Diseasepovertyhatelove—CharlesDickens’storiesopenedhisreaderseyestothemostimportantthemesofhisage.TwohundredyearsonhisstoriesstillspeakvolumesacrosstheworldprovingthatDickens’legacy(遗产)wasfargreaterthanjust“greatliterature”
February7marksthe200thanniversaryofthewriter’sbirthday.TomarkthisdateBBCwriterAlexHudsonlistedsixthingsDickensgavethemodernworld.Let’stakealookattwoofthem.
AwhiteChristmas
Dickensisdescribedas“themanwhoinventedChristmas”—notthereligiousfestivalbuttheculturalaspectsthatweassociatewiththefestiveseasontoday.Intheearly19thcenturyChristmaswasbarelyworthmentioningaccordingtocriticandwriterLeighHunt.ThecommitteewhichrantheConservativePartyevenheldordinarybusinessmeetingsonChristmasDay–unthinkableintheWestnowadayswheneveryonebutthemostnecessaryworkerstakesatleastthreedaysoff.
ManypeoplebelievethatDickens’populardescriptionsofthefestiveperiodbecameablueprintforgenerationstocome.InhisclassicnovelAChristmasCarolhenotonlyputforwardtheideaofsnowatChristmasbutalsopaintedapictureofglowingwarmth–“homeenjoymentsaffectionsandhopes”.
InhisbiographyofDickensPeterAckroydwrote:“Dickenscanbesaidtohavealmostsingle-handedlycreatedthemodernideaofChristmas.”
“Dickensian”poverty
DickenswasoneofthefirsttotakeanhonestlookattheunderclassandthepoorofVictorian(theperiodduringBritishQueenVictoria’sreignfrom1837to1901)London.
Hehelpedpopularizetheterm“redtape”todescribesituationswherepeopleinpoweruseneedlessamountsofbureaucracy(官僚作风)inawaythatparticularlyhurtstheweakerandpoorermembersofsociety.
“Dickensian”hasnowbecomeapowerfulwordfordescribinganunacceptablelevelofpoverty.In2009whenthepresidentoftheAssociationofTeachersandLecturersintheUKwantedtotalkaboutdeprivationinsomeareasofBritainshedidnotusewordslike“terrible”or“horrific”butratherdescribeditas“lifemirroringthetimesofDickens”.
【小题1】Whatisthemainideaofthearticle?
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