The Metaphor Of Hell In The Writings Of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens,as a famous British writer in nineteenth century,many of his works were popular with readers from all classes of society when he was alive.And till now,studies on his life and works are still overwhelming among reviewers.Focus on the space of hell which was built in those Dickens'fictions,I choose the view of space studies especially Lefebvre's theory about spaces and use historical and cultural research methods combined with biographical study methods to uncover the meaning of both real spaces of factories,prisons and revolution and imaginative space of hell.This thesis is composed of following four parts:“factory-hell imagination”,“prison-hell imagination”,“revolution-hell imagination”and“the cultural metaphor of Dickens'hell”.And it ends up with concluding the modernity and particularity based on the age of 19^th century reflected in the metaphor of hell space.The first chapter introduces the background and meaning of this thesis.I also tease out the thread of Dickens'study,space study and hell study both in English world and in China,and tell my study methods and thread then.At last I review the imagination about hell from medieval to 19^th as transiting.The second chapter begins with the background of factory production in 19^th.At first,I study the relevance between the traditional fire of hell and the fire in factory.Then I go into the disruptive metaphor of factory-hell compared with the traditional punishment meaning of hell.After that,I study the metaphor of workers-demons imagination to reveal the critical thinking of Dickens about how industry world depressed and distorted humanity.The third chapter starts with the creating background of prison space.Firstly,I study the relation between two kinds of hierarchical structure which were set up in hell from The Divine Comedy and in prison from Dickens'fictions.On this basis,I discuss the disruptive metaphor of prison-hell and prisoner-ghost to uncover Dickens'dissatisfaction about current political situation in Britain.The forth chapter is based on the revolutions happened in the real history.I study the riot scenes in hell of The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost and the wild scenes of Gordon Riot and the French Revolution written by Dickens.Then I go into the metaphor and limitation of Dickens'revolution-hell.The fifth chapter focuses on the cultural meaning of Dickens'hell space.Based on the cultural element of society,I explain the connection between Gothic style,fever on death theme culture,and Dickens'hell.The sixth chapter summarizes the thesis and explore the features and inspirations of Dickens'hell space.