双城记PPT[精品].ppt

Tale of Two Cities “It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, and it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, and it was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light, and it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope, and it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us, and we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven, and we were all going direct the other way. In short, the period was so far like the present period. That some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. ”  Charles Dickens * The Author Charles Dickens Charles Dickens, the greatest representative(代表) of English critical realism (批判现实主义),was born in 1812 at Portsmouth. When he was four years old, his family moved to Chatham, and the five years he spent there were the happiest of all his boyhood. One day, he found a pile of English novels, which aroused his curiosity. Now the key to the treasure-house of literature had been put in his hand. In 1821 the Dickens family moved to a poor quarter in London. Mr. Dickens was heavily in debt and did not know which way to turn for money. Finally he was taken to the Marshalsea Prison, London, for debt. Shortly afterwards Mrs. Dickens and the younger children went to the prison, too, to join the father. * The author The Critical Realism: The main stylistic feature of Dickens is his use of critical realism. Dickens’ novels are set in realistic environments such as in the factory or in the street. His characters represent all aspects of society from beggars, criminals and orphans to factory owners. This critically realistic description of Victorian working class life is perhaps the very essence(要素) which makes Dickens one of the greatest authors of all time. * With the beginning of above words, Dickens told us a love story called “A Tale of Two Cities”, which is one