小说《西比尔》中的19世纪“英格兰的状况问题”

The “Condition-of-England” Problem in Sybil

1839年兴起的宪章运动让英国社会产生对当时状况的普遍担忧,卡莱尔称其为"英格兰的状况问题"。具体而言是触目惊心的底层贫困问题,社会两极分化造成阶级对立,英国社会似乎随时都有可能爆发一场法国式的革命。迪斯累利创作于1845年的小说《西比尔》就对"英格兰的状况问题"进行了生动展现和深刻剖析,不仅成功引起公众的关注,还引导公众的认识。本文考察了《西比尔》创作的背景、材料、情节人物以及读者效应,还原小说所处的历史语境,探究迪斯累利对问题所持的态度。

Since the Chartist movement in 1839,the English society had been shrouded in clouds of anxiety over the social conditions which featured abhorring poverty among people of the lower classes. The social polarization and subsequent conflicts would likely trigger another French-style revolution. Thomas Carlyle named them as the "condition-of-England". Composed by Benjamin Disraeli in 1845,the novel Sybil provided vivid representation and thorough analysis of the problem,not only raising the consciousness of the public about the problem but also steering their view on it. The article probes into the background and sources of the novel,analyzes its plot and characters,and examines its acceptance by the readers. By putting it in its historical context,this article attempts to grasp the position Disraeli took on the most heated problem of the age.