자선, 불안, 그리고 식민주의 - 중산층의 불만시각으로 『황량한 집』 다시 읽기

Abstract

This article aims to read Charles Dickens’s Bleak House with the viewpoint of angry middle class. In his book, the author criticizes the philanthropy for the undeveloped in Africa or American Indians, not considering the poor conditions in urban labors in England. The imbalance of benevolence between the philanthropy for two regions, Dickens argues, increases the tension in English society and he argues that the tension might cause the serious conflict in the Victorian society. The suggestion by Dickens in Bleak House is to give up the oversea charity as soon as possible and to concentrate on solving urban sanitation problems which might increase the anxiety of the lower classes. For this purpose, Dickens depicts a character who rescued the crews in wrecked ship in Indian Ocean as his hero in Bleak House. The hero, Allan Woodcourt, is the idealized character by the author who is able to solve the problem of imbalance between the oversea charity and domestic poverty.