beowulf is the oldest poem in the english language and the most important specimen of anglo-saxon literature.the main stories are based on the folk legends of the primitive northern tribes.
beowulf is the nephew of king of the geats who lives in denmark. he defeated the monster, which raided the hall built by the king of the danes. later on, beowulf becomes king of the geats. he at last dies a heroic death.
it is a pagan poem, which presents us an all-round picture of the tribal society.
《貝奧武甫》是中世紀歐洲第一篇民族史詩，英國文學的開山之作。其主要內容是講述高特王子貝奧武甫帶領十二勇士來到丹麥王國，除去惡魔葛婪代及其母親，為丹麥解除禍患贏得和平，得到榮譽和重賞後回到故土;後來貝奧武甫做了高特國王，沒想到在五十年後，一條火龍擾亂了王國的安寧，貝奧武甫雖然已經英雄暮年，但仍壯志不已，獨戰火龍，終於壯烈犧牲。
貝奧武甫的人格結構具有豐富的人性化內涵。他的童年經歷對其心理結構的形成影響深刻，在他的身上，超我與本我不斷碰撞與衝突。貝奧武甫以自己的死亡成就了英雄的完美，直到生命的最後，他終於找到了作為英雄的人格結構的和諧。
---Book Review: “Camille”
I read the Chinese version of “Camille” a few years ago. At that time I was deeply moved by the main character Marguerite Gautier. “Camille” or “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas, fils, is the story of Marguerite Gautier, a young courtesan, or kept woman, in Paris in the mid 1800's, and how she falls in love with a young man, Armand Duval, and then tries to escape from her questionable past. Unfortunately, it comes back to haunt her and she ends up returning to that life and dies painfully and alone, but with the knowledge that she was a noble woman at heart. When I first began to read the book, I did not care for Marguerite or her attitude or lifestyle, but as I got further into the narrative, I realized that her saucy attitude was a front to cover the lonely woman that she really was. She felt used, abused and unloved, until the gentle Armand Duval came into her life and showed her that he loved her as a person and not for what she could do for him. It must have taken great courage for Marguerite to leave the life she had lived for so long, knowing all along that it was probably too good to be true and would not last indefinitely. And it also showed that Marguerite really loved Armand Duval for she could even change herself for him.
However, happiness didn’t last for long. When M. Duval, Armand's father, came to her, pleading for her to leave Armand to save both Armand's reputation and that of his younger innocent sister, Marguerite saw a way to become pure of heart, if not in body. She felt that it was her duty, because she loved Armand so much, to do this even though it meant giving up her own happiness and hurting Armand temporarily. She reluctantly returned to her former life, knowing that some day Armand would forgive her. Sadly, she died in debt and basically alone, except for her one female friend, Julie Duprat, who helped her during her illness. She had her journal sent to Armand after her death, explaining why she had made the choices she had. I think Dumas's last few lines about Marguerite being the exception, not the rule were quite true, and I also agreed with his view that while her lifestyle could not be condoned, we as a society assume that all of these type of women are cold and heartless, while this may not always be the case. A person can make the wrong choices in life when they are young, and try to redeem themselves, but sometimes past situations prevent them from changing their lives, even though they desperately wish to do so. This applies to both men and women in many different types of circumstances: involvement in crime; drug or alcohol abuse; gambling; prostitution; financial problems; poor marriage choices; etc. And this is the fact, which exists in the whole society.
As far as the other characters in the book, I think Marguerite was right in saying that no one truly cared about her, but only wanted something from her, the only exceptions being Armand and Julie Duprat. Of course, the Comte de G. and Comte de N. wanted her body and appearance. The Duke needed to “wake up and smell the coffee” and realize that she could never replace his dead daughter. If he truly cared, he could have helped her leave her lifestyle without “keeping” her himself. And lastly, Prudence was a blood-sucking leech who used Marguerite almost worse than the men. I also think she was jealous of the fact that Marguerite had so much more courage than herself and someone truly loved her.
Last morning, when tiding my bookshelf, I took this book out of the shelf, and a dried flower flew away from the book. It was pale blue, very transparent, with thin fine veins. a dried flower flew away from the book. It was pale blue, very transparent, with thin fine veins. I held it against the morning light and blew on it. The soft breeze carried it away. Camille is just like the camellia, she could never escape from the destiny of withering. But it wasn’t her fault; it’s because of the evil of Capitalism and the hideousness of that society.
Suddenly, I remembered a saying: “Women are like the flowers”. Those pretty women are like those beautiful flowers; their delicate beauty makes people feel they are the miracle of life. However, even the God envies their beauty. It seems that beautiful women always have tragic endings. As we are normal persons, even we can see the hideousness of humanity that results in their fate of withering, we can at most ask quietly in our hearts: Where have those beautiful flowers gone? Where have they gone?
費昳瓊 上海市松江二中高二年級 閱讀書目：特洛伊傳說 The Story of Troy （DK英漢對照百科讀物）
I have never been to Troy, but David Maule made me feel as if I were standing on the high wall of Troy, watching the fierce war. Thanks to this British author, who adapted the famous Homer’s poem into a lively story, I found it easier to understand this story. Though the story happened over 3000 years ago in a remote place, I was deeply fascinated by it.
The mysterious plot is one of the reasons why I loved The Story of Troy so much, yet I am more interested in the human heroes of the war.
Hector was the eldest son of king of Troy, Priam. He was not only a real hero of Trojan, but was regarded the highest moral hero in Greek classic by later historians. The war started because of the mischief of his brother, Paris, whom he didn’t appreciate. However, since Hector was the commander of the Trojan army, he was obliged to fight with all force. It was really a tragedy that such a valiant man died in the duel with another great warrior, Achilles.
It is natural to see death in a war. As a famous Chinese parable says, “A life can be as slight as a piece of feather, or as weighty as Mount Tai.” Sometimes, one’s glory walks hand in hand with one’s doom. Achilles was such a typical person. His personal charm made The Story of Troy more attractive. He was so crucial because his every appearance in a war encouraged his fellow soldiers and terrified the enemies. Actually, Achilles was half-god who was almost invincible in people’s mind. That’s why his name was memorized long after his death.
Besides the two great men, the wisdom of Odysseus also proved him to be a great hero. He didn’t want to attend the war because he was happily married and had a lovely son. However, since his country was allied to Mycenae, he had to take the command given by the king of Mycenae. I’m quite sure that the story of the wooden horse is widely known, however, few people know who thought of the brilliant idea, that’s why I admired Odysseus so much because he was the person who got the idea. Thanks to the horse, the ten-year war came to an end at last. If you want to know how the wooden horse worked, just read the book.
The ancient Greeks believed that the gods and goddesses also played important roles in the origin, process and ending of the whole story.
The story of the golden apple was such an example. When Eris, the goddess of argument and disagreement, threw out the golden apple to a wedding ceremony on Mount Olympus, a dispute happened. Hera, the queen of gods, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, were all involved in the argument for the apple. None of them was willing to give way, so they turned to Paris for a final judgment. Tempted by Aphrodite’s beauty and promise, Paris handed the apple to her. To keep her word, Aphrodite helped him to get Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, as his wife. That was the cause of the war.
Paris’s choice obviously annoyed the other two goddesses. So during the war, they helped the Greek alliance army while some other gods, such as Apollo and Aphrodite, guarded Troy. When Paris dueled with Helen’s former husband Menelaus, Aphrodite saved Paris when he was about to be finished off.
After the duel between those two people, there was a truce between the Greek alliance and Troy. However, both Hera and Athena were not happy to see it. Hera pursued her husband ZEUS:“ Now, will you send Athena to make the Troyjans break the peace?”(Page 22) Then with Zeus’s permission, Athena went down to start the war again and finally she brought the Greeks to success.
From the whole story, we can see that in ancient Greeks’ view, gods sometimes played a much more important role in their life. However, with the rapid development of science, we have learned that the Greek gods never existed. This is why a recent movie of Troy has not mentioned a single god. Everything happened due to men’s ambition, love, loyalty or jealousy. With those emotion and people’s effort, we human beings can accomplish wonders and be master of the world.
God are of less importance than they used to be. Nonetheless, the gods and goddesses made The Story of Troy more mysterious and marvelous.
I have learnt from the book more than the wonderful story of history, love and war. I believe that human can determine their destiny by their own. I highly recommend this book to my friends with the same interest.
it seemed to be such a coincidence that the night after i finished reading the life and adventures of robinson crusoe, i was to dine in a restaurant distinctly related to the book itself. this restaurant was no other than the famous american-styled “friday’s.” the reason for mentioning this restaurant is quite straightforward to all the gentlemen, ladies and children who have read the novel and enjoyed it, which is the fact that this restaurant was, most likely, named after the american native in robinson crusoe, called friday. this restaurant offers very exceptional service, for instance when the waitresses are asked to order dishes they kneel rather than stand, which, unlike the other restaurants i have been to, makes it easier for the customers to hear them speak. moreover, friday’s friendly services to the customers help them to make better choices when ordering dishes. i remembered when i went to friday’s last time; the waitress kindly described the items on the menu with precise details. it turned out that the combo i initially wanted was designed to be shared among a large group, not to be eaten by one person. i think this restaurant shows many commendable features similar to that of friday.
friday brought emotional warmth to the people around him with his appealing personality. i think it was this personality that affected crusoe and made him say that he loved friday when crusoe didn’t express love for his parents, brothers, sisters, or even his wife. “when he espied me, he came running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making many antic gestures to show it…to let me know how he would serve me as long as he lived.” this was what friday did after crusoe had rescued him from the two savages chasing him. it was easy for me to see why crusoe had loved friday. after sometime, crusoe and friday were to rescue friday’s father. when friday reunited with his father, the scene was easy to move anyone: “it would have moved anyone to tears to have seen how friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, halloed, jumped about, danced, sung; and then sung and jumped about again, like a distracted creature. it was a good while before i could make him speak to me.” this is my favourite chapter in the whole book. it is hard to see why friday is an ex-savage when he can have personalities more praiseworthy than many civilized people, viz. crusoe himself. “when he (friday) went to him (friday’s father), he would sit down by him, open his breast, and hold his father’s head close to his bosom, half an hour together, to nourish it; then he took his arms and ankles, which were numbed and stiff with the binding, and rubbed them with his hands.” furthermore, friday’s expression of loyalty in asking crusoe to kill him rather than leave him is more heartfelt than anything crusoe ever says or does.
crusoe, on the absolute contrary, seems incapable of deep feelings, as shown by his account of leaving his family—he never shows any emotions. after a moving lecture from robinson’s father about his future, he still decided to follow his own wandering ambition. careless was he about the wishes of his parents to keep him alive and prosperous, as he was the only child left in the family. when he came back from the island which he had lived on for twenty eight years, he found that it had been too late to tell his parents that he was still alive, but yet again he did not feel sorry for them; he also did not feel sorry for the two people who had to live in misery for nearly thirty years under the allusion all of their sons were dead. he had the same feelings for his wife: when he was married, he said it was “not either to my disadvantage or dissatisfaction”, implying that it was also neither to his advantage nor his satisfaction. moreover, after his wife died, robinson did not think of looking after the three children they had, but went back to the island, which he had lived on for twenty-eight years. it was on this trip which robinson crusoe revisited “his island” as he called it. i feel that robinson’s indifference to his family is almost emotionally cruel.
the novel describes is nearly 60 year, when the fisherman fishing, senior alone in a big fish, actually not pull. senior fisherman socialization, after a fish that this is a big marlin, beyond your fishing several folding, though clearly hard to win, but don't give up. later in the big marlin wound bring some of the fish suspicious of sharks smell groups, but the old man still snatch food hope not give up, and finally emphasizes surround close, returned to the big fish, let the other fisherman fishing is admired.
when i read the "senior fisherman thought: here's coast is really too close, maybe there will be a bigger fish in further..." i appreciate this senior fishermen, because now he has cast in some fish, but he still was not solved, the present situation, but very close to goals. look, we often encounter a slightly is difficult, we are complaining nonstop. in the future, we will be the motherland, so it should be the old ideas, will be more lofty aspiration, for a better, more goals.
when i read "the big marlin began to rapidly around the young fishing boats, cable suspension of mast twisting, old man exalted to the right hand of gangcha, leapt high flash, and the maximum throw it to heart, wail over fish, it is the life of the static static float on water......" i also like the stone falls in together. i appreciate the old man do not fear, unremitting spirit power, although know this game is very strong, but he isn't popular flinches slightly, but more intractable. just because of this spirit, to finish the senior fishermen life and death of the competition. we must also learn advanced fisherman's spiritual life, do not fear the difficulty, the only thing that can succeed.
reading the big fish smells blood is the crowd, sharks swam grab food, the old man left, he can just twitching, with a stick with your right hand, mouth are permitted use of weapons to attack and defend the expelled the sharks. but the big fish eat meat has a most, but also his left hand charmingly criticized the work time is actually "time, i also subject to old optimism. in our life, some losses are inevitable, we should take an optimistic attitude toward to compute.
finally, through a youth novel looked for 18 feet of senior fishermen, describe the marlins up the fish hugeness, explained the senior fisherman is not difficult, more common.
the novel extol spirit senior fisherman fear hard and dangerous to fight, we will not like him, who can't satisfy the present situation, should actively, do anything is relentless, difficulty, may be welcome difficult never stop halfway. only in this way can we achieve greater success and victory.
《白鯨》主要敘述了主人公以實瑪利受僱於“裴廓德號”出海獵鯨的經歷。船長亞哈航海經驗豐富，性格固執，他計畫向一隻之前航中咬去他一條腿的巨鯨莫比·迪克復仇。“裴廓德號”的大副斯達巴克及其他船員卻想著多捕些鯨魚，多取些鯨油風光地回家鄉，但瘋狂的船長對莫比·迪克的仇恨已經使他失去了理智，他脅迫其他人一定要遵守命令。“裴廓德號”在尋找白鯨的途中遭遇了暴風雨、海嘯等各種自然災難，但卻被英勇、團結的水手們一一克服了。船行駛了三年後，終於發現了白鯨，船長亞哈帶著必勝的信心和白鯨開始了較量，最精彩的情節也從這裡開始了。號稱海上巨怪的莫比·迪克對捕鯨船根本不屑一顧，第一次較量就一口咬碎了子船，船員們紛紛落水，幸好“裴廓德號”及時擋住白鯨，這才躲過一劫。船長亞哈在經受了一連串的折磨後，仍然顯得精神振奮，鬥志昂揚，繼續追蹤著白鯨。白鯨出現了，船員們奮力朝白鯨投擲魚叉，三支魚叉深深地插進了白的鯨的身體，白鯨發怒了，它氣憤地舉起城牆似的尾巴，在大海中掀起了軒然大波，再次把船員們拋入海中，好在白鯨沒有趕盡殺絕，船員們卻已是傷痕累累，但是再一次的失敗也絲毫沒有動搖船長要殺死白鯨的決心。最後的決戰開始了，船長亞哈用盡全身的力氣使魚叉準確無誤地扎進白鯨的眼窩中，難忍的劇痛使莫比·迪克徹底發飆了，它用它那碩大的頭顱撞沉了“裴廓德號”,船長亞哈還是不放棄，用儘自己最後的力氣，把兩支魚叉又扎入了白鯨的身體，不料其中一支魚叉上的繩箍正好套住了亞哈船長的脖子，船長就隨著白鯨一起消使了，最後只有以實瑪利抓到一塊浮木活了下來。
大海平息了，“裴廓德號”消失了，亞哈船長和白鯨也消失了蹤影，只有一些水手的屍體偶爾漂浮在海面上，這個故事就以這樣悲慘的結局告終了。（到這裡，作者終於將故事情節複述完畢了。下面應該是開始寫自己的體會和想法……）我猜想以實瑪利或許就是作者的化身，作者也有過傳奇式的經歷，才會把這則小說寫得如此驚心動魄。作者讚揚了那些英勇的水手們，雖然他們永遠也回不了自己的家鄉了，但對他們來說，大海才是他們的故鄉，他們團結協作、英勇無畏、敢於犧牲的精神將永存世間。（這句藍色標出的話放在此處，與上下文好像連得不夠自然，我覺得可以放到文末處，你覺得呢？）作者描寫的船長亞哈真是讓人又可敬又可恨，明明可以避免這場災難，船員們可以帶著滿船的鯨油回到家鄉過幸福的日子，可他卻一意孤行，一定要捕殺白鯨，結果卻葬身海底。但正是因為他的執著，才能使莫比·迪克早日被殺，再也傷害不了人。雖然船長亞哈是殘疾人，但每次像白鯨戰鬥，他總是沖在最前面，全然不顧自己的安危，他又是如此的英勇和善良。我的心裡其實暗暗地有點敬佩這位船長，他的執著可不是常人能做到的呀！
不知怎么的，最近總是喜歡看關於冒險的書籍，妹妹便跟我介紹了一本名叫《白鯨》“冒險性”的書籍。接下來，我就給你介紹一下這部作品。
這部書的原名是《莫比·迪克》（moby dick），是美國作家赫爾曼·麥爾維爾再距今一百多年前創作的長篇小說。《白鯨》不知在美國文壇上有著崇高的地位，也成為世界海洋文學的代表作。
這本書大概講的是：一頭惡名昭彰的白鯨莫比·迪克經常在海上興風作浪，因此奪取了無數捕鯨人的生命。捕鯨人都很懼怕在海上遭受到白鯨莫比·迪克的猛烈襲擊，那么後果將不堪構想。亞哈船長也在一次捕鯨中，被白鯨莫比·迪克咬掉一條腿。從此，他發誓不殺死白鯨絕不罷休。故事才剛剛開始……以實瑪利因為緣分亞哈船長、魁魁格和斯達巴克相遇，結成好友並加入了捕白鯨莫比·迪克的隊伍中。通過向海洋的挑戰，最終搜尋到了白鯨的蹤跡，最後經過與白鯨的生死較量，裴廓德號沉入海底，只有以實瑪利一人倖存……
亞哈船長是裴廓德號的船長，為了追捕奪取幾十格水手的白鯨，而航遍世界各海洋，是一位勇敢而富有同情心的獨腳老人，也是因為如此，導致他的脾氣變得很暴躁。他更是一位敢於挑戰大自然的老人。以實瑪利和船長與白鯨搏鬥的青年。它本身是商船上的水手，但對捕鯨很有興趣，於是轉投入捕鯨這一行，他也是這次捕鯨中唯一存活下來的人。魁魁格十印第安人，是個酋長的兒子，也是擲魚叉的好手。他機智，英勇，贏得全船人的敬重。莫比·迪克就是被稱為“海上魔王的可怕的白鯨，他全身雪白，額頭和背上滿是皺紋，兇猛無比，奪取了許多水手的生命。
這本書告訴我：只要自己有了一個可以爭取達到的目標或高度，在符合常理的情況下，一定要超越它，即使它離我們有多么的遙遠，做到處事不驚，堅持不懈，勇往直前，我們都能創造自己的奇蹟。
Setting:Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is where Harry Potter and his friends learned about magic.
Main Characters:Harry Potter is an 11 year old boy who’s parents died, and he goes to Hogwarts.
Ron Weasley is an 11 year old boy who has 5 brothers and 1 sister, and he goes to Hogwarts.
Hermione is a 10 year old girl who likes learn a lots , and she goes to Hogwarts.
Quirrell is Hogwarts’s teacher,Voldemort’s helper.
Voldemort is an evil guy of the magic world.
Climax:Harry never thought Quirrell was helping Voldemort. Quirrel cought Harry and let him to get the Philospher’s stone, but when Harry got it, he didn’t give it to Quirrell, and Voldemort came out,from the back of Quirrell’s head!And Voldemort orderd Quirrell to catch Harry and get the stone, but when Quirrell touched Harry, his body dissolved,and then he died.
Conclusion:Harry defeated Voldemort, and the year has finished,it’s time for the school cup,Gryffindor was in last , but 4 more things let them win!
First is for Ron, because he play the best game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years,he got 50 points.Second is for Her mione,for the use of cool logic in the face fire,she got 50 points.Third is for Harry, who defeated Voldemort, get the stone, he got 60 points for that!Last, for Neville,he got 10 points for his moxie,and Gryffindor won!
jane eyre — a beautiful soul
jane eyre, is a poor but aspiring, small in body but huge in soul, obscure but self-respecting girl. after we close the covers of the book, after having a long journey of the spirit, jane eyre, a marvelous figure, has left us so much to recall and to think:
we remember her goodness: for someone who lost arms and blinded in eyes, for someone who despised her for her ordinariness, and even for someone who had hurt her deeply in the past.
we remember her pursuit of justice. it's like a companion with the goodness. but still, a virtuous person should promote the goodness on one side and must check the badness on the other side.
we remember her self-respect and the clear situation on equality. in her opinion, everyone is the same at the god's feet. though there are differences in status、in property and also in appearance, but all the human being are equal in personality.
we also remember her striving for life, her toughness and her confidence…
when we think of this girl, what she gave us was not a pretty face or a transcendent temperament that make us admire deeply, but a huge charm of her personality.
actually, she wasn't pretty, and of course, the ordinary appearance didn't make others feel good of her, even her own aunt felt disgusted with it. and some others even thought that she was easy to look down on and to tease, so when miss ingram met jane eyre, she seemed quite contemptuous, for that she was obviously much more prettier than 'the plain and ugly governess‘。 but as the little governess had said: 'do you think, because i am poor, obscure, plain, and little, i am soulless and heartless? you think wrong!' this is the idea of equality in jane eyre's mind. god hadn't given her beauty and wealth, but instead, god gave her a kind mind and a thinking brain. her idea of equality and self-respect impress us so much and let us feel the power inside her body.
in my mind, though a person's beauty on the face can make others once feel that one is attractive and charming, if his or her mind isn't the same beautiful as the appearance, such as beauty cannot last for, when others find that the beauty which had charmed them was only a falsity, it's not true, they will like the person no more. for a long time, only a person's great virtue, a noble soul, a beautiful heart can be called as an everlasting beauty, just as kahill gibran has said, that 'beauty is a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted’。 i can feel that how beauty really is, as we are all fleshly men, so we can't distinguish whether a man is of nobleness or humbleness, but fleshly men, so we can't distinguish whether a man is of nobleness or humbleness, but as there are great differences in our souls, and from that, we can know that whether a man is noble or ordinary, and even obscure, that is, whether he is beautiful or not.
簡愛讀後感英文版_簡愛英文版讀後感
an analysis of jane eyre
the novel is rich in poetry, symbolism and metaphor. it does not fit easily into a definite pattern, being neither a novel of “manners” in the tradition of austen, or a straightforward gothic romance in the style of mrs radcliffe. what charlotte bronte did was to create a work which cleverly blends elements of the two styles, and which remains uniquely independent of them at the same time, since it addresses issues which were at the time rather controversial.
the novel is written in the first person, and thus magnifies the central character - the reader enters the world of jane eyre and is transported through her experiences at first hand. this at once makes the work subjective, especially since we know that charlottes brontes own life and experiences were so closely interwoven with the heroine's. as well as this we learn only at the end of the novel that the events are being related to us ten years after the reconciliation with rochester - thus the narrative is retrospective 。 cb is clever in blending the narrative so that at times jane seems to be speaking as an adult with adult hindsight , while at others she she is “in the middle” of them, as a child or young woman. the indecision which is a central issue in the book, is heightened by this device. we never know, as readers, whether to be entirely trustful of janes actions and thoughts, because we are never sure wheher she is speaking impulsively or maturely.
this intensifies the readers dilemma as to what is “right” and “wrong” in the dramatic relationships which are part of je's life. can we believe what the heroine says, or is she deceiving herself? the novel is primarily a love story and a “romance” where wishes come true but only after trials and suffering. the supernatural has its place, as do dreams, portents and prophesies. the heroine begins poor and lonely and ends up rich and loved; the orphan finds a good family to replace the wicked one; all the basic ingredients of classic romantic fairytale are present.
the romantic element is present in two forms in jane eyre; the “family” aspect is dealt with in the gateshead, lowood and moor house episodes, which involve the exchanging of the wicked reed family for the benevolent rivers one; and the love romance is dealt with in the thornfield and ferndean episodes. both aspects are, of course linked and interwoven throughout the novel.
there is also a strong element of realism in the novel, which, married to the romantic aspect, enhances the novel's strength.the sense of place is very strong; we are able to experience both exterior and interior settings with startling clarity throughout the story, in a series of vivid deive passages. the central characters are also realistic and their confrontations and sufferings change them in a believable way.
even the unlikely is made plausible, with a unique blend of high drama and perceptive low comedy
the more fantastic romantic aspects; the coincidences; the secrets; the supernatural occurrences, are balanced by the realism, and this is of course a major strength.
the gothic influence cannot be ignored, although cb has refined the technique considerably from the “authentic” gothic of the 1790's. in the original genre, the heroine would typically be abducted and threatened with seduction, or worse!. there would be a lover - a respectable, well-bred young man - who would endeavor to rescue the heroine and would succeed after many trial. the seducer would be a brigand “know that i adore corsairs!” and he would lock the girl up in a remote castle.
there was little freedom for middle class women during the period of the gothic novel, and this was still the case in the time of cb. marriage especially was often a bargain, whereby fortunes were secured by using the female as a pawn. a woman's value largely depended therefore on her sexual purity and she was guarded and secured as a result. men, on the contrary, were potent and free; lovers and mistresses were common. ironically the women who provided their services were social outcasts as a result.
in jane eyre we see elements of the gothic romance, in that thornfield hall and rochester are described very much in the brigand/castle style but jane eyre is not abducted by r. on the contrary she chooses to go there of her own free will. and she is clear in her determination to have rochester as a husband. neither is there a gentleman rescuer; st john rivers may look like a greek god, but he is neither kind nor benevolent; driving jane back to ferndean, not rescuing her from it.
the trials which the hero is supposed to undergo in a gothic romance are in fact undergone by the heroine in jane eyre. the bandit rochester is only skin-deep. underneath the brooding exterior is a sensitive soul, which a woman frees. in this way we see that cb created rather a daring departure from conventional fiction, although there are still many aspects of the novel which remain true to victorian convention.!
a book of all times——thoughts given by sherlock holmes and the duke’s son
written in the first chapter of the book pride and prejudice is an extraordinary sentence of which even a person who has had only a brief look upon the book will not fail to receive a deep impression-it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. in terms of sherlock holmes, we’d better alter the sentence into “it is a fact universally accepted by readers throughout the world that an excellent book in possession of our famous detective sherlock holmes is undoubtedly a masterpiece of all times.” perhaps this is one of the most obvious explanations for the unrivaled popularity of “holmes series” in the field of detective stories. overwhelmed by the recommendations provided by my friends, i decided to take a look on this sherlock holmes and the duke’s son originally published by oxford university press.
as a whole, this book is about a case concerning the duke’s missing son. arthur, the duke’s son, was found out in a certain morning to have disappeared, accompanied with which was also the disappearance of the german teacher. the school master dr. huxtable then turned to the famous detective of the time sherlock holmes for help. realizing how tough and important the case is, holmes immediately made up his mind to accept the case and followed dr. huxtable back to mackleton by train. having formed a rough idea about the whole matter, holmes probed into the case immediately and had a careful investigation of the entire area shortly after the arrival, during the process of which he discovered the body of the german teacher heidegger. finally, primarily due to his prominent ability as a detective, he managed to unravel the mystery and obtained the twelve thousand pounds promised by the duke.
having once started reading this fiction, i was completely immersed in the mysterious story presented by the book. as the saying goes, “well begun, half done”. at the beginning of the story, just like many other detective stories, the author gives us a brief description of the condition by the words of a client. however, unlike other ones, this story first delineates the client’s strange behavior at length to indicate the severity of the incident in order to attract the readers to continue reading it. as is known to all, vivid depiction is essential to detective stories since it can help the readers understand each figure’s characteristics and visualize the scenes, thus making the story more authentic and attractive. therefore, trying to present a “real world” to his readership, sir arthur conan doyle, author of the original “holmes series”, has skillfully arranged the plots of the whole story from the perspective of dr. watson, a character not so specialized in discovering the truth hidden behind the enigmatic happenings as holmes but so loyal to sherlock homes as a friend that he always accompanies holmes wherever he goes. in this way, he elaborately depicted every scene and character in the book, apart from the special start, the ending of the whole story, being dramatic but reasonable, is certainly an outstanding one. after all, except the author himself, who knows that the duke’s seemingly ordinary secretary is in fact the duke’s bastard? in addition, who knows that the duke actually has already been acquainted with the whole thing before holmes solves this complicated problem? yet, surprising as it is, this ending seems so natural that it fits all the plots of the story perfectly well. while enjoying this wonderful story, i could do nothing but admire the wonderful design of this masterpiece as well as the author’s gorgeous writing skill. closing my eyes, i can even “see” the story happening just like watching a film. not until then did i understand why the japanese cartoon film detective conan used this “conan” as the name of its hero.
as far as i am concerned, nothing is more admirable and surprising in the hero sherlock homes than his profound knowledge which has certainly assisted him a lot when he was studying the case. take the bicycle tyres for instance, holmes actually is capable of recognizing 42 different varieties of bicycle tyres. what’s more, according to his other stories, holmes has studied different kinds of newspapers, cigarettes, people’s footprints and other special things as well. therefore, he seems to have the mastery of anything relevant to the cases he deals with. except for his illimitable knowledge, holmes also specializes in arranging the facts in order and then finding the fact leading him to a great discovery or even the truth itself. from his speaking “every mystery has an answer”, we can readily shape the impression of a man with great intelligence and inflexible will. in this case, after getting rid of unrelated facts, sherlock homes eventually grasped the clue and discovered the amazing fact.
needless to say, as a world-renowned masterpiece, sherlock holmes and the duke’s son has attracted and is still charming numerous readers from all corners of the world and people from all walks of life. the “holmes series” has already set up a standard against which all the following detective fictions are measured. sherlock holmes, beyond all doubt, has become a name firmly rooted in people’s memories. although dr. watson’s closing the case book of sherlock holmes in 1927 was a great pity to the readers, the discontinuance of the entire “holmes series” may have actually added to the legendary stature of sherlock holmes.
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