SOME FUNCTIONS OF "UTOPIAN BUSINESS" MOTIF IN NICHOLAS NICKLEBY BY CHARLES DICKENS
Ewa Kujawska-Lis
Instytut Neofilologii Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w OlsztynieAbstrakt
The article aims at presenting some of the functions of the "utopian business" motif represented by the Cheeryble Brothers in Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, as well as indicating some of the ways in which the utopian dimension is achieved. Shown in comparison with other Dickensian companies, the Cheeryble Brothers seems unique. The uniqueness lies in the fact that in the majority of cases the firms are destructive forces in the novels whereas employment in the brothers’ company equals the highest happiness possible. The firm is an ideal, almost symbiotic merger of private and business lives of the characters, moving it to the realm of utopia. The functions of the "utopian business" motif are numerous. The company is seen as the centre of goodness in the novel and the antithesis of evil represented by Ralph Nickleby and Squeers. The motif ends the picaresque element in the novel by providing the main character with proper financial stability which in turn enables him to support his family and seek for emotional stability. At the same time it reinforces the fairy-tale convention in the novel where the brothers, through their helpful attitude, act as good uncles of other characters. From a different perspective, the "utopian business" motif is used to advocate the idea of self-help and charity thus indicating the cultural model of the world based on the Christian in a general sense, and Puritan in a narrower sense, ethics.
Słowa kluczowe:
utopian business Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby cultural modelBibliografia
Brook, G. L., The Language of Dickens, London 1970, Andre Deutsch.
Chesterton, G. K., Appreciations and Criticism of the Works of Charles Dickens, London 1911, J. M. Dent & Sons.
Dickens, C., Nicholas Nickleby, New York 1998 (1838-39), Tom Doherty Associates.
Engel, M., The Maturity of Dickens, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1967, Harvard University Press.
Hobsbaum, P., A Reader’s Guide to Charles Dickens, Syracuse, NY, 1998 (1972), Syracuse University Press.
Horsman, A., The Victorian Novel, Oxford 1990, Clarendon Press.
House, H., The Dickens World, London 1960, Oxford University Press.
Jackson, T. A., Karol Dickens (original title: Charles Dickens, translated by Andrzej Konarek), Warszawa 1953, Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza Czytelnik.
Magnet, M., Dickens and the Social Order, Philadelphia 1985, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Orwell, G., Charles Dickens, in The Penguin Essays of George Orwell, London 1994, Penguin Books.
Stone, H., Dickens and the Invisible World. Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Novel-Making, London 1980, Macmillan.
Storey, G., Tillotson, K. and Easson, A. (eds.), The Letters of Charles Dickens, vol. 7, (1853—1855), Oxford 1993, Clarendon Press.
Wilhams, R., The English Novel from Dickens to Lawrence, London 1973, Chatto & Windus.
Instytut Neofilologii Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
Inne teksty tego samego autora
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, THE BLACK VEIL: 19TH-CENTURY POLISH TRANSLATIONS OF CHARLES DICKENS’S SHORT STORY , Acta Neophilologica: Tom 1 Nr XX (2018): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, Kilka uwag o mutowaniu postaci fikcyjnych i recepcji tekstów kultury na przykładzie powieści Alienista Caleba Carra i jej serialowej adaptacji , Acta Neophilologica: Tom 2 Nr XXI (2019): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, DOMESTICATING AND MODERNIZING HEART OF DARKNESS , Acta Neophilologica: Tom 1 Nr XV (2013): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, (PSEUDO)POLONISMS IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S AMY FOSTER AND PRINCE ROMAN AND THEIR POLISH TRANSLATIONS , Acta Neophilologica: Tom 1 Nr XIX (2012): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, TRANSLATION OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES IN LITERARY AND NON-LITERARY TEXTS , Acta Neophilologica: Nr X (2008): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, Andrzej Lis-Kujawski, ZATOPIONE W TŁUMACZENIU. KILKA UWAG O (NIE)KOMPETENCJI TŁUMACZA W KONFRONTACJI Z WIEDZĄ CZYTELNIKA , Acta Neophilologica: Tom 1 Nr XVII (2015): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, CLARIFICATION AS THE TEXT KILLER. ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POLISH TRANSLATIONS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER , Acta Neophilologica: Nr XII (2010): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, WHAT IS IN THE NAME OR WHAT IS LOST WHEN DICKENSIAN SURNAMES ARE TRANSLOCATED , Acta Neophilologica: Nr VI (2004): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, G.K. CHESTERTON’S GAMES WITH IDENTITIES , Acta Neophilologica: Nr XI (2009): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Kujawska-Lis, INTO THE HEART OF MATTERS - IN SEARCH OF THE FINALITY OF THE TRANSLATION PROCESS , Acta Neophilologica: Nr IX (2007): Acta Neophilologica
