Table Of ContentV I S
P A UL
THE
IC KENS
ESSENTIAL
REFERENCE
TO HIS LIFE
I
AND WORK
"Gives readers an opportunity to discover the richness of Dickens'
literary achievements in the context of his life and 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 English from the 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 Ebenezer Scrooge( 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
CHARLES DICKENS
A to Z
CHARLES DICKENS
A to Z
The Essential Reference to
His Life and Work
Paul Davis
0'
CAhn eimcprkinmt of aFarckts OBno Foilke,s In™c.
Charles Dickens A to Z
Copyright © 1998 by Paul Davis
First paperback reprint © 1999.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage or retrieva lsystems, without permission in writing from
the publisher. For information contact:
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An imprint of Facts On File, Inc.
11 Penn Plaza
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Davis, Paul B. (Paul Benjamin), 1934-
Charles Dickens A to Z : the essential reference to the life and work / Paul
Davis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-29059 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-8160-4087-7 (pbk.)
1. Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870—Encyclopedias. 2. Novelists.
English—19th century—Biography—Encyclopedias. I. Tide
PR4580.D38 1998 97-26237
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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
For my parents,
George and Mildred Davis
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
indicate where they are collected.
ten seen as the quintessential Victorian. "Dickens's En
gland" has almost become synonymous with Victorian
England. Since he frequently based his characters on real
The Characters
people and used real places—particularly the streets and
neighborhoods of London—as settings for his tales, the
All of the characters are discussed individually, though
connections between his fictional world and the actual
members of a single family sometimes appear under the
world of Victorian England have fascinated his readers.
family name or as subsidiary characters under the main
Dickens enthusiasts have often applied themselves—
character of the entry. Each character is introduced in
sometimes overzealously—to connecting the people and
boldface type, either as the subject of the entry or as a
places in the novels with counterparts in the real world.
character related to the main character in the text of the
Understanding the historical context in which Dickens
entry; is characterized, often with a brief description
worked is especially important to understanding his life
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 Times
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
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 Criticism
"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
"Last Cab-driver" = "The Last Cab-driver, and the
dividual novels. The most important commentators, es
First Omnibus Cad"
pecially those who have done a variety of work on
Dickens, have separate entries summarizing the nature "Making a Night" = "Making a Night of It"
of their work and indicating their most important books
"Milliner" = "The Mistaken Milliner"
and articles.
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
"Monmouth Street" = "Meditations in Monmouth
of my debts are acknowledged in the text, but many
Street"
more are silent, even unrecognized. I am particularly
grateful to generations of Dickensians, writing in journals "Neighbour" = "Our Next-door Neighbour"
like The Dickensian and The Dickens Quarterly whose
"Pawnbroker's" = "The Pawnbroker's Shop"
devotion to Dickens and his works continues to enlarge
our understanding of the man, his times, and his novels. "Porter" = "Mrs. Joseph Porter"
I am indebted to Bob Gish, who originally suggested this
"Sparkins" = "Horatio Sparkins"
project, to Michael Fisher, who provided institutional
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
"Tuggses" = "The Tuggses at Ramsgate"
ious entries. I am also grateful to Gary Scharnhorst,
Hugh Witemeyer, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Pat "Vauxhall" = "Vauxhall Gardens by Day"
Smith, and Bob Fleming for suggestions on particular
"Winglebury" = "The Great Winglebury Duel"
entries, and to my wife, Mary, for her patience and for
her help in preparing the illustrations. I am especially Carol= A Christmas Carol
grateful to Bob Wolf, my editor at Facts On File, whose
Chimes =The Chimes
careful reading and thoughtful criticism did much to im
prove many of the entries, and to copy editor John Chuzzlewit =Martin Chuzzlewit
Drexel. The inevitable mistakes and omissions in a work
Coquettes =The Village Coquettes
of this scope are wholly my own.
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. Boldface 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"
