Charles Dickens and Oscar Wild - english literature notes, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Charles Dickens and Oscar Wild - english literature notes e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! CHARLES DICKENS 1812, Portsmouth - 1870, Westminster Abbey - unhappy childhood → dad imprisoned for debt and at the age of 12 he started working in a blacking factory - 1833 he wrote his first story - 1837 started Oliver Twist and finishes it 2 years later - remember suffer of his childhood / he wants his experience → people to get sympathetic - enjoy easy/ pleasing things = pic nic lover/ cricket hobby/ friend at dinner/ great showman/ sing songs - writing → fix problems DICKENS NOVELS CHARACTERISTIC LONDON was the setting for most of Dickens' novels. CHARACTERS he was always on the side of the poor, and the working class. Children are often the most important characters in Dickens novels. AIM was to make the ruling classes aware of the social problems. STYLE graphic and powerful descriptions, sometimes ironic. He was very careful in the choice of the words. OLIVER TWIST 3 parts: ↧ INTRODUCTION - Oliver and friends starving for 3 months “bowls never wanted washing” - boy wants to eat the boy next to him - council > to ask the master for MORE FOOD! - Oliver has to ask THE FACT - moment of dinner → Oliver has to ask - Dickens describes boys and Olivers feelings REACTION - master shocked for this request and gets angry - Master takes Oliver to mr. Limbkins - Mr. Limbkins offers 5 pounds to anybody who would take O.T. off the hand of parish HARD TIMES → is known as the most polemical novel . 3 sections: ↧ Sowing seminare : Gradgrind with his teaching Reaping taglio delle piante : harvesting of those seeds Garnering raccogliere : collecting something with difficulty CHARACTERS 1. Gradgrind (grade+grind) he destroys his pupils creativity and imagination. 2. Bounderby (bounder) he behaves unfairly , treats the workers for his own self interest. 3. Choakumchild (chokes) he “ chokes ” ,with his teaching, the children's minds and imagination. COKETOWN All the buildings are covered with soot coming from the coal-burning factories → but the mill owners are proud because it symbolizes productivity and industry. THEMES - industrialisation : gap between rich and poor - materialism : human nature → self interest - utilitarianism : movement that says that an action is useful if it is morally right CURIOSITY… THE 3 Rs → r eading, w r iting and a r ithmetic Victorian classes were very big (90) and lessons were focused on the subjects that were considered the most important.