The dramatic aesthetics of "Shuangcheng"

Dickens has always been known as a writer. It is unknown that being an actor is Dickens's life's dream. As the biologist Pilson said, "Shakespeare first became an actor, and later gradually became a writer. Dickens first became a writer, and then slowly became an actor."

In 1836, Dickens became popular with an essay "Boz Essay". However, his first attempt after success was not a novel, but a script. Dickens has a long -lasting interest in early British drama, and his connection with Ben Johnson is often discussed. Even after turning to novel creation, Dickens always seized all opportunities to rehearse drama and perform on stage. He is always eager to become "another person" and experience the feelings of different roles. He can express all kinds of characters vividly, and sometimes even one person to decorate several characters. From August to September 1852, he led the troupe to visit northern England. Only in Manchester's performance, the audience reached as much as 4,000. His talents are more recognized than writing talents.

The inspiration of some of Dickens's novels directly originated from drama or related experience, such as the creation of "Shuangcheng". He explained in the preface of "Shuangcheng": "When I and my children and friends performed Mr. Wilkie Collins's script" Deep in the Ice Sea ", I started to have the main idea of ​​this story." The impact of creative and performance experience on Dickens's novel creation can be glimpsed from the "Double Cities". The actor's temperament in his personality has also given him great drama, and this dramatic nature is injected into the characters in his pen. Those enlarged, exaggerated events and emotions in his novels have a strong drama. As a novel dedicated to showing the change of the times and historical storms, "Shuangcheng" has a strong drama. This dramatic, deeply penetrated into the character creation and scene design of the novel.

Character creation: coincidence, reversal and suspense

The character is the soul of the novel and the soul of the drama. However, these two literary genre have different requirements for the logic of the characters. In the novel, the shaping of the characters focuses on reflecting its internal unity and coherence in the development of the plot; in the drama, the character, action and relationship of the characters occur in a specific drama situation, and The dramatic tension is the purpose of the drama, so sometimes it seems more exaggerated and broken. As Pilson noticed Dickens, "Dickens is an actor from head to toe, from the inside out. His characters, his comedy works, and his emotions are dramatic." And this dramatic nature is first reflected in the characters in his novels.

Dickens's portrayal of some novel characters and the design of characters contain his deep understanding of dramatic tension. The so -called dramatic tension is the tension between the various parts of the drama, and this tension is often formed between the situation that appears at any time and the completed action. In the book "On Drama and Drama", S.W. In the book "On Drama and Drama", he regards suspense and surprise as two simpler means to create dramatic tension. These methods can also be easily found in Dickens' novels.

"Shuangcheng" can show Dickens' dramatic preference than any other novel, which is a dramatic deed with the historical history of the novel. The dramatic characteristics of the characters are mainly reflected in three aspects: the coincidence of character relationship design, the surprising reversal of the character image, and the unreasonable tension of the character.

First, it is a coincidence in the design of the character relationship. Charles Darna, who fell in love with Miss Maconat, was found to be the nephew of French aristocracy who caused Dr. Ma Natt to cause Dr. Ma Natt eighteen years ago in the development of the novel. For Dr. Maconat, accepting Darna means that the eighteen years of the wasted eighteen years could not be recovered by justice; without accepting Darna, the happiness of her daughter would be destroyed by herself. The interweaving of love and hate is undoubtedly a huge test of Dr. Ma Nate. This dramatic tension is based on a pure coincidence. Darnbourne can be the nephew of anyone, but Dickens chose to make him a descendant of Mentete's old "enemies". Because of such a coincidence, the mutual conversion and conflict of love and hatred can be more vivid. When Dr. Manett faced the enthusiastic revolutionaries in the future, he was highly respected because of his suffering in the old system, and then he was pulled off the altar because he "sheltered" as the son -in -law's son -in -law. In addition, Darna's similarity to lawyer Katon is also purely a coincidence. But it is based on this coincidence that Caton twice for Darna to avoid extinguishing the top: the first was before the Grand Revolution, Darna was prosecuted by the British secretly detective. French patriot was sentenced to death for the charges of escape aristocracy. If it wasn't for the similar coincidence, it would not be possible to get the golden cicada from the golden cicada in the event of a similar coincidence, and it would not be possible for Darna to get rid of the golden cicada.

Secondly, the character's personality is surprisingly reversed and mutated. The characters in Dickens sometimes change their temperament, and this kind of temperament has greatly changed. It is necessary to understand in a specific dramatic situation. In "Shuangcheng", this specific situation is often manifested as a dramatic turn of history. Dr. Mankat's changes in the drama is the most prominent. Dr. Maconat, who was released in prisons who had been imprisoned for eighteen years, had long been deeply traumatized after trauma stress disorder, which has always been the target of being brushed and caring; When Darna was sentenced to death, Dr. Mankat seemed to have become a person. He became calm and confident: "He knows that the past suffering gave him strength, and his daughter and friend were looking forward to relying on his strength来使达尔纳安然无恙，并且获得释放。这一变化使他兴奋异常，如今是他站在前面带领他们，给他们指引方向，要他们作为弱者，信仰他这个强者。”就这样，马奈特The doctor changed from a weak person to a strong man, and behind his character mutation, it was the empowerment of the great change of the times, which led him from the position of the persecuted person to the position of the admire. However, the changes in the personality of the lawyer Katton have no direct relationship with the dramatic changes in history, and it is closer to Dickens's dramatic emotional investment in Dickens. Katon has a very similar appearance to Darna, but his personality was in sharp contrast with Darna when he appeared. Darna brave and decisive, but Caton was indecisive, careless, and even abandoned himself for a time. Shortly after Katton appeared, Dickens had given him a close -up: In a hotel, he picked up a candle and said to himself to the mirror (Chapter 4 "Celebrate"). This period of self -talk is to take a dramatic monologue. Like the audience on the stage, Kuton let all readers listen to his dissatisfaction with himself and even cursing. But this is such a person. Finally, under the encouragement and inspiration of love, in order to save the husband of Miss Maconat, Darna, the loved one, became determined, selfless and fearless, and eventually presented her life. And such a dramatic change is almost completed overnight (Chapter 3 of the Eighth Chapter "Fighting Cards"), which is a huge contrast formed before and after its change, which is amazing. It is also this huge contrast and dramatic change that has a strong attraction for Dickens who love to perform.

Finally, the fate of the unreasonable figure brings a sense of continuous tension. The most prominent example in this regard is Darna's fate. Darna was a French nobleman, and later gave up aristocratic identity, changed his name to change his surname, and came to Britain for self -reliance. After the French Revolution broke out, he received a letter of help sent by his former servants. The old servant was arrested for serving the Marquis family, and the tears in the letter asked Darna to come forward to save him. Out of deep guilt, Darna rushed to Paris alone to try to rescue the old servants with his own power. But soon when he arrived in Paris, he was arrested and jailed for the charges of escape. The days of execution of death penalty are imminent. Can Darna be rescued? The mystery of his destiny continued from Chapter 3 to Chapter 13 (a total of 15 chapters). Continuous tension covers the third narrative, and this tension is made by Darna's unspeakable fate.

Scene design: Focus, enlarge and strengthen

The situation is the core element of drama, and the scene is the foundation of the situation. The dramatic scene allows the audience to be there and at the same time, and at the same time, they are both participants and observers. Dickens is very good at creating a scene of the stage of stage space. Such novel scenes often take a clear space as a background in a certain boundary. Dickens often draw a distinctive boundary line between the central scene space and the surrounding background space through the hidden color of color, the light and darkness of the light, and the strength of the sound. The opening of Dickens novels and the appearance of important characters often appear in the scene of stage space.

As the players said, "The scene in the drama is important, because they stipulate the situation developed from it and establish the center of attention required by this drama. Our attention will be Concentrated in this center. " Dickens apparently knows this and spares no effort in the opening design. The story of Paris, one of the "dual cities", starts from San Antuowan District, and the story of the St. Antuowan District is around a hotel. Like a continuous pushing shot, Dickens eventually locked the focus on a wine car that was preparing to unload in front of the hotel door. This is the beginning of the fifth chapter of the novel: "A big wine barrel falls on the street heart and breaks." It is like a thunderbolt. Witches the wine that sprinkle the ground to cause the commotion and carnival of gathering drinks.

The St. Anto Wan District is the poorest neighborhood in Paris. Even the streets are shrouded in "sad clouds and miserable fog", but in this bleak background, Dickens, like the director of the stage lighting, hit the spotlight on the face of this group of gathers, amplifying, amplified Their expression and movements made them highlighted from the dim background. The thirsty crowd constitutes the sentient beings in San Anto, standing to the center of the upcoming stage of the era. The neighborhood dyed by bright red wine indicates the advent of the revolutionary era of bloody storms.

In Dickens, the importance of introducing new characters or highlighting a certain character is often achieved through space interval, that is, the space of the new character or protagonist is highlighted from the background space. As an important clue figure in the two cities in the novel, Dr. Ma Nate appeared in the lofts rich in the sense of stage space. Dr. Maititte, who was involved in the internal disputes of the noble family, was released after being detained for eighteen years. He was released to be released after 18 years. He was required to place him on a loft that was unpredictable and unsteady. After learning the release of the news, Dr. Mankat's old -fashioned property entrusted manager Lori took Mankat's daughter to visit him. The reunion after eighteen years took place in the attic. Readers followed the footsteps of Lori and Miss Mangatt, pushed away the door of the attic, and saw a large bouquet of light came in through the half -window door, and fell on Dr. Mankat. Dr. Ma Natt, who spent eighteen years in the dark, was suddenly exposed to strong light, so that readers, like the two onlookers in the novel, like many audiences under the stage, carefully observed the 18 -year imprisonment career in the eighteen years. The imprint of Dr. Manett. Under the strong light, Dr. Ma Natt stood to the center of the stage. His every move, a little bit, was magnified, and accepted the gaze and observation of the audience from the dark parts of the stage on the edge of the stage.

After such treatment, Dickens quietly hid the obvious eyes of the onlookers in the darkness, and Dr. Mankat, who was once shrouded in the darkness, was placed in the light. Through bright and dark division and switching, Dickens was able to "transform" the attic into a "temporary theater", allowing readers to be immersed as the audience. It is worthy of the taste that the light of the beam of light did not allow the dark memory of Maconte to melt under the light of light. On the contrary, an irreplaceable space -time gap between Dr. Ma Natt and the visitors. Dr. Manette has become another unknown world after all in the past eighteen years.

Dickens is not only proficient in the mystery of the creation of the novel, but also knows the operating rules of the drama stage. Therefore, he can freely shuttle between novels and drama. In this way, it is not surprising that Dickens brought the aesthetic law of the drama into novel creation. As the critic said: "His works are a product of excitement instead of thoughtful instead of thoughtful. He must devote himself to the whole body and mind, as an actor entered the character with the characters in the work, breathing and fate And reach the degree of crazy. "

Source: China Social Science Network-Journal of Social Sciences of China

Author: Liu Ziyun

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