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1、The Duchess and the Jeweller Virginia Woolf(Adeline Virginia Stephen)(January 25,1882 March 28,1941)was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the modernist literary figures of the twentieth century Major Works Fictions The Voyage Out 出航(1915）Mrs.Dalloway 达洛维夫人 (1925)To the Lighthouse 到
2、灯塔去(1927)Orlando 奥兰多 (1928)Essays A Room of Ones Own 一间自己的房间(1929)Three Guineas 三个几尼(1938)The novel shows the thoughts and actions of a greedy jeweller;Woolf makes a thematic point that corrupt people do corrupt actions for purely selfish motives(and often without regret).It was first published in B
3、ritish Harpers Bazaar Magazine in April 1938 and subsequently published posthumously in 1944 in the collection A Haunted House and Other Short Stories.Style Stream of consciousness(mainly interior monologue&free association)Symbolism Virginia Woolf English author,essayist,critic publisher,and femini
4、st,A Room of Ones Own(1929)is regarded as the declaration of Feminism in literary criticism.In it she made her famous statement:A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.Woolf was among the founders of the Modernist movement which also includes T.S.Eliot,Ezra Pound,Jam
5、es Joyce,and Gertrude Stein.Woolf proved to be an innovative and influential 20th Century author.In some of her novels she moves away from the use of plot and structure to employ stream-of-consciousness to emphasize the psychological aspects of her characters.Themes in her works include gender relat
6、ions,class hierarchy and the consequences of war.Introduction The Duchess and the Jeweller is a short-story written by Virginia Woolf in 1938.In this story the author experiments the stream of consciousness,showing the feelings and thoughts of Oliver Bacon,a greedy jeweller.Its a third person narrat
7、ive where we have access to Olivers inner monologue.First,we are going to see the social and economical ascension of Oliver Bacon,and then we are going to study the place of women in Olivers life.Oliver Bacon has spectacularly climb the social ladder.He began his life in a poor and dark street in Wh
8、itechapel ).He soon has started to have very high ambitions.As a boy,and against his mothers wish,he started to do a quite inglorious job:sell stolen dogs to rich women.Growing up,he worked into a shop selling cheap watches.Its the beginning of a long social ascension.He found three diamonds which h
9、e sold in Amsterdam.He started to have a passion for jewellery,and bet with his mother that he will be the richest jeweller in England.He worked as a jeweller in a little shop in Hatton Garden where he has soon proved his talent.When he passed through the other jewellers,they used to stop themselves
10、 in their conversations and look at him murmuring.As the text says,the gestures of the jewellers has meant a lot of encouraging words to Oliver and he is still remembering that murmur among the jewellers.His social ascension is associated to an economical ascension.As he became more famous and riche
11、r,he bought more and more expensive things.First he bought a hansom cab,which is a kind of horse-drawn carriage,then a car,then a luxurious villa with servants,.We also see his ascension because he started to go to the opera,which is an aristocratic hobby.He went to the dress circle,then into the st
12、alls,which suggest once again his ascension:he had a better place in the society,so he had a better seat.His way to.Plot summary Oliver Bacon is this storys protagonist.Once a poor boy in the streets of London,he has become the richest jeweller in England.As a young man,he sold stolen dogs to wealth
13、y women and marketed cheap watches at a higher price.On a wall in his private room hangs a picture of his late mother.He frequently talks to her and reminisces,once chuckling at his past endeavors.One day,Oliver enters into his private shop room,barely acknowledging his underlings,and awaits the arr
14、ival of the Duchess.When she arrives,he has her wait.In his room,under yellow gloves,he opens barred windows to get some air.Later,Oliver opens six steel safes,each containing endless riches of jewels.The Duchess and the Jeweller are described as.friends,yet enemies;he was master,she was mistress;ea
15、ch cheated the other,each needed the other,each feared the other.On this particular day,the Duchess comes to Oliver to sell ten pearls,as she has lost substantial money to gambling.Mr.Bacon is skeptical of the pearls authenticity,but the Duchess manipulates him into buying them for twenty thousand p
16、ounds.When the Duchess invites him to an event that includes a cast of royalty and her daughter Diana,Oliver is persuaded to write a check.In the end,the pearls are found to be fakes,and Oliver looks at his mothers portrait,questioning his actions.However,what Oliver truly bought was not actually th
17、e pearls:it was Diana.Theme:The desire of man for identity&prestige(a social satire criticizing this)symbols of desire Mademoiselle is a example of symbolism;Oliver reminisces how she“married Mr.Pedder of the local brewery”.She is a symbol of his lost loves and ambitionshe used to be happy;but now h
18、e wanders for satisfaction.In his undying pursuit of love,he writes the“cheque for twenty thousand pounds.He is trying to woo the Duchesss daughter,so he blindly writes this check a symbol of his desire Symbols of deceit Duchess is a prominent symbol of artifice;Since her pearls are fake,they symbol
19、ize evil and deception;they completely blind Oliver.When he finds out that the pearls are rotten,Oliver murmurs,“it is to be a long week-end”This week-end which Oliver looks forward to is a hollow reward for his writing of the check.He hopes that it will be a chance to become acquainted with Diana;b
20、ut since he is trying to buy her love,he will most likely be rejected Symbols of greed Oliver is displeased with his current possessions and seeks extra wealth.In the same way,Oliver“snuffed always for another truffle”.This truffle is an evident symbol of a better opportunity;Oliver is restless with his money and lifestyle:he is always in pursuit of more.“though he had won his bet,”he is still dissatisfied.This bet is a symbol of his early desires to become the best;however,even when he becomes peerless,he still yearns for greater luxury.