劉穎旭

The Humanitarian Thought in A Tale of Two Cities

Introduction

A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most famous shortest works in the world and it has been translated into virtually every language and is read in schools and colleges in the world.？Thus， a lot of scholars as carried on the deep research.Shaping the character， developing the events， combing with the life of the authors and writing background， many scholars believe that the biggest highlights and significance in A Tale of Two Cities lies in its humanitarian thought.

1. The Connotation of Humanitarian Thought

The word was derived from the Latin humanitarianism，and then this word was extended to a kind of ability that can promote the development of the individual. That had a humane spirit in ancient Rome.In fifteenth Century， the new bourgeois thinkers came up with a viewpoint.Humanism was the spirit of literature and art.Humanitarian was learning and promoting the ancient Greek and ancient Rome culture， so it can be fully developed.During the course of the bourgeois revolution， the humanism opposed to the feudal autocratic church， and demanded the full development of humans personality.Until nineteenth Century， humanism had always as ideological weapon of the bourgeoisie to establish and consolidate the capitalist system.With the bourgeois revolution and the rise of the proletarian revolution， the humanitarian theory and the trend of thought had gradually lost the historical role of its progress.

2. The Embodiment of Humanitarian in A Tale of Two Cities

In the novel， A Tale of Two Cities， there were many characters that were kind and selfless and full of love with glorious human nature.The Representatives were Dr. Manette， Lucy， Syaney Carton.On the contrary， there are some negative characters that were violent and even full of hatred and vengeance with distorted human nature. Carton was Madame Defargew who was described by Dickens in the tone of criticism.She was born in a poor peasant family.Her father， brother and sister all were killed tragically by Evremonde marquis， and she was the only survivor， so she had a blood of feud with the noble class， and her familys tragedy made her become extremely strong and calm.As she grew older， she and Defargew took part in the revolutionary party and grew into a form revolutionist in revolution under the leadership of the party.In her opinion， all her life should be obsessed with the desire and aim to exterminate all her enemies from the earth.She was wise and wit， flexibility and vision.Before the revolution， she was absent all the time into weaving evil manes on record and put precisely her hatred， her desires and her revenge and the crimes of the nobles into her memory.Any situation would not let her have a tiny bit of shake， fear and panic.When the opportunity to revenge came， she bravely took up arms against the Bastille prison in the process of revolution， and she actively exposed evils of the noble acclaimed for the prosecution of the reactionary noble after the victory in the revolution.Therefore， she can be called “great woman”.

3. The Comments on Humanitarian Thoughts in A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens is a bourgeois humanitarian， he advocates love and tolerance， but he against violence and killing.He believed that both the atrocities of the feudal aristocracy and the revolutionary violence were all evil and they should be opposed.A Tale of Two Cities recorded in the Dickens' humanitarian thought. Dickens' humanitarian had significant progress.In the part of perspective o social development， there are some progressive aspects.he oppose the use of forcible way to overthrow the ruling class.So he denied the progress of the revolution.？In addition， he advocated the use of love and forgiveness to regulate social contradictions， which is undoubtedly a fantasy.

Conclusion

In my paper， A novel， A Tale of Two Cities， lets me know the background of Dickens when he began to create this book.I like the contradiction and conflict between different characters in the book very much.I am able to appreciate the author's understanding of the humanitarian.His humanitarian spirit， not only in the time of great progress， but still has a very important significance.In the process of writing this paper， I find a lot of relevant information， but still have not too perfect place.So， I will be more in-depth research about this book.

Works Cited：

[1]Charles Dickens. .A Tale of Two Cities. Beijing：Tsinghua University Press， 2012. Print.

[2]Zhao yanqiu. Research in Dickens Novels. Beijing：Social Sciences Academic Press， 1996. Print.

[3]莫洛亞，《狄更斯評(píng)傳》。河南：譯文出版社出版，1986年。

[4]劉千鳳，“《雙城記》中狄更斯人道主義思想解讀”，《河南科技大學(xué)報(bào)》。2012年 第4期第15卷。

[5]魏琦，“談狄更斯在《雙城記》中的人道主義思想”，《長春大學(xué)學(xué)報(bào)》。2003年 第6期第13卷。