异化”了的感情又是什么呢？
对董贝来说，更可悲的是，由于他的古板、冷漠、没有人情味，他的儿子与他感情疏远而衷心喜爱那些董贝所厌恶、鄙视的人——姐姐弗洛伦斯、奶娘波利·图德尔，还有公司里的小雇员沃尔特·盖伊，在自己幼小生命的最后时刻对他们恋恋不舍而把自己的父亲排除在外。在思想上父子二人更是格格不入；董贝是那样急切盼望儿子成长为精明的生意人，而幼小的保罗却问“钱能干什么？”，当父亲说钱可以办到一切，他并不信服，说“它不能救活我妈妈”。“它不是残酷的吗？”狄更斯通过儿童的眼光批判了董贝所代表的价值观。
保罗虽然年纪幼小，却总像是生活在一个彼岸世界，他“可以在糊墙纸上看出微型的老虎和狮子…… 看见一些人影冲着地板上的方块和棱形图案作怪脸，而别人却什么也看不见”。他像个老人似的长时间坐在海边上，面对着一片天水茫茫沉思不语。他纳闷“它没结没完地说些什么呀？”——“我知道他们一直是在说些什么的。说的总是同样的事情。那儿是什么地方呀？”他热切地凝望那天水之际，在大海的喧腾中，听到了时间老人的召唤，感到了死亡的预兆，最后在海涛声中他安然与世长辞……。可以说，小保罗在任何意义上也不是董贝的继承人。《董贝父子》的第一部分，也是最精采部分，便以董贝在培育继承人方面的彻底失败而告终。《董贝父子》最初连载发表时，保罗·罗贝夭亡的一章在当时读者中引起强烈反响，“举国上下，共同哀悼”，仅次于“自己家里办丧事”。当时许多人，包括政界文化界著名人物都毫不隐讳自己为小保罗的死而痛哭流涕。这当然与当时盛行的感伤主义阅读趣味分不开。小保罗的死，与《老古玩店》中小耐儿的死一样，都是19世纪小说中公认的感伤主义的典范。但是，不可否认，保罗之死的著名篇章充满了晶莹的诗意—— “小船在波上的飘荡已经引得他要去安眠了。河岸多么葱翠，长在河岸上的花草多么明艳，那芦苇又是多么婷婷袅袅！这时小船已经驶到海里，可是还在平静地向前滑去”。小保罗去了，好像得到了他的天然归宿。他不属于公司，更远离“货币、通货、钞票、外汇率”所构成的那个他命中要成就的“事业”。在那个孜孜名利的浮华世界上，保罗的死显出了超尘拔俗的光彩，在默默无言之中对以“董贝父子公司”为代表的金钱利欲做出了最有力的批判。
经过第一个打击，董贝并没有总结教训、达到自我认识。不久以后，他又处心积虑地为得到继承人而设法。他跟年轻美貌的寡妇伊迪丝·格兰杰结婚了。这纯粹是一笔交易，董贝就像在骡马市上相马似地观察伊迪丝的才华与教养，最后决定买下。伊迪丝愤然对她母亲说“十年以来，奴隶市场上的奴隶和集市上的马都没有像我这样被展览出售，炫耀给看客。”在这第二次婚姻中，董贝又失败了。在伊迪丝身上，他碰到了对手，跟他一样傲慢，跟他一样强硬。两下里冲突的结果，伊迪丝为报复丈夫而与公司的经理卡克私奔，造成了伦敦上流社会的头号丑闻。此外，董贝刚愎自用，在卡克的纵恿下投资不当，在家庭危机的同时，他的商船“子嗣”号在海上遇难，他的公司倒闭，他本人宣告破产。昔日富丽堂皇的宅第被债仅人剥得一干二净，连老鼠都不愿逗留，只剩下一个董贝像个幽灵似地在空楼中游荡。在他举刀自杀的那一刹那，女儿弗洛伦斯赶到他跟前，用自己的爱感化了他，使董贝终于认识到，自己是有罪的，“需要得到宽恕”。董贝那违背天理人性的傲慢被弗洛伦斯的爱克服了。在老年，他终于开始过上一种合乎人性的生活。董贝的命运，并不取决于外部事态的发展；是董贝自己性格的内在逻辑导致他的全面崩溃。他是在自己惩罚自己，并在一重一重的惩罚中一层一层地暴露出资产阶级本性中那些违反天理人情的因素。
若只看故事情节，我们也不能否认《董贝父子》的结局是浅薄无力的。法国著名批评家泰纳说董贝的“转变”毁了一本出色的小说。一位当代评论家用不屑的口气问道：难道要把董贝父子公司的世界贸易交给眼泪汪汪的弗洛伦斯去经营吗？在这里，我们又回到小说的时代特色问题。像弗洛伦斯那类的“安琪儿”是按照当时盛行的公式描写的，本来就不现实，而董贝先生在铁路四通八达国际贸易发达的时代是个真实的形象、一个阶级的代表。弗洛伦斯怎么可能用自己的眼泪去感化董贝的铁石心肠呢？《董贝父子》一书的价值不在于作者虚构出怎么样的方案去解决矛盾，而在于他在四十年代资本主义经济发达的历史时期塑造了一个资产阶级的典型形象，从而深刻地揭示了关于那个阶级的真理。
也是在《董贝父子》一书中，狄更斯第一次采用了一个象征来贯穿全书，以传达出一个总的世界图景、一种对时代、对社会的理解。他曾用过雾、浊流、垃圾等形象作为这种象征，而在这里是铁路。铁路——火车、铁轨——的形象在书中出现多次，往往在关键时刻渲染气氛，烘托主题。用铁路的形象来概括四十年代工业化的英国，当然是最恰当不过的，在19世纪上半叶，铁路的发展速度是惊人的。据统计，1825年还只有25英里的铁路线，到了1845年就发展成2200多公里，即在不到二十年的时间里便增加了一百倍。处在火车、电报时代的董贝比起乘驿车的匹克威克先生简直属于两个完全不同的世界。铁路的发展改变了人们的生活方式，改变了人们对空间和时间的概念，还产生了一支新的劳动队伍：铁路工人。铁路意味着力量、运动和速度，意味着更快的生活节奏。这时，铁路是社会变革的象征，它给破烂不堪的旧址带来了新的生命。书中写到，由于铁路的建设，波利·图德尔一家原来住的贫民区“斯塔格斯花园”已不复存在——“它从地面上消失了，原来一些朽烂的凉亭残存的地方，现在耸立着高大的宫殿；大理石的圆柱两边开道，通向铁路的新世界”。书中还写到，原先堆放垃圾的空地已被吞没，代之而起的是“一层层库房，里面装满了丰富的物资和贵重的商品”。而原是荒无人烟的地方现在修起了花园、别墅、教堂和令人心旷神怡的林荫大道。过去以掘煤为生的图德尔，现在也在新建设起来的铁路上当上了一名司炉工。从这个角度可以说，狄更斯是站在赞赏的立场去看以铁路为象征的工业化对社会物质发展的积极意义。
但是，另一方面，铁路、火车在狄更斯笔下又充满了威胁，它力大无穷而又难以控制，它在急驰中似有自己的目的而把人的意愿置于不顾。当保罗将要死去时，书中描写了火车的运动：“日日夜夜，往返不停，翻腾的热浪犹如生命的血流”。保罗在父亲的培养下正在悄悄死去，而车声隆隆正以雷霆万钧之势驶来，显得那样冷酷无情。保罗死后，董贝乘火车旅行，火车的机械运动与董贝的沉重心情互相衬托，后来，董贝去追赶拐骗他妻子私奔的卡克，他们一个在逃，一个紧追，这时火车像个可怕的怪兽，“混身冒火的魔鬼”，愤怒地奔腾咆哮，活像个复仇神，终于非常戏剧性地把卡克碾死。
这里，问题并不在于死在火车轮下的卡克是罪有应得。重要的是，在这里，火车的形象狰狞可怕；它的来临“伴随着大地的震响，在耳边颤抖的声浪，以及遥远的尖叫声；一片暗光由远而近，刹那间变成两支火红的眼睛和一团烈火，一路上掉着燃烧的煤块；接着，一个庞然大物咆哮着、扩展着，以不可抗拒的气势压过来”。这个形象远远超脱了卡克命运的区区小事，而提出了更大的问题：机械的物质运动所释放出来的力量对于人类社会究竟意味着什么？在这里，狄更斯表现了一个真正大作家的气魄。他透过现象去捕捉本质，通过铁路的象征对资本主义物质文明的发展表示了深深的忧虑；这奔腾向前的力量将把人类社会带往何处？这怀疑与忧虑是跟作者通过董贝的形象所提出的问题完全一致的，它们都汇为一个总的对时代的疑问：资本主义的工业——铁路——改善了人们的生存条件，但它将引起什么样的社会变化？一个董贝先生是被女儿的泪水感化了，但以铁路为标志的英国资本主义的发展不是会产生更多的董贝吗？
《董贝父子》不是社会学论文。狄更斯的魔力就在于，他提出了当时社会最本质的问题，同时又写出了人物众多、情节复杂、情调多变的一部五光十色的小说巨著。在这里，以董贝渴望子嗣的故事为中心，演出了那么多扣人心弦的悲喜剧。社会地位有天壤之别的人物，命运却那么曲折地交织在一起：第二任董贝夫人伊迪丝跟被流放的娼妓爱丽丝不仅是同父异母的姐妹，而且也是被同一个男性——卡克经理——欺辱的女性。这种情节性的背后不正是微妙地暗示着伊迪丝与董贝的婚姻的实质？《董贝父子》还充满了阴谋和悬念。卡克经理像个蜘蛛一样坐在他编织的阴谋纲络的中心，为董贝先生、伊迪丝，为弗洛伦斯和沃尔特，甚至为老实巴结的卡特尔船长都设下了圈套，派了钉哨。
可是到头来，正是他这个心腹 ——不争气的少年罗伯——出卖了他，导致他粉身碎骨在车轮之下，可谓事件本身的嘲讽。在《董贝父子》中，与正剧的主线平行，总有喜剧闹剧的副线，甚至形成一环扣一环的命运的锁链。如在董贝先生物色第二位夫人的时候，溜须拍马但又可怜可笑的托克斯小姐觊觎董贝夫人的宝座，冷落了有意于她的白格斯托克少校，而老奸巨猾的白格斯托克为了挫败托克斯小姐的野心，把伊迪丝引见给董贝，导致了他的第二次灾难性的婚姻。
在《董贝父子》一书中，狄更斯还描写了许多小人物和他们的生活。破落小商人所罗门·吉尔斯、保罗的奶娘图德尔一家、弗洛伦斯的贴身女仆苏珊等在各方面都与董贝形成对比。我们在书中看到，一方面是董贝的华贵府邸，另一方面是图德尔一家住的破烂不堪的贫民窟。尽管如此，前者冷若冰窖，后者热气腾腾，充满友爱与欢乐。在那冷酷的资本主义社会，这些小人物身上体现了人情和人性中善良美好的本能。波利·图德尔那兴旺的家族——她那丰富的乳汁和众多的孩子都描写的十分夸张、富于象征意义，体现了生的欢乐和对未来的希望。有趣的是，在作者的巧妙安排之下，这些地位低贱的小人物又不断跟董贝“遭遇”。如所罗门·吉尔斯的好友、落魄的船长内德·卡特尔竟跑去与董贝先生称兄道弟，还以自己的糖侠子等可笑的“传家宝”来当抵押，要董贝借款给他。这在董贝看来简直是骇人听闻。他摆出最威风凛凛的架势，但最没有现实感的卡特尔船长对此毫无察觉，弄得董贝反而手足无措。后来，女仆苏珊又乘董贝卧病的当儿公然向他挑战，指着他的鼻子数落他的不是，气得董贝先生目瞪口呆。这些喜剧性场面烘托出了劳动人民生动活泼的形象；是他们戳破了董贝的傲慢，使他露出了底里的空虚与软弱。在四十年代描写劳动人民形象的作品中，这种喜剧化的处理是别具一格的。
总之，穿插于故事中的众多的陪衬人物都天真无邪，不是傻得可爱就是“狡猾”得可笑。他们不仅推动情节发展，而且为全书带来了欢乐气氛和幽默情趣，使《董贝父子》成为狄更斯小说中既有深度又饶有趣味的代表作。还在连载的时候，不识字的老百姓在一天的劳累之后就要聚在一起听人朗读《董贝父子》，直至今天，它还受到广大读者的喜爱。
Plot summary
The story concerns Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company of the book's title, whose dream is to have a son to continue his business. The book begins when his son is born, and Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth. Following the advice of Mrs Louisa Chick, his sister, Dombey employs a wet nurse named Mrs Richards (Toodle). Dombey already has a daughter, Florence, whom he neglects. One day, Mrs Richards, Florence and her maid, Susan Nipper, secretly pay a visit Mrs Richard's house in Stagg's Gardens in order that she can see her children. During this trip, Florence becomes separated and is kidnapped for a short time by Good Mrs Brown before being returned to the streets. She makes her way to Dombey and Son's offices in the City and is guided there by Walter Gay, an employee, who first introduces her to his uncle, the navigation instrument maker Solomon Gill, at his shop the Midshipman.
The child, also named Paul, is weak and often ill, and does not socialize normally with others; adults call him "old fashioned". He is intensely fond of his elder sister, Florence, who is deliberately neglected by her father as irrelevant and a distraction. He is sent away to Brighton, first for his health, where he and Florence lodge with the ancient and acidic Mrs Pipchin, and then for his education to Dr and Mrs Blimber's school, where he and the other boys undergo both an intense and arduous education under the tutelage of Mr Feeder, B.A. and Cornelia Blimber. It is here that Paul is befriended by a fellow pupil, the amiable Mr Toots.
Here, Paul's health declines even further in this 'great hothouse' and he finally dies, still only six years old. Dombey pushes his daughter away from him after the death of his son, while she futilely tries to earn his love. In the meantime, Walter, who works for Dombey and Son, is sent off to work in Barbados through the manipulations of the firm's manager, Mr James Carker, 'with his white teeth', who sees him as a potential rival through his association with Florence. His boat is reported lost and he is presumed drowned. Walter's uncle leaves to go in search of Walter, leaving his great friend Captain Edward Cuttle in charge of the Midshipman. Meanwhile, Florence is now left alone with few friends to keep her company.
Dombey goes to Leamington Spa with a new friend, Major Joseph B. Bagstock. The Major deliberately sets out to befriend Dombey in order to spite his neighbour in Princess's Place, Miss Tox, who has turned cold towards him owing to her hopes - through her close friendship with Mrs Chick - of marrying Mr Dombey. At the spa, Dombey is introduced via the Major to Mrs Skewton and her widowed daughter, Mrs Edith Granger. It is here that he develops an affection for Edith, encouraged by both the Major and the avaricious mother. After they return to London, Dombey remarries, effectively 'buying' the beautiful but haughty Edith as she and her mother are in a poor financial state. The marriage is loveless; his wife despises Dombey for his overbearing pride and herself for being shallow and worthless. Her love for Florence initially prevents her from leaving, but finally she conspires with Mr Carker to ruin Dombey's public image by running away together to Dijon. They do so after her last final argument with Dombey in which he once again attempts to subdue her to his will. When he discovers that she has left him, he blames Florence for siding with her step-mother, striking her on the breast in his anger, and she is forced to run away from home. Highly distraught, she finally makes her way to The Midshipman where she lodges with Captain Cuttle as he attempts to restore her back to health. They are visited frequently by Mr Toots and his boxing companion, the Chicken, since Mr Toots has been desperately in love with Florence since their time together in Brighton.
Dombey sets out to find his wife. He is helped in this by Mrs Brown and her daughter, Alice, who, it turns out, was a former lover of Mr Carker. After being transported as a convict after he involved her in some criminal activities, she is seeking her revenge against him now she is returned to England. Going to Mrs Brown's house, Dombey overhears the conversation between Rob the Grinder - who is in the employment of Mr Carker - and the old woman as to the couple's whereabouts and sets off in pursuit. In the meantime, in Dijon, Mrs Dombey informs Carker that she sees him in no better a light than she sees Dombey, that she will not stay with him and she flees their apartment. Distraught, with both his financial and personal hopes lost, Carker flees from his former employer's pursuit. He seeks refuge back in England but, being greatly overwrought, accidentally falls under a train and is killed.
After Carker's death, it is discovered that he had been running the firm far beyond its means. This information is gleaned by Carker's brother and sister, John and Harriet, from Mr Morfin, the assistant manager at Dombey and Son, who sets out to help John Carker. He often overheard the conversations between the two brothers in which James, the younger, often abused John, the older, who was just a lowly clerk and who is sacked by Dombey because of his filial relationship to the former manager. Meanwhile, back at the Midshipman, Walter reappears, having been saved by a passing ship after floating adrift with two other sailors on some wreckage. After some time, he and Florence are finally reunited - not as 'brother' and 'sister' but as lovers, and they marry prior to sailing for China on Walter's new ship. This is also the time when Sol Gills returns to the Midshipman. As he relates to his friends, he received news whilst in Barbados that a homeward-bound China trader had picked up Walter and so had returned to England immediately. He said he had sent letters whilst in the Caribbean to his friend Ned Cuttle c/o Mrs MacStinger at Cuttle's former lodgings, and the bemused Captain recounts how he fled the place, thus never receiving them.
Florence and Walter depart and Sol Gills is entrusted with a letter, written by Walter to her father, pleading for him to be reconciled towards them both. A year passes and Alice Brown has slowly been dying despite the tender care of Harriet Carker. One night Alice's mother reveals that Alice herself is the [illegitimate]] cousin of Edith Dombey (which accounts for their similarity in appearance when they both meet). In a chapter entitled 'Retribution', Dombey and Son goes bankrupt. Dombey retires to two rooms in his house and all its contents are put up for sale. Mrs Pipchin, for some time the housekeeper, dismisses all the servants and she herself returns to Brighton, to be replaced by Mrs Richards. Dombey spends his days sunk in gloom, seeing no-one and thinking only of his daughter:
“ He thought of her as she had been that night when he and his bride came home. He thought of her as she had been in all the home events of the abandoned house. He thought, now, that of all around him, she alone had never changed. His boy had faded into dust, his proud wife had sunk into a polluted creature, his flatterer and friend had been transformed into the worst of villains, his riches had melted away, the very walls that sheltered him looked on him as a stranger; she alone had turned the same, mild gentle look upon him always. Yes, to the latest and the last. She had never changed to him - nor had he ever changed to her - and she was lost. ”
However, one day Florence returns to the house with her son, Paul, and is lovingly reunited with her father.
Dombey accompanies his daughter to her and Walter's house where he slowly starts to decline, cared for by Florence and also Susan Nipper, now Mrs Toots. They receive a visit from Edth's Cousin Feenix who takes Florence to Edith for one final time - Feenix sought Edith out in France and she returned to England under his protection. Edith gives Florence a letter, asking Dombey to forgive her her crime before her departure to the South of Italy with her elderly relative. As she says to Florence, 'I will try, then to forgive him his share of the blame. Let him try to forgive me mine!'
The final chapter (LXII) sees Dombey now a white-haired old man, 'whose face bears heavy marks of care and suffering; but they are traces of a storm that has passed on for ever, and left a clear evening in its track'.. Sol Gills and Ned Cuttle are now partners at the Midshipman, a source of great pride to the latter, and Mr and Mrs Toots announce the birth of their third daughter. Walter is doing well in business, having been appointed to a position of great confidence and trust, and Dombey is the proud grandfather of both a grandson and grand-daughter of whom he dotes on, and the book ends with the highly moving lines:
“ 'Dear grandpapa, why do you cry when you kiss me?'
He only answers, 'Little Florence! Little Florence!' and smooths away the curls that shade her earnest eyes.
”
Source
Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens, Wordsworth Classics, 1995, ISBN 1 85326 257 9
Critical appreciation
Dombey and Son was conceived first and foremost as a continuous novel. A letter from Dickens to Forster on 26th July, 1846 shows the major details of the plot and theme already substantially worked out. According to the critic George Gissing, 'Dombey was begun at Lausanne, continued at Paris, completed in London, and at English seaside places; whilst the early parts were being written, a Christmas story, The Battle of Life, was also in hand, and Dickens found it troublesome to manage both together. That he overcame the difficulty -- that, soon after, we find him travelling about England as member of an amateur dramatic company -- that he undertook all sorts of public engagements and often devoted himself to private festivity -- Dombey going on the while, from month to month -- is matter enough for astonishment to those who know anything about artistic production. But such marvels become commonplaces in the life of Charles Dickens.'
As with most of Dickens' work, a number of socially significant themes are to be found in this book. In particular the book deals with the then-prevalent common practice of arranged marriages for financial gain. Other themes to be detected within this work include child cruelty (particularly in Dombey's treatment of Florence), familial relationships, and as ever in Dickens, betrayal and deceit and the consequences thereof. Another strong central theme, which the critic George Gissing elaborates on in detail in his 1925 work The Immortal Dickens, is that of pride and arrogance, of which Paul Dombey senior is the extreme exemplification in Dickens' work.
Gissing makes a number of points about certain key inadequacies in the novel, not the least that Dickens's central character is largely unsympathetic and an unsuitable vehicle and also that after the death of the young Paul Dombey the reader is somewhat estranged from the rest of what is to follow. He notes that 'the moral theme of this book was Pride -- pride of wealth, pride of place, personal arrogance. Dickens started with a clear conception of his central character and of the course of the story in so far as it depended upon that personage; he planned the action, the play of motive, with unusual definiteness, and adhered very closely in the working to this well-laid scheme'. However, he goes on to write that,'Dombey and Son is a novel which in its beginning promises more than its progress fulfils' and gives the following reasons why:
“ Impossible to avoid the reflection that the death of Dombey's son and heir marks the end of a complete story, that we feel a gap between Chapter XVI and what comes after (the author speaks of feeling it himself, of his striving to "transfer the interest to Florence") and that the narrative of the later part is ill-constructed, often wearisome, sometimes incredible. We miss Paul, we miss Walter Gay (shadowy young hero though he be); Florence is too colourless for deep interest, and the second Mrs. Dombey is rather forced upon us than accepted as a natural figure in the drama. Dickens's familiar shortcomings are abundantly exemplified. He is wholly incapable of devising a plausible intrigue, and shocks the reader with monstrous improbabilities such as all that portion of the denouement in which old Mrs. Brown and her daughter are concerned. A favourite device with him (often employed with picturesque effect) was to bring into contact persons representing widely severed social ranks; in this book the "effect" depends too often on "incidences of the boldest artificiality," as nearly always we end by neglecting the story as a story, and surrendering ourselves to the charm of certain parts, the fascination of certain characters.' ”
Characters in the novel
Karl Ashley Smith (the University of St Andrews) in his Introduction to Wordsworth Classics' Dombey and Son makes some reflections on the novel's characters. He believes that Dombey’s power to disturb comes from his belief that human relationships can be controlled by money, giving the following examples to support this viewpoint:
“ He tries to prevent Mrs Richards from developing an attachment to Paul by emphasising the wages he pays her. Mrs Pipchin’s small talk satisfies him as ‘the sort of think for which he paid her so much a quarter’ (p.132). Worst of all, he effectively buys his second wife and expects that his wealth and position in society will be enough to keep her in awed obedience to him. Paul’s questions about money are only the first indication of the naivety of his outlook'. ”
However, he also believes that the satire against this man is tempered with compassion.
Smith also draws attention to the fact that certain characters in the novel 'develop a pattern from Dickens's earlier novels, whilst pointing the way to future works'. One such character is Little Paul who is a direct descendant of Little Nell. Another is James Carker, the ever-smiling manager of Dombey and Son. Smith notes there are strong similarities between him and the likes of Jaggers in Great Expectations and, even more so, the evil barrister, Mr Tulkinghorn, in Bleak House:
“ From Fagin (Oliver Twist) onwards, the terrifying figure exerting power over others by an infallible knowledge of their secrets becomes one of the author’s trademarks ... His gentlemanly businesslike respectability marks him out as the ancestor of Tulkinghorn in Bleak House and even of Jaggers in Great Expectations. And his involvements in the secrets of others leads him to as sticky an end as Tulkinghorn’s. The fifty-fifth chapter, where he is forced to flee his outraged employer, magnificently continues the theme of the guilt-hunted man from Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist and Jonas’s restless sense of pursuit in Martin Chuzzlewit. There is always a strong sense in Dickens of the narrative drive of discovery catching up with those who deal in darkness...' ”
Gissing looks at some of the minor characters in the novel and is particularly struck by that of Edward (Ned) Cuttle.
“ Captain Cuttle has a larger humanity than his roaring friend [Captain Bunsby], he is the creation of humour. That the Captain suffered dire things at the hands of Mrs. MacStinger is as credible as it is amusing, but he stood in no danger of Bunsby's fate; at times he can play his part in a situation purely farcical, but the man himself moves on a higher level. He is one of the most familiar to us among Dickens's characters, an instance of the novelist's supreme power, which (I like to repeat) proves itself in the bodying forth of a human personality henceforth accepted by the world. His sentences have become proverbs; the mention of his name brings before the mind's eye an image of flesh and blood -- rude, tending to the grotesque, but altogether lovable. Captain Cuttle belongs to the world of Uncle Toby, with, to be sure, a subordinate position. Analyse him as you will, make the most of those extravagances which pedants of to-day cannot away with, and in the end you will still be face to face with something vital -- explicable only as the product of genius. ”
The growth of the railways
A strong theme is the destruction and degradation (of people and places) caused by industrialisation, illustrated in particular by the building of the new railway through Camden Town (assumed to represent the London and Birmingham Railway constructed between 1833 and 1837). This reflects Dickens's apparent antipathy towards railways[citation needed], later reinforced by his involvement in a train crash in 1865. Soon after this incident he wrote two short stories (Mugby Junction and The Signal-Man) which projected a morbid view of the railways.
Final thoughts
Gissing refers to Dickens's instinctive genius for reflecting the thoughts and morals of the common man in his writing. He observes that the author was in constant communication with Forster,
“ ... as to the feeling of his readers about some proposed incident or episode; not that he feared, in any ignoble sense, to offend his public, but because his view of art involved compliance with ideals of ordinary simple folk. He held that view as a matter of course. Quite recently it has been put forth with prophetic fervour by Tolstoy, who cites Dickens among the few novelists whose work will bear this test. An instinctive sympathy with the moral (and therefore the artistic) prejudices of the everyday man guided Dickens throughout his career, teaching him when, and how far, he might strike at things he thought evil, yet never defeat his prime purpose of sending forth fiction acceptable to the multitude. Himself, in all but his genius, a representative Englishman of the middle-class, he was able to achieve this task with unfailing zeal and with entire sincerity. ”
Karl Smith, in his turn, gives his specific reasons for what makes Dombey and Son - and the works of Dickens as a whole - worth reading again and again. He observes that this is based in part on Dickens's 'recognition that solemn themes require humour and verbal vigour to accompany and complement them' and goes on to conclude:
“ Grim psychological realism, social commentary, comic absurdity and symbolic transcendence are here brought together more than in any previous novel with the possible exception of Oliver Twist. Dombey and Son not only prepares the ground for Dickens’s later masterpieces, but demands to be enjoyed for its own energy and richness. ”
Characters in "Dombey and Son"
The "Wooden Midshipman" of Uncle Sol's nautical instrument shop of the same name. Statue in the Charles Dickens Museum.
* Mr Paul Dombey – the wealthy owner of the shipping company
* Edith Granger – proud widowed daughter of Mrs Skewton, becomes second Mrs Dombey
* Mrs Fanny Dombey – Mr Dombey's first wife, mother of Florence and Paul, dies soon after Paul is born
* Master Paul Dombey (Little Dombey) – the son, is weak and often ill
* Miss Florence (Floy) Dombey – the elder daughter whom Mr Dombey neglects
* Mrs Louisa Chick – Mr Dombey's sister
* Mr Chick – husband of Mrs Chick
* Miss Lucretia Tox – friend of Mrs Chick, great admirer of Mr Dombey, and neighbour of Major Joseph Bagstock
* James Carker (Mr Carker the Manager) – devious manager in Mr Dombey's business
* John Carker (Mr Carker the Junior) – disgraced older brother of James, lower level employee in Dombey's business
* Miss Harriet Carker – sister of James and John
* Mr Morfin – assistant manager in Mr Dombey's business
* Mr Perch – messenger in Mr Dombey's business
* Solomon (Uncle Sol) Gills – ships' instrument maker and owner of the "Wooden Midshipman", a shop
* Walter Gay – nephew of Gills, friend to Florence, employee of Mr Dombey, sent away by Carker the Manager
* Captain Edward (Ned) Cuttle – retired sea captain, friend of Gills
* Major Joseph Bagstock (Josh, Joe, J.B., Old Joe) – conceited retired army major, admirer of Miss Tox, friend of Mr Dombey until his downfall
* Briggs – schoolmate of Paul's
* Tozer – schoolmate of Paul's
* Mr P. Toots – schoolmate of Paul's, later a dandy in love with Florence
* The Game Chicken – rowdy companion of Mr Toots
* Miss Susan Nipper – Florence's loyal nurse, later marries Mr. Toots
* Mrs Cleopatra Skewton – Edith Dombey's infirm mother and former lover of Bagstock
* Mr Toodle – a railway engineer
* Polly Toodle (Mrs Richards) – wife of Mr Toodle, engaged as nurse to Paul under the name Mrs Richards (by Mr Dombey's order)
* Robin Toodle (Rob the Grinder, Biler) – son of Mr Toodle and Polly, sent to Charitable Grinders school, later engaged in service to Captain Cuttle and Mr. Carker the Manager
* Good Mrs. Brown – an elderly rag dealer
* Alice – daughter of Brown, former lover of Carker's, recently returned from transportation
* Jack Bunsby – commander of a ship, and regarded as an oracle by Captain Cuttle. Eventually is wedded to Mrs MaacStinger.
* Mrs MacStinger – Captain Cuttle's landlady and nemesis
* Mrs Pipchin – stern widow who keeps an 'infantine Boarding-House of a very select description' in Brighton, where Paul is sent for his health
* Master Bitherstone – a fellow-boarder at Mrs. Pipchin's, much later a student at Doctor Blimber's
* Miss Pankey – a fellow-boarder at Mrs. Pipchin's
* Sir Barnet Skettles –
* Lady Skettles –
* Master Skettles – Brighton school pupil
* Doctor Blimber – runs a school in Brighton which Paul briefly attends
* Mrs Blimber – Doctor Blimber's wife
* Miss Cornelia Blimber – Doctor Blimber's daughter, teacher at the school
* Mr Feeder, B.A. – Doctor Blimber's assistant, teacher at the school
* Diogenes (Di) – A dog from the school, befriended by Paul and adopted by Florence after Paul's death
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel has been adapted for the screen at least three times:
* 1917 - a silent starring Norman McKinnel as Paul Dombey and Hayford Hobbs as Walter Gay
* 1969 - a television mini-series starring John Carson as Paul Dombey and Derek Seaton as Walter Gay
* 1983 - a television mini-series starring Julian Glover as Paul Dombey and Max Gold as Walter Gay
There have also been BBC radio adaptations.
In 2007, a two-part French miniseries, Dombais et Fils, was produced by France 3, directed by Laurent Jaoui and starring Christophe Malavoy as "Charles Dombais" (Paul Dombey).
It was announced in September 2009 that Andrew Davies would no longer be writing a proposed television adaptation for the BBC.
Original publication
Dombey and Son was originally published in 19 monthly instalments; each cost one shilling (except for the last, which cost two shillings, being a double issue) and contained 32 pages of text with two illustrations by Phiz:
* I - October 1846 (chapters 1-4);
* II - November 1846 (chapters 5-7);
* III - December 1846 (chapters 8-10);
* IV - January 1847 (chapters 11-13);
* V - February 1847 (chapters 14-16);
* VI - March 1847 (chapters 17-19);
* VII - April 1847 (chapters 20-22);
* VIII - May 1847 (chapters 23-25);
* IX - June 1847 (chapters 26-28);
* X - July 1847 (chapters 29-31);
* XI - August 1847 (chapters 32-34);
* XII - September 1847 (chapters 35-38);
* XIII - October 1847 (chapters 39-41);
* XIV - November 1847 (chapters 42-45);
* XV - December 1847 (chapters 46-48);
* XVI - January 1848 (chapters 49-51);
* XVII - February 1848 (chapters 52-54);
* XVIII - March 1848 (chapters 55-57);
* XIX-XX - April 1848 (chapters 58-62).
Trivia
* The motto of the publication Notes and Queries, "When found, make a note of", comes from the novel.
* In the illustrated plate, "Major Bagstock is delighted to have that opportunity," the lettering "HOTEL" on the central building in the background is written in mirror-writing. Phiz, the illustrator, evidently forgot to reverse the lettering so that it would read correctly when the plate was printed. (However, strangely, he got the other lettering in the same plate correct.)
* Sir Harry Johnston wrote a sequel to Dombey and Son in about 1920, titled The Gay-Dombeys.
* In the novel Velocity by Dean Koontz, the comatose wife of the main protagonist often makes incoherent references to the works of Dickens, the 'most mysterious' coming from Dombey and Son, "I want to know what it says, the sea. What it is that it keeps on saying."
《孤星血泪》（又名《远大前程》）是狄更斯最成熟的代表作品之一。小说叙述了一个青年幻想破灭的故事。金钱使皮普从一个穷学徒变成阔少爷，也使他染上了上流社会的恶习，而背离了他原有的劳动人民的纯朴天性。没有了金钱，皮普两手空空地回到家乡，则恢复了自己的人性。狄更斯以他独特的方式，处理19世纪文学中具有普遍意义的青年人的生活道路的主题，突出了对金钱腐蚀作用的揭露。
英国著名作家查理·狄更斯的长篇小说《孤星血泪》曾先后几十次被搬上银幕，但由大卫·里恩导演，约翰·米尔斯、珍·西蒙丝、阿历克·金纳斯等优秀演员主演的这部影片,一直被认为是最成功的一部。影片叙述19世纪初，年轻的英国乡村铁匠皮普(约翰·米尔斯饰)，由于年幼时无意中帮助过一位含冤被陷入狱的逃犯，而得到一个不知姓名的恩人慷慨大方的帮助。后来，他终于跻身于伦敦上流社会，并与美丽的少女埃丝苔娜(珍·西蒙丝饰)结下了深厚的情谊。大卫·里恩导演的这部影片，不仅真实地再现了19世纪英国社会的风貌，而且成功地运用了一系列电影技巧，在电影化方面取得了杰出的成就。特别是影片开头，小男孩皮普与逃犯在荒郊野外相遇的场面，在电影史上一直被奉为经典。
《孤星血泪》-幕后英雄
在奥斯卡奖的历史上，这部影片是相当重要的，是与《黑水仙花》最早获得奥斯卡摄影奖和美工奖的两部英国影片。英国摄影师盖伊·格林在摄制了《孤星血泪》、《雾都孤儿》等影片之后，改行从事导演工作，先后导演了《标志》、《愤怒的沉默》、《一次不够》等二十八部影片。约翰·布雷恩(1911－1969)不仅是英国一位出色的美工师，也是一位制片人和导演。除本片外，他还担任过《西班牙园丁》、《马嘴》等影片的美工。
《孤星血泪》-内容简介
故事讲述一个小孤儿皮普，从小依靠姐姐与姐夫过活，却在无意中帮助了一位含冤被陷的逃犯，后来受到一位不愿透露身份的人士资助，使他能在上流社会求学生活，成为一名绅士。约瑟夫·哈迪执导的此片是狄更斯名著《孤星血泪》的重拍电视版。原本打算拍成歌舞片，后来音乐撤消，因此本片拍来较为平淡。迈克尔·约克、詹姆斯·梅森等在此片的表现一般，但故事本身内容丰富，仍具有一定的吸引力。
Great Expectations is written in the style of bildungsroman, which follows the story of a man or woman in their quest for maturity, usually starting from childhood and ending in the main character's eventual adulthood. Great Expectations is the story of the orphan Pip, writing about his life and attempting to become a gentleman along the way. The novel can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.
The main plot of Great Expectations takes place between Christmas Eve 1812, when the protagonist is about seven years old (and which happens to be the year of Dickens' birth), and the winter of 1840.
英国著名作家查理·狄更斯的长篇小说《孤星血泪》曾先后几十次被搬上银幕，但由大卫·里恩导演，约翰·米尔斯、珍·西蒙丝、阿历克·金纳斯等优秀演员主演的这部影片,一直被认为是最成功的一部。影片叙述19世纪初，年轻的英国乡村铁匠皮普(约翰·米尔斯饰)，由于年幼时无意中帮助过一位含冤被陷入狱的逃犯，而得到一个不知姓名的恩人慷慨大方的帮助。后来，他终于跻身于伦敦上流社会，并与美丽的少女埃丝苔娜(珍·西蒙丝饰)结下了深厚的情谊。大卫·里恩导演的这部影片，不仅真实地再现了19世纪英国社会的风貌，而且成功地运用了一系列电影技巧，在电影化方面取得了杰出的成就。特别是影片开头，小男孩皮普与逃犯在荒郊野外相遇的场面，在电影史上一直被奉为经典。
《孤星血泪》-幕后英雄
在奥斯卡奖的历史上，这部影片是相当重要的，是与《黑水仙花》最早获得奥斯卡摄影奖和美工奖的两部英国影片。英国摄影师盖伊·格林在摄制了《孤星血泪》、《雾都孤儿》等影片之后，改行从事导演工作，先后导演了《标志》、《愤怒的沉默》、《一次不够》等二十八部影片。约翰·布雷恩(1911－1969)不仅是英国一位出色的美工师，也是一位制片人和导演。除本片外，他还担任过《西班牙园丁》、《马嘴》等影片的美工。
《孤星血泪》-内容简介
故事讲述一个小孤儿皮普，从小依靠姐姐与姐夫过活，却在无意中帮助了一位含冤被陷的逃犯，后来受到一位不愿透露身份的人士资助，使他能在上流社会求学生活，成为一名绅士。约瑟夫·哈迪执导的此片是狄更斯名著《孤星血泪》的重拍电视版。原本打算拍成歌舞片，后来音乐撤消，因此本片拍来较为平淡。迈克尔·约克、詹姆斯·梅森等在此片的表现一般，但故事本身内容丰富，仍具有一定的吸引力。
Great Expectations is written in the style of bildungsroman, which follows the story of a man or woman in their quest for maturity, usually starting from childhood and ending in the main character's eventual adulthood. Great Expectations is the story of the orphan Pip, writing about his life and attempting to become a gentleman along the way. The novel can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.
The main plot of Great Expectations takes place between Christmas Eve 1812, when the protagonist is about seven years old (and which happens to be the year of Dickens' birth), and the winter of 1840.
故事发生在十九世纪的英国。在一个寒冷的深夜，英国伦敦的平民区里，一个婴儿刚刚出世，他母亲便离开了人世。谁也不知道那产妇是谁，她遗下的儿子便成了无名的孤儿。孤儿被本地教会收留，由女管事抚养，给他起了一个名字叫奥利弗。
奥利弗九岁的时候，不能像有钱人家孩子那样进学校念书，女管事还把他送进工厂，和其他童工一起，日夜干力不胜任的苦活，并且不让他吃饱。性格倔强的奥利弗被大家推为代表，提出增加粮食的要求。工厂的职员大惊失色，便不愿继续收留奥利弗，怕他影响其他童工。
当时，殡仪馆的老伴森亚比利正需要学徒，便花了五个金镑把他领了出去。奥利弗换了个新环境，生活过得稍好了一些。他参加出殡行列，行动规矩，合乎礼仪。老伴很满意，但遭到年长学徒的忌妒，故意讥笑、侮辱他人格。奥利弗忍无可忍，拔拳搏斗。老板夫妇将他毒打，他悲愤填胸，星夜出走。一连步行了七天，才到达伦敦。
举目无亲，饥寒交迫，在绝望中他遇到了少年亚狄。亚狄带他到一栋破败的屋子里，这里原来是窝藏匪盗的窟。贼首弗根见奥利弗聪明伶俐，很是喜欢，便要他和亚狄一起上街去偷窃。不料亚狄失手被发现，奥利弗心虚，拔腿逃跑，结果被人抓进了警局。贼首弗根听说奥利弗被抓，痛责亚狄无用，又担心奥利弗在警局招认，便和另一贼首皮利商议，决定由皮利的妻子南珊出面，冒充奥利弗姐姐，具保将他领回。
但是，警局审批时，书店老板证明，他看到当时扒窃的小贼并非奥利弗。被窃的主人是伦敦富翁罗勃特，因自己冤枉奥利弗很感歉疚，又见他可爱又可怜，便将他领回家去。奥利弗到罗勃特家后，受到老人的宠爱，既不愁吃穿，还能上学读书。不料，罗勃特有个名叫孟斯的亲戚，追究奥利弗的身世，发现原来他是罗勃特的外孙，那罗勃特的全部家产便要由他承受。孟斯企图某夺谋夺这笔财产，便将此事严守秘密，还和贼首皮利勾结，企图谋害奥利弗。
某日，皮利和他妻子南珊在街上寻访，遇见奥利弗，立即把他绑回贼窟。弗根将他毒打，几乎丧命。南珊从孟斯处探听到奥利弗的身世后，十分同情，为了救他出险，让他祖孙团员，便暗暗去把消息告诉了罗勃特，答应下次带奥利弗同来。不料事情被皮利发现，和弗根一起，将南珊活活打死。罗勃特在家等候南珊，到了约定之期，不见南珊到来。忽然听到街上传说南珊惨死，便报告警局，随同警察直捣贼窟。市民们也纷纷参加捉贼，声势浩大。弗根和皮利最终难逃法网。奥利弗死里逃生，被罗勃特领回，祖孙团聚。
Background
Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book also exposed the cruel treatment of many a waif-child in London, which increased international concern in what is sometimes known as "The Great London Waif Crisis". This was the astounding number of orphans in London in the Dickens era. The book's subtitle, The Parish Boy's Progress alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and also to a pair of popular 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, "A Rake's Progress" and "A Harlot's Progress".
An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various contemporary evils, including the Poor Law, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of hardships as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development.
Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the basis for a highly successful musical play and the multiple Academy Award winning motion picture Oliver!.
Publications
Cover, first edition of serial, entitled "The Adventures of Oliver Twist" January 1846
Design by George Cruikshank
The book was originally published in Bentley's Miscellany as a serial, in monthly instalments that began appearing in the month of February 1837 and continued through April 1839. It was originally intended to form part of Dickens's serial The Mudfog Papers. It did not appear as its own monthly serial until 1846. George Cruikshank provided one steel etching per month to illustrate each installment. The first novelization appeared six months before the serialization was completed. It was published in three volumes by Richard Bentley, the owner of Bentley's Miscellany, under the author's pseudonym, "Boz" and included 24 steel-engraved plates by Cruikshank.
Plot summary
Workhouse and first jobs
Oliver Twist is born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse in an unnamed town (although when originally published in Bentley's Miscellany in 1837 the town was called Mudfog and said to be within 75 miles north of London). Orphaned almost from his first breath by his mother’s death in childbirth and his father’s unexplained absence, Oliver is meagerly provided for under the terms of the Poor Law, and spends the first eight years of his life at a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Along with other juvenile offenders against the poor laws, Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. Around the time of the orphan’s ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, a parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts him to work picking oakum at the main workhouse (the same one where his mother worked before she died). Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse for six months, until the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next meal tremblingly comes forward, bowl in hand, and makes his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more."
Oliver; "Please, sir, I want some more."
A great uproar ensues. The board of well-fed gentlemen who administer the workhouse, while eating a meal fit for a mighty king, offer five pounds to any person wishing to take on the boy as an apprentice. A brutal chimney sweep almost claims Oliver, but, when he begs despairingly not to be sent away with "that dreadful man" a kindly old magistrate refuses to sign the indentures. Later, Mr. Sowerberry, an undertaker employed by the parish, takes Oliver into his service. He treats Oliver better, and, because of the boy's sorrowful countenance, uses him as a mourner, at children's funerals. However, Mr. Sowerberry is in an unhappy marriage, and his wife takes an immediate dislike to Oliver—primarily because her husband seems to like him—and loses few opportunities to underfeed and mistreat him. He also suffers torment at the hands of Noah Claypole, an oafish but bullying fellow apprentice who is jealous of Oliver's promotion to mute, and Charlotte, the Sowerberry's maidservant, who is in love with Noah.
One day, in an attempt to bait Oliver, Noah insults the orphan’s late mother, calling her "a regular right-down bad 'un". Oliver flies into an unexpected passion, attacking and even beating the much bigger boy. Mrs. Sowerberry takes Noah's side, helps him subdue Oliver, punches and beats Oliver, and later compels her husband and Mr. Bumble, who has been sent for in the aftermath of the fight, into beating Oliver again. Once Oliver is sent to his room for the night, he does something that he hadn't done since babyhood—breaks down and weeps. Alone that night, Oliver finally decides to run away. He wanders aimlessly for a time, until a well-placed milestone sets his wandering feet towards London.
The Artful Dodger and Fagin
George Cruikshank original engraving of the Artful Dodger (centre), here introducing Oliver (right) to Fagin (left)
During his journey to London, Oliver encounters Jack Dawkins, more commonly known by the nickname the "Artful Dodger", although Oliver's innocent nature prevents him from recognising this hint that the boy may be dishonest. Dodger provides Oliver with a free meal and tells him of a gentleman in London who will "give him lodgings for nothing, and never ask for change". Grateful for the unexpected assistance, Oliver follows Dodger to the "old gentleman"'s residence. In this way, Oliver unwittingly falls in with an infamous Jewish criminal known as Fagin, the so-called gentleman of whom the Artful Dodger spoke. Ensnared, Oliver lives with Fagin and his gang of juvenile pickpockets in their lair at Saffron Hill for some time, naively unaware of their criminal occupations. He believes they make wallets and handkerchiefs.
Later, Oliver innocently goes out to "make handkerchiefs" because of no income coming in, with two of Fagin’s underlings: The Artful Dodger and a boy of a humorous nature named Charley Bates. Oliver realises too late that their real mission is to pick pockets. Dodger and Charley steal the handkerchief of an old gentleman named Mr. Brownlow, and promptly flee. When he finds his handkerchief missing, Mr. Brownlow turns round, sees Oliver, and pursues him. Others join the chase and Oliver is caught and taken before the magistrate. Curiously, Mr. Brownlow has second thoughts about the boy—he seems reluctant to believe he is a pickpocket. To the judge's evident disappointment, a bookstall holder who saw Dodger commit the crime clears Oliver, who, by now actually ill, faints in the courtroom. Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver home and, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin, cares for him.
Bill Sikes
Oliver stays with Mr. Brownlow, recovers rapidly, and blossoms from the unaccustomed kindness. His bliss, however, is interrupted when Fagin, fearing Oliver might "peach" on his criminal gang, decides that Oliver must be brought back to his hideout. When Mr. Brownlow sends Oliver out to pay for some books, one of the gang, a young girl named Nancy, whom Oliver had previously met at Fagin's, accosts him with help from her abusive lover, a brutal robber named Bill Sikes, and Oliver is quickly bundled back to Fagin's lair. The thieves take the five pound note Mr. Brownlow had entrusted to him, and strip him of his fine new clothes. Oliver, dismayed, flees and attempts to call for police assistance, but is ruthlessly dragged back by the Dodger, Charley and Fagin. Nancy, however, is sympathetic towards Oliver and saves him from beatings by Fagin and Sikes.
In a renewed attempt to draw Oliver into a life of crime, Fagin forces him to participate in a burglary. Nancy reluctantly assists in recruiting him, all the while assuring the boy that she will help him if she can. Sikes, after threatening to kill him if he does not cooperate, sends Oliver through a small window and orders him to unlock the front door. The robbery goes wrong, however, and Oliver is shot. After being abandoned by Sikes, the wounded Oliver ends up under the care of the people he was supposed to rob: Rose Maylie, her guardian Mrs. Maylie (unrelated to Rose and raising her as her own niece), and Harry Maylie (Mrs. Maylie's son who loves Rose). Convinced of Oliver’s innocence, Rose takes the boy in and nurses him back to health.
Mystery
Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Monks has found Fagin and is plotting with him to destroy Oliver's reputation. Monks denounces Fagin's failure to turn Oliver into a criminal and the two of them agree on a plan to make sure he does not find out about his past. Monks is apparently related to Oliver in some manner, although it's not mentioned until later.
Back In Oliver's hometown, Mr Bumble has married Ms Corney, the wealthy matron of the workhouse, only to find himself constantly arguing with his unhappy wife. After one such argument, Mr Bumble walks over to a pub, where he meets Monks, who informs him about a boy named Oliver Twist. Later the two of them arrange to take a locket and ring which had once belonged to Oliver's mother and toss it into a nearby river. Monks relates this to Fagin as part of the plot to destroy Oliver, unaware that Nancy has eavesdropped on their conversation and gone ahead to inform Oliver's benefactors.
Nancy, by this time ashamed of her role in Oliver's kidnapping, and fearful for the boy's safety, goes to Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow to warn them. She knows that Monks and Fagin are plotting to get their hands on the boy again and holds some secret meetings on the subject with Oliver's benefactors. One night Nancy tries to leave for one of the meetings but Sikes refuses permission when she doesn't state exactly where she's going. Fagin realizes that Nancy is up to something and resolves to find out what her secret is.
Meanwhile Noah Claypole has fallen out with the undertaker Mr. Sowerberry, stolen money from him and moved to London. Charlotte has accompanied him—they are now in a relationship. Using the name "Morris Bolter", he joins Fagin's gang for protection. During Noah's stay with Fagin, the Artful Dodger is caught with a stolen silver snuff box, convicted (in a very humorous courtroom scene) and transported to Australia. Later, Noah is sent by Fagin to "dodge" (spy on) Nancy, and discovers her secret: she has been meeting secretly with Rose and Mr. Brownlow to discuss how to save Oliver from Fagin and Monks. Fagin angrily passes the information on to Sikes, twisting the story just enough to make it sound as if Nancy had informed on him (in reality, she had shielded Sikes, whom she loves despite his brutal character). Believing her to be a traitor, Sikes beats Nancy to death in a fit of rage, and is himself killed when he accidentally hangs himself while fleeing across a rooftop from an angry mob.
Resolution
Fagin in his cell.
Monks is forced by Mr. Brownlow (an old friend of Oliver's father) to divulge his secrets: his real name is Edward Leeford, and he is Oliver's paternal half-brother and, although he is legitimate, he was born of a loveless marriage. Oliver's mother, Agnes, was their father's true love. Mr. Brownlow has a picture of her, and began making inquiries when he noticed a marked resemblance between her face, and the face of Oliver. Monks has spent many years searching for his father's child—not to befriend him, but to destroy him (see Henry Fielding's Tom Jones for similar circumstances). Brownlow asks Oliver to give half his inheritance (which proves to be meagre) to Monks because he wants to give him a second chance; and Oliver, being prone to giving second chances, is more than happy to comply. Monks then moves to America, where he squanders his money, reverts to crime, and ultimately dies in prison. Fagin is arrested and condemned to the gallows; in an emotional scene, Oliver goes to Newgate Gaol to visit the old reprobate on the eve of his hanging, (where Fagin's terror at being hanged has caused him to come down with fever).
On a happier note, Rose Maylie turns out to be the long-lost sister of Oliver's mother Agnes; she is therefore Oliver's aunt. She marries her long-time sweetheart Harry, and Oliver lives happily with his saviour, Mr. Brownlow. Noah becomes a paid, semi-professional informer to the police (a "stoolie", or "stoolpigeon" in American terminology). The Bumbles lose their jobs (under circumstances that cause him to utter the well-known line "The law is a ass") and are reduced to great poverty, eventually ending up in the same workhouse where they once lorded it over Oliver and the other boys; and Charley Bates, horrified by Sikes's murder of Nancy, becomes an honest citizen, moves to the country, and works his way up to prosperity.
Major themes and symbols
Introduction
In Oliver Twist, Dickens mixes grim realism, and merciless satire as a way to describe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticise the harsh new Poor Laws. Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, Fagin's thieves, a prison or an early grave. From this unpromising industrial/institutional setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges: In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially passive Oliver remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it; and, in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward—leaving for a peaceful life in the country, surrounded by kind friends. On the way to this happy ending, Dickens explores the kind of life an orphan, outcast boy could expect to lead in 1830s London.
Poverty and social class
Poverty is a prominent concern in Oliver Twist. Throughout the novel, Dickens enlarges on this theme, describing slums so decrepit that whole rows of houses are on the point of ruin. In an early chapter, Oliver attends a pauper's funeral with Mr. Sowerberry and sees a whole family crowded together in one miserable room.
This ubiquitous misery makes Oliver's few encounters with charity and love more poignant. Oliver owes his life several times over to kindness both large and small. The apparent plague of poverty that Dickens describes also conveyed to his middle-class readers how much of the London population was stricken with poverty and disease. Nonetheless, in Oliver Twist he delivers a somewhat mixed message about social caste and social injustice. Oliver's illegitimate workhouse origins place him at the nadir of society; as an orphan without friends, he is routinely despised. His "sturdy spirit" keeps him alive despite the torment he must endure. Most of his associates, however, deserve their place among society's dregs and seem very much at home in the depths. Noah Claypole, a charity boy like Oliver, is idle, stupid, and cowardly; Sikes is a thug; Fagin lives by corrupting children; and the Artful Dodger seems born for a life of crime. Many of the middle-class people Oliver encounters—Mrs. Sowerberry, Mr. Bumble, and the savagely hypocritical "gentlemen" of the workhouse board, for example; are, if anything, worse.
Oliver, on the other hand, who has an air of refinement remarkable for a workhouse boy, proves to be of gentle birth. Although he has been abused and neglected all his life, he recoils, aghast, at the idea of victimizing anyone else. This apparently hereditary gentlemanliness makes Oliver Twist something of a changeling tale, not just an indictment of social injustice. Oliver, born for better things, struggles to survive in the savage world of the underclass before finally being rescued by his family and returned to his proper place—a commodious country house.
In a recent film adaptation of the novel, Roman Polanski dispenses with the problem of Oliver's genteel origins by making him an anonymous orphan, like the rest of Fagin's gang.
Oliver is wounded in a burglary.
Symbolism
Dickens makes considerable use of symbolism. The many symbols Oliver faces are primarily good versus evil, with evil continually trying to corrupt and exploit good, but good winning out in the end. The "merry old gentleman" Fagin, for example, has satanic characteristics: he is a veteran corrupter of young boys who presides over his own corner of the criminal world; he makes his first appearance standing over a fire holding a toasting-fork; and he refuses to pray on the night before his execution. The London slums, too, have a suffocating, infernal aspect; the dark deeds and dark passions are concretely characterised by dim rooms, and pitch-black nights, while the governing mood of terror and brutality may be identified with uncommonly cold weather. In contrast, the countryside where the Maylies take Oliver is a pastoral heaven.
Food is another important symbol; Oliver's odyssey begins with a simple request for more gruel, and Mr. Bumble's shocked exclamation, represents he may be after more than just gruel. Chapter 8—which contains the last mention of food in the form of Fagin's dinner—marks the first time Oliver eats his share and represents the transformation in his life that occurs after he joins Fagin's gang.
The novel is also shot through with a related motif, obesity, which calls attention to the stark injustice of Oliver's world. When the half-starved child dares to ask for more, the men who punish him are fat. It is interesting to observe the large number of characters who are overweight.
Toward the end of the novel, the gaze of knowing eyes becomes a potent symbol. For years, Fagin avoids daylight, crowds, and open spaces, concealing himself in a dark lair most of the time: when his luck runs out at last, he squirms in the "living light" of too many eyes as he stands in the dock, awaiting sentence. After Sikes kills Nancy, he flees into the countryside but is unable to escape the memory of her dead eyes. Charley Bates turns his back on crime when he sees the murderous cruelty of the man who has been held up to him as a model.
Nancy’s decision to meet Brownlow and Rose on London Bridge reveals the symbolic aspect of this bridge in Oliver Twist. Bridges exist to link two places that would otherwise be separated by an uncrossable void. The meeting on London Bridge represents the collision of two worlds unlikely ever to come into contact—the idyllic world of Brownlow and Rose, and the atmosphere of degradation in which Nancy lives. On the bridge, Nancy is given the chance to cross over to the better way of life that the others represent, but she rejects that opportunity, and by the time the three have all left the bridge, that possibility has vanished forever.
When Rose gives Nancy her handkerchief, and when Nancy holds it up as she dies, Nancy has gone over to the "good" side against the thieves. Her position on the ground is as if she is in prayer, this showing her godly or good position.
Characters
The Last Chance.
In the tradition of Restoration Comedy and Henry Fielding, Dickens fits his characters with appropriate names. Oliver himself, though "badged and ticketed" as a lowly orphan and named according to an alphabetical system, is, in fact, "all of a twist." Mr. Grimwig is so called because his seemingly "grim", pessimistic outlook is actually a protective cover for his kind, sentimental soul. Other character names mark their bearers as semi-monstrous caricatures. Mrs. Mann, who has charge of the infant Oliver, is not the most motherly of women; Mr. Bumble, despite his impressive sense of his own dignity, continually mangles the king's English he tries to use; and the Sowerberries are, of course, "sour berries", a reference to Mrs. Sowerberry's perpetual scowl, to Mr. Sowerberry's profession as an undertaker, and to the poor provender Oliver receives from them. Rose Maylie’s name echoes her association with flowers and springtime, youth and beauty, while Toby Crackit’s is a reference to his chosen profession–housebreaking.
Bill Sikes’s dog, Bull’s-eye, has “faults of temper in common with his owner” and is an emblem of his owner’s character. The dog’s viciousness represents Sikes’s animal-like brutality, while Sikes's self-destructiveness is evident in the dog's many scars. The dog, with its willingness to harm anyone on Sikes's whim, shows the mindless brutality of the master. Sikes himself senses that the dog is a reflection of himself and that is why he tries to drown the dog. He is really trying to run away from who he is.[citation needed] This is also illustrated when Sikes dies and the dog does immediately also. After Sikes murders Nancy, Bull’s-eye also comes to represent Sikes’s guilt. The dog leaves bloody footprints on the floor of the room where the murder is committed. Not long after, Sikes becomes desperate to get rid of the dog, convinced that the dog’s presence will give him away. Yet, just as Sikes cannot shake off his guilt, he cannot shake off Bull’s-eye, who arrives at the house of Sikes’s demise before Sikes himself does. Bull’s-eye’s name also conjures up the image of Nancy’s eyes, which haunts Sikes until the bitter end and eventually causes him to hang himself accidentally.
Dickens employs polarised sets of characters to explore various dual themes throughout the novel;[citation needed] Mr. Brownlow and Fagin, for example, personify 'Good vs. Evil'. Dickens also juxtaposes honest, law-abiding characters such as Oliver himself with those who, like the Artful Dodger, seem more comfortable on the wrong side of the law. 'Crime and Punishment' is another important pair of themes, as is 'Sin and Redemption': Dickens describes criminal acts ranging from picking pockets to murder (suggesting that this sort of thing went on continually in 1830's London) only to hand out punishments with a liberal hand at the end. Most obviously, he shows Bill Sikes hounded to death by a mob for his brutal acts, and sends Fagin to cower in the condemned cell, sentenced to death by due process. Neither character achieves redemption; Sikes dies trying to run away from his guilt, and on his last night alive, the terrified Fagin refuses to see a rabbi or to pray, instead asking Oliver to help him escape. Nancy, by contrast, redeems herself at the cost of her own life, and dies in a prayerful pose.
Nancy is also one of the few characters in Oliver Twist to display much ambivalence. Although she is a full-fledged criminal, indoctrinated and trained by Fagin since childhood, she retains enough empathy to repent her role in Oliver's kidnapping, and to take steps to try to atone. As one of Fagin's victims, corrupted but not yet morally dead, she gives eloquent voice to the horrors of the old man's little criminal empire. She wants to save Oliver from a similar fate; at the same time, she recoils from the idea of turning traitor, especially to Bill Sikes, whom she loves. When he was later criticised for giving a "thieving, whoring slut of the streets" such an unaccountable reversal of character, Dickens ascribed her change of heart to "the last fair drop of water at the bottom of a dried-up, weed-choked well".
奥利弗九岁的时候，不能像有钱人家孩子那样进学校念书，女管事还把他送进工厂，和其他童工一起，日夜干力不胜任的苦活，并且不让他吃饱。性格倔强的奥利弗被大家推为代表，提出增加粮食的要求。工厂的职员大惊失色，便不愿继续收留奥利弗，怕他影响其他童工。
当时，殡仪馆的老伴森亚比利正需要学徒，便花了五个金镑把他领了出去。奥利弗换了个新环境，生活过得稍好了一些。他参加出殡行列，行动规矩，合乎礼仪。老伴很满意，但遭到年长学徒的忌妒，故意讥笑、侮辱他人格。奥利弗忍无可忍，拔拳搏斗。老板夫妇将他毒打，他悲愤填胸，星夜出走。一连步行了七天，才到达伦敦。
举目无亲，饥寒交迫，在绝望中他遇到了少年亚狄。亚狄带他到一栋破败的屋子里，这里原来是窝藏匪盗的窟。贼首弗根见奥利弗聪明伶俐，很是喜欢，便要他和亚狄一起上街去偷窃。不料亚狄失手被发现，奥利弗心虚，拔腿逃跑，结果被人抓进了警局。贼首弗根听说奥利弗被抓，痛责亚狄无用，又担心奥利弗在警局招认，便和另一贼首皮利商议，决定由皮利的妻子南珊出面，冒充奥利弗姐姐，具保将他领回。
但是，警局审批时，书店老板证明，他看到当时扒窃的小贼并非奥利弗。被窃的主人是伦敦富翁罗勃特，因自己冤枉奥利弗很感歉疚，又见他可爱又可怜，便将他领回家去。奥利弗到罗勃特家后，受到老人的宠爱，既不愁吃穿，还能上学读书。不料，罗勃特有个名叫孟斯的亲戚，追究奥利弗的身世，发现原来他是罗勃特的外孙，那罗勃特的全部家产便要由他承受。孟斯企图某夺谋夺这笔财产，便将此事严守秘密，还和贼首皮利勾结，企图谋害奥利弗。
某日，皮利和他妻子南珊在街上寻访，遇见奥利弗，立即把他绑回贼窟。弗根将他毒打，几乎丧命。南珊从孟斯处探听到奥利弗的身世后，十分同情，为了救他出险，让他祖孙团员，便暗暗去把消息告诉了罗勃特，答应下次带奥利弗同来。不料事情被皮利发现，和弗根一起，将南珊活活打死。罗勃特在家等候南珊，到了约定之期，不见南珊到来。忽然听到街上传说南珊惨死，便报告警局，随同警察直捣贼窟。市民们也纷纷参加捉贼，声势浩大。弗根和皮利最终难逃法网。奥利弗死里逃生，被罗勃特领回，祖孙团聚。
Background
Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book also exposed the cruel treatment of many a waif-child in London, which increased international concern in what is sometimes known as "The Great London Waif Crisis". This was the astounding number of orphans in London in the Dickens era. The book's subtitle, The Parish Boy's Progress alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and also to a pair of popular 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, "A Rake's Progress" and "A Harlot's Progress".
An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various contemporary evils, including the Poor Law, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of hardships as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development.
Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the basis for a highly successful musical play and the multiple Academy Award winning motion picture Oliver!.
Publications
Cover, first edition of serial, entitled "The Adventures of Oliver Twist" January 1846
Design by George Cruikshank
The book was originally published in Bentley's Miscellany as a serial, in monthly instalments that began appearing in the month of February 1837 and continued through April 1839. It was originally intended to form part of Dickens's serial The Mudfog Papers. It did not appear as its own monthly serial until 1846. George Cruikshank provided one steel etching per month to illustrate each installment. The first novelization appeared six months before the serialization was completed. It was published in three volumes by Richard Bentley, the owner of Bentley's Miscellany, under the author's pseudonym, "Boz" and included 24 steel-engraved plates by Cruikshank.
Plot summary
Workhouse and first jobs
Oliver Twist is born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse in an unnamed town (although when originally published in Bentley's Miscellany in 1837 the town was called Mudfog and said to be within 75 miles north of London). Orphaned almost from his first breath by his mother’s death in childbirth and his father’s unexplained absence, Oliver is meagerly provided for under the terms of the Poor Law, and spends the first eight years of his life at a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Along with other juvenile offenders against the poor laws, Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. Around the time of the orphan’s ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, a parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts him to work picking oakum at the main workhouse (the same one where his mother worked before she died). Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse for six months, until the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next meal tremblingly comes forward, bowl in hand, and makes his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more."
Oliver; "Please, sir, I want some more."
A great uproar ensues. The board of well-fed gentlemen who administer the workhouse, while eating a meal fit for a mighty king, offer five pounds to any person wishing to take on the boy as an apprentice. A brutal chimney sweep almost claims Oliver, but, when he begs despairingly not to be sent away with "that dreadful man" a kindly old magistrate refuses to sign the indentures. Later, Mr. Sowerberry, an undertaker employed by the parish, takes Oliver into his service. He treats Oliver better, and, because of the boy's sorrowful countenance, uses him as a mourner, at children's funerals. However, Mr. Sowerberry is in an unhappy marriage, and his wife takes an immediate dislike to Oliver—primarily because her husband seems to like him—and loses few opportunities to underfeed and mistreat him. He also suffers torment at the hands of Noah Claypole, an oafish but bullying fellow apprentice who is jealous of Oliver's promotion to mute, and Charlotte, the Sowerberry's maidservant, who is in love with Noah.
One day, in an attempt to bait Oliver, Noah insults the orphan’s late mother, calling her "a regular right-down bad 'un". Oliver flies into an unexpected passion, attacking and even beating the much bigger boy. Mrs. Sowerberry takes Noah's side, helps him subdue Oliver, punches and beats Oliver, and later compels her husband and Mr. Bumble, who has been sent for in the aftermath of the fight, into beating Oliver again. Once Oliver is sent to his room for the night, he does something that he hadn't done since babyhood—breaks down and weeps. Alone that night, Oliver finally decides to run away. He wanders aimlessly for a time, until a well-placed milestone sets his wandering feet towards London.
The Artful Dodger and Fagin
George Cruikshank original engraving of the Artful Dodger (centre), here introducing Oliver (right) to Fagin (left)
During his journey to London, Oliver encounters Jack Dawkins, more commonly known by the nickname the "Artful Dodger", although Oliver's innocent nature prevents him from recognising this hint that the boy may be dishonest. Dodger provides Oliver with a free meal and tells him of a gentleman in London who will "give him lodgings for nothing, and never ask for change". Grateful for the unexpected assistance, Oliver follows Dodger to the "old gentleman"'s residence. In this way, Oliver unwittingly falls in with an infamous Jewish criminal known as Fagin, the so-called gentleman of whom the Artful Dodger spoke. Ensnared, Oliver lives with Fagin and his gang of juvenile pickpockets in their lair at Saffron Hill for some time, naively unaware of their criminal occupations. He believes they make wallets and handkerchiefs.
Later, Oliver innocently goes out to "make handkerchiefs" because of no income coming in, with two of Fagin’s underlings: The Artful Dodger and a boy of a humorous nature named Charley Bates. Oliver realises too late that their real mission is to pick pockets. Dodger and Charley steal the handkerchief of an old gentleman named Mr. Brownlow, and promptly flee. When he finds his handkerchief missing, Mr. Brownlow turns round, sees Oliver, and pursues him. Others join the chase and Oliver is caught and taken before the magistrate. Curiously, Mr. Brownlow has second thoughts about the boy—he seems reluctant to believe he is a pickpocket. To the judge's evident disappointment, a bookstall holder who saw Dodger commit the crime clears Oliver, who, by now actually ill, faints in the courtroom. Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver home and, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin, cares for him.
Bill Sikes
Oliver stays with Mr. Brownlow, recovers rapidly, and blossoms from the unaccustomed kindness. His bliss, however, is interrupted when Fagin, fearing Oliver might "peach" on his criminal gang, decides that Oliver must be brought back to his hideout. When Mr. Brownlow sends Oliver out to pay for some books, one of the gang, a young girl named Nancy, whom Oliver had previously met at Fagin's, accosts him with help from her abusive lover, a brutal robber named Bill Sikes, and Oliver is quickly bundled back to Fagin's lair. The thieves take the five pound note Mr. Brownlow had entrusted to him, and strip him of his fine new clothes. Oliver, dismayed, flees and attempts to call for police assistance, but is ruthlessly dragged back by the Dodger, Charley and Fagin. Nancy, however, is sympathetic towards Oliver and saves him from beatings by Fagin and Sikes.
In a renewed attempt to draw Oliver into a life of crime, Fagin forces him to participate in a burglary. Nancy reluctantly assists in recruiting him, all the while assuring the boy that she will help him if she can. Sikes, after threatening to kill him if he does not cooperate, sends Oliver through a small window and orders him to unlock the front door. The robbery goes wrong, however, and Oliver is shot. After being abandoned by Sikes, the wounded Oliver ends up under the care of the people he was supposed to rob: Rose Maylie, her guardian Mrs. Maylie (unrelated to Rose and raising her as her own niece), and Harry Maylie (Mrs. Maylie's son who loves Rose). Convinced of Oliver’s innocence, Rose takes the boy in and nurses him back to health.
Mystery
Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Monks has found Fagin and is plotting with him to destroy Oliver's reputation. Monks denounces Fagin's failure to turn Oliver into a criminal and the two of them agree on a plan to make sure he does not find out about his past. Monks is apparently related to Oliver in some manner, although it's not mentioned until later.
Back In Oliver's hometown, Mr Bumble has married Ms Corney, the wealthy matron of the workhouse, only to find himself constantly arguing with his unhappy wife. After one such argument, Mr Bumble walks over to a pub, where he meets Monks, who informs him about a boy named Oliver Twist. Later the two of them arrange to take a locket and ring which had once belonged to Oliver's mother and toss it into a nearby river. Monks relates this to Fagin as part of the plot to destroy Oliver, unaware that Nancy has eavesdropped on their conversation and gone ahead to inform Oliver's benefactors.
Nancy, by this time ashamed of her role in Oliver's kidnapping, and fearful for the boy's safety, goes to Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow to warn them. She knows that Monks and Fagin are plotting to get their hands on the boy again and holds some secret meetings on the subject with Oliver's benefactors. One night Nancy tries to leave for one of the meetings but Sikes refuses permission when she doesn't state exactly where she's going. Fagin realizes that Nancy is up to something and resolves to find out what her secret is.
Meanwhile Noah Claypole has fallen out with the undertaker Mr. Sowerberry, stolen money from him and moved to London. Charlotte has accompanied him—they are now in a relationship. Using the name "Morris Bolter", he joins Fagin's gang for protection. During Noah's stay with Fagin, the Artful Dodger is caught with a stolen silver snuff box, convicted (in a very humorous courtroom scene) and transported to Australia. Later, Noah is sent by Fagin to "dodge" (spy on) Nancy, and discovers her secret: she has been meeting secretly with Rose and Mr. Brownlow to discuss how to save Oliver from Fagin and Monks. Fagin angrily passes the information on to Sikes, twisting the story just enough to make it sound as if Nancy had informed on him (in reality, she had shielded Sikes, whom she loves despite his brutal character). Believing her to be a traitor, Sikes beats Nancy to death in a fit of rage, and is himself killed when he accidentally hangs himself while fleeing across a rooftop from an angry mob.
Resolution
Fagin in his cell.
Monks is forced by Mr. Brownlow (an old friend of Oliver's father) to divulge his secrets: his real name is Edward Leeford, and he is Oliver's paternal half-brother and, although he is legitimate, he was born of a loveless marriage. Oliver's mother, Agnes, was their father's true love. Mr. Brownlow has a picture of her, and began making inquiries when he noticed a marked resemblance between her face, and the face of Oliver. Monks has spent many years searching for his father's child—not to befriend him, but to destroy him (see Henry Fielding's Tom Jones for similar circumstances). Brownlow asks Oliver to give half his inheritance (which proves to be meagre) to Monks because he wants to give him a second chance; and Oliver, being prone to giving second chances, is more than happy to comply. Monks then moves to America, where he squanders his money, reverts to crime, and ultimately dies in prison. Fagin is arrested and condemned to the gallows; in an emotional scene, Oliver goes to Newgate Gaol to visit the old reprobate on the eve of his hanging, (where Fagin's terror at being hanged has caused him to come down with fever).
On a happier note, Rose Maylie turns out to be the long-lost sister of Oliver's mother Agnes; she is therefore Oliver's aunt. She marries her long-time sweetheart Harry, and Oliver lives happily with his saviour, Mr. Brownlow. Noah becomes a paid, semi-professional informer to the police (a "stoolie", or "stoolpigeon" in American terminology). The Bumbles lose their jobs (under circumstances that cause him to utter the well-known line "The law is a ass") and are reduced to great poverty, eventually ending up in the same workhouse where they once lorded it over Oliver and the other boys; and Charley Bates, horrified by Sikes's murder of Nancy, becomes an honest citizen, moves to the country, and works his way up to prosperity.
Major themes and symbols
Introduction
In Oliver Twist, Dickens mixes grim realism, and merciless satire as a way to describe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticise the harsh new Poor Laws. Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, Fagin's thieves, a prison or an early grave. From this unpromising industrial/institutional setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges: In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially passive Oliver remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it; and, in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward—leaving for a peaceful life in the country, surrounded by kind friends. On the way to this happy ending, Dickens explores the kind of life an orphan, outcast boy could expect to lead in 1830s London.
Poverty and social class
Poverty is a prominent concern in Oliver Twist. Throughout the novel, Dickens enlarges on this theme, describing slums so decrepit that whole rows of houses are on the point of ruin. In an early chapter, Oliver attends a pauper's funeral with Mr. Sowerberry and sees a whole family crowded together in one miserable room.
This ubiquitous misery makes Oliver's few encounters with charity and love more poignant. Oliver owes his life several times over to kindness both large and small. The apparent plague of poverty that Dickens describes also conveyed to his middle-class readers how much of the London population was stricken with poverty and disease. Nonetheless, in Oliver Twist he delivers a somewhat mixed message about social caste and social injustice. Oliver's illegitimate workhouse origins place him at the nadir of society; as an orphan without friends, he is routinely despised. His "sturdy spirit" keeps him alive despite the torment he must endure. Most of his associates, however, deserve their place among society's dregs and seem very much at home in the depths. Noah Claypole, a charity boy like Oliver, is idle, stupid, and cowardly; Sikes is a thug; Fagin lives by corrupting children; and the Artful Dodger seems born for a life of crime. Many of the middle-class people Oliver encounters—Mrs. Sowerberry, Mr. Bumble, and the savagely hypocritical "gentlemen" of the workhouse board, for example; are, if anything, worse.
Oliver, on the other hand, who has an air of refinement remarkable for a workhouse boy, proves to be of gentle birth. Although he has been abused and neglected all his life, he recoils, aghast, at the idea of victimizing anyone else. This apparently hereditary gentlemanliness makes Oliver Twist something of a changeling tale, not just an indictment of social injustice. Oliver, born for better things, struggles to survive in the savage world of the underclass before finally being rescued by his family and returned to his proper place—a commodious country house.
In a recent film adaptation of the novel, Roman Polanski dispenses with the problem of Oliver's genteel origins by making him an anonymous orphan, like the rest of Fagin's gang.
Oliver is wounded in a burglary.
Symbolism
Dickens makes considerable use of symbolism. The many symbols Oliver faces are primarily good versus evil, with evil continually trying to corrupt and exploit good, but good winning out in the end. The "merry old gentleman" Fagin, for example, has satanic characteristics: he is a veteran corrupter of young boys who presides over his own corner of the criminal world; he makes his first appearance standing over a fire holding a toasting-fork; and he refuses to pray on the night before his execution. The London slums, too, have a suffocating, infernal aspect; the dark deeds and dark passions are concretely characterised by dim rooms, and pitch-black nights, while the governing mood of terror and brutality may be identified with uncommonly cold weather. In contrast, the countryside where the Maylies take Oliver is a pastoral heaven.
Food is another important symbol; Oliver's odyssey begins with a simple request for more gruel, and Mr. Bumble's shocked exclamation, represents he may be after more than just gruel. Chapter 8—which contains the last mention of food in the form of Fagin's dinner—marks the first time Oliver eats his share and represents the transformation in his life that occurs after he joins Fagin's gang.
The novel is also shot through with a related motif, obesity, which calls attention to the stark injustice of Oliver's world. When the half-starved child dares to ask for more, the men who punish him are fat. It is interesting to observe the large number of characters who are overweight.
Toward the end of the novel, the gaze of knowing eyes becomes a potent symbol. For years, Fagin avoids daylight, crowds, and open spaces, concealing himself in a dark lair most of the time: when his luck runs out at last, he squirms in the "living light" of too many eyes as he stands in the dock, awaiting sentence. After Sikes kills Nancy, he flees into the countryside but is unable to escape the memory of her dead eyes. Charley Bates turns his back on crime when he sees the murderous cruelty of the man who has been held up to him as a model.
Nancy’s decision to meet Brownlow and Rose on London Bridge reveals the symbolic aspect of this bridge in Oliver Twist. Bridges exist to link two places that would otherwise be separated by an uncrossable void. The meeting on London Bridge represents the collision of two worlds unlikely ever to come into contact—the idyllic world of Brownlow and Rose, and the atmosphere of degradation in which Nancy lives. On the bridge, Nancy is given the chance to cross over to the better way of life that the others represent, but she rejects that opportunity, and by the time the three have all left the bridge, that possibility has vanished forever.
When Rose gives Nancy her handkerchief, and when Nancy holds it up as she dies, Nancy has gone over to the "good" side against the thieves. Her position on the ground is as if she is in prayer, this showing her godly or good position.
Characters
The Last Chance.
In the tradition of Restoration Comedy and Henry Fielding, Dickens fits his characters with appropriate names. Oliver himself, though "badged and ticketed" as a lowly orphan and named according to an alphabetical system, is, in fact, "all of a twist." Mr. Grimwig is so called because his seemingly "grim", pessimistic outlook is actually a protective cover for his kind, sentimental soul. Other character names mark their bearers as semi-monstrous caricatures. Mrs. Mann, who has charge of the infant Oliver, is not the most motherly of women; Mr. Bumble, despite his impressive sense of his own dignity, continually mangles the king's English he tries to use; and the Sowerberries are, of course, "sour berries", a reference to Mrs. Sowerberry's perpetual scowl, to Mr. Sowerberry's profession as an undertaker, and to the poor provender Oliver receives from them. Rose Maylie’s name echoes her association with flowers and springtime, youth and beauty, while Toby Crackit’s is a reference to his chosen profession–housebreaking.
Bill Sikes’s dog, Bull’s-eye, has “faults of temper in common with his owner” and is an emblem of his owner’s character. The dog’s viciousness represents Sikes’s animal-like brutality, while Sikes's self-destructiveness is evident in the dog's many scars. The dog, with its willingness to harm anyone on Sikes's whim, shows the mindless brutality of the master. Sikes himself senses that the dog is a reflection of himself and that is why he tries to drown the dog. He is really trying to run away from who he is.[citation needed] This is also illustrated when Sikes dies and the dog does immediately also. After Sikes murders Nancy, Bull’s-eye also comes to represent Sikes’s guilt. The dog leaves bloody footprints on the floor of the room where the murder is committed. Not long after, Sikes becomes desperate to get rid of the dog, convinced that the dog’s presence will give him away. Yet, just as Sikes cannot shake off his guilt, he cannot shake off Bull’s-eye, who arrives at the house of Sikes’s demise before Sikes himself does. Bull’s-eye’s name also conjures up the image of Nancy’s eyes, which haunts Sikes until the bitter end and eventually causes him to hang himself accidentally.
Dickens employs polarised sets of characters to explore various dual themes throughout the novel;[citation needed] Mr. Brownlow and Fagin, for example, personify 'Good vs. Evil'. Dickens also juxtaposes honest, law-abiding characters such as Oliver himself with those who, like the Artful Dodger, seem more comfortable on the wrong side of the law. 'Crime and Punishment' is another important pair of themes, as is 'Sin and Redemption': Dickens describes criminal acts ranging from picking pockets to murder (suggesting that this sort of thing went on continually in 1830's London) only to hand out punishments with a liberal hand at the end. Most obviously, he shows Bill Sikes hounded to death by a mob for his brutal acts, and sends Fagin to cower in the condemned cell, sentenced to death by due process. Neither character achieves redemption; Sikes dies trying to run away from his guilt, and on his last night alive, the terrified Fagin refuses to see a rabbi or to pray, instead asking Oliver to help him escape. Nancy, by contrast, redeems herself at the cost of her own life, and dies in a prayerful pose.
Nancy is also one of the few characters in Oliver Twist to display much ambivalence. Although she is a full-fledged criminal, indoctrinated and trained by Fagin since childhood, she retains enough empathy to repent her role in Oliver's kidnapping, and to take steps to try to atone. As one of Fagin's victims, corrupted but not yet morally dead, she gives eloquent voice to the horrors of the old man's little criminal empire. She wants to save Oliver from a similar fate; at the same time, she recoils from the idea of turning traitor, especially to Bill Sikes, whom she loves. When he was later criticised for giving a "thieving, whoring slut of the streets" such an unaccountable reversal of character, Dickens ascribed her change of heart to "the last fair drop of water at the bottom of a dried-up, weed-choked well".
长篇小说《怎么办？》是车尔尼雪夫斯基在狱中创作的。这部小说的显著特色是以欢乐的情调、明朗的画面展示了新人的故事。人物新、故事新、思想新，正是俄国解放运动进入第二阶段的反映。《怎么办?》的副标题是《新人的故事》。其中的“新人”分为两类：一类是薇拉、罗普霍夫、吉尔沙洛夫和梅察洛夫等人，是普通人中的“新人”；另一类就是拉赫美托夫等人，是“新人”中的特殊人。薇拉等人都是平民知识分子，出身低贱，自食其力，对自由热烈追求，对人的尊严极为尊重，这是他们共同的精神特点。他们不喜欢浮夸，崇尚自然科学，办事从实际出发，讲话要解决实际问题。这些新人在爱情冲突中，显示了高尚的品质。他们信奉的希望人人都快乐幸福。当薇拉被她的母亲逼迫嫁给阔少斯托列西尼科夫而要自杀时，罗普霍夫多方本走，终以假结婚的方式，把薇拉救出苦海。为此罗普霍夫牺牲了自己的学业，放弃了自己的学业和当教授的前途。薇拉和吉尔沙洛夫的爱情是真正的爱情。可是，薇拉意识到这可能使罗普霍夫痛苦时，便竭力鼓起热情去爱罗普霍夫。而吉尔沙洛夫也主动疏远了同薇拉的联系，不再拜访罗普霍夫家。这是他们都要为对方的幸福着想所表现出的高尚品质。罗普霍夫觉察出这种变化，就竭力促成这场真正的恋爱。罗普霍夫以假自杀退出了三角关系。结束了这场在西欧文学中常见的难以解决的矛盾。
《怎么办？》-内容简介
韦拉是个富有抱负的美丽姑娘，她的母亲为了谋取钱财，要把她嫁给一纨绔子弟。在医学院学生洛普霍夫的帮助下，她脱离家庭与之结合并创办了一家实行社会主义原则的工场。洛普霍夫性格内向，为人严肃，而韦拉却热情奔放，善于交际。韦拉爱上了性格相投的丈夫的好友。为了韦拉的幸福怎么办呢？洛普霍夫决定想法成全他们……
《怎么办？》-创作经历
《怎么办？》是车尔尼雪夫斯基在监狱里写成的。为了蒙蔽审查官的检查，他用了“障眼法”，开篇就写“一个傻瓜”的自杀，扑朔迷离，留下悬念；之后，又写一个青年女子收到自杀者的留言信后，不同寻常的反应；再在“序” 中，用作者的口吻，通过“女读者”的身份说：这部小说的内容是恋爱，主角是一个女人。这样的手法，既能蒙蔽低水平的审查官，又能吸引一般的读者看下去。少年的我，正是想要找到那个悬念的答案，才兴趣盎然地读下去的。
其实，车尔尼雪夫斯基真正要写的，是俄国的“新人”，正如这本书的副标题所指出的，它是“新人的故事”。
车尔尼雪夫斯基用十分含蓄的笔调，刻画了拉赫美托夫、“穿丧服的太太”等职业革命家的形象。而车尔尼雪夫斯基着笔最多的人物，是另外的三位“新人”：罗普霍夫、薇拉、吉尔沙诺夫。他们都是出身平民的知识分子，自尊，自强，正派，正直。其中最让我感动的人物，是男主人翁罗普霍夫。他对祖国和人民的爱心，他想要改变社会现状的勇气，他的智慧，他刚强而严肃的性格，他对弱者的同情和帮助，他对待友谊和爱情的态度，尤其是他在处理他本人、薇拉及吉尔沙诺夫3人之间的感情纠葛时，所表现出来的高尚道德情操，都令我既欣赏又敬佩。我觉得罗普霍夫简直就是一个“活雷锋”，可是他本人却不这样认为，他称自己是“合理的利己主义者”，这是车尔尼雪夫斯基为他笔下的“新人”设立的做人标准。罗普霍夫觉得：自己爱的人幸福了，他就快乐了。当然，这样处处为别人着想的好人，是应该有一个美满结局的，后来他邂逅了第4位“新人”卡杰琳娜，一个与他的性格和谐，又如薇拉一样优秀的姑娘，结为伉俪。由于罗氏夫妇和吉氏夫妇本来就是志同道合的“新人”，他们有着共同的理想，在罗普霍夫找到了可心的妻子之后，他与薇拉和吉尔沙诺夫终于重逢，两对挚友找到了两套毗连着的房子，毗邻而居，一边行医，一边教育学生，一边以他们独特的方式为国家服务。
《怎么办？》-作者介绍
车尔尼雪夫斯基车尔尼雪夫斯基
车尔尼雪夫斯基出生在一个神父家庭。天资聪颖的他16岁已精通拉丁、希腊、法、德、英等7种语言。中学时代他醉心于别林斯基与赫尔岑。18岁提前进入大学，他一边读抽象的黑格尔（1770-1831）、费尔巴哈（1804-1872），一边热情关注着1848年的欧洲革命。他加入了代表进步力量的杂志《现代人》，促使它成了革命的讲坛。他同情革命者，与他们长久保持密切的联系。1862年，对他敌视已久的沙皇政府终于把他关进了彼得堡涅瓦河畔的一所监狱。这个从不停息的精神劳动者译书、写书、撰文。在被关押的678天中，百万言的文字如泉涌一般汩汩流出。《怎么办？》便是他用110天时间写成的。
《怎么办？》-小说影响
伟大的列宁说：“在我接触到马克思、恩格斯和普列汉诺夫的著作之前，对我起主要的、占压倒优势影响的只是车尔尼雪夫斯基，这种影响就是从《怎么办？》开始的”，“这部小说能使人整个的生命都充满活力。”列宁曾在一个夏天把《怎么办？》连读5遍。伟大的作品把一切伟大的灵魂紧密地连结在一起。
《怎么办？》-中国出版
车尔尼雪夫斯基的美学代表作《生活与美学》早在1942年由周扬（1908-1989）译出，在延安出版。《怎么办？》50年代初便有了费明君、罗淑、蒋路等4种译本。革命家的车尔尼雪夫斯基与他的“新人”的故事早已在铸造中国的“新人”中发生了不可估量的深刻作用。
Chernyshevsky offered an ideological vision that promised to resolve the tensions produced by educational reform, Western European competition and cultural intrusion, and the advent of secularization and impact of science in a still predominantly agrarian Christian community. By pursuing these ideals from a materialist and scientific perspective, he undoubtedly persuaded the younger generation of the intelligentsia of the possibility as well as the nobility of acting to overcome Russia's great social and economic problems - thus providing declasse intellectuals with a social role that gave them considerable self-esteem regardless of the success or failure of their actions. For this very reason, the novel has been called "a handbook (or bible) of radicalism" and led to the founding of a Land and Liberty society.
《怎么办？》-内容简介
韦拉是个富有抱负的美丽姑娘，她的母亲为了谋取钱财，要把她嫁给一纨绔子弟。在医学院学生洛普霍夫的帮助下，她脱离家庭与之结合并创办了一家实行社会主义原则的工场。洛普霍夫性格内向，为人严肃，而韦拉却热情奔放，善于交际。韦拉爱上了性格相投的丈夫的好友。为了韦拉的幸福怎么办呢？洛普霍夫决定想法成全他们……
《怎么办？》-创作经历
《怎么办？》是车尔尼雪夫斯基在监狱里写成的。为了蒙蔽审查官的检查，他用了“障眼法”，开篇就写“一个傻瓜”的自杀，扑朔迷离，留下悬念；之后，又写一个青年女子收到自杀者的留言信后，不同寻常的反应；再在“序” 中，用作者的口吻，通过“女读者”的身份说：这部小说的内容是恋爱，主角是一个女人。这样的手法，既能蒙蔽低水平的审查官，又能吸引一般的读者看下去。少年的我，正是想要找到那个悬念的答案，才兴趣盎然地读下去的。
其实，车尔尼雪夫斯基真正要写的，是俄国的“新人”，正如这本书的副标题所指出的，它是“新人的故事”。
车尔尼雪夫斯基用十分含蓄的笔调，刻画了拉赫美托夫、“穿丧服的太太”等职业革命家的形象。而车尔尼雪夫斯基着笔最多的人物，是另外的三位“新人”：罗普霍夫、薇拉、吉尔沙诺夫。他们都是出身平民的知识分子，自尊，自强，正派，正直。其中最让我感动的人物，是男主人翁罗普霍夫。他对祖国和人民的爱心，他想要改变社会现状的勇气，他的智慧，他刚强而严肃的性格，他对弱者的同情和帮助，他对待友谊和爱情的态度，尤其是他在处理他本人、薇拉及吉尔沙诺夫3人之间的感情纠葛时，所表现出来的高尚道德情操，都令我既欣赏又敬佩。我觉得罗普霍夫简直就是一个“活雷锋”，可是他本人却不这样认为，他称自己是“合理的利己主义者”，这是车尔尼雪夫斯基为他笔下的“新人”设立的做人标准。罗普霍夫觉得：自己爱的人幸福了，他就快乐了。当然，这样处处为别人着想的好人，是应该有一个美满结局的，后来他邂逅了第4位“新人”卡杰琳娜，一个与他的性格和谐，又如薇拉一样优秀的姑娘，结为伉俪。由于罗氏夫妇和吉氏夫妇本来就是志同道合的“新人”，他们有着共同的理想，在罗普霍夫找到了可心的妻子之后，他与薇拉和吉尔沙诺夫终于重逢，两对挚友找到了两套毗连着的房子，毗邻而居，一边行医，一边教育学生，一边以他们独特的方式为国家服务。
《怎么办？》-作者介绍
车尔尼雪夫斯基车尔尼雪夫斯基
车尔尼雪夫斯基出生在一个神父家庭。天资聪颖的他16岁已精通拉丁、希腊、法、德、英等7种语言。中学时代他醉心于别林斯基与赫尔岑。18岁提前进入大学，他一边读抽象的黑格尔（1770-1831）、费尔巴哈（1804-1872），一边热情关注着1848年的欧洲革命。他加入了代表进步力量的杂志《现代人》，促使它成了革命的讲坛。他同情革命者，与他们长久保持密切的联系。1862年，对他敌视已久的沙皇政府终于把他关进了彼得堡涅瓦河畔的一所监狱。这个从不停息的精神劳动者译书、写书、撰文。在被关押的678天中，百万言的文字如泉涌一般汩汩流出。《怎么办？》便是他用110天时间写成的。
《怎么办？》-小说影响
伟大的列宁说：“在我接触到马克思、恩格斯和普列汉诺夫的著作之前，对我起主要的、占压倒优势影响的只是车尔尼雪夫斯基，这种影响就是从《怎么办？》开始的”，“这部小说能使人整个的生命都充满活力。”列宁曾在一个夏天把《怎么办？》连读5遍。伟大的作品把一切伟大的灵魂紧密地连结在一起。
《怎么办？》-中国出版
车尔尼雪夫斯基的美学代表作《生活与美学》早在1942年由周扬（1908-1989）译出，在延安出版。《怎么办？》50年代初便有了费明君、罗淑、蒋路等4种译本。革命家的车尔尼雪夫斯基与他的“新人”的故事早已在铸造中国的“新人”中发生了不可估量的深刻作用。
Chernyshevsky offered an ideological vision that promised to resolve the tensions produced by educational reform, Western European competition and cultural intrusion, and the advent of secularization and impact of science in a still predominantly agrarian Christian community. By pursuing these ideals from a materialist and scientific perspective, he undoubtedly persuaded the younger generation of the intelligentsia of the possibility as well as the nobility of acting to overcome Russia's great social and economic problems - thus providing declasse intellectuals with a social role that gave them considerable self-esteem regardless of the success or failure of their actions. For this very reason, the novel has been called "a handbook (or bible) of radicalism" and led to the founding of a Land and Liberty society.
本篇创作于1936—1937年，是作者创作高峰期的一部长篇力作。作品通过对艺妓阿岛的女儿初枝眼睛复明的故事的讲述，再现了日本社会中贵族阶层对平民阶层的压抑、歧视和侮辱，反映了日本平民尤其是艺妓及其子女的坎坷遭遇与不公命运，寄托了作家对被压迫与被欺辱者深刻的同情
《彩虹几度》是川端康成战后的一部中间小说，该作以四季之虹作为象征物，谱写了同父异母三姐妹战后各自不同的命运，并以东方的“虚无”精神使战后痛苦的灵魂获得了拯救，深刻体现了川端康成在战后力图通过传统之美恢复民族自信力的祈愿。
关键词：虹；象征；传统美；拯救
中图分类号：1106.4 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-8135(2010) 01-0088-04
川端康成是日本第一位获得诺贝尔文学奖的作家，他的小说创作从形式来说以纯文学为主，此外，其小说的重要组成部分还有中间小说、少男少女小说等。中间小说是介于纯文学与大众小说之间的一种小说形式，代表作品有《彩虹几度》、《日兮月兮》、《河边小镇的故事》、《玉响》等。这类作品在研究川端康成的文章中较少被提及，但这些作品多以战后为背景，在字里行问隐现了作者对战后美军占领日本的现实的不满，同时也体现了川端康成对拯救民族沦落的灵魂、恢复民族自信力的祈愿。
《彩虹几度》写的是水原——一名战后建筑家与其三名同父异母的女儿麻子、百子和小若的人生故事。百子为长女，也是该小说的主要人物，其母生下她后自杀，水原遂与麻子生母结婚，此后又与另一名女子生下第三个女儿小若。因为在母亲自杀及继母、继女、父亲的家庭中长大，百子对感情极度不信任，自初恋男友夏二在二战中作为空军而献身后，便开始玩起危险的感情游戏，与一名叫小宫的少年玩起恋爱的游戏并怀孕，而双方都无法接受现实，小宫最终自杀，百子也放弃了孩子。在这部作品中，川端康成并没有用曲折的故事情节来吸引读者，相反，川端康成用日本传统审美意识中的“季语”来暗示作品的内容。这部小说又被译为“几次出虹”，整篇以 “虹”作为核心意象，通过其在不同季节中的形象表现，深刻反映了同父异母三姐妹（百子、麻子和若子）在战后环境中各自不同的命运。
一、“虹”的内涵
川端康成在不少作品中都用“虹”来象征人物的情感和命运，并赋予美丽的七彩之“虹”以复杂的内涵。在川端康成作品中，“虹”首先是希望和憧憬的象征。“东京也出彩虹吗？这镜子里也会出彩虹吗？幼小的她站在彩虹的小河边。”这里的“虹”是《水晶幻想>中的女主人公在作为小姑娘时的希望，表达了她对东京和未来的美好向往。《虹》中，美少年木村曾梦想成为飞行家，但在战后混乱的时代中，他整天和舞女们混在一起，醉生梦死。于是他对生活感到了厌倦，进而想逃避现实，“想飞到彩虹里”。在他眼里，虹是超越现实的理想世界的象征。
其次，“虹”还是吉凶的象征。七彩之虹是绚丽多姿的，人们往往把虹的出现当作吉利的象征，认为它会给人们带来幸福和希望。但七彩之虹又是虚幻的、瞬息即逝的，幸福和“虹”一样也多是短暂无常的。因此，在特定情境下，川端康成小说中的“虹”又是不吉利的象征。在小说《美丽与悲哀》中，坂见庆子是个富有魅力的妖女，并与自己的师傅音子陷入同性恋之中。出于嫉妒，庆子主动勾引音子的初恋情人大木年雄和他的儿子太一郎。她腰系一条自己有意画了“无色的虹”的腰带，在天快黑时诱惑太一郎与她一起去乘汽艇。结果汽艇发生了事故，庆子被救了上来，太一郎却身陷湖底，她终于达到了复仇的目的。庆子腰带上的“无色的虹”是蕴含着其预谋的。“只是水墨浓淡的曲线，也许谁都看不出来吧，但我想让夏天的虹绕在身上，这是时近黄昏悬在山上的虹。”黄昏喻示着生命之晚期，而 “时近黄昏悬在山上的虹”、“无色之虹”分明是一条妖气十足的夺命勾魂之虹。它比贯日白虹更加不吉利，它凝聚了庆子的妖气、魔性，把年轻、单纯的太一郎引向了一个无人知晓的黄泉世界。
二、四季之虹与人的命运
在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成把季节的轮回与“虹”的复杂意蕴紧密结合起来，并在此基础上，含蓄地表现了三姐妹的悲欢离合与情感命运。
《彩虹几度》以“冬天的彩虹”开篇。岁暮年初时节，麻子独自一人去京都寻找自己的妹妹若子，在失望而归的路上，她望见了琵琶湖上空美丽的彩虹。此时在麻子的眼中，彩虹是吉利的象征，是幸福和希望的象征。她说：“我们大人年末看见大彩虹，来年该是个好年，幸福要来了。”于是，她的“心飞到湖水对面的彩虹那边，似乎想要到那彩虹之国去。”她相信经过自己的努力，妹妹若子会回到自己的身边，也很快会有一个充满爱的家庭出现。但与麻子同座的大谷却说：“冬天的彩虹有点疹人。热带的花在寒带开放，真有些像废王之恋呢。也许因为彩虹下端猛然断开……”。果然，美丽的七彩之虹很快就变换了它的姿影，失去了其优美的弓形曲线，成为无法跨越的断虹。这样，虹就以大自然的语言带给麻子一丝不祥的预感。她们姐妹之间的情感或许就像这冬天不合时宜的断虹，是根本无法跨越的。也许姐姐百子的极端说法更为真实：“人有各种各样的游泳方法，有适合本人性情的水池的水，……兄弟姐妹早晚也要成为外人，那样更好。就任她随便谋生算了。”毕竟若子是在作为艺妓的母亲身边长大，而麻子和百子则是在作为建筑师的父亲身边长大，不同的生活环境造成了她们身份的悬殊，注定了她们终将分离的命运。因此，冬天的断虹也就成为不吉利的预兆，成为理想无法实现的象征。
在接下来万物萌生的春天，小说中没有出现“春天的虹”，却出现了“桥”。弓形的桥与彩虹的形状是非常相似的，因此，“桥”在川端康成笔下也就成为 “虹”的化身。在春花烂漫的时节，青木夏二的出现对百子和麻子姐妹而言，可以说是一石激起千层浪。百子曾与启太相爱，但启太后来在战争中牺牲，夏二恰是启太的弟弟。因此，百子从夏二的举手投足间清晰地看到了已死去的恋人的影子，过去的情感和悲伤也如同春天万物的复苏，破土而出。与此同时，麻子与夏二也在春天邂逅，他们随同万物的生机萌生了新的情感。这样，在百子和死去的启太之间，在麻子和夏二之间就建立了不同的“桥”。百子与启太的桥“像是一座没有对岸的桥。活着的人架起了桥，对岸没有支柱，桥的那一端就会悬空。而且，这桥无论延伸多长，也是到不了对岸的。”启太死了，但百子的爱却并没有因恋人生命的终结而终止，反而愈加浓厚。百子独自架起的这座“没有对岸的桥”无疑象征了百子“单向通行”之爱的痛苦与徒劳。麻子与夏二渴望建立“像彩虹一样美丽的桥”，这一方面象征了他们对爱的美好憧憬，但彩虹的虚幻无常，无疑也象征了他们内心的不安，因为他们根本无法跨越启太和百子之爱的阴影。因此，“没有对岸的桥”如同“断虹”，依旧是理想无法实现的象征，是不吉利的象征：“像彩虹一样美丽的桥”，也依然是虚幻无常的象征。
百子与死去的启太之间、麻子与夏二之间的沉重情感随着夏天的到来而更加浓郁。因无法承受失去启太的痛苦，百子与少年竹宫陷入更加病态的爱恋中，并孕育了不该孕育的生命。麻子也因恋情的折磨，原本健康的身体垮了下来，住进了医院。等麻子出院时已到了万物开始沉寂的秋天。在秋天萧瑟的季节里，秋叶开始的凋零，万物也都收藏生命的热望。川端康成依然用大自然的语言，对少年竹宫的夭折及百子的流产作出了预示：“银杏的叶子还不是落叶的颜色，才刚刚开始发黄。这样的叶子也许很脆。”竹宫自杀，孩子流产，百子也逐渐熄灭了心中的火焰，陷入任人摆布的无为状态。麻子也随着病愈消除了内心的痛苦，熄灭了对夏二复杂的爱。在医院流产期间，百子收到了麻子的信，信中说东京的天空又出现了彩虹，或许这就是两姐妹获得“无心”之后，预示着她们明媚未来的“彩虹之路”吧。“秋天的彩虹”在这里终于成为吉利与幸福的象征。
三、战后民族灵魂的失落与拯救
在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成以“虹”与季节的轮回作为作品的暗线，并且以“虚无”美作为解除精神痛苦的良药并非偶然，这与战后川端康成对传统美的执著追求是紧密相连的。川端康成认为“‘古人均由插花而悟道，’就是受禅宗的影响，由此也唤醒了日本人的美的心灵。大概也是这种心灵，使人们在长期内战的荒芜中得以继续生存下来吧”。
二战后，作为战败国，巨大的悲哀、无助与怀疑笼罩着整个日本民族，他们在随之涌入的美国文明面前不胜惊恐。有不少人对民族的传统失去信心，认为传统的就是应予以抛弃的；有的人甚至认为欧美人在人种上就优越于大和民族；还有的人看到儿童用日本国旗从美军那里换糖吃，也不去干涉。在黑市猖獗、物价飞涨，到处都是一片废墟的情形下，战后的多数日本人是难得想到国家的。文化是一个民族的灵魂，但是战后的日本却陷入了自我否定的风潮中，忘却了民族的传统。传统的失落必然意味着民族灵魂的失落，这会进一步加深战败的亡国情绪，并使整个民族陷入痛苦的虚脱之中。在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成借一位高僧之口阐述了这样的观点：“战后颓废派的孩子，也都是些胡作非为的家伙，尽情胡闹，尽情捣乱，谁说什么也不听。他们非常错误地理解了自由。”《山音》中的信吾也这样感叹道：“啊，前佛即去，后佛未至，梦中来临，应以何为现实？无意中竟承受了难以承受的人的身躯……”。
“当举世都在追随西欧的时刻，他却非常平静而且充满信心地说‘让我们继承日本的美的传统吧’，这种带有发言者的性格的意见，强烈地冲击着人们的心灵”。战后，川端康成更加坚定了继承传统的信念。“民族的兴亡无常，兴亡之后留存下来的，就是这个民族具有的美”，在荒芜、凄惨和穷困中，东山战乱时期却依然能保存、执着和创造美的传统，川端康成深深为之感动。于是，他决定“把战后自己的生命作为我的余生。余生已不为自己所有，它将是日本美的传统的表现。”在致横光的悼词的结尾，川端康成这样写道：
横光君，我将以日本山河为灵魂，在你身后活下去，唯愿君之遗族无后顾之忧，则幸甚。
在新潮社为他出版的全集后记中，川端康成也这样写道：
即使现实的生活基本上结束了，即使对生活的兴味越来越淡薄了，我的精神自觉和愿望也就更为坚定。这就是我作为一个日本作家的自觉，和继承日本美的传统的愿望。我愿意坚持它直到除此以外的一切完全消失……
《彩虹几度》虽然是川端康成战后的一部中间小说，但在季节美与虚无美的层面上也充分体现了川端康成对传统美的执着追求及其对沦落的民族灵魂的拯救。
首先，日本民族是一个对自然、对季节非常敏感的民族。日本著名的风景画家东山魁一说：“春天萌芽，夏天繁茂，秋天妖娆，冬天清净一我们日本人早在佛教传来以前，不就已经观察这种大自然的变迁的世故，并且切肤地感受到人的生死宿命及其悲喜了吗？而且这种感情在其后时代的日本人心中都继承下来了，仿佛是刻印在日本人的心中似的。”自古以来，日本作家以自然为友、以四时为友，他们的心与生命的搏动和大自然息息相通。因此，在他们看来，一片树叶“不仅是它，而且是地球上一切有生命的东西的命运，……一片叶有其诞生和衰亡，它使人们看到四季不断流转，万物生生不息。”就是说，日本的诗人、作家能从一草一木的细微变化中，敏锐地掌握四季时令的变化，感受到自然生命的律动、万物的生生不息。季节感已成为日本民族文化心态的一部分，它并不仅仅是对物理性的时间推演的感知，而是在日本传统文化土壤中孕育、培植和繁衍起来的人类精神与自然风物的交织融合。
川端康成在1968年的获奖演说《我在美丽的日本》中，他以道元禅师的和歌起笔：“春花秋月夏杜鹃，冬雪皑皑寒意加。”
川端康成认为“以‘雪、月、花’几个字来表现四季时令变化的美，在日本这是包含着山川草木，宇宙万物，大自然的一切，以至人的感情的美，是有其传统的。”在后期代表作《古都》中，川端康成则将人物作为自然的一部分来描写。千重子和苗子这对孪生姐妹由起初的分离到重逢，再到最终的分离，她们的悲欢离合与四季的自然更替紧密相连。故事从樱花烂漫的春天开始，经过杉林葱翠的夏天、冷雨骤降的秋天，一直写到雨雪交加的初冬，人物的情感与自然的四季景观共生而构成一个美丽而悲哀的故事。川端康成很理解自然的心，他敏感地把握住自然生命的律动，使人间的悲欢离合与自然万物的生息紧密相连。因此，在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成用“虹”的几次出现作为小说的暗线，并以四季之虹来暗示人物的情感与命运，也就不是偶然的了，它包含了川端康成战后对民族传统之美的执著追求。
其次，“虚无”美是日本民族的传统审美观，也是川端康成战后的核心思想，在1968年诺贝尔获奖演说《我在美丽的日本》中，川端康成对此也作了具体的阐述。
“这种‘无’，不是西方的虚无，相反，是万有自在的空，是无边无涯无尽藏的心灵宇宙。”在中间小说《日兮月兮》中，川端康成以少女松子与宗广的爱情为主线，写了战争给朝井一家造成了夫妻离散、儿子战死的不幸，还写了在美军占领下，日本传统的茶道、传统的纺织工艺，以及传统的生活习惯失去了真正的精髓，感叹日本文化遗产失去了光彩，大大地动摇了战后日本人的心灵世界。与此同时，川端康成在小说中塑造了一位超脱的人物，那就是手拿山茶花的木崎老人，他和自己的少妻居住在铁道边的小院里，尽管外面纷乱嘈杂，安静祥和却一直洋溢在这个小屋的周围。正因为“无常迅速”，木崎才深晓“生死事大”，并以豁达、超脱的心灵珍爱自己的少妻，珍惜周围的一切。木崎“虚无”、超脱的精神时刻敲打着陷入失恋漩涡的松子的灵魂，使这位不幸的少女逐渐摆脱了宗广的阴影，重新面对与宗广之弟——幸二的爱情。
在《彩虹几度》中，春天是万物复苏的季节，但小说并没有写象征幸福和希望的春天之虹，却代之以现实中的“断桥”。秋天是万物凋零的季节，然而东京的天空却出现了美丽的彩虹。这看似矛盾，其中却蕴藏着深层内涵。在川端康成看来，执着于现实的情感复苏或过度膨胀都会给人带来极大的痛苦，相反，徒劳之爱的熄灭才会给人带来幸福和安宁，这包含着川端康成对“虚无”美的探求。因此，在小说中，“秋天的虹”才是幸福和希望的象征。
目前，国内大概还没有一篇有关《彩虹几度》的专门评论。这部作品用哀婉、细腻而生动的笔触，叙说了像彩虹那样虚幻而美丽的异母三姐妹的爱恋与生命的悲哀，尤其是展示了姐姐百子由于恋人死于战争而蒙受莫大的心灵创伤和扭曲的畸形心态，具有浓厚的时代气息。此外，该作以不同季节的彩虹作为象征物，暗示姐妹的不同命运，并且以“秋天的虹”所蕴含的“虚无”精神作为百子摆脱精神痛苦良药，展现了川端康成战后的重要思想——对传统美的执着追求。这部作品或许没有《古都》那样典雅，但也不应受到读者、评论者的冷漠，希望该评论能起到抛砖引玉的作用，引起热爱川端康成文学者的兴趣。
参考文献：
川端康成，再婚的女人[M]．叶渭渠，郑民锨译．桂林：漓江出版社，1998.
川端康成．美丽与悲哀·蒲公英[M].叶渭渠译，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996.
川端康成，彩虹几度[M].孔宪科等译．桂林：漓江出版社，1996．
川端康成．美的存在与发现[M]，叶渭渠译．北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996.
川端康成．山音·湖[M]．叶渭渠译，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996.
吉田精一，日本现代文学史[M]．齐干译，上海：上海人民出版社，1976．
川端康成，独影自命[M]．叶渭渠译，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996.
横光利一．感想与风景[M]．李振声译．南宁：广西师范大学出版社，2005.
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关键词：虹；象征；传统美；拯救
中图分类号：1106.4 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-8135(2010) 01-0088-04
川端康成是日本第一位获得诺贝尔文学奖的作家，他的小说创作从形式来说以纯文学为主，此外，其小说的重要组成部分还有中间小说、少男少女小说等。中间小说是介于纯文学与大众小说之间的一种小说形式，代表作品有《彩虹几度》、《日兮月兮》、《河边小镇的故事》、《玉响》等。这类作品在研究川端康成的文章中较少被提及，但这些作品多以战后为背景，在字里行问隐现了作者对战后美军占领日本的现实的不满，同时也体现了川端康成对拯救民族沦落的灵魂、恢复民族自信力的祈愿。
《彩虹几度》写的是水原——一名战后建筑家与其三名同父异母的女儿麻子、百子和小若的人生故事。百子为长女，也是该小说的主要人物，其母生下她后自杀，水原遂与麻子生母结婚，此后又与另一名女子生下第三个女儿小若。因为在母亲自杀及继母、继女、父亲的家庭中长大，百子对感情极度不信任，自初恋男友夏二在二战中作为空军而献身后，便开始玩起危险的感情游戏，与一名叫小宫的少年玩起恋爱的游戏并怀孕，而双方都无法接受现实，小宫最终自杀，百子也放弃了孩子。在这部作品中，川端康成并没有用曲折的故事情节来吸引读者，相反，川端康成用日本传统审美意识中的“季语”来暗示作品的内容。这部小说又被译为“几次出虹”，整篇以 “虹”作为核心意象，通过其在不同季节中的形象表现，深刻反映了同父异母三姐妹（百子、麻子和若子）在战后环境中各自不同的命运。
一、“虹”的内涵
川端康成在不少作品中都用“虹”来象征人物的情感和命运，并赋予美丽的七彩之“虹”以复杂的内涵。在川端康成作品中，“虹”首先是希望和憧憬的象征。“东京也出彩虹吗？这镜子里也会出彩虹吗？幼小的她站在彩虹的小河边。”这里的“虹”是《水晶幻想>中的女主人公在作为小姑娘时的希望，表达了她对东京和未来的美好向往。《虹》中，美少年木村曾梦想成为飞行家，但在战后混乱的时代中，他整天和舞女们混在一起，醉生梦死。于是他对生活感到了厌倦，进而想逃避现实，“想飞到彩虹里”。在他眼里，虹是超越现实的理想世界的象征。
其次，“虹”还是吉凶的象征。七彩之虹是绚丽多姿的，人们往往把虹的出现当作吉利的象征，认为它会给人们带来幸福和希望。但七彩之虹又是虚幻的、瞬息即逝的，幸福和“虹”一样也多是短暂无常的。因此，在特定情境下，川端康成小说中的“虹”又是不吉利的象征。在小说《美丽与悲哀》中，坂见庆子是个富有魅力的妖女，并与自己的师傅音子陷入同性恋之中。出于嫉妒，庆子主动勾引音子的初恋情人大木年雄和他的儿子太一郎。她腰系一条自己有意画了“无色的虹”的腰带，在天快黑时诱惑太一郎与她一起去乘汽艇。结果汽艇发生了事故，庆子被救了上来，太一郎却身陷湖底，她终于达到了复仇的目的。庆子腰带上的“无色的虹”是蕴含着其预谋的。“只是水墨浓淡的曲线，也许谁都看不出来吧，但我想让夏天的虹绕在身上，这是时近黄昏悬在山上的虹。”黄昏喻示着生命之晚期，而 “时近黄昏悬在山上的虹”、“无色之虹”分明是一条妖气十足的夺命勾魂之虹。它比贯日白虹更加不吉利，它凝聚了庆子的妖气、魔性，把年轻、单纯的太一郎引向了一个无人知晓的黄泉世界。
二、四季之虹与人的命运
在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成把季节的轮回与“虹”的复杂意蕴紧密结合起来，并在此基础上，含蓄地表现了三姐妹的悲欢离合与情感命运。
《彩虹几度》以“冬天的彩虹”开篇。岁暮年初时节，麻子独自一人去京都寻找自己的妹妹若子，在失望而归的路上，她望见了琵琶湖上空美丽的彩虹。此时在麻子的眼中，彩虹是吉利的象征，是幸福和希望的象征。她说：“我们大人年末看见大彩虹，来年该是个好年，幸福要来了。”于是，她的“心飞到湖水对面的彩虹那边，似乎想要到那彩虹之国去。”她相信经过自己的努力，妹妹若子会回到自己的身边，也很快会有一个充满爱的家庭出现。但与麻子同座的大谷却说：“冬天的彩虹有点疹人。热带的花在寒带开放，真有些像废王之恋呢。也许因为彩虹下端猛然断开……”。果然，美丽的七彩之虹很快就变换了它的姿影，失去了其优美的弓形曲线，成为无法跨越的断虹。这样，虹就以大自然的语言带给麻子一丝不祥的预感。她们姐妹之间的情感或许就像这冬天不合时宜的断虹，是根本无法跨越的。也许姐姐百子的极端说法更为真实：“人有各种各样的游泳方法，有适合本人性情的水池的水，……兄弟姐妹早晚也要成为外人，那样更好。就任她随便谋生算了。”毕竟若子是在作为艺妓的母亲身边长大，而麻子和百子则是在作为建筑师的父亲身边长大，不同的生活环境造成了她们身份的悬殊，注定了她们终将分离的命运。因此，冬天的断虹也就成为不吉利的预兆，成为理想无法实现的象征。
在接下来万物萌生的春天，小说中没有出现“春天的虹”，却出现了“桥”。弓形的桥与彩虹的形状是非常相似的，因此，“桥”在川端康成笔下也就成为 “虹”的化身。在春花烂漫的时节，青木夏二的出现对百子和麻子姐妹而言，可以说是一石激起千层浪。百子曾与启太相爱，但启太后来在战争中牺牲，夏二恰是启太的弟弟。因此，百子从夏二的举手投足间清晰地看到了已死去的恋人的影子，过去的情感和悲伤也如同春天万物的复苏，破土而出。与此同时，麻子与夏二也在春天邂逅，他们随同万物的生机萌生了新的情感。这样，在百子和死去的启太之间，在麻子和夏二之间就建立了不同的“桥”。百子与启太的桥“像是一座没有对岸的桥。活着的人架起了桥，对岸没有支柱，桥的那一端就会悬空。而且，这桥无论延伸多长，也是到不了对岸的。”启太死了，但百子的爱却并没有因恋人生命的终结而终止，反而愈加浓厚。百子独自架起的这座“没有对岸的桥”无疑象征了百子“单向通行”之爱的痛苦与徒劳。麻子与夏二渴望建立“像彩虹一样美丽的桥”，这一方面象征了他们对爱的美好憧憬，但彩虹的虚幻无常，无疑也象征了他们内心的不安，因为他们根本无法跨越启太和百子之爱的阴影。因此，“没有对岸的桥”如同“断虹”，依旧是理想无法实现的象征，是不吉利的象征：“像彩虹一样美丽的桥”，也依然是虚幻无常的象征。
百子与死去的启太之间、麻子与夏二之间的沉重情感随着夏天的到来而更加浓郁。因无法承受失去启太的痛苦，百子与少年竹宫陷入更加病态的爱恋中，并孕育了不该孕育的生命。麻子也因恋情的折磨，原本健康的身体垮了下来，住进了医院。等麻子出院时已到了万物开始沉寂的秋天。在秋天萧瑟的季节里，秋叶开始的凋零，万物也都收藏生命的热望。川端康成依然用大自然的语言，对少年竹宫的夭折及百子的流产作出了预示：“银杏的叶子还不是落叶的颜色，才刚刚开始发黄。这样的叶子也许很脆。”竹宫自杀，孩子流产，百子也逐渐熄灭了心中的火焰，陷入任人摆布的无为状态。麻子也随着病愈消除了内心的痛苦，熄灭了对夏二复杂的爱。在医院流产期间，百子收到了麻子的信，信中说东京的天空又出现了彩虹，或许这就是两姐妹获得“无心”之后，预示着她们明媚未来的“彩虹之路”吧。“秋天的彩虹”在这里终于成为吉利与幸福的象征。
三、战后民族灵魂的失落与拯救
在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成以“虹”与季节的轮回作为作品的暗线，并且以“虚无”美作为解除精神痛苦的良药并非偶然，这与战后川端康成对传统美的执著追求是紧密相连的。川端康成认为“‘古人均由插花而悟道，’就是受禅宗的影响，由此也唤醒了日本人的美的心灵。大概也是这种心灵，使人们在长期内战的荒芜中得以继续生存下来吧”。
二战后，作为战败国，巨大的悲哀、无助与怀疑笼罩着整个日本民族，他们在随之涌入的美国文明面前不胜惊恐。有不少人对民族的传统失去信心，认为传统的就是应予以抛弃的；有的人甚至认为欧美人在人种上就优越于大和民族；还有的人看到儿童用日本国旗从美军那里换糖吃，也不去干涉。在黑市猖獗、物价飞涨，到处都是一片废墟的情形下，战后的多数日本人是难得想到国家的。文化是一个民族的灵魂，但是战后的日本却陷入了自我否定的风潮中，忘却了民族的传统。传统的失落必然意味着民族灵魂的失落，这会进一步加深战败的亡国情绪，并使整个民族陷入痛苦的虚脱之中。在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成借一位高僧之口阐述了这样的观点：“战后颓废派的孩子，也都是些胡作非为的家伙，尽情胡闹，尽情捣乱，谁说什么也不听。他们非常错误地理解了自由。”《山音》中的信吾也这样感叹道：“啊，前佛即去，后佛未至，梦中来临，应以何为现实？无意中竟承受了难以承受的人的身躯……”。
“当举世都在追随西欧的时刻，他却非常平静而且充满信心地说‘让我们继承日本的美的传统吧’，这种带有发言者的性格的意见，强烈地冲击着人们的心灵”。战后，川端康成更加坚定了继承传统的信念。“民族的兴亡无常，兴亡之后留存下来的，就是这个民族具有的美”，在荒芜、凄惨和穷困中，东山战乱时期却依然能保存、执着和创造美的传统，川端康成深深为之感动。于是，他决定“把战后自己的生命作为我的余生。余生已不为自己所有，它将是日本美的传统的表现。”在致横光的悼词的结尾，川端康成这样写道：
横光君，我将以日本山河为灵魂，在你身后活下去，唯愿君之遗族无后顾之忧，则幸甚。
在新潮社为他出版的全集后记中，川端康成也这样写道：
即使现实的生活基本上结束了，即使对生活的兴味越来越淡薄了，我的精神自觉和愿望也就更为坚定。这就是我作为一个日本作家的自觉，和继承日本美的传统的愿望。我愿意坚持它直到除此以外的一切完全消失……
《彩虹几度》虽然是川端康成战后的一部中间小说，但在季节美与虚无美的层面上也充分体现了川端康成对传统美的执着追求及其对沦落的民族灵魂的拯救。
首先，日本民族是一个对自然、对季节非常敏感的民族。日本著名的风景画家东山魁一说：“春天萌芽，夏天繁茂，秋天妖娆，冬天清净一我们日本人早在佛教传来以前，不就已经观察这种大自然的变迁的世故，并且切肤地感受到人的生死宿命及其悲喜了吗？而且这种感情在其后时代的日本人心中都继承下来了，仿佛是刻印在日本人的心中似的。”自古以来，日本作家以自然为友、以四时为友，他们的心与生命的搏动和大自然息息相通。因此，在他们看来，一片树叶“不仅是它，而且是地球上一切有生命的东西的命运，……一片叶有其诞生和衰亡，它使人们看到四季不断流转，万物生生不息。”就是说，日本的诗人、作家能从一草一木的细微变化中，敏锐地掌握四季时令的变化，感受到自然生命的律动、万物的生生不息。季节感已成为日本民族文化心态的一部分，它并不仅仅是对物理性的时间推演的感知，而是在日本传统文化土壤中孕育、培植和繁衍起来的人类精神与自然风物的交织融合。
川端康成在1968年的获奖演说《我在美丽的日本》中，他以道元禅师的和歌起笔：“春花秋月夏杜鹃，冬雪皑皑寒意加。”
川端康成认为“以‘雪、月、花’几个字来表现四季时令变化的美，在日本这是包含着山川草木，宇宙万物，大自然的一切，以至人的感情的美，是有其传统的。”在后期代表作《古都》中，川端康成则将人物作为自然的一部分来描写。千重子和苗子这对孪生姐妹由起初的分离到重逢，再到最终的分离，她们的悲欢离合与四季的自然更替紧密相连。故事从樱花烂漫的春天开始，经过杉林葱翠的夏天、冷雨骤降的秋天，一直写到雨雪交加的初冬，人物的情感与自然的四季景观共生而构成一个美丽而悲哀的故事。川端康成很理解自然的心，他敏感地把握住自然生命的律动，使人间的悲欢离合与自然万物的生息紧密相连。因此，在《彩虹几度》中，川端康成用“虹”的几次出现作为小说的暗线，并以四季之虹来暗示人物的情感与命运，也就不是偶然的了，它包含了川端康成战后对民族传统之美的执著追求。
其次，“虚无”美是日本民族的传统审美观，也是川端康成战后的核心思想，在1968年诺贝尔获奖演说《我在美丽的日本》中，川端康成对此也作了具体的阐述。
“这种‘无’，不是西方的虚无，相反，是万有自在的空，是无边无涯无尽藏的心灵宇宙。”在中间小说《日兮月兮》中，川端康成以少女松子与宗广的爱情为主线，写了战争给朝井一家造成了夫妻离散、儿子战死的不幸，还写了在美军占领下，日本传统的茶道、传统的纺织工艺，以及传统的生活习惯失去了真正的精髓，感叹日本文化遗产失去了光彩，大大地动摇了战后日本人的心灵世界。与此同时，川端康成在小说中塑造了一位超脱的人物，那就是手拿山茶花的木崎老人，他和自己的少妻居住在铁道边的小院里，尽管外面纷乱嘈杂，安静祥和却一直洋溢在这个小屋的周围。正因为“无常迅速”，木崎才深晓“生死事大”，并以豁达、超脱的心灵珍爱自己的少妻，珍惜周围的一切。木崎“虚无”、超脱的精神时刻敲打着陷入失恋漩涡的松子的灵魂，使这位不幸的少女逐渐摆脱了宗广的阴影，重新面对与宗广之弟——幸二的爱情。
在《彩虹几度》中，春天是万物复苏的季节，但小说并没有写象征幸福和希望的春天之虹，却代之以现实中的“断桥”。秋天是万物凋零的季节，然而东京的天空却出现了美丽的彩虹。这看似矛盾，其中却蕴藏着深层内涵。在川端康成看来，执着于现实的情感复苏或过度膨胀都会给人带来极大的痛苦，相反，徒劳之爱的熄灭才会给人带来幸福和安宁，这包含着川端康成对“虚无”美的探求。因此，在小说中，“秋天的虹”才是幸福和希望的象征。
目前，国内大概还没有一篇有关《彩虹几度》的专门评论。这部作品用哀婉、细腻而生动的笔触，叙说了像彩虹那样虚幻而美丽的异母三姐妹的爱恋与生命的悲哀，尤其是展示了姐姐百子由于恋人死于战争而蒙受莫大的心灵创伤和扭曲的畸形心态，具有浓厚的时代气息。此外，该作以不同季节的彩虹作为象征物，暗示姐妹的不同命运，并且以“秋天的虹”所蕴含的“虚无”精神作为百子摆脱精神痛苦良药，展现了川端康成战后的重要思想——对传统美的执着追求。这部作品或许没有《古都》那样典雅，但也不应受到读者、评论者的冷漠，希望该评论能起到抛砖引玉的作用，引起热爱川端康成文学者的兴趣。
参考文献：
川端康成，再婚的女人[M]．叶渭渠，郑民锨译．桂林：漓江出版社，1998.
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川端康成．山音·湖[M]．叶渭渠译，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1996.
吉田精一，日本现代文学史[M]．齐干译，上海：上海人民出版社，1976．
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横光利一．感想与风景[M]．李振声译．南宁：广西师范大学出版社，2005.
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川端康成以《雪国》、《古都》、《千只鹤》三作获得1968年诺奖，是日本第一位获该奖的作家。在西方人看来，川端的东方审美方式，尤其是其《雪国》中所表现出来的日式物哀之美，或许是一道亮丽的风景；再者——这可能是更重要的理由——在他们看来，川端文学“受到欧洲近代现实主义的影响”。《河边小镇的故事》讲述了战后日本一个年轻的住院医生义三与三位女子（在经济上支持他的表妹桃子、在思想和生活上理解他的同事民子、他所爱的孤苦无依的房子）的情感纠葛；义三的爱情选择体现了道德与伦理方面的思考。若以《河》论，川端康成的唯美主义，其所诠释的“日本的美”在我看来却是一种难以忍受的“丑陋”：自恋、过分含蓄。这部小说可以说通俗得没有棱角，说俗不可耐也不为过。
这还是一个入口与出口的故事。就象那只进入捕鼠器的小老鼠，因为出口已经关闭，第四天早上死掉了。小老鼠就是城市青年的例子，男主角也即是鼠，他在寻找出口。
详尽的细节描写，对弹子球机的迷恋，无不透出深深的寂寞和迷茫。曾在挪威森林出现的直子在这里只在第一节中提到，但感觉她的影子深深地笼罩住了全文。鼠忘不掉对直子的爱。他把自己封存在一个只容自己容身的洞里面，封存在弹子机游戏里面。持续不断的弹子机游戏把他与周围的世界隔绝了。
《1973年的弹子球》为日本著名作家村上春树的长篇小说，描述一青年为寻找少年时代的弹子机，又返回到无边的孤独之中的故事。这也是一部寻找的小说。一方面叙述者讲述了“我”和“鼠”如何努力摆脱异化，寻求人生的出口；另一方面叙述者通过讲述这段往事，也在为自己现在的生活寻找出口。小说蕴涵着作者希望人类通过写作获得拯救的美好心愿。
All three books in the Trilogy of the Rat have been translated into English, but Pinball, 1973, and Hear The Wind Sing, the first two books in the trilogy, were only printed as English translations in Japan by Kodansha under their Kodansha English Library branding, and both only as A6-sized pocketbooks. Before being reprinted in 2009, these novels were difficult to locate and quite expensive, especially outside of Japan. Murakami is alleged to have said that he does not intend for these novels to be published outside of Japan. Whether or not this is true, both novels are much shorter than those that follow and make up the bulk of his work, and are less evolved stylistically. The title, 1973-nen no Pinbōru (1973年のピンボール) reflects the title of the well-known Oe Kenzaburo novel, Man'en Gannen no Futtoboru (万延元年のフットボール).
Plot introduction
Despite being an early work, Pinball shares many elements with Murakami's later novels. It describes itself in the text as "a novel about pinball," but also explores themes of loneliness and companionship, purposelessness, and destiny. As with the other books in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, three of the characters include the protagonist, a nameless first-person narrator, his friend The Rat, and J, the owner of the bar where they often spend time.
Plot summary
The plot centers on the narrator's brief but intense obsession with pinball, his life as a freelance translator, and his later efforts to reunite with the old pinball machine that he used to play. Many familiar elements from Murakami's later novels are present. Wells, which are mentioned often in Murakami's novels and play a prominent role in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, occur several times in Pinball. There is also a brief discussion of the abuse of a cat, a plot element which recurs elsewhere in Murakami's fiction, especially Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (in which the search for a missing cat is an important plotline). Rain and the sea are also prominent motifs.
Major themes
Similar to many of Murakami's other novels, the narrator is a detached, unintentionally apathetic character whose deadpan demeanor stands either in union or, more often, starkly in contrast with the attitudes of other characters. The narrative, detached from the tangible world but highly introspective, sets a surreal tone for the novel, in which the narrator seems to find little unusual about such things as living with a pair of twins whom he cannot distinguish and whose names he does not know, or performing a funeral for a telephone circuit box. While the novel hints vaguely at supernatural occurrences (which often appear in Murakami's fiction), the plot is not intended to be interpreted allegorically.
详尽的细节描写，对弹子球机的迷恋，无不透出深深的寂寞和迷茫。曾在挪威森林出现的直子在这里只在第一节中提到，但感觉她的影子深深地笼罩住了全文。鼠忘不掉对直子的爱。他把自己封存在一个只容自己容身的洞里面，封存在弹子机游戏里面。持续不断的弹子机游戏把他与周围的世界隔绝了。
《1973年的弹子球》为日本著名作家村上春树的长篇小说，描述一青年为寻找少年时代的弹子机，又返回到无边的孤独之中的故事。这也是一部寻找的小说。一方面叙述者讲述了“我”和“鼠”如何努力摆脱异化，寻求人生的出口；另一方面叙述者通过讲述这段往事，也在为自己现在的生活寻找出口。小说蕴涵着作者希望人类通过写作获得拯救的美好心愿。
All three books in the Trilogy of the Rat have been translated into English, but Pinball, 1973, and Hear The Wind Sing, the first two books in the trilogy, were only printed as English translations in Japan by Kodansha under their Kodansha English Library branding, and both only as A6-sized pocketbooks. Before being reprinted in 2009, these novels were difficult to locate and quite expensive, especially outside of Japan. Murakami is alleged to have said that he does not intend for these novels to be published outside of Japan. Whether or not this is true, both novels are much shorter than those that follow and make up the bulk of his work, and are less evolved stylistically. The title, 1973-nen no Pinbōru (1973年のピンボール) reflects the title of the well-known Oe Kenzaburo novel, Man'en Gannen no Futtoboru (万延元年のフットボール).
Plot introduction
Despite being an early work, Pinball shares many elements with Murakami's later novels. It describes itself in the text as "a novel about pinball," but also explores themes of loneliness and companionship, purposelessness, and destiny. As with the other books in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, three of the characters include the protagonist, a nameless first-person narrator, his friend The Rat, and J, the owner of the bar where they often spend time.
Plot summary
The plot centers on the narrator's brief but intense obsession with pinball, his life as a freelance translator, and his later efforts to reunite with the old pinball machine that he used to play. Many familiar elements from Murakami's later novels are present. Wells, which are mentioned often in Murakami's novels and play a prominent role in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, occur several times in Pinball. There is also a brief discussion of the abuse of a cat, a plot element which recurs elsewhere in Murakami's fiction, especially Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (in which the search for a missing cat is an important plotline). Rain and the sea are also prominent motifs.
Major themes
Similar to many of Murakami's other novels, the narrator is a detached, unintentionally apathetic character whose deadpan demeanor stands either in union or, more often, starkly in contrast with the attitudes of other characters. The narrative, detached from the tangible world but highly introspective, sets a surreal tone for the novel, in which the narrator seems to find little unusual about such things as living with a pair of twins whom he cannot distinguish and whose names he does not know, or performing a funeral for a telephone circuit box. While the novel hints vaguely at supernatural occurrences (which often appear in Murakami's fiction), the plot is not intended to be interpreted allegorically.
《个人的体验》和《万延元年的足球队》这两部诺贝尔文学奖的获奖作品都有一条相同的贯穿始终的情节线索：即主人公在现实困境中苦苦挣扎，力图寻找一条自我解救的新生之路。值得注意的是，这两部作品与他更早期的作品相比，主人公生存困境的性质和他们最后的结局已经有了重大的变化。在《奇妙的工作》、《死者的奢华》等这类大江早年的作品中，主人公们的生活一般没有遇上什么天大的灾难，他们只是对自己所处的境况感到困惑，无从进行自我存在的确认。他们虽然心犹不甘，拼命地狼奔豕突，作困兽犹斗，如《性的人》中的J和《我们的时代》中的“不幸的年轻人”们，但是最终的结局，还是徘徊于一片茫然的困境里无从解脱，使人感到沉重的压抑，感到更大的迷惘，而鸟和蜜三郎们则都能在看似彻底绝望的困境中，摇摇晃晃地挺起身来，并在自我确认后从心底里滋生直面人生的信心和勇气，进而获得了自我的新生，作品也因此有了一个鼓舞人心的光明结局。产生这种光明结局的根本原因，可能并不在于主人公的自身性格，而是由于鸟和蜜三郎们所面对的，是一个以与自己血肉相连的残疾儿为具体表征的存在困境。为了充分挖掘残疾儿主题的审美价值，大江健三郎对残疾儿形象有点锲而不舍的执着。这个残疾儿有时以 “迅儿”的名字出现在《洪水涌上我的灵魂》，有时则以“义么”身份在《新人啊，醒来吧》中登场，包括大江晚近创作的长篇巨制《燃烧的绿树》、《空翻》中，他仍频繁现身。
作者在1963年以后发表的作品大多以残疾人和核问题为主要题材，具有较浓厚的人道主义倾向。就其艺术特色而言，在更成熟地借鉴西方现代派文学技巧的同时，充分运用日本文学传统中的想象，把现实与虚构巧妙地结合在一起。这一时期的主要作品还有《日常生活的冒险》(1964年)、《核时代的森林隐遁者》(1968年)、《洪水淹没我的灵魂》(1968年)等长篇小说。
研究的世界――十九世纪俄国大城市里的贫民窟，引进了文学。他是第一个展示这个奇怪角落的作家。这是一个阴暗的角落，“普照彼得堡所有的人的那个太阳，似乎不肯光顾这些地方，而照耀这些地方的，好像是专门为这些地方定做的另一个太阳”（《白夜》）。而在这些阳光照射不到的角落里，生活着一群群的流浪汉、乞丐、小偷、妓女……这是一群被社会抛进底层的人们，他们受尽苦难，折磨，彷徨苦闷、得不到人间的温暖，只能靠幻想过日子！
但是，陀思妥耶夫斯基发现了他们，理解他们的苦难处境，同情他们的不幸遭遇，把他们的问题作为尖锐的社会问题提了出来，引起人们的注意。他不是贵族生活的歌手，也不是“多余人”的创造者，而是同情弱小，揭露社会黑暗、愚昧、无权、压迫、剥削的作家。
在作者所有的这些短小的作品中，情节都不太复杂，但气氛紧张，冲突尖锐，充满了意想不到的灾祸，结局往往叫人撕心裂肺，惨不忍睹。几乎所有的作品，都充满了歇斯底里的气氛。他的主人公总是处在惊慌不安之中，惶惶不可终日。几乎所有的主人公都对周围的一切感到不满。他们极端孤独、苦闷，看不到希望，走投无路，其中不少人处于疯狂的边缘，或者成为疯子，或者自杀。他作品里人与人之间的关系往往是病态的，被扭曲了的，反常的。他的作品几乎都有一种悲观绝望的阴暗情调。读他的作品，我们常常有一种压抑感，有时甚至感到简直透不过气来。在我们所译的这些作品中，大概只有《小英雄》算是一个例外。那里面的主人公“小英雄”，是一个罕见的明朗与和谐的形象，也只有这一篇作品充满了异乎寻常的乐观主义。
是的，作者的笔下，没有怒不可遏的反抗人物，他的人物都是温顺的，发疯的发疯，饿死的饿死，自杀的自杀，但很少有反抗的，最多只有一点点口头上的抗议，像波尔袒科夫那样，“他的每一次抗议，都是极其宽容的”（《波尔袒科夫》）。这自然是作家思想的反映，他服苦役归来后，就是抱的这种思想。他是反对展开斗争的。
作者是心理描写的专家，醉心于病态的心理描写，不仅写行为的结果，而且着重描述行为发生的心理活动过程，特别是那些自觉不自觉的反常行为、近乎昏迷与疯狂的反常状态。而人物的思想行为反常，恰恰又是他作品的特点。《普罗哈尔钦先生》中的普罗哈尔钦，《脆弱的心》中的舒姆科夫，《荒唐人的梦》、《拙劣的笑话》、《性格温和的女人》以及《白夜》中的主人公，都是“反常”的怪人。作者似乎想通过人物的乖张行为、幻想、作梦、昏迷、发疯等等来反映现实，造成别具一格的真实，因为他认为“按照现实的本来面目来表现现实是不可能的”。也许，这一点正是作者艺术的独特处。
作者笔下的人物，虽然地位低微，行为反常，荒唐可笑，但内心里却或多或少地保留着某些高尚的品质，比如《波尔袒科夫》中的主人公波尔袒科夫虽然是一个“货真价实的受苦受难者”，但却“心地善良”，是“世界上最最诚实、最最高尚的一个，”“甚至敢于舍己救人”，“有时他还甘冒风险，不惜牺牲自己的一切，几乎有点英雄气概”。就是“爱财如命”的普罗哈尔钦先生“虽然不是出身名门望族，为人却忠实可靠”，而且还是一个“性格温和的好人”。作者虽然写了他们不少荒唐可笑的行为，但却没有将他们丑化，所以这些苦命人的形象在读者心中激起的不是对他们的蔑视，而是深深的同情。对他们荒唐可笑的行为，我们可能禁不住发笑，但笑后一想，又往往觉得想哭，甚至情不自禁地洒下同情之泪。我以为这是作者艺术表现力的高明处。
当然，作者所写的短篇，与他的长篇一样，并不是篇篇都是珍珠，像《白夜》那样诗意盎然的佳作，毕竟是少数。这与他的创作条件不无关系。他疾病缠身且不说，单是生活的贫困就对他的创作发生过很大的消极影响。因为穷，他无法做到对自己的作品反复修改、细心润色、精雕细刻。这种消极影响，在他的长篇创作中，特别突出。因此有人责备他的小说过于庞杂，艺术形式不成功，脉络不清，有时把几篇小说硬拉成一部长篇，结果弄得几条线索重重叠叠，许多情节有头无尾……等等。总之，他的作品不如屠格涅夫等人的精致、优美。但是，如果考虑到他的穷和病，我们似乎大可不必对他求全责备，何况即便是他的短篇，也是瑕不掩玉呢？
李鹤龄
写于长沙岳麓山
一九九五年五月
但是，陀思妥耶夫斯基发现了他们，理解他们的苦难处境，同情他们的不幸遭遇，把他们的问题作为尖锐的社会问题提了出来，引起人们的注意。他不是贵族生活的歌手，也不是“多余人”的创造者，而是同情弱小，揭露社会黑暗、愚昧、无权、压迫、剥削的作家。
在作者所有的这些短小的作品中，情节都不太复杂，但气氛紧张，冲突尖锐，充满了意想不到的灾祸，结局往往叫人撕心裂肺，惨不忍睹。几乎所有的作品，都充满了歇斯底里的气氛。他的主人公总是处在惊慌不安之中，惶惶不可终日。几乎所有的主人公都对周围的一切感到不满。他们极端孤独、苦闷，看不到希望，走投无路，其中不少人处于疯狂的边缘，或者成为疯子，或者自杀。他作品里人与人之间的关系往往是病态的，被扭曲了的，反常的。他的作品几乎都有一种悲观绝望的阴暗情调。读他的作品，我们常常有一种压抑感，有时甚至感到简直透不过气来。在我们所译的这些作品中，大概只有《小英雄》算是一个例外。那里面的主人公“小英雄”，是一个罕见的明朗与和谐的形象，也只有这一篇作品充满了异乎寻常的乐观主义。
是的，作者的笔下，没有怒不可遏的反抗人物，他的人物都是温顺的，发疯的发疯，饿死的饿死，自杀的自杀，但很少有反抗的，最多只有一点点口头上的抗议，像波尔袒科夫那样，“他的每一次抗议，都是极其宽容的”（《波尔袒科夫》）。这自然是作家思想的反映，他服苦役归来后，就是抱的这种思想。他是反对展开斗争的。
作者是心理描写的专家，醉心于病态的心理描写，不仅写行为的结果，而且着重描述行为发生的心理活动过程，特别是那些自觉不自觉的反常行为、近乎昏迷与疯狂的反常状态。而人物的思想行为反常，恰恰又是他作品的特点。《普罗哈尔钦先生》中的普罗哈尔钦，《脆弱的心》中的舒姆科夫，《荒唐人的梦》、《拙劣的笑话》、《性格温和的女人》以及《白夜》中的主人公，都是“反常”的怪人。作者似乎想通过人物的乖张行为、幻想、作梦、昏迷、发疯等等来反映现实，造成别具一格的真实，因为他认为“按照现实的本来面目来表现现实是不可能的”。也许，这一点正是作者艺术的独特处。
作者笔下的人物，虽然地位低微，行为反常，荒唐可笑，但内心里却或多或少地保留着某些高尚的品质，比如《波尔袒科夫》中的主人公波尔袒科夫虽然是一个“货真价实的受苦受难者”，但却“心地善良”，是“世界上最最诚实、最最高尚的一个，”“甚至敢于舍己救人”，“有时他还甘冒风险，不惜牺牲自己的一切，几乎有点英雄气概”。就是“爱财如命”的普罗哈尔钦先生“虽然不是出身名门望族，为人却忠实可靠”，而且还是一个“性格温和的好人”。作者虽然写了他们不少荒唐可笑的行为，但却没有将他们丑化，所以这些苦命人的形象在读者心中激起的不是对他们的蔑视，而是深深的同情。对他们荒唐可笑的行为，我们可能禁不住发笑，但笑后一想，又往往觉得想哭，甚至情不自禁地洒下同情之泪。我以为这是作者艺术表现力的高明处。
当然，作者所写的短篇，与他的长篇一样，并不是篇篇都是珍珠，像《白夜》那样诗意盎然的佳作，毕竟是少数。这与他的创作条件不无关系。他疾病缠身且不说，单是生活的贫困就对他的创作发生过很大的消极影响。因为穷，他无法做到对自己的作品反复修改、细心润色、精雕细刻。这种消极影响，在他的长篇创作中，特别突出。因此有人责备他的小说过于庞杂，艺术形式不成功，脉络不清，有时把几篇小说硬拉成一部长篇，结果弄得几条线索重重叠叠，许多情节有头无尾……等等。总之，他的作品不如屠格涅夫等人的精致、优美。但是，如果考虑到他的穷和病，我们似乎大可不必对他求全责备，何况即便是他的短篇，也是瑕不掩玉呢？
李鹤龄
写于长沙岳麓山
一九九五年五月