Description
Book SynopsisNow in paperback , A Companion to Charles Dickens concentrates on the historical, ideological, and social forces that defined Dickens s world. This work traces the development of Dickens s career as a journalist and novelist and includes original essays by leading Dickensian scholars on each of Dickens s fifteen novels.
Trade Review“Pykett’s chapter is preceded by a rewarding chapter on the literary culture of the day by Michael Hollington and followed by the final essay on ‘Postcolonial Dickens’. As if to insist that any competition in the Dickens Companion industry is essentially good-natured, John O. Jordan has contributed this, rather wonderful, last word to close the book.” (Oxford Journal Clippings, 1 November 2012)
"Several of these pieces should be indispensable reading for undergraduates... Each of the three Companions to Charles Dickens now available is a valuable resource for students, but Paroissien's is certainly the richest, and-- with simultaneous electronic publication- likely to be of most immediate and beneficial assistance to students." (Notes and Queries, March 2010)
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Preface xiv
Acknowledgments xvi
Abbreviations xvii
Part I Perspectives on the Life 1
1 A Sketch of the Life 3
Michael Allen
2 Dickens’s Use of the Autobiographical Fragment 18
Nicola Bradbury
3 “Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens”: The Epistolary Art of the Inimitable 33
David Paroissien
4 Three Major Biographies 47
Catherine Peters
Part II Literary/Cultural Contexts 63
5 The Eighteenth-century Legacy 65
Monika Fludernik
6 Dickens and the Gothic 81
Robert Mighall
7 Illustrations 97
Malcolm AndrewsCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
8 The Language of Dickens 126
Patricia Ingham
9 The Novels and Popular Culture 142
Juliet John
Part III English History Contexts 157
10 Dickens as a Reformer 159
Hugh Cunningham
11 Dickens’s Evolution as a Journalist 174
John M. L. Drew
12 Dickens and Gender 186
Natalie McKnight
13 Dickens and Technology 199
Trey Philpotts
14 Dickens and America (1842) 216
Nancy Aycock Metz
15 Dickens and Government Ineptitude Abroad, 1854–1865 228
Leslie Mitchell
16 Dickens and the Uses of History 240
John Gardiner
17 Dickens and Christianity 255
Valentine Cunningham
18 Dickens and the Law 277
Jan-Melissa Schramm
Part IV The Fiction 295
19 The Pickwick Papers 297
David Parker
20 Oliver Twist 308
Brian Cheadle
21 Nicholas Nickleby 318
Stanley Friedman
22 The Old Curiosity Shop 328
Gill Ballinger
23 Barnaby Rudge 338
Jon Mee
24 Martin Chuzzlewit 348
Goldie Morgentaler
25 Dombey and Son 358
Brigid Lowe
26 David Copperfi eld 369
Gareth Cordery
27 Bleak House 380
Robert Tracy
28 Hard Times 390
Anne Humpherys
29 Little Dorrit 401
Philip Davis
30 A Tale of Two Cities 412
Paul Davis
31 Great Expectations 422
Andrew Sanders
32 Our Mutual Friend 433
Leon Litvack
33 The Mystery of Edwin Drood 444
Simon J. James
Part V Reputation and Infl uence 453
34 Dickens and the Literary Culture of the Period 455
Michael Hollington
35 Dickens and Criticism 470
Lyn Pykett
36 Postcolonial Dickens 486
John O. Jordan
Index 501
