The spinster wasting away in her tattered wedding dress.

未婚女子穿著破爛的婚紗日漸消瘦

The stone-hearted miser plagued by the ghost of Christmas past.

鐵石心腸的守財奴被古時候的聖誕鬼魂捉弄

More than a century after his death,

在狄更斯死後一個多世紀

these remain recognizable figures from the work of Charles Dickens.

這些故事保留著辨識性高的特色

So striking is his body of work that it gave rise to its own adjective.

他的作品主體撼動人心，獨具特色

But what are the features of Dickens's writing that make it so special?

但是什麼特色讓狄更斯的作品獨樹一幟呢？

Dickens’s fiction brims with anticipation through brooding settings, plot twists, and mysteries.

狄更斯編寫的小說有著憂鬱的故事、曲折的情節和神秘元素，使得情節令人充滿期待

These features of his work kept his audience wanting more.

這些作品特色讓他的觀眾不斷想知道接下來的故事發展

When first published, his stories were serialized,

第一冊出版時，他的故事已經有續集了

meaning they were released a few chapters at a time in affordable literary journals

他們等到有足夠的出版費時就會釋出一些故事章節

and only later reprinted as books.

而且之後只有書本會再版

This prompted fevered speculation over the cliffhangers and revelations he devised.

這股快速的熱潮超過了狄更斯所預想的結果

Serialization not only made fiction available to a wider audience and kept them reading,

連載不只將小說推廣給更廣泛的觀眾，讓他們持續閱讀

but increased the hype around the author himself.

而且也激勵了作者身邊的人

Dickens became particularly popular for his wit,

狄更斯因為他創造出詭譎角色和諷刺的故事情節

which he poured into quirky characters and satiric scenarios.

這種機智的構想而變得特別廣受歡迎

His characters exhibit the sheer absurdity of human behavior,

他的角色會反映出人類社會中那些荒謬悖理

and their names often personify traits or social positions,

而角色的名字則常透露出個人特質或是社會地位

like the downtrodden Bob Cratchit,

像是《小氣財神》中被欺壓的 Bob Cratchit

the groveling Uriah Heap,

諂媚的 Uriah Heap

and the cheery Septimus Crisparkle.

及快樂的 Septimus Crisparkle

Dickens set these colorful characters against intricate social backdrops, which mimic the society he lived in.

狄更斯設定的豐富角色對抗復雜艱難的社會背景，跟他身處的社會很相像

For instance, he often considered the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

舉例來說，他總是認為工業革命為社會帶來了負面的變化

During this period, the lower classes experienced sordid working and living conditions.

在工業革命期間，較低階層的人們活在骯髒惡劣的工作和生活環境中

Dickens himself experienced this hardship as a child

狄更斯孩童時就體會到困苦的生存環境

when he was forced to work in a boot blacking factory after his father was sent to debtors' prison.

在他的父親負債入監後，他被迫到鞋油工廠工作

This influenced his depiction of the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit,

這影響了他在小說《小杜麗》中馬夏爾西監獄的故事描寫

where the titular character cares for her convict father.

故事中，擁有社會名望的人物角色關懷被關在監獄的父親

Prisons, orphanages, or slums may seem grim settings for a story,

將囚犯、孤兒或是貧民窟寫在故事裡或許很殘忍

but they allowed Dickens to shed light on

但狄更斯透過這些元素來呈現出

how his society's most invisible people lived.

在社會中最被忽視的一群人生活中所擁有的希望

In Nicholas Nickleby,

在尼古拉斯·尼克貝（片名：《少爺返鄉》）中

Nicholas takes a job with the schoolmaster Wackford Squeers.

Nicholas 從 Ｗackford Squeers 校長接下了工作

He soon realizes that Squeers is running a scam

他很快地發現 Squeers 校長在營造一場騙局

where he takes unwanted children from their parents for a fee

他利用被父母拋棄的孤兒來賺錢

and subjects them to violence and deprivation.

然後讓他們遭受暴力虐待並剝奪他們的工作

Oliver Twist also deals with the plight of children in the care of the state,

《孤雛淚》也是一部關於國內兒童問題的作品

illustrating the brutal conditions of the workhouse

描述不合理的工作環境

in which Oliver pleads with Mr. Bumble for food.

Oliver 向 Bumble 先生乞求食物

When he flees to London, he becomes ensnared in a criminal underworld.

當他逃到倫敦時，他成為了一個下層社會的罪犯

These stories frequently portray Victorian life as grimy, corrupt, and cruel.

這些故事往往都在描寫維多利亞時代污穢、腐敗又殘酷的生活

But Dickens also saw his time as one in which old traditions were fading away.

但狄更斯也將他自己生存的時代，視為一個傳統漸漸消失的時代

London was becoming the incubator of the modern world through new patterns in industry, trade, and social mobility.

透過嶄新的工業、貿易和社交模式，倫敦逐漸成為現代世界的孕育地

Dickens's London is therefore a dualistic space:

因此狄更斯的倫敦是個二元世界：

a harsh world that is simultaneously filled with wonder and possibility.

一個同時充斥著驚奇和可能性的嚴苛世界

For instance, the enigma of Great Expectations

舉例來說，《孤星血淚》（片名：《遠大前程》）

centers around the potential of Pip,

所描寫的主軸就圍繞在 Pip 的發展上

an orphan plucked from obscurity by an anonymous benefactor and propelled into high society.

他是一位被匿名捐贈者所拉拔、從下層社會晉升到上層社會的孤兒

In his search for purpose,

在他的人生探索中

Pip becomes the victim of other people’s ambitions for him

Pip 成為了其他人野心的受害者

and must negotiate with a shadowy cast of characters.

迫使他必須和那些灰色地帶的角色打交道

Like many of Dickens’s protagonists,

就像許多狄更斯描寫的主角

poor Pip's position is constantly destabilized,

可憐的 Pip 的立場一直在動搖

just one of the reasons why reading Dickens is the best of times for the reader,

這也是為何對讀者來說，當故事主角面臨最糟的處境時

while being the worst of times for his characters.

是閱讀最欲罷不能的時候

Dickens typically offered clear resolution by the end of his novels,

狄更斯的小說總是有個清楚明朗的結局

– with the exception of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

除了《艾德溫．德魯德之謎》這部作品

The novel details the disappearance of the orphan Edwin under puzzling circumstances.

這本小說詳細描寫了詭譎的孤兒 Edwin 失蹤案

However, Dickens died before the novel was finished

然而，這個作品還沒完成狄更斯就過世了

and left no notes resolving the mystery.

留下一宗毫無提示的謎案

Readers continue to passionately debate over who Dickens intended as the murderer,

讀者們繼續熱烈爭論誰是狄更斯所設定的兇手

and whether Edwin Drood was even murdered in the first place.

還有 Edwin Drood 會不會早在第一個場景就被殺了

Throughout many adaptations,

透過許多改編、

literary homages,

崇尚文學的讀者

and the pages of his novels,

以及狄更斯留下的小說書頁

Dickens’s sparkling language and panoramic worldview continue to resonate.

狄更斯卓越的文字駕馭能力和廣大的世界觀依舊和讀者們產生共鳴

Today, the adjective Dickensian often implies squalid working or living conditions.

今天，Dickensian 這個形容詞通常就是在描述悲慘的工作或生活環境

But to describe a novel as Dickensian is typically high praise,

但用 Dickensian 來描述一本小說就是個至高的讚美

as it suggests a story in which true adventure and discovery occur in the most unexpected places.

就像在暗示在最絕望的地方，就會有真正的冒險和新發現

Although he often explored bleak material,

雖然狄更斯經常探索灰暗的故事元素

Dickens’s piercing wit never failed to find light in the darkest corners.

但他敏銳的洞察力總會在最黑暗的角落找到一絲希望之光