Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one of the best well-known writers in the 19th century in Britain. In his writing career, he writes many novels, in which he has widely and vividly depicted many pictures about Victorian British society, and revealed all the evils of the capitalist society. As a novel about the society and revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is one typical novel reflecting Dickens’s humanitarian thoughts and spirits. This thesis focuses on the humanitarianism reflected in this novel, that is, the sympathy for the low classes and the criticism to the capitalists, and the thought of peacefully solving the conflict. Finally, this thesis reveals the significance of the benevolent spirit which provides a panacea for the society reforms in spite of its limitation. 

Key words: A Tale of Two Cities; Humanitarianism; Charles Dickens
                                       
摘要：查尔斯•狄更斯是19世纪英国著名作家之一。他一生创作了很多小说，这些小说广泛而生动地描绘了维多利亚时期英国社会的画面,并揭示了资本主义社会的种种罪恶。作为一部关于社会和革命的重要作品，小说《双城记》是反映狄更斯平等和仁爱的人道主义思想的典型代表。本文将论述这部小说中所表现的人道主义思想：对劳苦大众的同情，对资产阶级上层阶级的控诉以及和平解决冲突的仁爱思想，最后揭示出：虽然这种资产阶级的人道主义思想有一定的局限性，但却也为当时的社会改良提供了一剂很好的良药。

关键词：《双城记》；人道主义；查尔斯•狄更斯
                            
1.Introduction
1.1 An Introduction to the Author and His Works
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of the best well-known writers in the 19th century in Britain. He was considered by Karl Heinrich Marx as one of the “group of distinguished contemporary British novelists together with Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, and Mrs. Gaskell and so on.”In his writing career, he had written many novels, in which he had widely and vividly depicted many pictures about Victorian British society. “Through his sharp eyes look into the modern life, Dickens reveals all the evils of the capitalist society. This may be greatly associated with his sad and suffering childhood.”He was born on February 7th in Landport, Portsmouth, the son of John and Elizabeth Dickens. His father John was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. But owing to large expenses of a big family, his father was imprisoned in the Marshalsea Prison in 1824, and all his other family members were put to work at Warren’s Shoe Blacking Factory for debt. After the family debts were paid off and his father was released. The twelve-year-old Dickens had been scarred mentally by the experience. At fifteen, he found employment as an office boy at an attorney’s, while he studied shorthand and became a court reporter. Unfortunately, the suffering experiences of his childhood gave him many painful memories. However, it was just those painful memories that gave him much creative energy and let him more deeply understand the lower class and had sympathy for them.