摘　 要

查尔斯•狄更斯是英国维多利亚时期最伟大的现实主义作家。他十分关注处在社会底层人们的生活并将其融入到自己的文学作品中。因此，研究他的小说可以更好的认识到他对于人生的感悟和想法，特别是他对于当时女性地位的看法。例如他的晚期作品《远大前程》中两位主要女性形象正是维多利亚时期典型的女性代表。她们开始尝试对抗男权统治的世界，而她们复杂的性格和个性正是传统道德和对旧世界反抗的矛盾斗争的结果。可以说，郝薇香小姐和艾斯黛拉是男权社会的无辜牺牲品。本文共分为五个部分：第一部分主要是介绍本文的目的，意义及大纲；第二部分则是简要的介绍《远大前程》的创作背景，并回顾其作者狄更斯的生平；第三部分则是分别介绍郝薇香小姐和艾斯黛拉的性格特征；第四部分主要是从四个方面对其性格成因进行全面的分析，分别是家庭背景，生活经历，时代与社会背景，还有道德与人的天性。最后一部分则是对全文的总结。本文将通过介绍两位女性形象的性格特征，以及对其成因的分析，使读者更加了解当时社会的女性地位和生活状态。

关键词：查尔斯•狄更斯；维多利亚时期；远大前程；女性形象；男权社会

Abstract

Charles Dickens is the greatest English realistic writer in Victorian times. He was sincerely concerned about the life of people who lived in the bottom of society，and portrayed it in his literary works. Therefore, studying his novels can better understand his thoughts and feelings toward life, especially his point of view about the status of women at that time. For instance, two main female characters in his later work Great Expectations are the typical female representatives in Victorian age. They began to try to fight against the man-dominated world. And their complicated characters and personalities are the results of the contradiction between traditional moral standards and rebellion to the old world. It can be said that Miss Havisham and Estella are innocent victims of the patriarchal society. This paper can be divided into five parts: part 1 explains the purpose, significance and layout of this paper; part 2 gives a brief introduction to the background of creation of Great Expectations and the brief overview of Dickens’s life; part 3 will introduce the characters and personalities of Miss Havisham and Estella; part 4 focuses on analyzing the causes of formation of their characters from four main perspectives, included family background, life experiences, the era and social backgrounds, and the moral and human nature; the last part is a conclusion. This paper will introduce the characters of the two main female images, and analyze the causes of the formation of their personalities. It will benefit readers to have a better understanding both of status and living conditions of women in such society.

Key words: Charles Dickens; Victorian times; Great Expectations; female images; patriarchal society

1 Introduction
Charles Dickens is expert in creating literary works which express the sufferings of those people living in the bottom of society to reveal the ugly social realities. These works have an important influence on younger generations. In his last years, he created an educational novel Great Expectations. “Surely the characters in Great Expectations are the greatest collection in all of English fiction.”