On the Gothic Features of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

1、On the Gothic Features of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol【Abstract】CharlesDickensisoneofthegreatestwritersinthehistoryofEnglishliterature.Hismostoutstandingliteraryachievementishisrealisticnovels.However，thepresentresearchchoosesanotherperspectivetolookintohisfamouswork：AChristmasCarol，tryingtofin

2、douttheGothicfeaturesofthestorythroughprobingintothefollowingthreeaspects：thescenesdescribedinthestory，thelanguageusedinthestoryandthecharacterportrayedinthestory.【Keywords】Gothicfeatures；CharlesDickens；AChristmasCarol【作者簡介】周余筱1990-，女，土家族，湖北恩施人，恩施職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院，英語語言文學(xué)碩士，助教，研究方向：語言學(xué)。InGothicnovels，horroristh

3、emostsalientfeature，whichpenetratesinallpartsofthestory.And，AChristmasCarolwouldnotbeanexception，inwhichCharlesDickenstakesadvantageoftheGothicelementslikegrotesquery，mysteryandfantasy，presentingahorribleworldinallaspectslikethescenesdescribedinthestory，thelanguageusedinthestoryandthecharactersportr

4、ayedinthestory.1.ScenesinAChristmasCarolTheGothicnovelistsarewildabouttheexoticlegendarystorieshappeningintheancientimaginarytimes.Inmostsituations，thewriterswouldmakethestoryhappenintheMiddleAgesandintheEuropeanContinent.Moreover，intermsofthedetailedplacewherthestorytakesplace，theGothicarchitecture

5、isthefirstchoicefortheGothicnovels.“Thecastles，monasteries，darkrooms，secretpassagesandundergroundcharnelhouses，allofwhicharerepresentedbyGothicCastles，formthesymbolicfeatureoftheGothicnovels.InAChristmasCarol，thescene，inwhichtheGhostofMarleyappears，namelythescene，inwhichtheGothicpartofthestorybegins

6、，happensinthehouseofthemaincharacter，namelyEbenezerScrooge，whichisdepictedvividlyintheStave1ofthestory：“Theywereagloomysuiteofrooms，inaloweringpileofbuildingupayard，wherithadsolittlebusinesstobe，thatonecouldscarcelyhelpfancyingitmusthaveruntherewhenitwasayounghouse，playingathide-and-seekwithotherhou

7、ses，andforgottenthewayoutagain.Itwasoldenoughnow，anddrearyenough，fornobodylivedinitbutScrooge，theotherroomsbeingallletoutasoffices.TheyardwassodarkthatevenScrooge，whoknewitseverystone，wasfaintogropewithhishands.Thefogandfrostsohungabouttheblackoldgatewayofthehouse，thatitseemedasiftheGeniusoftheWeath

8、ersatinmournfulmeditationonthethreshold.Fromthedescriptionabove，althoughthewriterdoesnotusethewordslike“Gothic，“horrible，itcouldalsobeinferredthatthislivingplaceisactuallyatypicalGothicscene.ItisdescribedbyCharlesDickenstobea“gloomy，“old，“drearyand“darkplace，alloftheseadjectiveshaveshadyconnotationa

9、ndmaketheplacetakeonanatmosphereofhorrorandmystery.Moreover，thewriteraddsseveralotherelementsofobscurityintothehouse，likethe“fogandthe“frost.Theseelementsoftenmakethereadersassociatewiththeunknownthingsandoftenactasaveilwhichwouldcovertherealty.Therefore，thelivingplaceofEbenezerScrooge，isaplacefhorr

10、orandmystery，addingtheGothicfeaturesintothestory.AnotherexamplewouldbemoredirectandalsocanshowtheGothicfeaturesinAChristmasCarolwhenitisconcernedwiththehorriblescenes.ThisscenetakesplaceafterEbenezerScroogeturnsdowntherequestoftwogentlemen，whoexpectsEbenezerScroogetodonateforthepoorpeople.“Meanwhile

11、thefoganddarknessthickenedsothatpeopleranaboutwithflaringlinks，profferingtheirservicestogobeforehorsesincarriages，andconductthemontheirway.Theancienttowerofachurch，whosegruffoldbellwasalwayspeepingslilydownatScroogeoutofaGothicwindowinthewall，becameinvisible，andstruckthehoursandquartersintheclouds，w

12、ithtremulousvibrationsafterwardsasifitsteethwerechatteringinitsfrozenheadupthere.TheparagraphdescribestheenvironmentaroundtheofficeofEbenezerScrooge，inwhichthemosthighlightedthingis“theancienttowerofachurch，whichcarriesthe“oldbelland“aGothicwindow.Thisdescriptionoftheenvironmentmakesthesceneinthesto

13、rybebothhorribleandmysterious.2.LanguageinAChristmasCarolThelanguageusedintheCharlesDickensworksoftenformsoneofthemostimportantelementswhichleadtheworksofDickenstothesuccess.AChristmasCarolalsohasitsownuniquefeature：thelanguageusedinAChristmasCarolcanhelpshowtheGothicfeaturesofthestory.Thisfeatureca

14、nbediscussedintermsofthemostfrequentlyusednounsinthestory.basedonthecalculateddata，itcanbefoundthatthemostfrequentlyusednounisthelastnameofthemaincharacter：Scrooge361times；thesecondoneisGhost92times；thethirdoneisChristmas88times.Themostfrequentlyusednoun，Scrooge，thelastnameofthemaincharacteraswellas

15、oneofthemostimportantsymbolsinthestory.ItsymbolizesthecharacteristicsofEbenezerScrooge：amiser.Ononehand，hischaracteristicsaretheprimarycausewhichleadsthestorytobegin，developandconclude；ontheotherhand，thesecharacteristicsarethebasicreasonfortheweirdbehaviorsofthemaincharacterandarethematerialswhichbr

16、inguptheperson：EbenezerScrooge.HeistheparticipantoftheGothicstoryandhisnameinturnhelpstocreatetheatmosphereofGothicnovel.ThesecondoneisGhost，oneoftheinevitableelementsinGothicnovels.ThereduplicationofthewordGhostistherepeated“warningforthereadersthatthisnovelcarrieswiththeelementsofGothicnovels，help

17、ingtoenhanceandheightentheatmosphereofhorrorandmystery.ThethirdoneisChristmas，whichissaidtobethethemeofthenovel.Thiswesternfestivalitselfhasalwayscarriedwiththeatmosphereofreligion，whichisfullofimaginationandfantasy.TherepeatedappearanceofChristmas，ononehand，isonewaytolaystressonthethemeofthestory；o

18、ntheotherhand，isalsoawaytostrengthentheatmosphereofmystery.Inconclusion，themostfrequentlyusednounsinAChristmasCarolcanfunctionasthetooltoenhancetheGothicatmosphereinthestory，whichshowsthepowerofthelanguageandcanbearepresentativeoftheGothicfeaturesinthestory.3.CharacterinAChristmasCarolThesenseofgrot

19、esquery，horrorandmysteryintheGothicnovelshasbeenpresentedthroughsortsofways.ThecharactersinCharlesDickensworksarealwaystherepresentativeofthedistortedhumanityofthecapitalistsociety.ThemaincharacterofAChristmasCarol：EbenezerScroogeisoneofthem.EbenezerScrooge，wasdescribedtobeanoldmanwhoregardsmoneyase

20、verythingofhislife.Inordertodisplayhischaracteristicsmorevividly，thewritermainlytakesadvantageofthefollowingthreemethods：Firstly，thedirectdescriptionshowsthecharacteristicsoftheoldmaninastraightforwardway.Forinstance，inordertoshowhismeancharacteristics，thewriterdescribeshisattitudestowardshisclerkas

21、following：“ThedoorofScroogescounting-housewasopenthathemightkeephiseyeuponhisclerk，whoinadismallittlecellbeyond，asortoftank，wascopyingletters.Scroogehadaverysmallfire，buttheclerksfirewassoverymuchsmallerthatitlookedlikeonecoal.Buthecouldntreplenishit，forScroogekeptthecoal-boxinhisownroom；andsosurely

22、astheclerkcameinwiththeshovel，themasterpredictedthatitwouldbenecessaryforthemtopart.Secondly，theindirectdepictionincludestheotherpeoplesreactionstowardsthemaincharacterandthewordssaidbyhim.Intermsofotherpeoplesreactions，thebestexampleis：“Nobodyeverstoppedhiminthestreettosay，withgladsomelooks，MydearS

23、crooge，howareyou？Whenwillyoucometoseeme？Nobeggarsimploredhimtobestowatrifle，nochildrenaskedhimwhatitwasoclock，mensdogsappearedtoknowhim；andwhentheysawhimcomingon，wouldtugtheirownersintodoorwaysandupcourts；andthenwouldwagtheirtailsasthoughtheysaid，Noeyeatallisbetterthananevileye，darkmaster！Peoplewoul

24、dnotliketoextendgreetingstohim，showingthatheisratherdissocial；thebeggarsandthechildrenwouldnotliketoaskhimforhelp，showingthatheisnotsokindandwarm-hearted；eventhemensdogslookdownuponhim，whichshowsthatheisextraordinarilyannoying.Asforthewordsthecharacterhassaid，thesewords，comparedwiththeotherpeoplesre

25、actionsandthedirectdescriptions，candemonstratethecharacteristicsofhiminamoredirectandvividway，forinstance，whenhisnephewgreetshim“AmerryChristmas，uncle！Godsaveyou！，hejustrepliestwointerjections“Bah！and“Humbug！Althoughthesetwointerjectionshavenoactualmeanings，theimpatientanddisparagingtoneofEbenezerSc

26、roogecouldnotbebetterdisplayed.Inconclusion，thethreemethodsdiscussedaboveworktogetherandhelptodemonstratethecharacteristicsofthemaincharacterinamoredirect，comprehensiveandvividway.Thecombinationofthethreemethodsemployedbythewritermakescontributiontotheshapingofaweird，meanandlonelycharacter.4.ConclusionThepresentstudyfocusesontheGothicfeat