Charles Dickens
现实主义杰出代表——查尔斯·狄更斯

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Born in Portsmouth, England, Dickens left school to work in a factory after his father was thrown into debtors' prison. The miserable life at the factory left an everlasting, painful brand on the boy's mind and also on his works.
查尔斯·狄更斯(1812—1870)，英国作家、社会评论家，创作出一批令人难忘的虚构小说人物，被认为是维多利亚时代最伟大的小说家之一。狄更斯生于英国的朴次茅斯。幼年时期，父亲因欠债入狱，狄更斯只好辍学去工厂打工，在工厂的悲惨生活使年幼的他身心受到永久性创伤，对他以后的作品产生了深远的影响。

Dickens loved the style of 18th century gothic romance. His writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch. His literary style is also a mixture of fantasy and realism. Dickens rocketed to fame with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers . From 1838 to 1841 his novels appeared in rapid succession: Nicholas Nickleby , making an ironic satire to society through a young boy's sufferings in a cold society; The Old Curiosity Shop , in which little Nell, vulnerable and innocent, falls victim to greed and wild passion. The period between 1846 and 1860 was Dickens's golden period in which his critical realism as well as his art reached climax. His great novels of sharp social criticism include mainly Dombey and Son , David Copperfield , Bleak House , Hard Times , A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations . Besides his exposures and condemnations upon social evils and injustice, he also shows a great sympathy for the sad plight of the common, poor and oppressed people.
狄更斯很喜欢18世纪的“哥特式小说”。他文笔流畅而富有诗意，亦不乏诙谐。他的小说糅合了现实主义和丰富的想象。1836年，《匹克威客外传》系列故事相继出版，狄更斯的名字很快家喻户晓。1838—1841年，其小说连续获得成功：《尼古拉斯·尼克尔贝》通过一个小男孩在残酷社会中的种种悲惨经历对社会进行了辛辣的讽刺；《老古玩店》中的小耐儿天真却难抵诱惑，成为贪婪和野心的牺牲品。1846—1860年是狄更斯创作的黄金时期，期间他的批判现实主义小说和艺术成就都已登峰造极。狄更斯具有鲜明社会批判意义的小说主要包括《董贝父子》《大卫·科波菲尔》《荒凉山庄》《艰难时事》《双城记》及《远大前程》。他不仅对社会罪恶、不公进行揭露和讽刺，也对普通贫苦百姓受压迫的悲惨生活深表同情。