An Analysis Of The Early Charles Dickens’s Novels From The Perspective Of Ecocriticism

Ecocriticism as one of the literary and cultural criticisms appeared in the UnitedStates in1980s and spread to China and other countries rapidly. Up to now, ecocriticismhas become an important critical method in modern western literature, even the worldliterature. Re-examining and re-evaluating traditional literature from the perspective ofecocriticism is an important task for scholars of ecocriticism. The purpose ofre-examining and re-evaluating is to reveal ecological thought that is often ignored, thus,finding out the root of ideology and culture that cause the cultural and ecological crisis.Charles Dickens is one of the greatest novelists in Great Britain in the nineteenthcentury. His life works are rich for his whole life; he creates fifteen novels and a lot ofenduring literary classics and literary images. Dickens has a very high reputation in theinternational society and there is a worldwide research about studying Dickens and hisworks. The domestic and overseas research on Dickens has been very systematic, and isof great help for our understanding Dickens’s novels. However, there are few papersfrom the perspective of ecocriticism to study Dickens’s novels. If we study Dickens’snovels from the perspective of ecocriticism, we will find that Dickens deeply reveals thedeterioration of British natural ecology in the industrial revolution, the deterioratedsociety, the distorted spiritual ecology and so on. Based on these, this paper will take theearly Dickens’s novels as the object. The author will interpret his early novels fromnatural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology under the perspective ofecocriticism, which are to reveal the ecological thought of the early Dickens’s novelsand excavate the ecological value of solving present environmental crisis.In addition, the aim of the thesis is to broaden the research of Charles Dickens’snovels and deepen our understanding about his novels. Meanwhile, it will propel peopleto reconsider the ecological imbalance through the author’s research. The author hopesthat this will benefit to our constructing a harmonious society through the power ofliterature.