Because of his poor family, Dickens worked as a lawyer's scribe, a messenger in a firm and a court stenographer from the age of 16, which enabled him to travel all over the streets of London, go in and out of courts and prisons, get in touch with all kinds of people and learn about all kinds of litigation cases. In 1832, he became an interviewer for the newspaper. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to have extensive contact with British society, often went to Congress to record the debates, witnessed the dirty inside story of bourgeois party struggle, and learned a lot of evil facts of the upper class exposed in the debates, which collected rich life materials for his later literary creation.
Dickens had an indissoluble bond with literature since he was a child. In his childhood, he read a lot of novels such as Robinson Crusoe and Arabian Nights. His father loves drama, and he often lets Dickens perform various plays, narrates his performance experience, and teaches him to recite poems and improvise. Although this kind of education made little Dickens suffer a lot, it also cultivated his literary interest and the spirit of hard study. He often used his spare time working for several newspapers in London to study in the reading room of the British Museum, and began to create literature when interviewing reporters. From 1836 to 1837, Dickens published his first novel "The Biography of Pickwick" by stages, which was widely welcomed by readers. Since then, he has left journalism and started a career specializing in literary creation. In 1842, he visited America. Since 1844, he has often lived in Switzerland, France and Italy with his family. In 1846, he founded the progressive newspaper Daily News and served as the editor-in-chief. In 1858, he made a recitation trip in China as an outstanding reciter; He visited the United States again from 1867 to 1868. Dickens' tireless writing all his life seriously damaged his health. On June 9, 187, the "favored son of heaven" in English literature died of a cerebral hemorrhage while writing his last novel, The Mystery of edwin Druid. Dickens wrote in his last will: "... I absolutely demand that my funeral be simple and concise. Don't make public. Don't send an obituary in the newspaper ... Just engrave my name on the tombstone in ordinary font, without adding any words like' sir' and' your Excellency'. I implore my friends not to build monuments or write mourning articles for me. My book will make people remember me-that's enough for me ... "Except for the monument, Dickens' last wishes were basically respected. However, his death caused the whole British people to mourn, and his ashes were buried in the "Poet's Corner" in Westminster.
He can perform and sing since he was a child, and he is often taken to hotels by his father to give performances. At the age of 1, the whole family was forced to move to the debtor's prison, and since the age of 11, they have taken on heavy housework. When he was an apprentice in the shoe polish workshop, because of his skillful packaging, he was put in the window by his employer to perform in public, and was watched as an advertisement, which left a permanent scar on his heart, thus generating deep sympathy for the unfortunate children and determination to get rid of poverty resolutely. He only attended school for a few years, and gained extensive knowledge and literary accomplishment mainly by self-study and in-depth life. At the age of 16, he worked as a copywriter in a law firm, traveled all over the streets of London and learned a lot about society. Later, he worked as an interviewer for a newspaper and was familiar with all kinds of drawbacks in parliamentary politics. At the age of 24, she married Catherine, the daughter of Huo Jiasi, a newspaper publisher, and had 1 children. Because of the difference in personality and taste, it brought misfortune to his creation, especially in his later years. He began to create literature after the interview. He often roams around remote corners and villages in London with his notebook, collecting rich materials for his future creation. He wrote hard all his life. In his later years, he often wrote during the day and was invited to recite his works at night. Heavy work, family and social troubles, and disappointment in changing reality have damaged his health.
Early period (1833 ~ 1841): When Dickens started his literary creation, he first wrote a feature for London Morning Post, which mainly showed the customs, people's feelings, scenery, love and hatred for life in London's urban and rural areas. In 1836, The Close-up Collection was published. In 1837, the first novel "The Biography of Pickwick" began to be serialized in newspapers. Through the travels of Pickwick and his closest friends, the author exposed the darkness of real life in Britain at that time, described the "ancient and beautiful England" in the author's mind, and reflected the author's thoughts and optimism of not being oppressed by feudalism and exploited by the bourgeoisie. The author also criticized the British parliamentary system, laws, judicature, prisons, etc., described various figures such as gentlemen and drivers in a relaxed and humorous style, and advocated the ideal of implementing moral education. The structure of this novel is rather loose and protracted, but it takes civilians as the protagonist, which is unprecedented. It is the first achievement of Dickens' realistic novel creation.
Oliver Twist (the first translation of Oliver Twist, the second novel Oliver Twist translated in 1838) is Dickens' first touching social novel. At this time, although he didn't realize the root of social evil, he revealed the life picture of people at the bottom of society who were sad and didn't tell through the experience of Oliver, an orphan. Oliver couldn't bear humiliation and hunger in the poor workhouse, and fled to London, but fell into a thief's den again, and was finally rescued by a "virtuous" capitalist. However, the author also exposed the face of bourgeois camouflage charity here, showing the depth of his creative thinking at that time. The novel nicholas nickleby (1839) portrayed the image of a bourgeois predator and exposed the poverty and bankruptcy of small producers under the exclusion and oppression of huge industrial capital. Through the experience of teacher nicholas nickleby, the author exposed the darkness of the British education system. At that time, the so-called schools for the poor became profit-making places, students could only eat half full, and flogging became the main means of education. It can be seen everywhere in the novel that the author denounces the hypocrisy and greed of the bourgeoisie with angry pens and tears of hatred.
The late period (1848 ~ 1861) was the prosperous period of Dickens' creation. Due to the failure of the British and French revolutionary movements, the reactionary forces of the bourgeoisie became more arrogant, Dickens' understanding of society deepened, and his works reflected a broader social life. He focuses on describing the kindness, warmth and moral influence of little people. Optimism has been replaced by heavy, depressed mood and strong resentment. At this time, the main works are Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dooley, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. The theme of these works is deepening; The artistic style also has different characteristics from before. The author is good at using typical details to express the characteristics of characters; While focusing on describing the kindness, warmth and moral influence of the little people, it makes an artistic summary of the bourgeois evil and inhuman social system with strong appeal.
david copperfield (185) is a semi-autobiographical novel, and its achievements surpass all Dickens' other works. It depicts a broad and colorful social picture through the unfortunate experience of an orphan, exposing the exploitation of working people by the bourgeoisie, the dark corruption of the judiciary and the oppression of the people by the parliament. The works portray typical figures of different classes, especially laborers, and show the author's deep sympathy for the weak. The author also tries to inspire people to keep their confidence in life through david copperfield's final success and try to cultivate readers' humanitarian views. The novel still ends with a happy ending, which shows the author's consistent thinking. David Copperfield is the leap and essence of Dickens' works! ! !
However, it is undeniable that Dickens has a serious injury that he has never been able to overcome in his life, that is, his long procrastination. This "feature" is particularly prominent in his early works, and even some of his later works, such as A Tale of Two Cities, which reached its artistic peak, have never been able to get rid of this problem. [Edit this paragraph] The representative introduces that david copperfield died before he came to the world, and he grew up under the care of his mother and maid Peggotty. Soon, my mother remarried, and my late father made Si Tong fierce and greedy. He regarded David as a burden and sent him to Peggotty's brother's house before marriage. Peggotty is an honest and kind fisherman. He lives in a hut converted from a broken boat by the Yarmouth seaside, and lives alone with a pair of orphans (Emily, his sister's daughter, and Ham, his brother's son). David lives a poor and harmonious life with them.
After David came home, his stepmother often beat him and deprived his mother of his care and caress. After his mother died, his late father immediately sent David, who was under 1 years old, to be a child worker washing bottles, so that he could live a life without food and clothing. He went through a lot of hardships and finally found his aunt, Miss Bessie.
Miss Bessie is eccentric by nature, but kind-hearted. She took David in and sent him to school for further study. When David was at school, he stayed with his aunt's lawyer, Wickfield, and forged a friendship with his daughter, Anne Agnes. However, David was extremely disgusted with a secretary named Heep hired by Wickfield, and hated his ugly behavior of being obedient and flattering.
After graduating from high school, David went out to travel and met his childhood classmate Steffith. They came to Yarmouth together to visit the Peggotty family. Emily, who was engaged to Ham, could not withstand the temptation of Steerforth, a rich young master, and eloped with Steerforth abroad on the eve of her wedding. Mr. Peggotty was in great pain and vowed to get Emily back.
David returned to London as an intern at Spenlow Law Firm. He learned from Agnes that Wickfield was trapped by the scheming Heep and was in a desperate situation. This made David very angry. But at this moment, David fell in love with Dora, the daughter of lawyer Spenlow. Their married life is not ideal, because Dora is a beautiful but simple-minded "doll". My aunt is also on the verge of bankruptcy. At this time, David met Micawber, his landlord when he was a child laborer. Micawber is now Heep's secretary. After a fierce ideological struggle, Micawber exposed all kinds of conspiracies that Heep framed Wickfield and led to Miss Bessie's bankruptcy. In the face of facts, Heep had to plead guilty. Later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment because of the complication of his case. Miss Bessie thanked Micawber and gave him a sum of money to make him rich in Australia and succeed in his career.
At the same time, Peggotty traveled from place to place, and finally found Emily who was abandoned by Stephens and ended up in London, and decided to take her to Australia to start a new life. On the eve of departure, the sea was stormy, and a passenger ship from Spain sank in Yarmouth, with a dying passenger climbing on the mast. Despite his own danger, Ham went to the sea to save him, but unfortunately he was swallowed up by the huge waves. When people picked up his body, the body of the passenger on board also floated to the shore. It turned out to be Steerforth who kidnapped Emily! Emily missed Ham. After going to Australia, she sought peace in her work and never married.
David became a writer. Dora was seriously ill and died on the eve of Peggotty's trip to Australia. David was full of grief and traveled abroad, during which Agnes kept in touch with him all the time. When he returned to England three years later, he found that Agnes had always loved him. They finally got married and lived happily with aunt Bessie and maid Peggotty.