Dickens Reference - The Essential Guide to His Life and Works
1. PAUL V I S
THE
IC KENS ESSENTIAL
REFERENCE
TO HIS LIFE
I AND WORK
2. "Givesreaders an opportunity to discover the richness of Dickens'
literary achievements in the context of hislifeand times."
—Reference & Research Book News
"[A] comprehensive and extremely valuable guide."
—Library Journal
CHARLES DICKENS
A TO Z
THE ESSENTIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LIFE AND WORK
A superb storyteller, political and social reformer, and restless spirit, Charles
Dickens gave us such classic novels as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and
Great Expectations—stories that still resonate in the public imagination a
century and a half after they were written. The characters Dickens created are more diverse and
memorable than those of any writer in English since Shakespeare.
Charles Dickens A to Z is a guide to Dickens's life, works, characters, the Victorian context
in which he wrote, and the critics and scholars who have commented on his novels. Ideal for
Dickens fans and scholars alike, it includes more than 2,500 cross-referenced entries:
• synopses of every Dickens novel, with details on criticism and adaptations
• Dickens's journalistic essays, sketches, poems, and plays
• descriptions of all characters, both fictional and factual, and all settings in his work
• Dickens's family,friends,acquaintances, contemporaries, and critics
• social issues in Victorian England
• literary themes associated with his work, such as children, Christmas, and crime
• and much more
Charles Dickens A to Z also features 50 illustrations, many of them by Dickens's contemporaries,
as well as a chronology, selected bibliography, and index.
Paul Davis is professor emeritus of Englishfromthe University of New Mexico, where he taught
Dickens, the English novel, and Victorian and world literature. His previous books include The
Life and Times of EbenezerScrooge(Yale University Press, 1990), a study of the many versions of
A Christmas Carol. He lives in Corrales, New Mexico.
Cover design by Nora Wertz
Cover image courtesy Archive Photos
Printed in the United States of America
7. CONTENTS
Preface vii
A-to-Z Entries l
Appendices
A. A Brief Chronology of Dickens's Life
and Major Works 416
B. A Select Bibliography About Dickens
and His Works 419
Index 422
9. PREFACE
More than any British writer other than Shakespeare, The Works
Dickens has engaged the popular imagination with his
crowded gallery of memorable characters and his de- Each of the fictional works is summarized in a synop-
tailed rendering of the life of his times. His stories and sis. All of Dickens's novels were originally published in
people are familiar even to those who have never read either monthly or weekly serial numbers. The synopses
the novels: Oliver Twist, Scrooge, and Mr. Pickwick are are broken down into these original parts, since they
as well known as Hamlet, Romeo, or Falstaff. were so important in defining the structure of each work
Adapted for the stage almost as soon as they appeared as Dickens imagined it. The commentary on each
in monthly parts, Dickens's novels have been public novel discusses Dickens's plans for the work, its compo-
property from the beginning. They have been endlessly sition, and some of the important critical issues it raises.
retold, adapted, imitated, and pirated on both sides of The sections on criticism identify and briefly indicate
the Atlantic for a century and a half. The cinematic and the significance of a few of the more important com-
television adaptations of our time are just the most recent mentaries on each work. Finally, the section on adap-
examples of this public appropriation of "Dickens," a tations describes some important theatrical and
process that has sometimes created notions about the cinematic versions of the story. Entries for each of Dick-
novels remarkably different from the original texts. ens's journalistic essays, occasional sketches, poems, and
The most important writer of his time, Dickens is of- plays briefly summarize the contents of these works and
ten seen as the quintessential Victorian. "Dickens's En- indicate where they are collected.
gland" has almost become synonymous with Victorian
England. Since he frequently based his characters on real
people and used real places—particularly the streets and The Characters
neighborhoods of London—as settings for his tales, the
connections between his fictional world and the actual All of the characters are discussed individually, though
world of Victorian England have fascinated his readers. members of a single family sometimes appear under the
Dickens enthusiasts have often applied themselves— family name or as subsidiary characters under the main
sometimes overzealously—to connecting the people and character of the entry. Each character is introduced in
places in the novels with counterparts in the real world. boldface type, either as the subject of the entry or as a
Understanding the historical context in which Dickens character related to the main character in the text of the
worked is especially important to understanding his life entry; is characterized, often with a brief description
from the novel; and his or her important moments in
and his novels.
the story are indicated with parenthetical chapter refer-
Although his favor with the popular audience has ences. Since all of the characters have their own entries,
never waned, Dickens was, during the modernist decades they are not cross-referenced in the text, except in cases
of the early twentieth century, largely dismissed by critics where a character appears under more than one name.
who ignored his work as vulgar and simplistic. When Ed- Then a capitalized cross-reference in the secondary en-
mund Wilson in his 1941 essay, "Dickens, the Two tries indicates the main entry for the character.
Scrooges," demonstrated that Dickens was more intellec-
tually challenging than his detractors had allowed, he ush-
ered in an age of serious attention to the novelist. Since Dickens and His T i m e s
that time, Dickens has been explicated and mythologized,
analyzed and psychoanalyzed, constructed and decon- For a general overview of Dickens and his historical con-
structed in a host of critical and academic studies. text, begin with the entry for Charles Dickens, a chron-
Dickens A to Z is a guide to Dickens's works them- ological biography that cross-references many of his
selves and to the characters he created in them, to the friends and associates, his activities and travels, and his
author and the Victorian context in which he worked, writing career. Individual members of his family, as well
and to the critics and scholars who have commented on as his friends, fellow novelists, publishers, and other busi-
his novels. ness associates, receive separate entries, as do broader
vii
10. viii Preface
social and historical topics, such as the Industrial Revo- "Broker's"-"The Broker's Man"
lution, railways, the sensation novel, and the early Vic-
"Christening" = "The Bloomsbury Christening"
torian period.
"Curate" = "The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-
pay Captain"
Scholarship and C r i t i c i s m
"Evans" = "Miss Evans and the Eagle"
Many Dickens critics and scholars are mentioned in the "Hackney" = "Hackney-coach Stands"
commentaries and the summaries of criticism on the in-
dividual novels. The most important commentators, es- "Last Cab-driver" = "The Last Cab-driver, and the
pecially those who have done a variety of work on First Omnibus Cad"
Dickens, have separate entries summarizing the nature "Making a Night" = "Making a Night of It"
of their work and indicating their most important books
and articles. "Milliner" = "The Mistaken Milliner"
I have relied on the work of innumerable scholars and "Minns" = "Mr. Minns and his Cousin"
critics in developing the entries for Dickens A to Z. Some
of my debts are acknowledged in the text, but many "Monmouth Street" = "Meditations in Monmouth
more are silent, even unrecognized. I am particularly Street"
grateful to generations of Dickensians, writing in journals "Neighbour" = "Our Next-door Neighbour"
like The Dickensian and The Dickens Quarterly whose
devotion to Dickens and his works continues to enlarge "Pawnbroker's" = "The Pawnbroker's Shop"
our understanding of the man, his times, and his novels. "Porter" = "Mrs. Joseph Porter"
I am indebted to Bob Gish, who originally suggested this
project, to Michael Fisher, who provided institutional "Sparkins" = "Horatio Sparkins"
support for it, and to my two graduate assistants, Ann Tottle" = "A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins
Grigsby and Joyce Flagg, who helped in choosing, chas- Tottle"
ing down information, and proposing approaches to var-
ious entries. I am also grateful to Gary Scharnhorst, "Tuggses" = "The Tuggses at Ramsgate"
Hugh Witemeyer, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Pat "Vauxhall" = "Vauxhall Gardens by Day"
Smith, and Bob Fleming for suggestions on particular
entries, and to my wife, Mary, for her patience and for "Winglebury" = "The Great Winglebury Duel"
her help in preparing the illustrations. I am especially Carol= A Christmas Carol
grateful to Bob Wolf, my editor at Facts On File, whose
careful reading and thoughtful criticism did much to im- Chimes =The Chimes
prove many of the entries, and to copy editor John Chuzzlewit =Martin Chuzzlewit
Drexel. The inevitable mistakes and omissions in a work
of this scope are wholly my own. Coquettes =The Village Coquettes
Cross-references within the entries are indicated with Copperfield =David Copperfield
SMALL CAPITALS. Since all the works and all the char-
Cricket =The Cricket on the Hearth
acters have individual entries, they are not cross-
referenced, except when a secondary entry—e.g., to a Curiosity Shop=The Old Curiosity Shop
character's nickname or alias—indicates a primary entry Dombey —Dombey and Son
on the topic. B o l d f a c e type is used within entries to
indicate related subjects, such as family members related Dorrit =Little Dorrit
to the character who heads the entry. References to "Doubledick" = "The Story of Richard Doubledick"
scenes or passages from Dickens's works are indicated
with parenthetical chapter numbers. The works them- Drood =The Mystery of Edwin Drood
selves are identified with short titles and are more fully "English Prisoners" = "The Perils of Certain English
described in the entry devoted to each work. Works iden- Prisoners"
tified by the following short titles appear alphabetically
under the longer titles indicated below. Short titles not Expectations =Great Expectations
on the list can be found alphabetically among the entries. "Golden Mary" = "The Wreck of the Golden Mary"
Battle —The Battle of Life "Haunted House" = "The Haunted House" (Christ-
mas Stories)
"Bolton" = "Mr. Robert Bolton"
Humphrey =Master Humphrey's Clock
Boz=Sketches by Boz
Lazy Tour=The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
"Beadle" = "The Beadle. The Parish Engine. The
Schoolmaster" "Marigold" = "Doctor Marigold"
11. Miscellaneous —Miscellaneous Papers, Plays, and Po- (i) 'His General Line of Business"
ems
(2) 'The Shipwreck"
"Bull's Somnambulist" = "Mr. Bull's Somnambu-
list" (3) 'Wapping Workhouse"
(4) 'Two Views of a Cheap Theatre"
"Extraordinary Traveller" = "Some Account of an
Extraordinary Traveller" (5) 'Poor Merchantile Jack"
"Hippopotamus" = "The 'Good' Hippopotamus" (6) 'Refreshments for Travellers"
"Jest-book" = "Proposals for a National Jest-book" (7) 'Travelling Abroad"
Mudfog=The Mudfog and Other Sketches (8) 'The Great Tasmania's Cargo"
(9) 'City of London Churches"
"Mugby" = "Mugby Junction"
(10 "Shy Neighbourhoods"
Mutual Friend =Our Mutual Friend
Nickleby =Nicholas Nickleby (H "Tramps"
(I? "Dullborough Town"
Nightingale =Mr. Nightingale's Diary
(13; "Night Walks"
Notes = American Notes
(i*: "Chambers"
Pickwick =The Pickwick Papers
(is; "Nurse's Stories"
Pictures —Pictures from Italy
(16' "Arcadian London"
"Poor Relation" = "The Poor Relation's Story"
(17 "The Italian Prisoner"
Reprinted =Reprinted Pieces
(1 "The Calais Night Mail"
"At Dusk" = "To Be Read at Dusk"
(19 "Some Recollections of Mortality"
"Births" = "Births. Mrs. Meek, of a Son" (20; "Birthday Celebrations"
"Bore" = "Our Bore" (21 "The Short-timers"
"Detective Anecdotes" = "Three 'Detective' Anec- (22 "Bound for the Great Salt Lake"
dotes"
(23 "The City of the Absent"
"French Folly"-"A Monument of French Folly"
(24; "An Old Stage-coaching House"
"French Watering Place" = "Our French Watering-
(25 "The Boiled Beef of New England"
Place"
(26; "Chatham Dockyard"
"Inspector Field" = "On Duty with Inspector
Field" (27 "In the French-Flemish Country"
"Poor Man's Tale" = "A Poor Man's Tale of a Pat- (28 "Medicine Men of Civilisation"
ent" (29; "Titbull's Alms-houses"
"Workhouse" = "A Walk in a Workhouse" (3o; "The Ruffian"
Rudge =Barnaby Rudge (31 "Aboard Ship"
"Silverman" = "George Silverman's Explanation" (32 "A Small Star in the East"
Stone =Charles Dickens' Uncollected Writings from (33 "A Little Dinner in an Hour"
Household Words, ed. Harry Stone (34; "Mr. Barlow"
"Tiddler" = "Tom Tiddler's Ground" (35 "On an Amateur Beat"
"Tulrumble" = "The Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble" (36 "AFly-LeafinaLife"
Twist =Oliver Twist (37 "A Plea for Total Abstinence"
Two Cities =A Tale of Two Cities Young Couples =Sketches of Young Couples
Uncommercial =The Uncommercial Traveller Young Gentlemen ^Sketches of Young Gentlemen
12.
13. A
"Aaron" Wrayburn's nickname for RIAH. Mutual "Address of the English Author to the French
Friend. Public" Dickens's preface to the French translation of
Nicholas Nickleby by P. Lorain (1857). Uncollected.
"Aboard Ship" The Traveller's account of sailing on
the steamship Russia from NEW YORK to LIVERPOOL, of Adelphi A residential complex along the THAMES, be-
his remembrances of other voyages, his constant aware- tween WATERLOO and Hungerford bridges, featuring a
ness of the rolling sea and the ship's engine, and his relief terrace of houses raised on arches and facing the river.
on arriving at Queenstown in Ireland and, finally, at Dickens had lodgings here as a young man. David Cop-
Liverpool. Uncommercial (31). perfield wanders in the dark arches during breaks from
MURDSTONE A D GRINBY's, and later on has rooms
N
Ackroyd, Peter (1949- ) English novelist, poet, there in Mrs. Crupp's house in BUCKINGHAM STREET
critic, and biographer. Dickens has a prominent place in {Copperfield 11, 23). Cornelius Brook Dingwall, M.P.,
Ackroyd's work. His first novel, The Great Fire of Lon- has his residence here (Boz, 47). Martin Chuzzlewit takes
don (1982), involves a project for filming Little Dorrit, lodgings in a poor public house (Chuzzlewit, 13); Mrs.
and the novel itself is a continuation of Dickens's story. Edson attempts suicide from Adelphi Terrace ("Lirriper's
Ackroyd's controversial biography Dickens (1990) pres- Lodgings"); Arthur Clennam eavesdrops on the meeting
ents a compelling portrait of the author as a complex between Miss Wade and Rigaud on the Terrace (Dorrit,
and creative personality. Although it lacks scholarly ap- 11:9). OSBORNE'S, the hotel where Wardle and Pickwick
paratus, its detailed account of Dickens's life, written stay, is also in this neighborhood (Pickwick, 54, 56).
with a novelist's intuition, makes it the most readable
Dickens biography. Ackroyd has also written introduc-
Adelphi Theatre Theater in the STRAND famous for
tions to the Heinemann paperback edition of most of
melodrama and comic sketches. The young Dickens saw
Dickens's works and an Introduction to Dickens (1991)
Charles Mathews perform his comic sketches here. Men-
for the general reader.
tioned in Pickwick (31).
Adams (1) Head boy at Dr. Strong's school in Can-
terbury when David is in attendance there. Copperfield. Admiral Benbow Inn Hotel at the deserted watering
place in "Out of the Season" (Reprinted).
Adams (2) Clerk to Mr. Sampson, narrator of
"Hunted Down." Admiralty A guest at Medle's dinner parties. Dorrit
(1:21).
Adams, Captain Lord Frederick Verisopht's second
in the duel with Sir Mulberry Hawk. Nickleby (50). Adrian, Arthur (1906- ) Dickens scholar and
critic. In Georgina Hogarth and the Dickens Circle
Adams, Jack An acquaintance of Lord Feenix who is (1957), Professor Adrian carefully documents Georgina's
the subject of the story he tells at the marriage feast for life with Dickens, answering those who considered her
Dombey and Edith. Dombey (31). the scheming cause of Dickens's marital troubles. In
Dickens and the Parent-Child Relationship (1984),
Adams, Jane Young housemaid to the Young Couple Adrian traces four patterns in the parent-child relation-
who reappears as the devoted old servant to the Old ships: orphans, unwanted children, children misguided
Couple in Sketches of Young Couples. by their parents, and children forced to assume parental
duties.
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) One of the 18th-
century authors whose works were familiar to Dickens. Affery Longtime maid to Mrs. Clennam and former
Although Dickens was not particularly fond of the serious nurse to Arthur. She is the wife of Jeremiah Flintwinch
essays of Addison, he found Addison's humorous essays and lives in constant fear of her husband and her mistress
"delightful." and in bewilderment about their activities. Dorrit.
1
14. 2 A f r i c a n Knife S w a l l o w e r
A f r i c a n Knife S w a l l o w e r Member of the Vincent Albery, J a m e s (1838-1889) Victorian playwright
Crummles's theater company. He looks and speaks "re- who adapted Pickwick for the stage (1871) and whose
markably like an Irishman." Nickleby (48). Two Roses (1871) was a popular drama loosely based on
Little Dorrit.
A g a s s i z , L o u i s ( 1 8 0 7 - 1 8 7 3 ) American scientist, nat-
uralist, and professor. Dickens met Agassiz on his trip Albion, T h e Public house in LITTLE RUSSELL STREET
to America in 1867. Agassiz attended the farewell party where Potter and Smithers were regulars. Boz, "Making
for Dickens when the author left BOSTON for NEW a Night."
YORK.
Aldersgate Street The street in London leading
north from ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL where the warehouse
"Aged P . , T h e , " s h o r t f o r " T h e Aged P a r e n t "
of Chuzzlewit and Son is located. Arthur Clennam
WEMMlCK's old father; he is well cared for by his son
comes upon Cavaletto in this street after the foreigner
and entertained by the sound of a cannon, which he can
has been run over by a mail coach (Dorrit, 1:13). Jasper
hear in spite of his deafness. Expectations.
stays in a "hybrid hotel" in a little square behind Al-
dersgate Street (Drood, 23).
"Aggerawaytor" Cruncher's epithet for his wife.
Two Cities. Aldgate P u m p A London landmark near the corner
of Leadenhall and FENCHURCH STREETS in the CITY.
Agnes Mrs. Bloss's servant, the object of old Tibb's Mr. Blotton, Pickwick's critic in the Pickwick Club, has
affections. Boz, "Boarding House." his residence in Aldgate H i g h S t r e e t (Pickwick, 11),
which went east from the pump to Petticoat Lane. Toots,
" A g r i c u l t u r a l I n t e r e s t , T h e " Uncollected article distraught over Walter Gay's attentions to Florence
in the MORNING CHRONICLE (September 17-18, 1834). Dombey, walks back and forth from Leadenhall Street
to the pump to cool himself (Dombey, 56).
A i n s w o r t h , W i l l i a m H a r r i s o n ( 1 8 0 5 - 1 8 8 2 ) Edi-
tor, publisher; novelist, especially of historical and NEW- A l e x a n d e r , F r a n c i s ( 1 8 0 0 - 1 8 8 1 ) Boston artist who
GATE NOVELS. Ainsworth met Dickens in 1834, the year painted Dickens's portrait during his first visit to AMER-
he published his first novel, Rookwood. He introduced ICA in 1842. The painting was later owned by Dickens's
Dickens to JOHN FORSTER and to his first publisher, MA- American publisher, James FIELDS.
CRONE. Dickens often attended gatherings of writers at
Ainsworth's house and was one of the Trio Club with Alice Youngest of the FIVE SISTERS OF YORK. With
Ainsworth and Forster. Ainsworth preceded Dickens as her four sisters she is working on an embroidery which
editor of BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY. His Newgate novel, is represented in the Five Sisters window at York Min-
Jack Sheppard (1839), was often compared to Twist. ster. Nickleby (6).
Alice, M i s t r e s s Heroine of Magog's tale, the only
A k e r m a n A historical figure, the head jailer at NEW-
daughter of the bowyer. Humphrey (1).
GATE PRISON at the time of the GORDON RIOTS who
unsuccessfully tries to defend the prison against the ri-
Alicia, P r i n c e s s Eldest daughter of King Watkins the
oters. Rudge (64).
First and heroine of Miss Alice Rainbird's story. "Holi-
day Romance."
A k e r s h e m , S o p h r o n i a The "mature young lady,"
an acquaintance of the Veneerings, who marries Alfred Alick "A damp, earthy child in red worsted socks" on
Lammle believing him to be rich (1:10). When the two the GRAVESEND steam packet. Boz, "River."
discover that they have mutually duped each other into
marriage, they join forces and agree to prey on others Alicumpaine, M r s . A friend of Mrs. Orange. "Hol-
together (1:10). She secretly warns Podsnap, however, of iday Romance."
their scheme to entrap his daughter into a marriage with
Fledgby (II: 16). After going bankrupt, they flee the coun- All the Year Round Dickens's second general circu-
try (IV:8). Mutual Friend. lation magazine, successor to HOUSEHOLD WORDS. After
quarreling with BRADBURY & EVANS over the publica-
A l b a n y , T h e Chambers for men of fashion, located tion of a notice regarding his separation from his wife,
on the north side of PICCADILLY. Edward Malderton Dickens returned to CHAPMAN & HALL and began this
rests his claim as a man of fashion on knowing a former new magazine on April 30, 1859. Like its predecessor, it
resident of the Albany (Boz, "Sparkins"). Fascination appeared in a two-column, unillustrated format at two-
Fledgeby has his rooms here, where he is beaten by pence for a weekly number, but besides general interest
Lammle and treated to the pepper plaster by Jenny articles and stories, it also ran serialized novels. A Tale
Wren (Mutual Friend, 111:8). of Two Cities and Great Expectations both first appeared
15. Allegory 3
here, as did novels by Wilkie COLLINS, Edward Bulwer symbolic rather than allegorical, for they suggest several
LYTTON, Mrs. GASKELL, and others. Dickens also con- meanings, among them wealth, mortality, pollution, and
tributed to the special Christmas numbers of the maga- materialism.
zine (reprinted in Christmas Stories), the essays collected Dickens frequently uses a traditional allegorical motif
in The Uncommercial Traveller, and other miscellaneous representing life as a journey. By giving Twist the subtitle
papers. Dickens acted as editor and publisher of the mag- "the parish boy's progress," Dickens links his story to an
azine, hiring W. H. WILLS as his sub-editor and Chap- allegorical predecessor, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
man & Hall as his agents. (1672), in which Christian journeys from the City of De-
struction to the Celestial City. Master Humphrey says of
Allegory A narrative that is equated with another Little Nell and her journey that she "exist[s] in a kind
story outside of the narrative. Traditionally, allegory was of allegory," and her story is a kind of progress, ending
religious, paralleling, for example, the characters and sit- at the country church where she dies. Dickens's allegor-
uations in the story to biblical counterparts. Allegorical ical referent is not so clearly defined as Bunyan's, al-
characters are often personifications of moral traits or though Curiosity Shop may be the Dickens novel that
abstract ideas. Unlike SYMBOLISM, allegory does not comes closest to being an allegory.
seek to suggest multiple meanings or ambiguities; it es- More often Dickens uses allegorical elements in the
tablishes a one-to-one relationshp with its referent. The novels. Characters with names that suggest their signifi-
dust heaps in Mutual Friend, for example, would be cance—characters like Pip (seed), Magwitch (magic +
< p * r ***. 0
;. .
bilmJL • '.
:
tuMI "H i*
Thomas Worth's illustration of Nell and her grandfather for the American Household Edition (1872-73) depicts the pair a
pilgrims in the allegorical tradition of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
16. 4 Allen, Arabella
witch?), and Havisham (have a sham? have is sham? have Amateur Theatricals From early childhood Dickens
a shame?)—have allegorical roots. The strong opposi- was entranced by the theater. In his Preface to The Mem-
tions in the novels, such as that between Oliver and Fa- oirs of Joseph Grimaldi, he recalls his excitement at
gin, for example, suggest the opposition of innocence and watching the PANTOMIME clowns; before he was nine he
experience, youth and age, good and evil. The parable wrote a tragedy, MISNAR, SULTAN OF INDIA; he spent
structure of Hard Times with its allusion to the biblical many hours writing for and performing plays in a toy
injunction "as ye sow, so shall ye reap," makes the novel, theater. As a young man, he scheduled an audition at
in part, a retelling of the biblical PARABLE. COVENT GARDEN, which illness forced him to cancel.
Many critics have discussed these allegorical aspects Although he did not follow a theatrical career, his the-
of the novels. Janet L. LARSON analyzes the ways in atrical enthusiasm continued throughout his life, espe-
which biblical allusion contributes to allegory, especially cially in the performances of his amateur theatrical
in the early novels, and she compares Twist with Pil- groups in the 1840s and 1850s and in the PUBLIC READ-
grim's Progress. Jonathan Arac (Commissioned Spirits, INGS of the 1860s.
1979) provides close allegorical readings of the American The Dickens family had produced plays at home, per-
episodes in Chuzzlewit and the opening chapters oîDor- formances in which Charles acted, directed, and stage-
rit. Juliet MCMASTER (1987) finds allegorical significance managed. His first public performances took place in
in the opposition of light (Ada) and darkness (Vholes) in MONTREAL during his American journey in 1842. There
Bleak House. Sylvere MONOD (1968) and Geoffrey Dickens directed three plays, taking parts in all of them.
THURLEY (1976) consider the last three novels especially Between 1845 and 1857, Dickens directed theatrical
allegorical. Jane Vogel (Allegory in Dickens, 1977) offers groups composed of family and friends nearly every year.
a reading of all of Dickens's novels as Christian allego- Regular members of the casts were John FORSTER,
ries; her interpretations offer some provocative insights Douglas JERROLD, John LEECH, Mark LEMON, Au-
into the biblical dimensions of Dickens's vision. Mildred gustus EGG, Frank STONE, Wilkie COLLINS, Mary
Newcome (The Imagined World of Charles Dickens, BOYLE, Catherine DICKENS, Mary DICKENS, and Geor-
1989) sees all of Dickens's novels as developing an ex- gina HOGARTH. Dickens's artist friends designed and
tended "allegory of a nineteenth-century Everyman . . . constructed sets. Typically the evening included a "seri-
[who] must find the wisdom to permit the natural proc- ous" play—Ben Jonson's EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR
esses of life, both for himself and for others whom he and Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, for exam-
touches, the freedom to develop, mature, come to frui- ple—followed by a farce. Dickens directed, managed,
tion, and decay." and played the leading roles in both plays. Some of the
performances were private, for friends and invited guests,
Allen, Arabella "A black eyed young lady in a very like two for Queen VICTORIA and Prince Albert, one in
nice pair of boots with fur round the top" (28), who 1851 when the group performed Edward Bulwer LYT-
secretly marries Winkle. Her brother, medical student TON'S Not so Bad as We Seem, and the second in 1857,
Benjamin, friend and drinking companion of Bob Saw- a performance of Collins's THE FROZEN DEEP. Public
yer, is "a coarse, stout, thick-set young man, with black performances were given for charity; the group raised a
hair cut rather short, and a white face cut rather long. good deal of money for indigent writers and the GUILD
. . . He presented, altogether, rather a mildewy appear- OF LITERATURE AND ART. In the 1850s the group made
ance, and emitted a fragrant odour of full-flavoured Cu- several tours of England—especially to MANCHESTER,
bas" (30). His plan that Bob marry his sister is foiled LIVERPOOL, and BIRMINGHAM—on these charitable en-
when she elopes with Winkle (48). Pickwick reconciles terprises.
Allen to his sister's marriage. Pickwick. During a production of The Frozen Deep in 1857,
Dickens met Ellen TERNAN, a professional actress hired
Allonby Seaside town in Cumberland where the two for the performances in Manchester.
idle apprentices find nothing to keep them occupied. Dickens's favorite roles elicited his histrionic skills. He
Lazy Tour (3). was said to be "glorious" as the boastful Bobadil in Every
Alphonse Mrs. Wititterly's little page boy. "If ever an Man in his Humour; one of the stage carpenters re-
Alphonse carried plain Bill in his face and figure, that marked to him, "It was a great loss to the public when
page was the boy." Nickleby (21). you took to writing books!" In a similar vein, Mrs. Fred-
erick YATES exclaimed after one of his performances:
"Altro" Pancks's nickname for CAVALETTO, based on "Oh Mr. Dickens what a pity it is you can do anything
the foreigner's frequent use of the Italian word meaning else!"
"certainly." Dorrit.
Amelia (1) A young girl visiting Ramsgate. Boz,
Amarinta "Bright-eyed" lady "with the obdurate par- "Tuggs."
ents" in the narrator's youthful castle in the air. Miscel-
laneous, "Gone to the Dogs." Probably an allusion to Amelia (2) The wife of Bill, a criminal défendent be-
M a r i a BEADNELL. ing represented by Jaggers. She is so persistent in plead-
17. American Notes for General Circulation 5
ing with Jaggers for his help that the lawyer threatens to kind remarks on the improvements he found after a
drop his client if she does not stop bothering him. Ex- quarter century. Useful accounts of Dickens's American
pectations (20). visits can be found in Michael SLATER'S introduction to
Dickens on America and the Americans (1978) and in
America Dickens describes his first American tour, in Jerome Meckier's Innocent Abroad (1990).
1842, in AMERICAN NOTES. He also used this American
experience in Chuzzlewit: Young Martin's journey to the "America Junior" Name used by Putnam SMIF
New World becomes a Dantesque descent into the heart when he writes to Martin Chuzzlewit. Chuzzlewit (22).
of darkness where the greed and selfishness that are the
themes of the novel emerge in exaggerated form on the "American in Europe, An" Dickens's review of
American frontier. Henry Colman's European Life and Manners, in Fa-
His criticisms of the American character in Notes—of miliar Letters to Friends for the EXAMINER (July 2 1 ,
sharp dealing, suspiciousness, corrupt politics, slavery, 1849). Dickens criticizes Colman's sycophantic fascina-
and a slanderous press—enraged his American readers tion with the British aristocracy and his misrepresenta-
in 1842. In an article in ALL THE YEAR ROUND in 1862, tions of English life, resulting from his concentration on
during the American Civil War, he implies that his as- the luxurious life at country estates. Miscellaneous.
sessment has not changed in 20 years [Miscellaneous,
"Young Man from the Country"). American Notes for General Circulation Dickens's
On his second trip to the United States, between No- account of his American journey in 1842, largely based
vember 9, 1867 and April 22, 1868, Dickens gave an on his letters to John FORSTER. The Dickenses sailed
exhausting series of PUBLIC READINGS in 16 eastern cit- from LIVERPOOL on January 3 and visited BOSTON,
ies. He repaired the damage of his earlier visit by his Springfield, HARTFORD, New Haven, N W YORK, PHI-
E
This cartoon from a British magazine on the occasion of Dickens's departure on his American reading tour in 1867 depicts
novelist surrounded by his characters as he bids farewell to John Bull.
18. 6 "American Panorama, The"
where he is known as Mynheer van Flyntevynge (Dorrit,
11:31).
" A m u s e m e n t s o f the P e o p l e , T h e " Two-part ar-
ticle for HOUSEHOLD WORDS (March 30, April 13, 1850)
describing working-class theaters and arguing for their
support and improvement. They should not be closed,
Dickens argues much like Sleary in Hard Times, because
"the people . . . will be amused somewhere." Viewing the
exhibits at the Polytechnic Institution and reading are
not reasonable substitutes for these melodramatic plays
in working-class theaters and saloons. Miscellaneous.
" A n a l y t i c a l C h e m i s t , T h e " The Veneerings's but-
ler who "goes round like a gloomy Analytical Chemist;
always seeming to say, after 'Chablis, sir?'—'You
wouldn't if you knew what its made of " (1:2). Mutual
Friend.
A n d e r s e n , H a n s C h r i s t i a n ( 1 8 0 5 - 1 8 7 5 ) Danish
Thomas Nast's frontispiece for an American edition 0/Ameri- author and writer of Fairy Tales, published from 1835
can Notes (1872-73) depicts the confrontation between Brit- to 1872. A great admirer of Dickens, he stayed in Dick-
ain and America that angered many American readers of the
ens's house on his vists to England in 1847 and 1857,
book.
but after the second visit, Dickens put a card in the dress-
ing table mirror in the room where Andersen stayed,
reading "Hans Christian Andersen slept in this room for
LADELPHIA, WASHINGTON, Fredericksburg, RICHMOND,
five weeks which seemed to the family ages."
BALTIMORE, HARRISBURG, PITTSBURGH, Cincinnati,
LOUISVILLE, CAIRO (Illinois), ST. LOUIS, LEBANON (Il- A n d e r s o n , M r . a n d M r s . J o h n The neatly dressed
linois; the LOOKING-GLASS PRAIRIE), Columbus, and spotless tramps whom the Uncommercial Traveller
Sandusky, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, NIAGARA FALLS, encounters on the road. John has chalked HUNGRY on
Toronto, KINGSTON, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, Albany, the spade that he carries. Uncommercial, "Tramps."
West Point, and a Shaker settlement in LEBANON (New
York) before leaving for England from New York City Angel (1) Coaching inn at ISLINGTON on the northern
on June 7. route out of London that Oliver Twist and Noah Clay-
Although Dickens made many friends on the tour, pole pass as they enter the city. Twist (8, 42).
particularly among the literati of Boston, he found the
public attentions of the Americans exhausting, and his Angel (2) Inn at BURY ST. EDMUNDS, Suffolk, where
speeches endorsing international COPYRIGHT alienated Sam Weller first meets Job Trotter and where Pickwick
some of his American readers. His growing disillusion receives notice that Mrs. Bardell is suing him for breach
with America during the journey finds its way into Amer- of promise. Pickwick (15-18). Dickens stayed at the An-
ican Notes in his critical remarks on the American press, gel in 1835 while reporting on the parliamentary elec-
sanitary conditions in the cities, slavery, and American tion.
manners, especially the practice of spitting in public.
Ironically, Notes first appeared in the United States in a A n g e l i c a An old girlfriend of the Traveller. Uncom-
pirated version in the periodical Brother Jonathan. The mercial (9).
book so angered some American readers that it was pub-
A n g l e r s ' I n n The riverside inn where Lizzie Hexam
licly burned at a theater in New York.
takes Eugene Wrayburn after he is attacked by Bradley
Headstone (Mutual Friend, IV: 10). The original is the
" A m e r i c a n P a n o r a m a , T h e " Article for the EX-
Red Lion Hotel in HENLEY-on-Thames.
AMINER (December 16, 1848) recommending "the larg-
est picture in the world," a three-mile-long panorama of Anglo-Bengalee D i s i n t e r e s t e d L o a n a n d Life As-
the MISSISSIPPI and Missouri rivers from New Orleans s u r a n c e C o m p a n y The fraudulent investment com-
to Yellowstone by Mr. Banvard that was currently on pany promoted by Montague Tigg and David Crimple,
display in PICCADILLY. Miscellaneous. with investment capital amounting to "two and as many
noughts after it as the printer can get in the line." Chuz-
A m s t e r d a m , H o l l a n d After the riots, Lord George zlewit (27).
Gordon flees here, but is refused residence by the "quiet
burgomasters" (Rudge, 82). After the fall of the House " A n i m a l M a g n e t i s m " Farce by Elizabeth Inchbald
of Clennam, Jeremiah Flintwinch settles in Amsterdam, (1753-1821) that Dickens read as a child and that he
19. Aristocracy 7
later included in the repertory of his amateur theatrical mercial (16). Originally in ALL THE YEAR ROUND (Sep-
groups. Dickens, who practiced animal magnetism, or tember 29, 1860).
MESMERISM, himself, played a doctor who induced hyp-
notic spells. "Archbishop of Greenwich" The fanciful name
given to the waiter at the restaurant in GREENWICH
Anne Dombey's housemaid who, when the House of where Rokesmith and Bella have their wedding break-
Dombey crashes, marries Towlinson the butler; together fast. Mutual Friend (IV:4).
they open a grocery store. Dombey (59).
Archetype A term from Jungian psychology for a pri-
Anny An old pauper who summons Mrs. Corney, the mordial image or symbol from the "collective uncon-
matron of the workhouse, to the deathbed of Sally, an- scious" of the human race that appears repeatedly in
other pauper who attended Oliver's mother on her MYTHS, dreams, religions, and literature. Such images
deathbed. Sally gives Mrs. Corney a locket and infor- can awaken the unconscious memories of readers, linking
mation essential to unravelling Oliver's parentage. Twist their personal experience to the broader experience of
(24, 51). their culture and of humankind. Some of the powerful
archetypes that recur in Dickens's works are the city as
"Another Round of Stories by the Christmas labyrinth, suggesting that the quest for identity in Lon-
Fire" Extra Christmas number of HOUSEHOLD don is like Theseus's challenge to the Minotaur; the river
WORDS, 1853. Dickens contributed "The Schoolboy's as both deadly and renewing, producing the drowning/
Story" and "Nobody's Story." Among the other contrib- resurrection motif that appears in several novels, partic-
utors were Eliza Lynn LINTON, Adelaide Ann PROCTER, ularly Expectations, Mutual Friend, and Drood; the lost
and George SALA. Eden, in which paradise becomes a deadly garden in
Chuzzlewit and a "ruined garden" at SATIS HOUSE (Ex-
Antonio A guitar-playing Spanish sailor whom the pectations); the self as orphan, born to an unknown father
Traveller meets in Megisson's lodging house. Uncom- like Oliver Twist, a "posthumous" father like Copper-
mercial (5). field, or a vindictive father like Harmon (Mutual Friend);
life as a journey, typified by the ways in which the
Antwerp, Belgium Rigaud meets Jeremiah Flin- capsule journeys in Twist (8) and Copperfield (13) become
twinch's twin brother, Ephraim, here when Ephraim emblematic of the heroes' lives.
brings the iron box containing the Clennam papers from
London. Dorrit, (11:30).
Aristocracy The social range in Dickens's novels is
Apothecary In the 19th century the apothecary acted sometimes compared to that in THACKERAY's works.
as both druggist and general practitioner in treating the Thackeray's world stretches from servants through the
poor, especially in rural areas. When old Sally dies in middle class to the mansions of Lord Steyne, and even
the workhouse, she is attended by an apothecary's ap- to the royal receiving rooms. Dickens, by contrast, starts
prentice (Twist 24). An apothecary attends Nicholas in society's lower depths—in Fagin's den—and moves
Nickleby's father on his deathbed (Nickleby, 1). A "calm on to tell of small tradesmen, professionals (especially
Apothecary" attends the ailing Paul Dombey at Blim- lawyers), and gentlemen of the upper middle class. Far
ber's Academy (Dombey, 14). less frequently than Thackeray does he describes the
country estates of the landed aristocracy or the mansions
"Appeal to Fallen Women, An" Privately printed of the silver-fork denizens of London.
leaflet by Dickens (1850) in aid of the URANIA COTTAGE If the dimensions of Dickens's world were established
project to rescue prostitutes from the streets. by his background and experience, they were also influ-
enced by his Radical political views and his sensitivity to
Arabian Nights, The Dickens read these tales as a the shifts in power during his lifetime. A strong supporter
child, probably in Jonathan Scott's translation (1811), of parliamentary REFORM in 1832 and an opponent of
and they became one of his favorite books. He alludes the CORN LAWS in the mid-1840s, Dickens saw the
to the tales frequently in his works, often as representa- landed aristocracy as obsolete opponents to progress,
tive of the world of FANCY or imagination. Michael and, as a disciple of CARLYLE, as idle parasites who ir-
SLATER (1983) remarks that such "allusions are a sure responsibly sapped society's wealth without contributing
sign that his emotions are deeply stirred; they are a guar- to it. In their occasional appearances in the early novels,
antee of the genuineness of his romantic feelings." in such figures as Sir Mulberry Hawk (Nickleby) or Sir
John Chester (Rudge), they are villains, but in later works
"Arcadian London" During vacation time when they become increasingly absurd, like the Chuzzlewits
London is deserted, the city becomes an arcadian wil- who trace their lineage back to Adam or the Boodles,
derness in a golden age. The Traveller goes out into the Coodles, and Noodles of Bleak House, who ritualistically
empty streets from his lodging in BOND STREET to be repeat obsolete social rites. More dangerous than old
"soothed by the repose" around him and to celebrate baronets such as Sir Leicester Dedlock, who cannot re-
the city which has become "the abode of love." Uncom- ally grasp the significance of the social changes that have
20. 8 Artful D o d g e r
made him obsolete, are the middle-class sycophants who Athenaeum Chief weekly review of books and cultural
kowtow to aristocratic tradition. Mrs. Nickleby nearly affairs in England from 1828 to 1921. The Athenaeum
sacrifices Kate to Hawk; Turveydrop's dandiacal imita- was somewhat grudging in its reviews of Dickens's early
tion of the aristocracy imposes on Prince and Caddy novels, and during the 1840s it often praised the intent
(Bleak House). of the novels while faulting their liberties in form and
Dedlock may be an absurd, finally even a pathetic style. By the end of Dickens's career, particularly in
figure, but aristocratic privilege can have destructive im- Henry CHORLEY'S reviews of Expectations and Mutual
plications. The Barnacles who inherit the CIRCUMLO- Friend, the magazine acknowledged Dickens's preemi-
CUTION OFFICE by traditional right prevent social nence among English writers; its obituary notice de-
progress and ruin individual lives (Dorrit) and self- scribed the novelist as "one of the greatest and most
loathing aristocratic idlers like Harthouse (Hard Times) beneficent men of genius England has produced since
and Gowan (Dorrit) bring suffering to those around the days of Shakespeare."
them.
Insofar as aristocratic power was passed into the A t h e n a e u m Club A club for distinguished and
hands of the merchants and capitalists, England saved learned men, founded in 1824 and located in London.
itself from a bloodbath like that of France; but by the Dickens was elected to the club in 1838, along with MAC-
end of his life, Dickens clearly wondered whether a pow- READY, Darwin, and the classical historian George
erful bourgeoisie is any better than an oppressive aris- Grote. Among its members during Dickens's time were
tocracy. Figures like Bounderby (Hard Times), Merdle John FORSTER, THACKERAY, BROWNING, and Anthony
(Dorrit), Veneering and Podsnap (Mutual Friend) seem TROLLOPE.
just as destructive in their own ways as the old aristoc-
Atherfield M r s . Atherfield and her daughter L u c y
racy they displaced.
are passengers on the GOLDEN MARY, the ship that col-
Artful D o d g e r The nickname of Jack DAWKINS. lides with an iceberg in "The Wreck of the Golden
Mary," the story by Dickens, Wilkie COLLINS, and others
Twist.
for the Christmas Number of ALL THE YEAR ROUND in
Arundel Street In the STRAND. The offices of CHAP- 1856. Lucy dies at sea after they abandon ship.
MAN & HALL, where Dickens bought the issue of the
MONTHLY MAGAZINE that contained his first published Atlantic Monthly, The Magazine founded in Boston
story, were located here. in 1857 and published by Dickens's American publishers,
TICKNOR AND FIELDS. "GEORGE SILVERMAN'S EXPLA-
A s h f o r d , Nettie The young lady, "aged half-past NATION" appeared here between January and March,
six," who is the author of the story of Mrs. Orange in 1868. Dickens also contributed an article on his friend
"Holiday Romance," a fantasy about a world where Charles FECHTER, "On Mr. Fechter's Acting" (August
adults and children exchange roles. 1869), when Fechter, an actor and theater manager, was
leaving London to resettle in the United States.
" A s p i r e " Poem in HOUSEHOLD WORDS (April 2 5 ,
1851) urging the reader to affirm the power "in thyself A u g u s t u s The dog, "named in affectionate remem-
alone . . . / Which strives to reach the light." brance of a former lover of his mistress to whom he bore
a striking personal resemblance," dissected by Professors
" A s t l e y ' s " Sketch originally published as "Sketches Muff and Noggs. Mudfog.
of London, No. 1 1 " in the EVENING CHRONICLE (May
9, 1835), recalling the narrator's delight as a child at the Aunt, B e n j a m i n Allen's The aunt with whom Ar-
performances at ASTLEY'S ROYAL EQUESTRIAN AMPHI- abella stays in Clifton. Pickwick (39).
THEATRE and describing his observations of a family out- Aunt, M r . F ' s The crazy old lady who lives with
ing to the theater at the present time. Flora Finching, the aunt of Flora's deceased husband.
She is marked by "extreme severity and grim taciturnity;
Astley's R o y a l E q u e s t r i a n A m p h i t h e a t r e An
sometimes interrupted by a propensity to offer remarks
outdoor ampitheater for popular entertainment on
in a deep warning voice, which, being totally uncalled
WESTMINSTER BRIDGE Road in LAMBETH, South Lon-
for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no
don. Its spectacular productions, mixing theater and cir-
association of ideas, confounded and terrified the mind."
cus, always included equestrian performances. Dickens
Dorrit (1:13).
provides a detailed description in "Astley's" (Boz). Kit
Nubbles takes family outings to Astley's (Curiosity Shop, Austin F r i a r s The street in the CITY where Mr. Fips,
39, 72). George Rouncewell attends an equestrian show old Martin Chuzzlewit's solicitor, has his office. Chuzzle-
and "is much delighted with the horses and the feats of wit (39).
strength; . . . disapproves of the combats, as giving evi-
dences of unskilful swordsmanship; but is touched home A u s t i n , H e n r y (d. 1 8 6 1 ) A lifelong friend of Dick-
by the sentiments" (Bleak House, 21). ens, he married Dickens's sister Letitia in 1837 and was
21. Axton, William 9
a frequent visitor at the Dickens home. An architect and
artist, Austin supervised the remodeling of TAVISTOCK
HOUSE and GAD'S HILL PLACE and painted portraits of
Maria BEADNELL when Dickens was courting her.
Australia In the early years of the 19th century, Aus-
tralia was largely seen as a penal colony to which British
convicts had been transported from 1788 onward. Mag-
witch, after he is recaptured on the marshes, is sentenced
to transportation, and he makes his fortune as a sheep
farmer in Australia {Expectations). "Free settlement" of
the continent was encouraged from the 1820s and trans-
portation ceased in 1842. In spite of his dislike of Mal-
thusianism (see MALTHUS), Dickens supported efforts to
encourage the poor to immigrate to Australia, and as a
director of URANIA COTTAGE, he encouraged some of
the women to begin a new life there. This policy also
informs the resettlement of Martha Endell and Little
Em'ly in Copperfield, who go off to the colony with Dan-
iel Peggotty and the Micawbers (57), where they suc-
cessfully establish a new life. Dickens encouraged two of
his sons, Alfred and Edward, to immigrate and take up
sheep farming in the outback. (See DICKENS, ALFRED
and DICKENS, EDWARD.) In 1862, Dickens himself seri-
ously considered making a reading tour of Australia.
Autobiography Dickens was reserved, even secretive,
about some parts of his life and never wrote an auto-
biography. He destroyed some letters from friends
and members of his family—especially those from his
father—and instructed his heirs to destroy others. He Fred Barnard's vignette of Dickens as a despondent child,
did write a brief account of his childhood experience sitting in the window of Warrens Blacking, where he pastes
in the BLACKING FACTORY, which he shared only with labels on the blacking bottles.
John FORSTER. This fragment, reprinted in Forster's
biography, is sometimes referred to as Dickens's
Autobiography. autobiographical. They provide a record of the inner life
Modern commentators have assumed that Dickens's of their author, of the traumas remembered from his
failure to write an autobiography resulted from the fact childhood, of his repeated attempts to accept his father's
that many of his memories were too painful to commit irresponsibility and his mother's hard-heartedness, and
to paper, but Dickens may not have considered himself of his own domestic failures and public successes. Many
a fit subject for such a work. Many Victorian autobiog- of Dickens's journalistic writings provide an account of
raphies—those ofj. S. MILL and Newman, for example— more mundane events in his life: travels; visits to schools,
were accounts of intellectual development; others, like hospitals, and prisons; evenings in the theater and at
TROLLOPE's, were records of achievements. The roman- public entertainments; observations of people at work or
tic, confessional mode, which Dickens's autobiographical at leisure.
fragment represents, was out of fashion.
The novels provided an outlet for Dickens's autobio- Avenger The nickname for Pip's servant boy, PEPPER.
graphical impulses and also enabled Dickens to mask di- Expectations (27).
rect personal revelation behind such characters as Pip or Avignon, France City northwest of MARSEILLES that
David Copperfield, the most directly autobiographical of is the home of Hortense, Lady Dedlock's French maid
Dickens's heroes. In their first-person accounts, Dickens {Bleak House, 12). Cavaletto does odd jobs here {Dorrit,
could write his life and mask it at the same time, much 1:11). Captain Richard Doubledick recovers from his
as BROWNING was able to disguise self-revelation behind wounds nearby ("Seven Poor Travellers"). Dickens's visit
the characters in his dramatic monologues. here is described in Pictures from Italy.
Although Copperfield and Expectations have often
been treated as autobiographicalfictionsby Dickens crit- Axton, William (1926- ) Professor at the Univer-
ics, nearly all of Dickens's writings are, in a broad sense, sity of Louisville and an editor of Dickens Studies News-
22. 10 Aylmer, Felix
letter and Dickens Annual. In Circle of Fire (1967), ens Incognito (1959) he combed Dickens's diaries to
Axton discusses Dickens's debt to the popular Victorian uncover coded references to the author's relationship
theater. A classic article, "Keystone Structure in Dickens' with Ellen TERNAN, including his controversial and later
Serial Novels" {University of Toronto Quarterly, 1967), discredited discovery of a child born to the couple. In
explores the larger structural patterns in the monthly se- The Drood Case (1965) Aylmer argued that Drood was
rials, noting the special importance of parts 5, 10, and not murdered and that Jasper, though arrested for the
15 in the overall pattern. Axton has also published arti- crime, was to be exonerated in the conclusion of the
cles on Pickwick, Dombey, and other Dickensian topics. novel. His theatrical adaptation of the novel in collabo-
Convivial Dickens (1983), written with Edward Hewett, ration with Jane Bacon in 1951 developed dramatically
describes and supplies recipes for the drinks in Dickens's this solution to the Drood mystery.
novels.
Ayresleigh, M r . A "pale and haggard" debtor whom
Aylmer, Felix (1889-1979) Penname of Felix Ed- Pickwick meets at Namby's sponging house. Pickwick
ward Aylmer Jones, English actor and writer. For Dick- (40).
23. B . , M a s t e r Ghost in Dickens's Christmas story, "The " B a g m a n ' s U n c l e , S t o r y o f t h e " One of two IN-
HAUNTED HOUSE," a projection of the lost youth of John TERPOLATED TALES told by the Bagman in Pickwick.
the narrator. After drinking too much one evening in Edinburgh, Jack
Martin, the Bagman's uncle, falls asleep in a derelict
B a b e r Junior clerk in Tapenham's department who coach and imagines himself back in the 18th century, a
"represented the turf," "made a book, and wore a speck- passenger in the mail coach from Edinburgh to London.
led blue cravat and top-boots." Miscellaneous, "Cheap With him in the coach is a beautiful young woman, the
Patriotism." son of the Marquess of Filletoville who has abducted her,
and the Marquess's henchman. Jack rescues the girl and
Babley, Richard The given name of Mr. DICK. Cop- races off with her in the coach, pursued by the villains.
perfield. Before they can catch him, he wakes up to find himself
sitting in a derelict coach on a cold and rainy morning
in Edinburgh. Pickwick (49).
B a c h e l o r , T h e Kindly old gentleman who lives with
the clergyman in the rural village where Nell and her
B a g n e t , M a t t h e w ( " L i g n u m Vitae") Ex-artillery-
grandfather end their wanderings. In the village he is
man, bassoon player, and proprietor of a small musical
known only as the Bachelor, "the active spirit of the
instrument shop. An army friend of George Rouncewell,
place, . . . the universal mediator, comforter, and friend"
he acts as guarantor of George's loan from Grandfather
(52). He turns out to be Mr. Garland's brother, and one
Smallweed. "An ex-artilleryman, tall and upright, with
of his letters reveals the location of Nell and her Grand-
shaggy eyebrows, and whiskers like the fibres of a cocoa-
father to those who are searching for them (68). Curiosity
nut, not a hair upon his head, and a torrid complexion.
Shop.
His voice, short, deep, and resonant, is not at all unlike
the tones of the instrument to which he is devoted. In-
B a d g e r , B a y h a m Doctor with whom Richard Car- deed, there may be generally observed in him an un-
stone studies medicine. A cousin of Kenge, John Jarn- bending, unyielding, brass-bound air, as if he were
dyce's solicitor, Dr. Badger, "a pink, fresh-faced, himself the bassoon of the human orchestra" (27). When
crisp-looking gentleman, with a weak voice, light hair, George is unable to repay the loan, Smallweed threatens
and surprised eyes" (13), is perhaps most notable as Mrs. the meager finances of the Bagnet family. M r s . B a g n e t
Bayham Badger's third husband. His wife, L a u r a , is the ("the Old Girl") manages his household and advises
widow of Captain Swosser, R. N., and of Professor him on all the important decisions in his life. When
Dingo. Bleak House. George Rouncewell is arrested for the murder of Mr.
Tulkinghorn, she goes off to Lincolnshire to find Mrs.
B a g m a n , T h e O n e - E y e d The traveling salesman Rouncewell and reunites George with his mother from
who tells two of the INTERPOLATED TALES in Pickwick, whom he has long been separated (52). "A strong, busy,
"The BAGMAN'S S T O R Y " (14) and "The Story of the active, honest-faced woman, . . . so economically dressed
BAGMAN'S UNCLE" (49). The Pickwickians meet him at (though substantially), that the only article of ornament
the PEACOCK in EATANSWILL (14) and again at the BUSH of which she stands possessed appears to be her wedding-
INN at BRISTOL (48). ring; around which her finger has grown to be so large
since it was put on, that it will never come off again until
" B a g m a n ' s Story, T h e " In this INTERPOLATED it shall mingle with Mrs. Bagnet's dust" (27). Their three
TALE in Pickwick, Tom Smart, a traveling salesman, children, Quebec, M a l t a , and W o o l w i c h , are named
stops at a country inn where a "grim-looking high- for military bases where the family has been stationed.
backed chair" in his room turns into an old man during Bleak House.
the night and advises him to expose Jinkins, the adulter-
ous suitor of the widow who owns the inn, and to marry B a g s t o c k , M a j o r J o s e p h Retired army officer who
the widow himself. Pickwick (14). lives across the way from Miss Tox; "a wooden-featured,
blue-faced major, with eyes starting out of his head, . . .
B a g m a n ' s Uncle See MARTIN, JACK. [who] tickled his vanity with the fiction that [Miss Tox]
11
24. 12 Bailey, Benjamin ("Bailey Junior")
was a splendid woman, who had her eye on him. This Bamber, Jack One of the law clerks Pickwick meets
he had several times hinted at the club: in connexion at the MAGPIE A D STUMP (20), "a little, yellow high-
N
with little jocularities, of which old Joe Bagstock, old Joey shouldered man [with a] . . . shrivelled face, . . . remark-
Bagstock, old J. Bagstock, old Josh Bagstock, or so forth, able features, . . . [and] a fixed grim smile." He tells the
was the perpetual theme. . . . Joey B., Sir,' the Major "Tale of the QUEER CLIENT" (Pickwick, 21). Pickwick
would say, . . . '[is] tough, Sir, tough and de-vilish sly!' " proposes him for membership in Master Humphrey's cir-
(7) He keeps an Indian servant whom he abuses and calls cle (Humphrey, 4).
"the Native." Reactionary and self-absorbed, Bagstock
worms his way into Dombey's confidence, accompanies Banger, Captain Vestryman of Wilderness Walk.
him to LEAMINGTON, where he promotes his marriage Reprinted, "Vestry."
to Edith Granger (26), acompanies him to DIJON, but
then abandons him after the bankruptcy (58). Dombey. Bangham, M r s . The charwoman and messenger in
the MARSHALSEA PRISON who attends Mrs. Dorrit at the
Bailey, Benjamin ("Bailey Junior") Houseboy at birth of her daughter Amy. Dorrit (1:6).
Todgers, "a small boy with a large red head and no nose
to speak o f (8). A streetwise and résiliant Cockney, he Bank of England Dickens mentions this CITY land-
leaves Todgers to become a groom for Tigg Montague mark in several of his novels. Boz describes an omnibus
(27), is nearly killed in a coach accident (42), and even- ride that ends at the Bank (Boz, "Omnibuses"); the Gor-
tually becomes a partner in Poll Sweedlepipe's bird busi- don rioters vainly attack the bank (Rudge, 67); and the
ness (52). Chuzzlewit. Traveller meditates on the bank and its treasures during
his night walks (Uncommercial, 13). The bank is also men-
tioned in Nickleby (35), Dombey (13), and Dorrit (1:26).
Bailey, Captain David's presumed rival for the at-
tentions of the eldest Miss Larkins. Copperfield (18).
Banks, Major Meltham assumes the disguise of this
retired East India Company director to trick Julius Slink-
Baillie "Baillie Mac something and four syllables after ton. "Hunted Down."
it," a friend of the Bagman's Uncle. Pickwick (49).
Bantam, Angelo Cyrus The Master of Ceremonies
B aid-Faced Stag, The A coaching inn where Tom in the Pump Room at BATH, a dandy, "a charming
Pinch stops on the road to London from SALISBURY. young man of not much more than fifty," who intro-
Chuzzlewit (36). duces Pickwick to the society at Bath. Pickwick (35).
Balderstone, Thomas ("Uncle Tom") Mrs. Gat- Baps The dancing master at Dr. Blimber's academy,
terton's rich brother who remembers all of Shakespeare's "a grave gentleman, with a slow and measured manner
plays word for word and disrupts the performance of of speaking" (14). He and his wife attend the going-
Othello with his unnecessary promptings. Boz, "Porter." away party at the beginning of the school holiday. Dom-
bey.
Balim A young ladies' young gentleman, "so profusely
Baptista, Giovanni Genoese narrator of the story of
decked with scarfs, ribands, flowers, and other pretty
Clara and Signor Dellombra. Reprinted, "At Dusk."
spoils, that he looked like a lamb . . . adorned for the
sacrifice." Young Gentlemen.
Baptiste Soldier billeted on the poor water-carrier in
the French town where Langley, the misanthropic Eng-
Ball's Pond A district on the undeveloped north edge lishman, stays. "Somebody's Luggage."
of London in Dickens's time. Mr. and Mrs. Theodosious
Butler have a house near a brickfield here (Boz, "Senti- Bar The barrister with "his insinuating Jury droop and
ment"); Mr. Perch, Dombey's messenger, also lives here . . . persuasive double eyeglass," who represents the Law
(Dombey, 18). and is one of Merdle's guests. Dorrit (1:21).
Baltimore, Maryland Being served by slaves on his Barbara The Garland's servant girl, "tidy, modest
first visit to Baltimore in 1842 left Dickens "with a sense and demure" (22). She is jealous of Kit Nubbles's de-
of shame and self-reproach," though he appreciated Bar- votion to Little Nell, but later marries him. Her mother
num's Hotel, the only one in America "where the En- becomes friendly with Mrs. Nubbles on the excursion to
glish traveller will find curtains to his bed." He also spent ASTLEY's (39), and later goes with her daughter to visit
a memorable evening here with Washington IRVING, Kit in prison (63). Curiosity Shop.
sharing an enormous mint julep. On his second visit in
1868, Dickens found the city still haunted by "the ghost Barbary, Miss Lady Dedlock's stern sister who lives
of slavery." Dickens describes his 1842 visit in Notes, at WINDSOR; the "godmother" who raises Esther Sum-
8-9. merson. "She was a good, good woman! She went to
25. Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty 1 3
church three times every Sunday, and to morning Barker, Phil One of Fagin's cohorts, drunk at the
prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays, and to lectures THREE CRIPPLES. Twist (26).
whenever there were lectures; and never missed. She
was handsome; and if she had ever smiled, would have Barker, William (Bill Boorker, "Aggerwatin'
been . . . like an angel—but she never smiled." Bleak Bill") The first London Omnibus conductor or cad.
House (3). Boz, "Last Cab-Driver."
Barbary, M r s . Captain, of Cheltenham Owner
Barkis The carrier between BLUNDERSTONE and
of a horse that Captain Maroon attempts to sell. Dorrit
Yarmouth who drives David Copperfield. After eating a
(1:12).
piece of Peggotty's cake, he entrusts David with the mes-
sage "Barkis is willin' " to deliver to Clara PEGGOTTY
Barbican District in the CITY of London where (5), whom he marries (10). Although he is tight with his
Simon Tappertit and the 'PRENTICE KNIGHTS hold their money, he is a loving husband and he leaves Peggotty
meetings at an inn (Rudge, 8). It is also mentioned in comfortably well-off after he goes "out with the tide"
Twist (21), Chuzzlewit (37), and Dorrit (1:13). (30). Copperfield. Barkis was based on a carrier named
Barker who lived at Blundestone, a town near Yarmouth.
Barbox Brothers A bill-brokering house off LOM-
BARD STREET with a reputation for hard dealing. When
Young Jackson, the last remaining member of the firm, Barley, Clara Herbert Pocket's fiancée, a "pretty,
retires, the firm is closed down. He is known by the nick- slight, dark-haired girl of twenty or so," who arranges to
name "Barbox Brothers." "Mugby." hide Magwitch, under the name of Campbell, in her
father's house until he can be smuggled abroad. She
Bar dell, M r s . Martha Pickwick's landlady in GO- cares for her invalid father, Old Bill Barley, a retired
SWELL STREET. "A comely woman, of bustling manners, ship's purser who is "totally unequal to the consideration
and agreeable appearance; with a natural genius for of any subject more psychological than Gout, Rum and
cooking" (12), she is the widow of a government clerk Purser's Stores" (46). "A captive fairy whom that truc-
who had been "knocked on the head with a quart pot ulent Ogre, Old Barley, had pressed into his service"
in a public house cellar" (34). After she misconstrues (46), Clara does not marry Herbert until after her father
Pickwick's questions about keeping a servant as a pro- has died. Expectations.
posal of marriage (18), she files a breach-of-promise suit
against him and is represented in the action by the un- Barlow Pedantic tutor in the popular didactic story
scrupulous lawyers Dodson and Fogg. When Pickwick for children, Sanford and Merton. He reminds the Trav-
refuses to pay the costs of the trial, the lawyers turn on eller of his own tutor. Every boring lecture, condescend-
her and she too is imprisoned in FLEET PRISON (47). She ing remark, or didactic moment recalls Mr. Barlow.
is released when Pickwick agrees to pay the costs. Uncommercial (34).
Tommy, Mrs. Bardell's spoiled son, is used by the law-
yers to elicit sympathy for his mother at the Bardell ver- Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty
sus Pickwick trial (34). Pickwick.
Dickens's fifth novel, published as a weekly serial in Mas-
"Bardell and Pickwick" Along with A Christmas
Carol, this reading from Pickwick was the most popular
of Dickens's PUBLIC READINGS. Dickens first performed
this reading, also titled "The Trial from Pickwick," in
1858.
Barham, Richard Harris (1788-1845) Clergyman
and author of The Ingoldsby Legends, which were orig-
inally published in BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY when Dick-
ens was its editor.
Bark Lodging-house keeper and receiver of stolen
goods visited by Inspector Field: "a red villain and a
wrathful, with a sanguine throat that looks very much as
if it were expressly made for hanging." Reprinted, "In-
spector Field."
Barker, Fanny The name given to Fanny BROWN in
"The Lamplighter's Story," the prose adaptation of Browne's (Phiz's) depiction of Barnaby with his pet raven,
Dickens's play The Lamplighter. Grip.
26. 14 Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty
ter Humphrey's Clock, 1841, illustrated by BROWNE and Part 5 (March 1 3 , 1841)
CATTERMOLE; issued in a single volume, 1841. A his- (8) Varden's apprentice, Simon Tappertit, sneaks out of
torical story based on the GORDON RIOTS of 1780, the house at night to attend a secret meeting of the 'Pren-
Rudge was the first novel Dickens planned to write. He tice Knights, a society of disgruntled apprentices who
contracted for the story, to be published in three volumes plan to overthrow their masters. (9) When he returns
in 1836, then put it aside as Pickwick became a popular from the meeting, Sim finds that Miggs, Mrs. Varden's
best-seller; returned to it in 1839 and wrote the first three maid, has blocked the keyhole so that he cannot get back
chapters; put it down again until 1841 when he com- into the house without her help.
pleted the novel as a weekly serial. Commentators have Part 6 (March 1 2 , 1841)
considered Rudge to be two novels awkwardly put to- (10) Edward Chester's father, Sir John Chester, engages
gether: a gothic melodrama about the murder of Reuben young Barnaby to carry a message to Geoffrey Haredale
Haredale and a historical tale about the No Popery riots asking for a meeting. (11) The regulars at the Maypole
of 1780. Although the connections between the two are speculate that when the two old rivals meet, there will
sometimes strained, Dickens develops similar themes in be a fight.
the two stories, suggesting that the social order reflects
the domestic world where the troubled relationships be- Part 7 (March 27, 1841)
tween fathers and sons produce violence and rebellion. (12) At the meeting, Haredale is irascible and short-
tempered, Chester distant and cool, refusing to be ruffled
by Haredale's rudeness. Although they dislike each other,
SYNOPSIS they agree that they have a common interest to prevent
Part 1 (February 1 3 , 1841) a match between Edward and Emma. Chester wants his
(1) On the stormy evening of March 19, 1775, a stranger son to marry a wealthy heiress; Haredale wants Emma
stops at the MAYPOLE INN near CHIGWELL north of Lon- to marry a Catholic.
don and asks about the Haredale family, owners of the Part 8 (April 3, 1841)
WARREN, a country estate nearby. He learns that the (13) On March 25, Joe Willet, son of the Maypole's inn-
current residents are Sir Geoffrey Haredale, a Catholic keeper, goes to London to pay the Maypole's annual
landowner, and his niece Emma, the daughter of Reu- vintner's bill. He stops at the Vardens's house, hoping to
ben Haredale, who was murdered exactly 22 years be- see Dolly, Gabriel's pretty daughter, but Dolly only
fore, on March 19, 1753. Both the gardener at the speaks to him in passing, and Mrs. Varden appropriates
Warren and the steward, Barnaby Rudge, disappeared the bouquet he brought for her daughter. (14) On
after the crime. They were the primary suspects in the his way home, Joe meets Edward Chester on the road.
crime, but when a body thought to be that of Rudge was They stop by the Warren, but Edward's assignation
found at the bottom of a well, the gardener was assumed with Emma there is interrupted by Haredale, who for-
to be the murderer. bids him to see the girl again. When Edward learns that
his father has been conferring with Haredale, he returns
Part 2 (February 20, 1841) to the city.
(2) On the road to London, Gabriel Varden, a gentle
locksmith, is accosted by the stranger from the Maypole, Part 9 (April 10, 1841)
who collides with Varden's carriage and threatens him. (15) The next day, Edward goes to his father's rooms in
(3) When Varden gets to London, he meets the son of the TEMPLE. His father wants him to marry a rich
Rudge, young Barnaby, a mentally-defective young man, woman in order to replenish the family fortune so that
born on the day after the murder. Barnaby is standing Mr. Chester can live in the luxurious style to which he
over the body of a man who has been robbed, wounded, is accustomed. Chester objects to Emma, because she is
and left by the road. poor, a Catholic, and the daughter of a murdered man.
(16) That evening the widow Rudge is again shad-
Part 3 (February 27, 1841) owed by the mysterious and secretive stranger.
(4) Varden takes the wounded man, Edward Chester, to Part 10 (April 17, 1841)
the house of Barnaby's mother, the widow Rudge. (17) He follows her home. She recognizes him as her
(5) The next evening, while Varden is checking on the husband, the elder Barnaby Rudge, and shrinks from
patient, Mrs. Rudge is called away and frightened by the him, but he warns her against turning him in, and, de-
stranger who had threatened the locksmith on the road, scribing himself as "a spirit, a ghost upon the earth, a
but she prevents Gabriel from detaining the man. thing from which all creatures shrink," he tells her that
Part 4 (March 6, 1841) he will not be taken alive. He hides in a closet when his
(6) Edward Chester tells Varden that his attacker was the son returns home and secretly watches the boy with his
stranger from the Maypole. mother. (18) After young Barnaby falls asleep, his father
(7) When Varden returns to his home, the Golden leaves and wanders in the streets until dawn.
Key, he finds his household in as much disarray as the Part 1 1 (April 24, 1841)
life in the streets. His temperamental wife, Martha, ac- ( 19) Edward asks Dolly Varden to take a letter to Emma
cuses him of neglecting her. at the Warren. (20) Dolly delivers the letter; as she is
!["Givesreaders an opportunity to discover the richness of Dickens'
literary achievements in the context of hislifeand times."
—Reference & Research Book News
"[A] comprehensive and extremely valuable guide."
—Library Journal
CHARLES DICKENS
A TO Z
THE ESSENTIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LIFE AND WORK
A superb storyteller, political and social reformer, and restless spirit, Charles
Dickens gave us such classic novels as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and
Great Expectations—stories that still resonate in the public imagination a
century and a half after they were written. The characters Dickens created are more diverse and
memorable than those of any writer in English since Shakespeare.
Charles Dickens A to Z is a guide to Dickens's life, works, characters, the Victorian context
in which he wrote, and the critics and scholars who have commented on his novels. Ideal for
Dickens fans and scholars alike, it includes more than 2,500 cross-referenced entries:
• synopses of every Dickens novel, with details on criticism and adaptations
• Dickens's journalistic essays, sketches, poems, and plays
• descriptions of all characters, both fictional and factual, and all settings in his work
• Dickens's family,friends,acquaintances, contemporaries, and critics
• social issues in Victorian England
• literary themes associated with his work, such as children, Christmas, and crime
• and much more
Charles Dickens A to Z also features 50 illustrations, many of them by Dickens's contemporaries,
as well as a chronology, selected bibliography, and index.
Paul Davis is professor emeritus of Englishfromthe University of New Mexico, where he taught
Dickens, the English novel, and Victorian and world literature. His previous books include The
Life and Times of EbenezerScrooge(Yale University Press, 1990), a study of the many versions of
A Christmas Carol. He lives in Corrales, New Mexico.
Cover design by Nora Wertz
Cover image courtesy Archive Photos
Printed in the United States of America](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)