远大前程
《远大前程》(又名《孤星血泪》)是狄更斯最成熟的作品之一,是他比较晚期的作品。狄更斯经历了丰富的人间生活后,对人,对周围环境,对自己的生活经历都有了深刻的认识,而所有他成熟的思想认识都汇总在《远大前程》一书中。这部作品原题名是GreatExpectations,意思是指一笔遗产,中国把它译成“远大前程”。这个译名给读者一种印象,即作品的主人公是有远大前程的。而事实上,这个“远大前程”是带讽刺意义的,应该说这部作品的主题决非仅仅是写孤儿皮普想当上等人的理想幻灭的故事,如果这样理解,就领会错了狄更斯创作这部作品的意义。皮普生活在姐姐家里,生活艰苦,他的理想是当一名像姐夫一样的铁匠,他没有想当上等人。后来他之所以想当上等人是因为环境的改变。狄更斯的哲学思想之一是环境对人思想的影响。不同的环境可以造就成不同的人。皮普的整个发展过程是符合一般人性理论的。这部作品并非任意写出,而是以狄更斯以前的十多部作品为基础,是他思想的总结。狄更斯把自己的人生观、哲学和道德的思想都总结到了这部创作之中。
这部书的故事是这样的:
孤儿匹普从小由姐姐抚养,受雇于贵族郝薇香,并且爱上了她的养女艾丝黛拉,一心想成为“上等人”。他小时候无意搭救的一名逃犯在国外发财致富,为报答救命之恩,送他去伦敦接受上等教育。正当匹普满怀希望之际,艾丝黛拉另嫁他人,逃犯被擒,遗产充公,匹普的“远大前程”转眼化为泡影
Pip: Pip is an orphaned boy raised by his domineering sister and her kind husband, and his life and expectations make for the drama of the novel. A mysterious benefactor enables Pip to escape a destiny as the village blacksmith, and he travels to London as a teenager to become a 'gentleman.' Pip's perception of his life and prospects (especially his prospects with Estella) change dramatically when he's twenty-three, when he learns that his benefactor is not a rich old lady, but a common convict. Ultimately, Pip comes to appreciate the convict as a benefactor and a friend.
Theme Analysis
Great Expectations is a coming of age story that revolves around the life of one man Pip. From the time he was seven years old until he was in his mid-thirties, Pip shows us the important events in his life that shaped who he became. Along the way, he acquires a menagerie of different acquaintances and friends that influence him in his decisions and goals for his life.
Pip’s story has one main point: no matter what happens to a person in their life, a person cannot change who they are inside. Pip does not realize this at first however. From the time he met Estella and Miss Havisham, Pip tried to change himself to fit a mold that he thought they desired. He began simply, learning to read and write. As time went on, and his circumstances changed, Pip pulled farther and farther away from where he came from and in doing that, who he was. Through his story, people see that this type of change brings him no joy, and in Pip's case, exactly the opposite.
Pip’s story is not about living happily ever after with Estella. Dickens never tells us what happens, if anything, between them in the end. He leaves it only that they remain friends. There is a purpose for this. Dickens novel is about Pip’s quest for Estella’s love and what he is willing to do to gain it. The story is never about the love itself. We can see this because in the majority of the story, Estella is only present in Pip’s heart and thoughts. The actual interaction between the characters Dickens keeps at a minimum.
Great Expectations is a story that the public can relate to because at some point, everyone goes through the struggles that Pip must battle. It shows that possessions and wealth do not change who people are inside, and that finding one’s self can be a long tedious process until finally the mists rise and everything becomes clear.