Chapter 2 Appreciation of works

It is one of Dickens' most important masterpieces.Long before writing, Dickens paid great attention to the French Revolution, and repeatedly read the British historian Carlyle's "History of the French Revolution" and related works of other scholars.His strong interest in the French Revolution originated from his concern about the serious social crisis lurking in Britain at that time. At the end of 1854, he said: "I believe that dissatisfaction is far worse to smoke like this than to burn like this. It is especially like the public psychology in France before the outbreak of the first revolution. This is dangerous, for a thousand reasons. — such as bad harvests, the arbitrariness and incompetence of the aristocracy which intensified the already tense situation for the last time, defeats in foreign wars, accidents at home, etc. — turned into a terrible conflagration such as was never seen before.” It can be seen that the motivation for creating this historical novel is to use the past to satirize the present and use the historical experience of the French Revolution as a reference to sound the alarm to the British ruling class; The masses of people violently resisting the tyranny issued a warning, fantasizing about finding a way out for the British status quo with deepening social contradictions.

Starting from this purpose, the novel profoundly exposes the deeply intensified social contradictions before the French Revolution, strongly criticizes the debauchery and brutality of the aristocratic class, and deeply sympathizes with the suffering of the lower classes.The work sharply points out that the patience of the masses is limited, and under the brutal rule of the aristocracy, the masses of the people are bound to rise up and resist because of their livelihood.This resistance is just.The novel also depicts spectacular scenes such as the uprising people attacking the Bastille, showing the great strength of the people.However, the author stands on the standpoint of bourgeois humanitarianism, that is, he opposes the tyranny that brutally oppresses the people, and also opposes the violence of the revolutionary people against the tyranny.In Dickens's pen, the entire revolution is described as a huge disaster that destroys everything. It mercilessly punishes the evil aristocracy and kills innocent people blindly.

This novel creates three types of characters.One type is the feudal aristocracy represented by the Marquis brothers of Evremont. Their "only unshakable philosophy is to oppress people", which is the object of the author's pain and whipping.The other category is the revolutionary masses such as the Defarshi couple.It must be noted that their image is distorted.For example, Defarge's wife, Diana, was born in a farm family that was insulted and persecuted, and she had a deep hatred for the feudal nobles. The author deeply sympathized with her tragic experience, and appreciated her strong character, outstanding intelligence and Extraordinary organizational leadership; but when the revolution went further, he changed his pen and dismissed her as a cold, fierce, narrow-minded avenger.Especially when she went to the doctor's house to hunt down Lucy and little Lucy, she was shown as a bloodthirsty madman.In the end, the author let her die under his own gun, clearly expressing his negative attitude.The third category is idealized characters, who are examples in the author's mind of resolving social conflicts with humanitarianism and overcoming hatred with fraternity, including the Menets, Dyer, Laurel, and Calden.Dr. Menet was ruined by the Marquis brothers, and he had a deep hatred for the Marquis brothers, but for the love of his daughter, he could abandon the old hatred; Dyer is the nephew of the Marquis brothers. He was enlightened, condemned the crimes of his family, and abandoned the title and property, determined to "redeem" with his own actions.This pair of characters that reflect each other, one is a victim of aristocratic tyranny, tolerant; the other is the heir of a noble marquis, advocating benevolence.Among them, there is Lucy as daughter and wife.Under the bond of love, they form a happy family with mutual understanding and harmonious feelings.This is obviously a solution to social conflicts that the author conceived is diametrically opposed to violent revolution, and it is unrealistic.

It is different from general historical novels in that its characters and main plots are fictional.Against the broad real background of the French Revolution, the author takes the experience of the fictional character Dr. Menet as the main clue, and interweaves three independent but interrelated stories of injustice, love and revenge, with intricate plots and clues.The author uses techniques such as flashbacks, interludes, foreshadowing, and foreshadowing to make the structure of the novel complete and rigorous, and the plot twists and turns intense and dramatic, showing excellent artistic skills.The style is solemn, melancholy, full of sorrow and indignation, but lacks the humor of the earlier works.

(Xu Renwang)