The Tragedy Of Utilitarianism In Hard Time

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从《艰难时世》看功利主义的悲剧 摘要 《艰难时世》是杰出的批判现实主义作家狄更斯的不朽之作。小说中狄更斯对当时流行的功利主义思潮进行了有力的批判,从而揭示出小说中主要人物的悲剧性结局的根源。本文主要以小说中两个典型的功利主义信徒——葛擂硬和庞得贝为入角点,阐述他们的功力主义思想,以及他们推崇的功利主义思想所导致他们周围人物的悲剧命运。本文以批判功利主义为出发点,最终回归到对人性本真以及情感的宣扬。 关键词:葛擂硬,庞得贝,功利主义,悲剧 The tragedy of utilitarianism in hard time Abstract Hard time is the immortal masterpiece of the great critical realistic writer, Charles Dickens. In the novel dickens criticized the utilitarianism which was extremely popular at that time, thus revealing the root of the main characters tragic endings. This paper will start from the two typical adherents of utilitarianism Gradgrind and Bouderby and deposits the tragedy of other characters around them. The paper not only criticize that utilitarianism destroys human nature and cause the tragedy but also advocates the true and good human nature and emotion. Key words: Gradgrind; Bouderby; utilitarianism; tragedy I. Introduction In the 18th century of Victoria period, utilitarianism is very popular in the Great Britain. It holds that morality is to pursue happiness and the source of happiness is the satisfaction of human interests. Interests and material gain is the only aim of human behavior. In this novel, Charles dickens criticized this belief violently and revealed that utilitarianism destroys human nature. This paper will focus on the two main characters--Gradgring and Bounderby. It depicts Gradgrind’s Facts education in society, especially in school and family, and Bounderby’s relation changes with other characters around him. In this paper, it likewise involves other characters’ tragedies description, thus revealing the fatal effects of utilitarianism and advocating the true and good human nature and emotion. II. Literature review Dickens is a great critical realism writer in the 18th century. In hard time, he depicts the picture of the Britain society
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