1 Introduction
Charles Dickens is generally regarded as the best writer of critical realism in the 19th–century in Britain. He enjoys greater popularity and more renown than any other writers during his time. He is famous for his iconic novels and characters. More often than not, he often describes serious social problems in his novels and he has attacked the social ills of the Victorian society at that time. Being a great writer, he has influenced later novelists a lot because of his masterly writing technique and his insightful vision of humanity. This is an awesome achievement to be proud of by him. John Forster wrote in The Life of Charles Dickens: "Charles Dickens is the most popular novelist of the century and one of the greatest humorists that England has produced." (Forster, 1872:1). Many authors like Leo Tolstoy, G.K. Chesterton and George Gissing have highly praised Dickens for its technique of realism, mastery of prose, unique personalities and his strong sense of social responsibility.
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel written by Charles Dickens. It is one of the most significant contributions in his entire life, no matter in the thought or in the art. Two Cities in the title refers to the capitals of Great Britain and France. The whole story is set in London and Paris at the time of French Revolution. Dickens intended to use the French revolution as the reference of British society contemporarily. The masterpiece has described the situation of the French aristocracy before the breaking out of revolution. The corresponding brutality proved by the revolutionaries toward the previous aristocrats in early revolution. Though there are many similar social phenomena in London and Paris, during the period, the novel follows the lives of several distinctive characters which symbolize different classes and status through these occurrences. The novel consisting of forty-five chapters was published in thirty-one weekly installments in green covers from April to November in 1859 in Charles Dickens's new literary periodical named All the Year Round.
The theme of A Tale of Two Cities has used the past things to satirize the present, which is quite distinct from other works. As an ethicist and a humanitarian, Dickens opposed the inhuman class oppression. The novel has shown the rationality of the revolution and pre-warned Britain's ruling class that learning nothing from past failures will make the same mistake like the French revolution's. He opposes all kinds of violence and thus advises inpiduals not to take "stupid action". That is because that he believes that "love" and “benevolence” are magic weapons to eliminate all hostility and class conflicts.
The essay is composed of five major parts. The first part is an introduction to the studies based on A Tale of Two Cities. Besides, the origin of the social background has also been mentioned above. The second part will introduce Ethical Literary Criticism and concentrate on the ethical context of A Tale of Two Cities. At the same time, social context and Dickens's life context will also be covered. The third part will talk about the illustration of political ethics, stretching the political meaning of the work. The fourth part is intended to explore Dickens’s moral ideal system through different characteristics of different figures, which includes two sharply differentiated types of virtues: glorious human nature and distorted human nature. Then, a conclusion will be made at the end of this thesis. 狄更斯《双城记》文学伦理学解读(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_34989.html