An Interpretation Of Dickens’ Oliver Twist From The Perspective Of Eco-criticism

As one of Charles Dickens’ famous works in the early period,Oliver Twist has received the attention and research of scholars at home and abroad.In the novel,Dickens severely criticized the environmental crisis,society contradictions and people’s spiritual alienation in the context of industrialization and urbanization,making the novel Oliver Twist have great research significance and value from the perspective of eco-criticism.As a method of literary and cultural criticism,eco-criticism originated in the United States in the 1980 s,and spread rapidly to other countries and China.Based on ecologism,scholars of eco-criticism use the theory of ecological holism to analyze the relationship between literature and nature.Its main purpose is to expose the ecological thoughts in literary works,and to reveal the ideological and cultural roots that influence the ecological crisis in literary works so as to guide people to think about the existing ecological problems,and arouse people’s awareness of environmental protection.The author of this thesis employs Aldo Leopold’s ecological holism theory and Lu Shuyuan’s tripartite division of ecology to analyze Oliver Twist from the perspectives of natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology.At the same time,the author explores the ecological problems faced by all from different levels of society in the Victorian Age in Oliver Twist by handling the issues of natural environment,social contradictions and spiritual imbalances in the context of Britain industrialization.This thesis is divided into six parts.The first three parts are an introduction to the writer,Dickens,and his work,Oliver Twist,as well as a brief description of the research status at home and abroad and the theoretical framework.The fourth part deals with the harshness of natural environment and the severe destruction of human living conditions in the Victorian Age from the perspective of natural ecology.It also analyzes the various social contradictions existing in Britainfrom the perspective of social ecology,and explores the various psycho-ecological problems revealed in Oliver Twist from the perspective of spiritual ecology.The fifth part analyzes the reasons for the formation of Dickens’ ecological consciousness,and summarizes his ideal ecological views.The last part is the conclusion,pointing out that as a pioneer of ecologism in the Victorian Age,Dickens exposed a series of problems caused by industrialization and urbanization in London and even in the whole Britain.It also concludes that Dickens’ ideal view of ecology is to build a harmonious social environment in which nature,society and human being all can coexist.At the same time,Dickens also highly appreciates the progress of age and the value of human beings,and advocates the employment of advanced technology in protecting nature.Finally,the understanding and analysis of Oliver Twist from the perspective of eco-criticism has great practical significance,which may help people arouse more attention to environmental issues.