Decline and FallとNicholas Nickleby : Charles Dickensから読み解くEvelyn Waugh

概要

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Decline and Fall owes to Nicholas Nickleby in the plots and the characters. Both are picaresque novels, where young protagonists have various kinds of experiences. By comparing and contrasting Decline and Fall with Nicholas Nickleby, therefore, we can see clearly what makes two protagonists different from each other, and what the differences meant to Waugh. Paul Pennyfeather, a theological student at Oxford, enjoys a Victorian ordered life achieved by industry. Then, innocent as he is, he is sent down and plunged into an anarchic world, where he encounters a lot of eccentric people. The world has no ethical order, and there men are ridiculously eager to appear to be gentlemen. The difference between Paul and Nicholas, who is also a poor orphan, is that Nicholas has met good and reliable substitute fathers who lead him up into a better world, while all the men Paul meets are irresponsible. Paul, after he has been tossed back and forth in a series of bizarre adventures, just returns where he started. The fruitless circularity of his experiences leaves Paul unaffected. Paul is happy with his unchanged life, for he safely restores his old peaceful Victorian way of life. His Victorian middle class faith echoes Waugh's.
神戸常盤短期大学の論文
2007-03-01