《南方与北方》:维多利亚时期的工业绅士

North and South:An Industrial Version of the Victorian Gentleman

盖斯凯尔夫人的小说《南方与北方》,公认为维多利亚时期描绘工业绅士的代表著作。维多利亚时期作为工业革命的重要发展阶段,英国阶层相应更迭。其中中产阶级最为显著的变化,就是工业绅士的涌现。《南方与北方》以女性为观察者,以二元对立为视角,以误解原则为叙事手法,比较了工业绅士与维多利亚社会评论家的绅士观念,全面地展现出维多利亚时期工业绅士的内涵、践行和价值。

Mrs.Gaskell’s novel,North and South,is widely recognized as a representative Victorian novel in depicting the industrial gentleman.The Victorian period,as an important era in the development of the Industrial Revolution,saw a corresponding change of the British class.One of the most striking changes in the middle class is the emergence of the industrial gentleman.Taking women as observers,from the perspective of binary opposition,and using the principle of misunderstanding as the narrative technique,North and South compares the concept of gentleman between the industrial version and the Victorian social critics,and presents a comprehensive picture of the connotations,practices,and values of the Victorian industrial gentleman.