摘　要

《远大前程》是狄更斯的后期作品，也是他思想上最为成熟的作品之一。该书鲜活地再现了十九世纪英国社会的真实状况，故事中的人物原型都来自于现实生活，具有鲜明的个性。读者可以在本书的故事和人物命运的发展中看到狄更斯对当时社会存在的种种阴暗面和不幸进行的犀利剖析，体会到他对社会底层人民的生活态度的真诚关注。《远大前程》的故事发生在维多利亚时期，这是个属于资本主义的时代。从十八世纪末期持续到十九世纪初的工业革命改变了这个社会。作为十九世纪最为著名的批判现实主义作家，狄更斯辛辣地抨击资产阶级的罪恶及由此造成的人性沦丧。他的小说揭露了官僚政治的自私自利和社会的黑暗并试图以此唤醒社会帮助人们摆脱这些极其悲惨的命运。因此，狄更斯很长一段时间都被学者认为是英国文学史上最具代表性的作家。本文将通过对作者本人和《远大前程》中人物命运的分析来揭露十九世纪英国社会的阴暗面，希望能够让我们对十九世纪的英国有更多的认识。

关键词：狄更斯；十九世纪英国社会；黑暗面

Abstract

Great Expectations is Charles Dickens’ later period work and it is one of the most mature works. This book reproduces real situation of 19th century British society and the characters of this book root in real life with their distinct individualities. Readers can realize Dickens’ attention of the people at the bottom of society according to his sharp analysis on the dark side and misfortune of the society. Great Expectations’s story is set in Victorian period, a time belonging to capitalism. The Industrial Revolution from the late 18th to early 19th centuries has changed the British society. Dickens is considered as the greatest critical realistic writer in Britain in the 19th century. He slams the crime and human decay of bourgeoisie. His novels expose selfishness of British bureaucracies and the darkness of the society; calling on social helping for the people to get rid of the extreme miseries. Therefore, Dickens is usually defined by scholars as the greatest representative of critical realists in British literary history for a long time. This paper will uncover the dark side of 19th century British society by means of the analysis of writer and the fates of the characters of Great Expectations. I hope that paper can let us know more about 19th century British society.

Key words: Charles Dickens; 19th century British society; the dark side
 
1 Introduction
   This paper focuses on the dark side of the 19th century British society in Great Expectations. I think it is necessary to let everyone know Charles Dickens’ works and the period he lives in. I will introduce the writer and his work in the followings.
1.1 Background of writer
Charles Dickens was a great English writer in 19th century. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. (Black, 2007) During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.