Pli 4591 •t NOPSESOF "■KENS' I "^ n... FH^j. 'I Book^Zi2_ HANDY INFORMATION SERIES HANDY BOOK OF AMERICAN AUTHORS. Peet. HANDY BOOK OF AMERICAN GOVERN- MENT. Bartlett. HANDY BOOK OF CARD GAMES. Walker. HANDY BOOK OF PARLIAMENTARY LAW. Bartlett. HANDY BOOK OF PROVERBS. Walker. HANDY BOOK OF SYNONYMS. HANDY DICTIONARY OF POETRY. Powers. HANDY DICTIONARY OF PROSE. Powers. HOW TO KEEP WELL. Wilson. HOW TO PLAY CHESS. Rogers. HOW TO PLAY GOLF. HOW WORDS GROW. Mead. IMPORTANT EVENTS. Powers- MISTAKES WE MAKE. Dole SHAKESPERIAN SYNOPSES. McSpadden. SYNOPSES OF DICKENS' NOVELS McSpadden. WAVERLEY SYNOPSES. McSpadden. Cloth, 18 mo. Each, 50 cents THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY New York SYNOPSES OF DICKENS'S NOVELS BY J. WALKER McSPADDEN AUTHOR OF " SHAKSPERIAN SYNOPSES" NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS a o^ COPVRIGUT, 1904 AND 190i», By THOMAS Y, CROWELL & CO. PREFACE ^ This little book was first issued in 1904, and has since made its way into several channels of activity. It has been reprinted in connection with two different editions of Dickens's complete works, in America ; an English edition in separate form has been issued by the novelist's authorized pub- lishers in that country ; and it has even inspired friendly letters from far-away Australia. The present edition is a care- ful revision of the original work. The plan of the book is uniform with the au'lhor's earlier " Shaksperian Synopses," and later '^ Waverley Synopses."' It is a pocket guide to the plots and characters in the novels of Dickens. A chronological list of all his writings is succeeded by a key to each book, -^ its date, first appear- VI PREFACE ance, scene, time, personages, and plot. The chief threads of the plot are given in story-telling form, in order that the reader may carry them the more easily in his head. The current sin of most arguments lies in their being over-condensed and all- inclusive ; the result being a jumble of facts and names which leaves the ordinary reader in despair. This we have carefully tried to avoid in the present book, by reducing each story to its simplest dimen- sions. Nor have we tried to include every casually passing cabman and flunky — Avho would find place in the more exhaust- ive " Dictionaries '" — as that would defeat the aim and purpose of this book, which is to be a quick guide. The com.piler wishes to take this op- portunity to thank various critics and correspondents for friendly suggestions. J. W. M. New York, May, 1909. CONTENTS The Writings of Dickens, in Chronological Order The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club The Adventures of Oliver Tavist The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NiCKLEBY . The Old Curiosity Shop Barnaby Rudge The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuz ZLEWIT ...... Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son The Personal History of David Copper- field . Bleak House . Hard Times Little Dorrit . A Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations Our Mutual Friend The Mystery of Edwin DrooiS Index to CharactepvS vii 1 15 27 43 53 67 83 97 113 129 139 153 163 175 191 201 THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 1835 Sketches by Boz. Published in detached parts in the Monthly Magazine, and Morning and Evph- ing Chronicle. 1836 Sketches by Boz. Published in two volumes. Sketches by Boz. Second series. * Published in one volume. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Nine numbers, issued monthly, April to De- cember. 1837 The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Eleven numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to October. Published in book form in latter month. Oliver Twist. Begun in Bentley''s Miscellany for January and continued throughout the year. 1888 Oliver Twist. Published in book form, three volumes. iz THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Nine numbers, issued monthly, April to De- cember. 1839 Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Eleven numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to October. Published in book form in latter month. 1840 Master Humphrey's Clock. A series of sketches at first containing The Old Curiosity Shop (1840) and Bnrnahy Budge (1841) in addition to mis- cellanies. These miscellanies afterward pub- lished separately in one volume. The Old Curiosity Shop. Published separately in book form. 1841 Barnaby Rudge. Published separately in book form. 1842 American Notes for General Circulation. I'ub- lished in two volumes. 1843 The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzi.k- wiT. Twelve numbers, issued monthly, January to December. A Christmas Carol in Prosk. Published complete in December. THE WRITINGS OF DICE ENS xi 1844 The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzle- AviT. Eight numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to July. Published in book form in latter month. The Chimes. Published complete. 1845 Thk Cricket on the Hearth. Published complete in December. 1846 Pictures from Italy. First appeared as Travelling Letters in the Daily News, January to March. Then published complete. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son. Three numbers, issued monthly, October to December. The Battle of Life. Published complete. 1847 Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son. Twelve numbers, issued monthly, January to December. 1848 Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son. Five numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to April. Published in book form in latter month. The Haunted Man. Published complete. Xll THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS 1849 The Personal History of David Copperfield. Eight numbers, issued monthly, May to De- cember. 1850 The Personal History of David Copperfield. Twelve numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to November. Published in book form in latter month. Household Words. This weekly serial established March 30, and continued to May 28, 1859. Many writings first appeared here. 1852 Bleak House. Ten numbers, issued monthly, March to December. 1853 Bleak House. Ten numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to September. Pub- lished in book form in latter month. A Child's History of England. Reprinted from Household Words, in volume form. 1854 Hard Times. Appeared in Household Words, April to August. Published in book form in latter month. 1855 LrTTLE Dorrit. One number issued in December. THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS XlJl 1856 Little Dokrit. Twelve numbers, issued monthly, Januaiy to December. 1857 Little Dorrit. Seven numbers, the last being double, issued monthly, January to June. Pub- lished in book form in latter month. 1859 All the Year Round. A weekly serial which took the place of Household Words ; ran uninterrupted till Dickens's death, and was continued by his son. A Tale of Tavo Cities. Appeared in All the Year Bound, April to November. Published in book form, December. 1860 PIuNTED Down. Written for an American newspaper and reprinted in All the Year Bound. The Uncommercial Traveller. Appeared in All the Year Bound, January to October. . Published in book form, December. Great Expectations. Begun in All the Year Bound, December. 1861 (iuEAT Expectations. Continued in weekly num- bers, January to August, All the Year Bound. I'ublished in book form in August. XIV THE WRITLNGS OF DICKENS 1864 (^UR Mutual Frieni>. Eight numbers, issued monthly, May to December. 1865 Our Mutual Friend. Twelve numbers, the last being double, issued January to November. Published in book form in latter month. 1868 (Jeorge Silverman's Explanation. Published in the Atlantic Monthly (Boston), January to March ; also in All the Year Bounds February. Holiday Romance. Published in Our Young Folks (Boston), January to May ; also in All the Year Bounds January to April. 1870 The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Begun in April, and planned to comprise twelve monthly num- bers, but prematurely closed in September by the writer's death the preceding June. Pub- lished, incomplete, in September. THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS XV MISCELLANIES The foregoing list does not take into account tlie early operas and scattered writings not placed in the authorised edition ; nor the numerous sketches, tales, and Christmas stories published in various periodicals, chiefly the two weeklies conducted by Dickens, Household Words and All the Year Bound. These Christmas stories were written in collaboration with other authors, chiefly Wilkie Collins. The most important of the titles are as follows : — Early and Scattered Writings 1836. Sunday under Three Heads ; The Strange Gentleman, a Comic Burletta ; The Village Coquettes, a Comic Opera, 1837. Is She His Wife? a Comic Burletta; The Mudfog Papers ; The Lamplighter, a Farce. 1838. Sketches of Young Gentlemen ; Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. 1840. Sketches of Young Couples. 1841. The Pic-Nic Papers. 1851. Mr. Nightingale's Diary, a Farce. Christmas Stories in "Household Words" 1854. The Seven Poor Travellers. 1855. The Holly Tree Inn. 1856. The Wreck of the Golden Mary. 1857. The Perils of Certain English Prisoners. 1858. A House to Let. XVI THE WRITINGS OF DICKENS Christmas Stories in "All the Year Round 1859. The Haunted House. 1860. A Message from the Sea. 1861. Tom Tiddler's Ground. 1862. Somebody's Luggage. 1863. Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings. 1864. Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy. 1865. Dr. Marigold's PrescriptionSo 1866. Mugby Junction. 1867. No Thoroughfare. THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB First novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from April, 183G, to October, 1837; published in book form, October, 1837. Scene : London, Rochester, Ipswich, Bath, and towns and rural districts near the metropolis. Time : 1827-1831, CAST OF CHARACTERS Benjamin Allen, medical student. Arabella Allen, his sister. ''Allen's Aunt." Angelo Cyrus Bantam, society leader at Bath. Mrs. Martha Bardell, landlady to Pickwick in London. Master "Tom3iy" Bardell, Tier so?i. Blotton, member Pickwick Club. Captain Boldwig, country gentleman. Miss Bolo, member of card party with Pickwick. Mrs. Budger, widov^ ; member of Rochester socieJ^. Sergeant Buzfuz, advocate in court against Pickwick. Mrs. Elizabeth Clvpti-ss, friend to Mrs. Bardell. Mrs. Craddock, landlady to Pickwick iii Bath. "Dismal Jemmy," brother to Job Trotter. DoDsoN, of Dodson and Fogg, lawyers. DowLER, acquaintance of Pickwick in Bath. Mrs. Dowler, his wife. DuBBLEY, special constable, Ipswich. Horatio Fizkin, candidate for Parliament from Eatanswill. \ViLKiNS Flasher, speculator. Fogg, of Dodson and Fogg, lawyers. GooDw^iN, servant to Mrs. Potts. Grummer, special constable., Ipswich. Gunter, friend to Sawyer. 3 DICKENS HYNOPSES Harris, greengrocer at Bath. Jack Hopkins, friend to Sawyer. Anthony Humm, member Ebenezer Temperance Association. Leo Hunter, ^'■husband of Mrs. Leo Hunter." Mrs. Leo Hunter, literary scalp-hunter at Eatauswill. Jackson, clerk to Dodson and Fogg. Alfred Jingle, strolling plaijer and adventurer. Jinks, special constable., Ipswich. Joe, fat boy at Dingley Dell, who divides his time between eating and sleeping. LovvTEN, clerk to Perker. Peter Magnus, acquaintance 0/ Pickwick at Ipswich. Mallard, clerk to Snubbin. Martin, gamekeeper to Wardle. Mary, servant to Nupkins; afterwards wife to Sam Weller. Miller, friend to Wardle. MiviNS, inmate of Fleet Prison. Jonas Mudge, member Ebenezer Temperance Asso- ciation. Lord Mutanhed, member of society at Bath. Muzzle, special constable., Ipswich. Namby, sheriff's officer. Noddy, friend to Sawyer. George Nupkins, magistrate., Ipswich. Mrs. Nupkins, his wife. Henrietta Nupkins, his daughter. Dr. Payne, of the 43d Regiment. 80LOMON Pell, lawyer. l^ERKER, counsel to Pickwick. 1'hunkt, junior to Snubbin in Pickwick trial. Ttt^ PICKWICK PAPSns 5 Sa3iuel Pickwick, president Pickwick Club, gentle- man of inquiring turn and independent mean>(. Pott, editor Eatanswill Gazette. Mrs. Pott, his icife. Mrs. Kaddle, landlady to Sawyer. Raddle, ^^ husband to Mrs. Raddle" (below). Mrs. Mary Ann Raddle, friend to Mrs. Bardell. Mrs. Rogers, lodger with Mrs. Bardell. Tom Roker, turnkey^ Fleet Prison. Mrs. Susannah Sanders, friend to Mrs. Bardell. "Bob" Sawyer, medical student and practitioner. SiMMERY, speculator. Skimpin, junior to Buzfuz in Pickwick trial. Dr. Slammer, of the 97th Regiment. Samuel Slumkey, candidate for Parliament, from Eatanswill. Slurk, editor Eatanswill Independent. Smangle, inmate of Fleet Prison. John Smauker, footman to Bantam, Joseph Smiggers, member Pickwick Club. Count Smorltork, French author. Sjiouch, sheriffs officer. Augustus Snodgrass, member Pickwick Club. Sergeant Snubbin, advocate in Court /or Pickwick. Lady Snuphanugh, member of card party with Pick- wick. Justice Stareleigh, presiding officer Pickwick trial. Stiggins, "shepherd" in the church "flock" to which Mrs. Weller belongs. Lieutenant Tappleton, of the 97th Regiment. Job Trotter, servant to Alfred Jingle. DICKENS SYNOPSES Trundle, suitor, then husband, of Isabella Wardle. Tdckle, footman in Bath. Tracy Tupman, member Pickwick Club. Wardle, country gentleman at Dingley Dell. Mrs. Wardle, his mother. Raciiael Wardle, his sister. Emily Wardle, his daughter. Isabella Wardle, his daughter; afterwards Mrs. Trundle. Tony Weller, coachman, and proprietor of Marquis of Graiiby Inn. Mrs. Susan Weller, his second icife. Samuel Weller, his son ; servant to Pickwick. Whiffens, footman in Bath. Wicks, clerk to Dodson and Fogg. Winkle, retired gentleman. Nathaniel Winkle, his son ; member Pickwick Club. Miss Witherfield, '■^lady in curl j9apers," whom Pickwick accidentally meets at Ipswich. "Mrs. Col." Wugsby, member of card party with Pickwick. The two Misses Wugsby, her daughters. Crushton, and other social lights; Dumkins, Luffey, Staple, Podder, and Struggles, cricketers; Simp- son ; Emma, servant; Hunt and Wilkins, gar- deners; Martin, coachman; Simpson, Price, and others in Fleet Prison; "One-eyed Bagman"; " Gabriel Grub," " Hutley Pipkin," " Lobb," " Tom Smart," "Jack Martin," and other characters men- tioned in stories; cabmen, chaplain, clergyman, landlords, drivers, court officers, and others. ARGUMENT " The Posthumous Papers of the Pick- wick Club " deal, as the title suggests, with a series of separate incidents, rather than a single connected plot ; they are a sort of humorous " Odyssey," chronicling the wanderings and adventures of a group of friends. Samuel Pickwick, Esquire, the founder and president of the Pickwick Club, an association devoted to research and con- viviality, with headquarters in London, is a corpulent, benevolent gentleman in mid- dle life, whose scientific sense hardly equals his simplicity. But being desirous of con- ducting personal tours of investigation in the outlying districts, he obtains the Club's permission to take a small committee of friends with him in a series of excursions. This committee consists of Tracy Tup- man, Augustus Snodgrass, and Nathaniel Winkle. 7 DICKENS SYNOPSES Their first journey is to Rochester and neighbouring towns in Kent. An eccen- tric strolling player, of disconnected speech, who is later introduced as Alfred Jingle, rescues Pickwick from a cabman, accom- panies the party to Rochester, and dines with them there. He and Tupman go to a ball, where Jingle's behaviour, in Winkle's borrowed clothes, involves the latter gen- tleman in a duel. This is happily averted, and the friends go to a military review, where they narrowly escape the cross- firing, but survive to meet a country gen- tleman of Dingley Dell, Mr. Wardle, and his two daughters and sister, to say nothing of Joe, the fat boy. Wardle invites Pickwick and his three friends to his farm. They go and enjoy various rural sports, such as shooting — wherein Winkle misses the bird and hits Tupman in the arm — and cricketing. Tupman's slight wound is nursed by Miss Wardle, the spinster sister, and his belated affections are roused to the proposing point. Unfortunately — or fortunately — THE PICKWICK PAPERS for him, Jingle apjDears on the scene, steals away the lady's heart, and runs off with her to London. A thrilling chase ensues on the part of Wardle and Pickwick. The elopers are overhauled in London, and the designing Jingle is bribed to forego his matrimonial scheme. At the inn where the elopers are found, Pickwick's attention is attracted to a ser- vant by the name of Sam Weller. He determines to take Sam for valet, and tries to announce this determination to Mrs. Bardell, his landlady, when that worthy woman decides that Pickwick is making her a proposal of marriage, and promptly faints in his arms. When Pickwick extricates himself from this scene, he takes his three friends and Sam to Eatanswill, where they witness an election and attend a reception given by Mrs. Leo Hunter, author of the " Ode to an Expiring Frog." They again meet Jingle, whom Pickwick pursues to Bury St. Edmonds. Jingle and his servant, Job Trotter, there prove too much for 10 DICKENS SYNOPSES Pickwick and Sam Weller. Pickwick is lured into the grounds of a ladies' board- ing-school, to the consternation of the inmates and also of the intruder. Pickwick and his friends pay another visit to Dingley Dell, where they go hunt- ing. Pickwick trespasses upon a private estate, and is put in the pound. When he returns to London, he takes steps to fight a lawsuit for breach of promise, en- tered by Mrs. Bardell through the sharp law firm of Dodson and Fogg. Then he journeys to Ipswich, where some exciting adventures arise. In a tavern he blun- ders into the wrong bedchamber, one occu- pied by a spinster lady in curl papers. Her admirer threatens to fight him, and in alarm the lady gets out a warrant against Pickwick. He is only released through the ingenuity of Sam Weller, who learns that the magistrate of the town is being imposed upon by Jingle and Trotter. Sam is thus enabled also to pay off his score against that couple. One more excursion is set down in the THE PICKWICK PAPERS 11 first volume — a Christmas visit to Dingley Dell, where one of the Wardle girls becomes Mrs. Trundle, and the wedding bells and Yule-tide bells mingle merrily. Volume Two finds the Pickwick group still at the Wardle homestead. Snodgrass is the devoted admirer of Emily, the re- maining daughter. Winkle has found an affinity in Arabella Allen. Tupman has forsworn love since the time Jingle out- stripped him. Arabella's brother Ben and his chum, Bob Sawyer, two medical students, arrive at Dingley Dell. Bob is a rival of Winkle's. Pickwick returns to the city in good time for the spring term at court, when his trial comes up. Mrs. Bardell wins her suit and is awarded damages to the extent of seven hundred and fifty pounds. This Pickwick refuses to pay, and there- fore faces the alternative of being com- mitted to prison in two months' time. He employs the interval of freedom in a visit to Bath, where he attends a reception of society; Sam Weller attends another, of 12 DICKENS SYNOPSES footmen ; and Winkle has a thrilling night adventure with a lady and a sedan-chair. This adventure causes Winkle to proceed hastily to a neighbouring town, where, however, he has the good fortune to hear tidings of Arabella Allen. Sam and his master come to his assistance, and a clan- destine interview is successfully carried through with the young lady. Sam, mean- while, does some courting on his own account with Mary, a pretty housemaid. Pickwick is presently incarcerated in Fleet Prison for non-payment of the Bar- dell damages. The devoted Sam causes himself to be likewise arrested as a debtor, by means of a scheme arranged with his father, Tony Weller, a fat, much-married coachman. Other debtors whom Pickwick is astonished to find amoug the prisoners are Alfred Jingle and Job Trotter. They have speedily run through the money obtained from Wardle, and are now in the depth of poverty. Pickwick's generous heart is touched, and he relieves their distress. THE PICKWICK PAPERS 13 After Pickwick has remained three months in the prison, another surprising inmate arrives in the person of Mrs. Bar- dell, who has been held by her lawyers for the costs of her lawsuit. Pickwick relents, at this juncture, to the extent of paying these costs, and she is glad to sign a release on the damages. Jingle and Trotter are also discharged through Pickwick's instrumentality, and take a new start in life as emigrants. The first expedition undertaken by Pick- wick upon obtaining his freedom is on behalf of Winkle, who has succeeded in marrying Arabella Allen in spite of her brother Ben, who has favoured Sawyer. Pickwick reconciles the opposing forces and also visits Winkle's father, but with poor results. The latter, however, is soon brought to look with favourable eye upon his new daughter. Pickwick is no sooner relieved of this tangle than he is involved in another by Snodgrass, who is on the point of eloping with Emily Wardle. A fatherly sanction, 14 DICKENS SYNOPSES however, renders this step unnecessary, and the young couple are united in due form at Pickwick's own home — a new house at Dulwich. Here Pickwick, having dis- solved his Club, passes his remaining years in peaceful retirement, attended by Sam Weller and Sam's wife, Mary. THE ADVENTURES OF OLIVER TWIST Second novel ; appeared in Bentley''s Miscellany, January to December, 1837, under the sub-title of " The Parish Boy's Progress' published in book form in 1838. Scene : London and neighbouring towns. Time : 1825-1837. CAST OF CHARACTERS Barney, assistant in " Three Cripples" Tavern. Charley Bates, pickpocket in Fagin gang. Mrs. Bedwin, housekeeper for Bvo'niAo'n . Betsey, street-walker. Brittles, servant to Mrs. Maylie. Brownlow, benefactor of Oliver Twist. Bumble, beadle, then master of workhouse. Mrs. Bumble, see Mrs. Corney. Charlotte, maid to the Sowerberrys. Thomas Chitling, pickpocket in Fagin gang. Noah Claypole, apprentice to Sowerberry, then mem- ber of Fagin gang. Mrs. Corney, matron of workhouse, then wife of Bumble. Toby Crackit, house-breaker. John ("Jack") Dawkins, the "Artful Dodger," pickpocket in Fagin gang. Fagin, Jew at head of gang of thieves. Fang, police magistrate. Rose Fleming, adopted niece of Mrs. Maylie, whose name she took. Gamfielb, chimney sweeper. Giles, servant to Mrs. Maylie. Grimwig, friend of Brownlow. Kags, thief. Edward Leeford, see Monks. 17 18 DICKENS SYNOPSES LosBERNE, surgeon^ friend of the Maylies. Mrs. Mann, matron of workhouse orphanage. Mr8. Maylie, benefactress of Oliver Twist. Harry Maylie, her son. Rose (Fleming) Maylie, her adopted niece. Monks (Edward Leeford), half-hrother to Oliver Twist, dnd accomplice to Fagin. Nancy, street-tmUcer, and mistress of Sikes. William ("Bill") Sikes, house-breaker. Sowerberry, undertaker. Mrs. Sowerberry, his wife. Oliver Twist, a icorkhouse foundling. "Workhouse officers a7id inmates: Limbkins, Mrs. Thingummy, surgeon, old women, "Dick," a7id other boys ; Blathers and Duff, officers ; landlord of "Three Cripples" Tavern ; constable, tinker, jailers, etc. Agnes Fleming, mother to Oliver Twist, appears momentarily on the scene. ARGUMENT " The Adventures of Oliver Twist " are placed in the lowest stratum of English society, — among the thieves, blackguards, and parish poor, who are depicted in their repulsive reality without the false glamour often lent by romancers and librettists. The person of the innocent boy Oliver is shown in conjunction with, but unpolluted by, vice and crime. He may be regarded as a lay figure established for the sake of parallel. To quote the author, *' I wished to show, in little Oliver, the principle of Good surviving through every adverse cir- cumstance, and triumphing at last." In the workhouse of a certain town, about seventy-five miles from London, a poor erring young woman, evidently of the better class, but wearing no wedding- ring, finds refuge, and soon after gives birth to a boy, named by the parish beadle, Oliver Twist. The mother does not sur- 19 20 DICKENS SYNOPSES vive ; and the infant takes his place among the half -starved children of the workhouse orphanage, being systematically ill-treated there until he is nine years old, when Bumble, the beadle, removes him again to the workhouse proper where he is put to work picking oakum. The food rations, largely gruel, are dealt out so sparingly that the hungry boys cast lots as to who shall ask for more. The choice falls to Oliver, and his meek request brings him into disgrace with the " board." They let him out as apprentice to Sowerberry, an undertaker. He stays here but a short time until a victorious fight w^ith Noah Claypole, a bullying apprentice older than himself, again brings him into disgrace and punishment, when Oliver, now about ten years old, runs away to London. On the outskirts of the town the weary child is encountered by Jack Dawkins, otherwise known as the " Artful Dodger," a boy pickpocket in the employ of Fagin, a Jew. Oliver is brought to the Jew and an effort is made to teach him '' the trade." OLIVER TWIST 21 The innocent boy suspects no wrong until taken out on an expedition with Dawkins and Charley Bates, another of the gang. The two thieves pick a gentleman's pocket, and the astounded Oliver runs away on seeing the deed — an unlucky move for him, since he is suspected, pursued, cap- tured, and taken before a magistrate. He is released on evidence, however, and Mr. Brownlow, the gentleman whose pocket has suffered, takes him to his home and befriends him. But Fagin and his gang do not intend to let Oliver escape them, as he is pos- sessed of their secrets. Through the in- strumentality of Nancy, a girl of the streets, and her lover. Bill Sikes, a ruf- fianly house-breaker identified with Fagin, the boy is captured and brought back to the Jew's den. He is forced to go on a house-breaking expedition with Sikes, in order to put him in the law-breaking class and thus close his mouth. The burglary is a failure. Oliver is wounded and left lying in a ditch by Sikes. The next morn- 22 DICKENS SYNOPSES ing the boy manages to reach the same house which the robbers had attacked. The inmates, Mrs. Maylie and her adopted niece Rose, believe his story of innocence and, with their surgeon friend. Dr. Losberne, care for him during his illness and throw the detectives off the scent. They become greatly attached to their protege, and the grateful lad continues to live with them. Their joint happiness receives a shock in the critical illness of Rose, a beautiful girl of seventeen, who, however, recovers. Her illness brings upon the scene Harry Maylie, son of Mrs. Maylie. The young man renews his suit for Rose's hand, but the girl refuses him because of a blot in her family history. The Jew again searches out Oliver's re- treat, being seconded by Monks, a myste- rious persecutor of the boy. Plots are laid against Oliver's welfare, when his cause finds an unexpected champion in Nancy, who at great risk acquaints Rose with the situation. Rose reveals the conspiracy to Mr. Brownlow, Oliver's earlier friend, and OLIVER TWIST 23 they hold another interview with Nancy. The latter is followed at this time by Noah Claypole, now a spy for Fagin, who tells the Jew and Sikes of the girl's defection. The infuriated Sikes rushes to his sweet- heart, and although she truthfully pro- tests that she has shielded him from discovery and is faithful to him still, he brutally murders her with a club. The man then takes to flight, followed by his dog, a close companion of his hitherto. But after dodging about in the country, the reckless murderer comes back to Lon- don, deeming that the best place to hide. A great hue and cry has meantime been raised, urged on by Mr. Brownlow. Sikes is traced partly by the sight of his dog, and in attempting to escape his pursuers he hangs himself. The entire gang is broken up at this time through evidence in Mr. Brownlow's hands. Fagin is tried and executed, dying as meanly as he had lived. Dawkins had previously been transported, and Bates reforms. Noah turns state's evidence and 24 DICKENS SYNOPSES thus escapes. No direct evidence holds Monks ; but Mr. Brownlow chances to know the true facts of .his career, and ex- torts a confession from him, showing him to be the half-brother of Oliver, the latter being a natural son. The father is dead, but his will provided also for Oliver. For this reason Monks has been aiding Fagin, his agent, to ruin the lad. By Monks's statement it is also revealed that Rose Maylie is the sister of Oliver's mother, and that Rose's own name is free from stain. Monks is permitted to take his portion of the legacy and go to America, where he falls into further evil and dies in prison. Rose consents, after her past history is cleared, to become Mrs. Harry Maylie. Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow ; and they with the Maylies and their stanch friends, the surgeon Losberne and the eccentric Grimwig, — not to ignore the faithful Maylie servants, Giles and Brittles, — form a congenial village community bound together by the closest ties of affection . OLIVER TWIST 25 No other characters are important enough to demand outline here, unless they be Mr. and Mrs. Bumble. This beadle, the op- pressor of Oliver's youth, pursues his career as bully of the poor, until he marries the workhouse matron and joins the ranks of the henpecked. The worthy pair are shown to be implicated in the plot against Oliver and later lose their offices. They sink into poverty and end as inmates of the workhouse where they formerly reigned. THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP Fourth novel ; published in " Master Humphrey's Clock" in 1840. Scene : London and neighbouring towns. Time : 1840. CAST OF CHARACTERS Barbara, inaicl to the Garlands. "Barbara's Mother." Sampson Brass, attojiiey. Miss Sally Brass, his sister. Cheggs, market gardener. Miss Cheggs, his sister. Chuckster, clerk to Witherden. Thomas Codlin, a "Punch" showman. Miss Edwards, at Monflathers' hoarding school. Garland, retired gentleman. Mrs. Garland, his wife. Abel Garland, his son. Mrs. George, friend of Mrs. Quilp. Grinder, travelling showman. Jem Groves, gambler. Harris, or "Short Trotters," a "Punch" shoiv- man. Mrs. Jarley, of a " Wax- Work" show. Jerry, manager of dancing dogs. Mrs, Jiniwin, mother of Mrs. Quilp. Mat Jowl, gambler. Isaac List, gambler. " Marchioness," servant to the Brasses. Marton, schoolmaster. Miss Monflathers, head of a boarding school. Mrs. Nubbles, indigent widow. Christopher (" Kit ") Nubbles, her son. 45 46 DICKENS SYNOPSES Jacob Nubbles, her son. Daniel Quilp, a divarf. Mrs. Quilp, his toife. Tom Scott, servant to Quilp. Mrs. Henrietta Simmons, friend of Mrs. Quilp. Slum, poet. Richard Swiveller, "gentleman of fortune." Trent, grandfather to Little Nell. Trent, his brother. Frederick Trent, brother to Little Nell. Nelly Trent, known as Little Nell. VuFFiN, travelling showman. Mrs. Wackles, a widow., whose daughters run a " Ladies seminary." Sophia Wackles, her daughter., aftet^ard Mrs. Chegg. Jane Wackles, daughter of Mrs. Wackles. Melissa Wackles, daughter of Mrs. Wackles. Friends of Little Nell, such as a "bachelor," clergy- man, sexton, little boy, furnace tender, landlord, canal men, and others. ARGUMENT " The Old Curiosity Shop " itself has actually very little concern with this story. It is the first stage-setting, but after the thirteenth chapter it becomes entirely de- serted, and a rusty padlock is fastened on the door. Nor is it again opened. The story might be appropriately styled " The Wanderers," or even '' Little Nell," for the action revolves around the small heroine and her weary quest for a safe retreat for her grandfather and herself. Incidentally the book is a sermon on gambling. Pri- marily it is a study in contrasts. " The lonely figure of the child " is surrounded by " grotesque and wild but not impossible companions," whose shadowy figures flit by with all the rapidity of a kaleidoscope. " Master Humphrey " is the supposed nar- rator of the opening chapters. "Little Nell" Trent, a quiet, lovable girl, lives with her aged grandfather in an 47 48 DICKENS SYNOPSES old curiosity shop in London, at the be- ginning of the story, and, though she is a diminutive child of scarcely fourteen years, she proves a capable housekeeper. The grandfather, however, in a passion to secure a fortune for her, becomes addicted to gam- bling and thus ends in bankruptcy. He has borrowed money and fallen under the power of a malignant dwarf, Daniel Quilp, who sells him out without compunction. The old man is seized with a raging fever, which leaves him weakened in mind and body. He grows so fearful of the dwarf that Little Nell packs their scanty per- sonal belongings and they flee secretly. Henceforth the heroic spirit of this devoted child bears the burdens of both. Their flight brings hardships and strange adventures. They fall in with two "Punch" showmen, who are not unkind and allow them to accompany the show. But the men get the idea that a reward may be forthcoming if they keep the fugi- tives, and Nell and lier grandfather take alarm and renew their solitary way. THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP 49 Their next friend is a quiet schoolmaster, who is heartbroken at the loss by death of his favourite pupil. Little Nell is installed in the lad's place in the master's affections, but she and her grandfather do not tarry here. They wander on and are taken up by the caravan of a Mrs. Jarley who man- ages a wax- work exhibition. Mrs. Jarley is pleased with Nell's pretty face and en- gages her to exhibit the figures. The child succeeds well in her new position and maintains herself and her grandfather in comparative comfort, until he chances to fall into the clutches of card sharpers. His old gambling fever is again aroused. He loses every penny the child can earn, and is even tempted to dishonesty. Nell learns the peril and is forced to flee with him again to keep him from danger. After a hard journey and sufferings which sow the seeds of disease in the child's tender body, they are rescued by the poor schoolmaster who had previously befriended them, and who watches over them henceforth. He procures them a 50 DICKENS SYNOPSES home in a town to which he is removing — a tumble-down mansion across from a church whose keys are given into Nell's custody. During the few remaining months of her pathetic life she is often to be found in the church or its quiet churchyard — more like a spirit than a person of earth. Meantime in London more than one person had sought for the fugitives. Quilp, through motives of self-interest, offers rewards for their recovery. And a long- missing brother of Nell's grandfather de- votes his life to finding them. He takes up his abode with Sampson Brass, a "shj^ster" lawyer who is in league with Quilp, and watches this worthy pair. He makes the acquaintance of honest, awk- ward, good-natured Kit Nubbles who was one of Nell's protectors in the old curios- ity shop days, and the only ray of merri- ment that came into her life. Through the " Punch " showmen he and Kit obtain a clew to the runaways, but too late to fol- low it successfully. THE OLD CUlilOSITY SHOP 51 Kit, who is now niaii-of-all-work for Mr. and Mrs. Garland, a quiet, well-to-do couple, incurs the hatred of the terrible dwarf, who commands his creature Brass to plot the lad's ruin. This is all but accomplished by a trumped-up charge of theft, when a disclosure of affairs turns the tables. Kit is liberated to find himself a popular hero ; Brass is sent to the chain- gang ; and Quilp drowns in attempting to escape arrest. Search is maintained for Nell and her grandfather, who are at last heard of through the Garlands. The searchers drive post-haste to the town where the wanderers have taken refuge, only to find that the great-hearted child has died a few hours before, and the old man is demented through grief. He does not recognise his brother, nor will he believe that Little Nell is gone from him. He takes up his daily station at her grave, and is found lying dead upon it one day. The other characters are briefly disposed uf by the author. Most of the more promi- 52 DICKENS SYNOPSES iient ones have been mentioned already. But notice should be taken of Miss Sally Brass, the remarkable mannish sister of the attorney, with heart of stone ; Rich- ard Swiveller, soldier of fortune, and the " Marchioness " who saved his life and thereby procured for herself a husband; Kit's sweetheart Barbara, and their respec- tive mothers ; poor frightened Mrs. Quilp, Avhose husband's way of eating eggs, shell and all, and drinking scalding tea did not tend to reassure her ; and Frederick Trent, profligate brother of Little Nell. BARNABY RUDGE Fifth novel ; published in "Master Humphrey's Clock" in 1841. Scene : London and vicinity. Time: 1775-1780. CAST OF CHARACTERS Akerman, governor of Newgate prison. Sir John Chester, member of Parliament. Edward Chester, his son. Thomas Cobb, chandler, Solomon Daisy, parish clerk, Edward Dennis, hangman. Gashford, secretary to Gordon. Mark Gilbert, an apprentice. Lord George Gordon, member of Parliament and president of " Protestant Association." John Grueby, lieutenant for a time to Gordon. Geoffrey Haredale, of the Warren. Emma Haredale, his niece. Hugh, natural son of Sir John Chester. Langdale, vintner. Miss Miggs, maid to the Vardens. Philip Parkes, ranger. RuDGE, incognito murderer of Reuben Haredale. Mrs. Mary Rudge, his wife. Barnaby Rudge, their half-witted son. Stagg, blind man. Simon Tappertit, apprentice to Varden. Gabriel Varden, locksmith. Mrs. Martha Varden, his unfe. Dolly Varden, their daughter. John Willet, landlord of the Maypole Inn. Joe Willet, his son. Sergeant, soldiers, citizens, and mob. 66 ARGUMENT " Barnaby Rnclge " is the hero of the present novel only in the sense that the long-extended and intricate action revolves around him. The book begins as a tale of mystery, and culminates in the Gordon " No Popery " riots of 1780. The scene opens five years earlier, at the Maypole Inn, twelve miles from London. John Willet, its burly, obtuse landlord, has three fireside cronies who aid him in bully- ing his son Joe, who, though grown, is still treated as a mere boy. One of these cronies tells a mysterious stranger the story of a murder that had been com mitted in the neighbourhood twenty-two years earlier. Reuben Haredale, the owner of the Warren, a then prosperous estate, had been found murdered in his bed-chamber, and a large sum of money 57 58 mCKENS STNOPSES stolen. '-^ The steward and the gardener," continues the narrator, '' were both miss- ing, and both suspected for a long time, but they were never found, though hunted far and wide. And far enough they might have looked for poor Mr. Rudge, the stew- ard, whose body — scarcely to be recog- nised by his clothes and the watch and ring he wore — was found, months after- ward, at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds." Suspicion for the double crime rests upon the gardener, concludes the narrator, and the murderer has never been apprehended. This belief, while general, is not uni- versal, for as Geoffrey Haredale, brother of the slain gentleman, has come into pos- session of the estate, there are not want- ing suspicions of his own share in the crime. This taint of doubt, acting upon Haredale's natural morbidness, embitters his whole life. He lives almost in seclu- sion on the now semi-ruinous estate, show- ing marked kindness to but two people, — his niece, Emma Haredale, for whom he BARNABY BUDGE 59 cares as tenderly as a father, and Mrs. Riidge, wife of the former steward, to whom Haredale gives an allowance. Barnaby Rudge, her son, born the day after the tragedy, has carried its marks upon him from his birth, being weak mentally, given to fantastic imaginings, and possessed by an innate horror of blood. Yet he is so gentle and kind-hearted withal as to be a general favourite in the countryside with both man and beast. His raven Grip, with its demoniac slyness and croaking remarks, " I'm a devil " and " Polly put the kettle on," is also a personage of note. The mysterious stranger, who is present at the Inn on the night the story of the murder is told, commits a highway rob- bery that same night, and is also discov- ered afterward to have some power over Mrs. Rudge. This worthy woman, in fact, becomes so alarmed over his visits to her cottage, that she relinquishes her Haredale annuity and flees with Barnaby to a distant village, where they are lost to sight for five years. 60 DICKENS SYNOPSES Geoffrey Hareclale has a lifetime enemy in the person of John Chester (afterward knighted). Haredale had been his drudge and scapegoat at school, and in after life Chester has lost no opportunity to injure him. Chester, while outwardly an urbane and polished gentleman, is really a master of dissimulation. His present ambition is that his son Edward ma}^ marry an heiress and thus provide much-needed money for his own expensive tastes. Edward, how- ever, a young man of good impulse, has fallen in love with Emma Haredale, who returns his affection. The match is dis- tasteful to Chester and Haredale alike, and they agree for once to work together in preventing it. A bit of treachery easily managed by Chester causes an es- trangement of the lovers. Chester and his son quarrel, and Edward leaves England. Chester is instrumental in wrecking an- other love affair at this time. Joe Willet of the Maypole, a friend of Edward's, has long cherished a devotion for pretty Dolly BARNABY BUDGE 61 Varden, daughter of Gabriel Varden, a sturdy, good-natured locksmith of London. Dolly likes Joe, but is too great a coquette to admit it. Gabriel also is friendly, but Mrs. Varden, a zealous, religious bigot, aided by Miss Miggs, the melancholy ser- vant, is an adverse influence which the artful Chester turns to bad account for Joe. The latter is so browbeaten at home that he finally runs away, joins the army, and is sent to America. Dolly becomes the companion of Emma Haredale. The narrative here moves forward five years, to 1780. Lord George Gordon, the Protestant fanatic of history, is just be- ginning his " No Popery " campaign. By speeches and pamphlets he succeeds in collecting a mob of forty thousand men, mostly the scum and off-scouring of Lon- don. His shrewd and unprincipled lieu- tenants soon work the agitation up to fever heat and plot mischief. He himself seems to be a crack-brained visionary who wishes to use his followers in a demonstration against Parliament. This show of force 62 DICKENS SYNOPSES is made, but as yet no actual violence is done the Catholics. Into this seething caldron poor Barnaby Rudge is presently cast. Mrs. Rudge's secluded home has been discovered by her persecutor, and in desperation she has come to the city to lose herself therein — only to involve her son, unwittingly, in the turmoil. Open lawlessness breaks forth. Chapels are pulled down and pri- vate houses fired. The Warren is burned, since Haredale is a Catholic and has in- curred the enmity of Chester and others. Emma Haredale and Dolly Varden are kidnapped. Haredale who has been in another part of London hurries to the Warren only to find it in ashes and the girls gone. But he discovers and seizes a man lurking in the ruins who proves to be Rudge the steward, long believed dead. Rudge had murdered both his master and the gardener, so disposing the latter's body as to lead to the impression that it was his own. Since that time he . had. lurked in the neighbourhood to the constant terror BARNABY BUDGE 60 of Mrs. Rudge, who alone knew his secret, but Avas restrained from disclosing it, though herself innocent. Haredale secures Rudge's imprisonment in Newgate prison, but the rioters soon after break into tliis jail and liberate all the inmates. Gabriel Varden the lock- smith narrowly escapes with his life at this episode, since he refuses to aid in picking the Newgate lock. The insurrection rages in mad fury for a few nights and then is quenched in blood by the regular troops. Many of the leading rioters are seized, among them poor Barnaby who, however, has done no personal harm. At the end of the uprising the place of concealment of the kidnapped young women, Emma Hare- dale and Dolly Varden, is discovered by Geoffrey Haredale and two friends who have done him and others good service, — Edward Chester and Joe Willet. Edward had gone to the West Indies and engaged in a profitable business. Joe had lost an arm in the. American -Revolution. , Now they have returned to England in time to 64 DICKENS SYNOPSES render valuable private aid for which each receives his dearest reward, — the hand of his sweetheart. Edward weds Emma Haredale, with her uncle's consent, and the two go to the West Indies. Joe is met more than halfway in his wooing of Dolly. The sturdy locksmith, whom the riots have developed into a hero, gives his daughter so generous a dowry that Joe is enabled to rejuvenate the Maypole Inn, dismantled by the rioters, and reign there as host. His father, who has suffered with the Inn in the riot, is cared for until his death, a few years later. Barnaby Rudge is tried with other rioters and sentenced to death by hang- ing. He is pardoned on the scaffold through the persistent efforts of Varden and others. The elder Rudge is executed ; and relieved of this dire encumbrance, Barnaby, his mother, and the raven Grip spend a peaceful life on the farm of the Maypole. Other rioters who suffer death are Dennis the former hangman, and Hugh an untamed demi-savage who had been BAHNABV BUDGE 65 hostler at the Maypole until the riots be- gan, and who is afterward found to be the unacknowledged natural son of Sir John Chester. This knight becomes involved in a duel with his enemy Haredale and is killed by him. Haredale takes refuge in a convent and spends his few remaining years in severe penance. Of the other characters, Mrs. Varden overcomes her cant and narrow-minded- ness, especially when removed from the influence of Miggs, whose petty meanness and jealousy were in direct proportion to her shedding of tears. Simon Tappertit, Varden's foolish apprentice whom Miggs loved but who aspired to outrival Joe Willet in Dolly's affections, is a leading figure in the riots, whence he escapes with- out other punishment than the loss of his beloved legs. THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT Sixth novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from January, 1843, to July, 1844 ; published in book form, July, 1844. Scene : England, chiefly Wiltshire and London ; points in the United States. Time : 1842. CAST OF CHARACTERS Bailey (real name Benjamin), hoy at Todgers's ; lackey for Tigg. Be VAN, American /n>n(? to Martin Chuzzlewit, Jr. Jefferson Brick, imr correspondent^ American paper. General Cyrus Choke, an American. Hannibal Chollop, an American. Chuffey, clerk to Antliony Chuzzlewit and Son. Anthony Chuzzlewit, brother to Martin Senior. Jonas Chuzzlewit, his son. Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr., an aged man of wealth. Martin Chuzzlewit, Jr., his grandson. David Crimple, paimibroker. Colonel Diver, proprietor "New York Rowdy- Journal." Fips, agent to Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr. General Fladdock, an American. Mrs. Sarah (" Sairey") Gamp, midwife and nurse. Mary Graham, orphan protegee of Martin Chuzzle- wit, Sr. Major Hominy, an American. Mrs. Hominy, his wife, a strong-minded woman. JiNKiNs, senior hoarder at Todgers's. Dr. John Jobling, a tool of Tigg's. Lafayette Kettle, an American. Mrs. Lupin, landlady of the "Blue Dragon " Inn. ' 69 DICKENS SYNOPSES Lewsome, acquaintance of Jonas Chuzzlewit's. Augustus Moddle, youngest hoarder at Todgers's. Mould, undertaker. Mrs. Mould, his wife — and two daughters. Nadget, spy to Tigg. NoRRis, an American. Mrs. Norris, his wife — and family. Major Pawkins, American hoarding-house keeper. Mrs. Pawkins, his wife. Seth Pecksniff, a Wiltshire "architect and sur- veyor," an outwardly virtuous man; a relation of Martin Chuzzlewit's. Charity (" Cherry ") Pecksniff, his daughter. Mercy (" Merry ") Pecksniff, his daughter ; after- ward Mrs. Jonas Chuzzlewit. Thomas ("Tom") Pinch, assistant to Pecksniff. Ruth Pinch, his sister^ a governess. Pip, accomplice of Tigg's. Elijah Pogram, American, memher of Congress. Mrs. Betsey Prig, nurse. Zephaniah Scudder, American real estate agent. William Simmons, stage driver. Chevy Slyme, relation of Martin Chuzzlewit's. Spottletoe, relation of Martin Chuzzlewit's. Mrs. Spottletoe, his wife, Paul ("Poll") Sweedlepipe, harher and hird fancier. Tacker, clei'k to Mould. Mark Tapley, assistant at "Blue Dragon" Inn; then servant to Martin Chuzzlewit, Jr. Montague Tigg, alias Tigg Montague, an adven- turer and promoter. MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT 71 Mrs. M. Todgers, proprietress of a London boarding- house. John Westlock, former piiinl to Pecksniff ; and friend to Tom Pinch. Wolf, accomplice of Tigg's. George Chuzzlewit and other members of that family ; Gander a ?if? other boarders at Todgers's ; employers of Ruth Pinch ; stage drivers, police officers ; various Americans. ARGUMENT Dickens began one of his prefaces to "Martin Chuzzlewit" with the remark, ''My main object in this story was, to exhibit in a variety of aspects the com- monest of all the vices ; to show how self- ishness propagates itself; and to what a grim giant it may grow, from small begin- nings." Special stress is given to hypoc- risy in the person of Pecksniff; and the reverse pictures of simple-hearted service and kindness are afforded in Tom Pinch and Mark Tapley. The book likewise contains a side issue in the shape of sun- dry American scenes. Martin Chuzzlewit, Senior, is an ob- stinate, selfish, and suspicious old man, who comes of a grasping family, and who is hounded by relatives eager to inherit his wealth. He spurns them all except his grandson, Martin Chuzzlewit, Junior. 73 74 DICKENS SYNOPSES The old man has also befriended an orphan girl, Mary Graham, who is his faithful and devoted attendant, though told plainly that she need expect no bequest. The young Martin and Mary fall in love with each other, much to the grandfather's dis- taste, whose own plans are upset thereby. His grandson is no less obstinate and self- ish, so the two men quarrel and separate — Mary remaining with Martin Senior. The young man now falls into the clutches of a distant kinsman, Seth Peck- sniff, an " architect and surveyor," living near Salisbury in Wiltshire. * Pecksniff pretends to run a select school in these subjects ; but, like everything else with [ which he is connected, it is only pretence, ' for he is a master of pious hypocrisy. Pecksniff receives the young man with open arms, thinking thus to placate the older one and perhaps provide a husband for one of his two daughters. Charity and Mercy. The only other inmate of this household, when Martin Junior enters it, is Tom Pinch, a kind-hearted fellow of MARTIN CflUZZLEWiT 75 simple nature, who appears prematurely aged. Tom's one hallucination is in re- spect to Pecksniff, whom he regards as his benefactor, although that man was never known to do disinterested kindness to any one. Martin Junior's stay with Pecksniff is brief. The grandfather hears of his pres- ence there and asks that he be dismissed. Pecksniff, delighted to see this turn in affairs, loses no time in getting rid of his guest. The latter goes to America, being joined, on his departure, b}^ Mark Tapley, a jovial fellow who has been assistant at the Blue Dragon tavern in Wiltshire. Mark has conceived a great liking for the buxom landlady of this tavern, which lik- ing is reciprocated ; but he deems that his present mission is to seek trouble in order to come out strong on being jolly, as he whimsically expresses it. He voluntarily seeks service with the younger Martin. Arrived in America, they stop a short time in New York, where they obtain a queer idea of manners and customs from 76 DICKENS SYNOPSES the people with whom they come in con- tact. They then hear of a Western town of Eden which is mapped as a flourishing community. Martin expends their joint slender hoard in the purchase of lots, in- tending to settle there as architect. A ride of several days upon a small steam- boat brings them to the place, and reveals it to be a swamp, whose few settlers are paying the penalty of existence there with their lives. Meanwhile in England, Pecksniff's affairs are apparently progressing. Mar- tin Senior seems to be falling under the influence of his oily tongue. Pecksniff takes his daughters to London on a visit. They stop at Mrs. Todgers's boarding- house, where the young men lodgers toast them royally. Their cousin, Jonas Chuzzlewit, also shows great interest in their welfare and has them dine with his father and himself. The father, Anthony Chuzzlewit, is a brother of the elder Mar- tin, though the two men have long been estranged. Anthony also has the family MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT 11 trait of selfishness which is transmitted with interest to his son. In their case it takes the form of niggardliness and low cunning. Jonas becomes so grasping that he wishes for his father's death. The old man dies suddenly about this time, much to Jonas's terror, but later relief. Peck- sniff takes charge of the funeral. A short time afterward Jonas makes a proposal of marriage to one of the Misses Pecksniff; but contrary to the general expectation, he chooses Mercy the younger. In the second part of the narrative, Jonas becomes a director in the Anglo- Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Insurance Company, a wild-cat concern whose promoter, Tigg Montague, alias Montague Tigg, has been introduced in a lowlier guise earlier in the book. Jonas takes stock in the concern; and Tigg, in order to get Jonas wholly under his power, sets a spy at work on his past history. The spy later discovers facts of a doubtful character in connection with the death of Jonas's father; and these facts are held c DICKENS SYNOPSES over Jonas's head with the effect of plac- ing him wholly at the mercy of Tigg. Jonas promises to inveigle Pecksniff into placing money in the concern. He and Tigg proceed to Wiltshire, and soon ensnare Pecksniff to the extent of his available funds. Jonas meanwhile has been plotting to murder Tigg in order, as he thinks, to suppress the damaging secret against himself. He waylays Tigg in a lonely wood and despatches him. This bloody deed, however, is preceded by other events of more or less importance. Pecksniff has apparently wormed his way into the good graces of Martin Senior, and the latter and Mary Graham are now liv- ing at his house. Mercy is married to Jonas, who mistreats her brutally; and Charity has gone to Mrs. Todgers's to live. Pecksniff therefore finds no appar- ent obstacle to a plan for keeping Martin under his influence. He pays court to Mary with intent to make her his wife. The defenceless girl appeals to Tom Pinch as her only friend. Tom's eyes are at last MABTIN CHUZZLEWIT 79 opened to Pecksniff's baseness ; but the latter forestalls him by dismissing him from his service. Tom proceeds to London, and visits his old-time friend, John Westlock, a former pupil of Pecksniff's. John offers to share his own apartments with him ; but Tom sets up an establishment for himself and his sister Ruth, a trim little woman who has been a governess. Mysterious aid now comes to Tom in the shape of a post as small librarian, the owner of this library being unknown to him. In America the fortunes of the younger Martin and Mark Tapley reach their low- est ebb. Swamp-fever attacks them in the river settlement where they locate. Each in turn is brought to death's door, but recovers. They receive financial aid from an American friend, and return to England. The experience, however, has had one good result in Martin's case. It has revealed to him his own mistakes of self-interest, and he profits by the lesson. He goes to his grandfather and asks for- 80 DICKENS SYNOPSES giveness, but Pecksniff interposes and prevents a reconciliation. The young man then returns to London, seeks out Tom Pinch, and through him and West- lock stumbles upon some dark secrets in Jonas's career. Old Martin also learns of the situation. Jonas is confronted with the charge of having poisoned his father. He clears himself by the narrowest margin, only to be seized for the more recent murder of Tigg. On his way to prison he poisons himself and dies. Old Martin is now revealed to be Tom Pinch's secret benefactor, and found to be not wholly given to selfishness. He uses Tom's library one morning as a general rendezvous for several people who are sur- prised to meet there : young Martin and Mary Graham ; Tom Pinch and his sister ; John Westlock ; Mark Tapley and the landlady of the Blue Dragon ; and finally Pecksniff. The latter's villany and boot- licking, long noted in secret by the older Martin, are brought to light, and he re- MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT 81 ceives punishment both corporal and men- tal at his hands. This aged man now proves fairy godfather to all others pres- ent. Young Martin is forgiven, and pre- sented with the hand of Mary. John Westlock is put in the way of winning Ruth Pinch. Mark Tapley and the land- lady join hands. And Tom Pinch, the lover of all, and beloved by all, remains with old Martin the good genius of the group. Tom's one secret sorrow, a love for Mary, is tempered by succeeding years of serenity, full of music, awakened by his own hands on his beloved instrument, the organ. Pecksniff sinks into the obscurity of a begging letter-writer. Mercy is cared for by old Martin. Charity all but inveigles a young boarder at Todgers's into mar- riage, but is herself deceived. Other char- acters of importance, not previously mentioned, are Chuff ey, the pathetic, anti- quated clerk rescued from Jonas's clutches; Bailey, the remarkable boy first met at Todgers's; "Poll" Sweedlepipe, the bar- 82 DICKENS SYNOPSES ber ; Betsey Prig, type of the early rough hospital nurse ; and last but not least her friend '' Sairey " Gamp, the midwife and nurse whose garrulity and belief in an imaginary Mrs. Harris — to say nothing of other traits — have developed her into a fixed type in literature. DEALINGS WITH THE FIRM OF DOMBEY AND SON Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation Seventh novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from October, 1846, to April, 1848 ; published in book form in April, 1848. Scene : London, Brighton, France. Time : circa 1830-1846. CAST OF CHARACTERS Major Joseph Bagstock, retired. Baps, dancing-master. Mrs. Baps, his wife. Miss Berry, niece to Mrs. Pipchin. BiTHERSTONE, hoarder at Mrs. Pipchin's. Doctor Blimber, head of a select school for hoys. Mrs. Blimber, his wife. Cornelia Blimber, his daughter. Mrs. Blockitt, nurse. Briggs, student at Doctor Blimber's. Brogley, broker. Mrs. Brown, aged street woman. Alice (Marwood) Brown, her daughter. Captain John Bunsby, seaman. James Carker, manager for Dombey and Son. John Carker, his brother., a junior with the firm. Harriet Carker, their sister. John Chick, husband to Mrs. Chick. Mrs. Louisa Chick, sister to Dombey. Clark, in charge of wharf shipments for Dombey. 'Captain Edward Cuttle, retired seaman. Paul Dombey, Sr., head of Dombey and Son. Mrs. Dombey, his wife. Florence Dombey, his daughter. Paul Dombey, Jr., his son. 85 86 DICKENS SYNOPSES Mrs. Edith Dombey, second wife to Dombey, for- merly Mrs. Edith Granger. Fkeder, B. a., instructor at Doctor Blimber's. Rev. Alfred Feeder, his brother. Cousin Feenix, relative of Mrs. Skewton. Game Chicken, pugilist. Walter Gay, employee of Dombey and Son. Solomon Gills, ships^ instrument maker. Old Glubb, sailor. Mrs. Edith Granger, see Mrs. Edith Dombey. Rev. Melchisedech Howler. Jemima, Mrs. Toodle's sister. Johnson, stiident at Doctor Blimber's. Mrs. MacStinger, an admirer of seamen. Alexander MacStinger, her son. Juliana MacStinger, her daughter. Mrs. Miff, pew-opener. MoRFiN, with Dombey and Son. Susan Nipper, maid to Florence Dombey. Miss Pankey, hoarder at Mrs. Pipchin's. Sir Parker Peps, court physician. Perch, messenger for Dombey and Son. Mrs. Perch, his wife. Doctor Pilkins, practitioner. Mrs. Pipchin, keeper of Brighton hoarding-house^ then housekeeper for Dombey. Sir Barnet Skettles, member.. House of Commons. Lady Skettles, his ivife. Master Skettles, his son. Mrs. Skewton, mother to Edith Granger. SowNDs, beadle. Toodlb, stoker. BOMBEY AND SON 87 Mrs. Polly Toodle, his wife, nurse to Paul Dombey. Robin Toodle, his son. P. Toots, admirer of Florence Dombey. TowLiNSON, butler to Dombey. TozER, student at Doctor Blimber's. LucRETiA Tox, admirer of Dombey. Mrs. Wick am, second nurse to Paul Dombey. ARGUMENT The humbling of pride and the awaken- ing of parental love are the subjects dealt with in " Dombey and Son." Paul Dombey, Senior, is about forty- eight years of age when the book opens ; his son Paul is about as many minutes old. Dombey Senior is arrogant, haughty, and totally engrossed iii the affairs of his large mercantile house in London. The arrival of a son and heir is therefore par- ticularly welcome to him — so much so, that he does not grieve deeply because of the loss of his wife at this time. The motherless boy grows slowly into puny childhood with no companion except his sister Florence, a few years his senior. The little girl has been totally neglected by her father ; and, now that her mother is dead, lavishes all her pent-up love on her brother. She does indeed make timid 89 90 DICKENS SYNOPSES overtures to her father, but he repulses her. His love, clumsy as it is in ex- pression, is centred on his son who makes the joint firm of '' Dombey and Son " possible. In this environment grows tlie gentle- hearted little Paul, demure and thoughtful far beyond his years, and a devoted com- rade of his sister. But he does not gain in strength, so is sent to Mrs. Pipchin's house at the seaside. When he is six years old his father's eagerness to have him grow up leads to his being placed in Doctor Blimber's select school, where his frail spirit is doubly oppressed by confine- ment over books and separation from his sister, whose great influence over Paul has not been agreeable to the father. The forcing process in vogue at Doctor Blim- ber's does not make the man of Paul that his father desires ; instead the boy sinks under the strain, and in a few months breathes his last. The death of Paul results in the still wider estrangement of Florence and her BOMBEY AND SON 91 father. Another incident has happened in her life which, also, is to have effect upon her later years. Becoming lost one day in London, she is brought home by young- Walter Gay, an employee of Dombey's house. Walter lives with his uncle, Solo- mon Gills, a ships' instrument maker, at the sign of the Wooden Midshipman, and is greatly admired by both his uncle and their best friend. Captain Edward Cattle, the one-handed seaman, retired. Hence- forth Walter is to have another devoted adherent in Florence. But he gains at the same time an insidious enemy in the person of James Carker, manager for Dombey, who prevails on the latter to send Walter on a long sea voyage. After many months devoid of tidings of Walter, his heart-broken uncle goes quietly away to hunt for him, leaving Captain Cuttle in disconsolate charge of the Midshipman. Major Joseph Bagstock, otherwise known to himself as Joey B., Old Joe, etc., takes a lively interest in Dombey's affairs at 92 i)icke:ns synopses this time, and introduces him to Edith Granger, who is persuaded by her fortune- hunting mother to become the second Mrs. Dombey. Volume I closes with prepara- tions for the wedding. It is not long after the wedding until unhappiness begins for this ill-assorted pair ; for Mr. Dombey knows no will but his own and is not troubled with delicacy or sentiment; while Mrs. Dombey is no less haughty in her own way and quite as independent of spirit. She is, however, refined and sensitive, and quickly discovers the good qualities of the neglected Flor- ence, whose affection and allegiance are easily won. But once more Dombey is displeased with what he terms his daugh- ter's interference, and his heart becomes steeled against both daughter and wife. He adopts the course of sending Carker, his manager, to Mrs. Dombey armed with his domestic reproofs, knowing that this course will be most galling to Edith's pride. At last she is goaded to revenge, and chooses to elope with Carker — whom BOMBEY AND SON 93 she detests — in order to humiliate her hus- band. This she apparently does, though she does not live with Carker. The latter follows her to P^^ance, but is spurned, and re- turns to England to elude Dombey who is in pursuit. In an encounter with Dombey the rascally manager's life ends, by acci- dent, under the wheels of a railway train. Upon the flight of Mrs. Dombey, Flor- ence, now a young woman of seventeen, is left once more alone. She goes to her father to comfort him in this blow to his pride, when he in a frenzy of passion strikes her to the floor, bidding her fol- low Edith, since they had always been in league. Florence flees from her father's house, which she can call home no longer. She can think of only one refuge, and that is the home of Walter's uncle, Solomon Gills. But Gills had previously disappeared in search of Walter ; and Florence finds only Captain Cuttle who, however, receives her and cares for her as tenderly as a kinsman. Shortly afterward, Walter unexpectedly 94 mCKEJSiS SYNOPSES returns, to the great delight of Florence and the captain. The two young people confess a mutual passion, which has in- fluenced each since childhood, and resolve to Aved before Walter's next voyage. The happiness of all the group is heightened by the arrival of the wanderer, Gills ; and a merry little party witnesses the wedding of the lovers, who shortly embark on a long voyage, leaving only one rueful face among their friends — that of Toots, a long-time wooer of Florence. One year later the trading world is shocked by news of the failure of Dombey and Son. Dombey had plunged reck- lessly into ventures after the flight of his wife and daughter, seeking to find relief in business activity and accepting advice from no quarter. His house becomes bankrupt, and he himself is nearly insane through brooding over his troubles. In this extremity of misery and humiliation, his spurned daughter Florence returns to him, and at last wins his love and trust. She persuades him to live with her and DOMBEY AND SON 95 Walter, now settled iu a comfortable little home. There he ends his days in peace and affection, devoting himself to his two grandchildren, Paul and Florence, but showing his tenderest side to the little girl. THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD Eighth novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from May, 1849, to November, 1850 ; published in book form, November, 1850. Scene : Blunderstone, London, Yarmouth, Dover, and other points in England and the Continent. Time: 1812-1842. CAST OF CHARACTERS KicHARD Babley (" Mr. Dick "), simple-minded pro- tege of Betsey Trotwood. Barkis, stage driver^ who is "willin'." Chillip, medical practitioner. Mrs. Clara Copperfield, afterward Mrs. Murd- stone. David Copperfield, her son, the supposed narrator of this "History." Mrs. Dora Copperfield, nee Spenlow, his Jirst wife. Mrs. Agnes Copperfield, nee Wickfield, his sec- ond wife. Creakle, schoolmaster at Salem House. Mrs. Creakle, his wife. Miss Creakle, his daughter. Mrs. Crupp, landlady to Copperfield in London. Rosa Dartle, companion to Mrs. Steerforth. "Mr. Dick," see Richard Babley. "Little Em'ly," niece to Peggotty. Martha Endell, an abandoned woman. Mrs. Gummidge, a widowed inmate of Peggotty's home. Uriah Heep, clerk and partner of Wickfield. Mrs. Heep, his " 'umble mother." Janet, maid to Betsey Trotwood. JoRAM, of Omer and Joram, undertakers. 99 100 DICKENS SYNOPSES Mrs. Minnie Joram, Jiis wife. JoRKiNS, of Spenlow and Jorkins, attorneys. LiTTiMER, valet to Steerforth. Jack Maldon, cousin to Mrs. Strong. Mrs. Markleham, t?ie " Old Soldier," mother to Mrs. Strong. Mell, teacher at Creakle's school. WiLKiNS Micawber, onc who toaits for something to turn up. Mrs. Emma Micawber, his sanguine wife. Emma Micawber, his daughter. WiLKiNS Micawber, Jr., his son. The Micawber "Twins" and Baby. Julia Mills, friend to Dora Spenlow. Miss Mowciier, a dwarf hairdresser. Edward Murdstone, wine-dealer., stepfather to David Copperfield. Mrs. Murdstone, his loife, formerly Mrs. Clara Cop- perfield. Jane Murdstone, his sister. Omer, of Omer and Joram, undertakers. Clara Peggotty, nurse to David Copperfield, and afterward Mrs. Barkis. Dan Peggotty, her brother, a fisherman. Ham Peggotty, their nephew. QuiNiON, manager for Murdstone and Grinby, wine- dealers. Sharp, head-master at Creakle's school. Francis Spenlow, 0/ Spenlow and Jorkins, attorneys. Miss Dora Spenlow, his daughter, afterward Mrs. Copperfield. Clarissa Spenlow, aunt to Dora Spenlow. DAVID COPPERFIELD 101 Lavima Spenlow, aunt to Dora Spenlow, Mrs. Steerforth, mother to James Steerforth. James Steerforth, schoolmate of David Copperfield. Doctor Strong, schoolmaster at Dover. Mrs. Annie Strong, his wife. TiFFEY, clerk in office of Spenlow and Jorkins. Thomas Traddles, schoolmate of David Copperfield. Mrs. Sophy Traddles, nee Crewler, his wife. Betsey Trotwood, great-aunt to David Copperfield. TuNGAY, one-legged guard at Creakle's school. WicKFiELD, attorney at Dover. Agnes Wickfield, his daughter.^ afterward Mrs. Cop- perfield. Captain Hopkins, and family ; Miss Shepherd, Miss Larkins, Chestle, Clickett, Passnidge, Markham, Grainger, the Misses Crewler, landlords, waiters, and seamen. ARGUMENT "The Personal History of David Cop- perfield " is in many respects the personal history of Charles Dickens. The author was fond of putting himself and his ac- quaintances into his books, and he has indulged the fondness freely in " David Copperfield." The story has long been regarded as autobiographical in not a few scenes and descriptions. It is this touch, perhaps most of all, this feeling of genuine sympathy with real happenings, which has given the book its permanent and just hold upon the hearts of his readers. The opening chapter describes the cir- cumstances attending the hero's birth. He is a posthumous child, his father being dead six months. On the night he is born, the Copperfield household is per- turbed by the sudden visit of Miss Betsey Trotwood, an eccentric great-aunt of the new infant's. Miss Betsey departs as 103 104 DICKENS SYNOPSES suddenly as she has come, and in high dudgeon, when she learns that the child is a boy instead of a girl who could bear Miss Betsey's name. The child's first nurse, and one who is to remain devoted to him in later years, is Clara Peggotty — known always as plain Peggotty. She and Mrs. Copperfield spend many happy hours with the boy un- til in an evil day, when he is old enough to read and notice things for himself, he finds a dark gentleman paying court to his mother. The dark man, Mr. Murd- stone, is successful in his suit ; and David is spared the pain of witnessing the mar- riage by being taken to Peggotty's brother's home at Yarmouth. He there meets the brother, Dan Peggotty, a rough but true- hearted fisherman, his niece, Little Em'ly, Mrs. Gummidge, a widow, and renews acquaintance with a nephew. Ham Peg- gotty, a great overgrown boy. These people live in quaint but comfortable fash- ion in a house improvised from an over- turned boat. They take a great liking to DAVID COPPERFIELD 105 the small David, and he to them. He makes a sweetheart of Little Em'ly. On his return home he learns of his mother's marriage. The home is changed from a place of joy to a gloomy prison. His stepfather, a stern, forbidding man who preaches firmness, has no love for the boy, but treats him harshly. His mother is powerless to protect him, as her pliant will is dominated by that of her husband, who is reenforced by a no less stern spinster sister, Jane Murdstone. When David is about nine years old he is sent away to boarding-school, Salem House, kept by a brutal taskmaster, Creakle, who systematically maltreats his pupils. David's life is not altogether un- liappy, however, as he makes several friends among his mates, two especial ones being James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles. Steerforth is the head-boy, and his easy patronage of David wins the lad's thorough affection. After a few months, David's schooling is cut short by his mother's death. Peggotty takes him on another visit to 106 DICKENS SYNOPSES Yarmouth, and he meanwhile aids the peculiar courtship of Barkis, a stage driver who " is willin' " to marry Peggotty and who finally succeeds in doing so. David's stepfather now puts him out as a chore boy in a bottling establishment, where the lad receives a bare living wage, and is left without friends or counsel. He is lodged by Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, a sanguine but impecunious couple who show him kindness in their own singular way. Micawber, however, is waiting for "something to turn up," so makes use of David rather than aids him. Neverthe- less, a strong friendship grows up between them. The boy's position at the bottling house grows so intolerable that he runs away, and takes refuge with his great-aunt, Betsey Trotwood, who shelters him, and relieves the Murdstones of further connec- tion with his affairs. Another of her pro- teges is a simple-minded man called Mr. Dick, whose chief occupation is to fly large kites and write Memorials of King DAVID COPPERFIELD 107 Charles the First. Miss Betsey places David in a school of the right sort, that of Dr. Strong at Dover, and the boy lives at the pleasant home of an attorney, Wick- field, whose daughter Agnes, about David's own age, comes to be regarded by him as tenderly as a sister. The attorney's clerk, Uriah Heep, is noted for his fawning ways, his " 'umbleness," and his cold, clammy hands, but through his and his mother's servility he gradually gains an evil control over Wickfield's business. After Copperfield completes his school- ing, he spends a short vacation with the Peggottys at the seashore. He is accom- panied by Steerforth whom he has acci- dentally met. Both the young men greatly admire Little Em'ly, who has grown to be a pretty woman and is engaged to marry Ham, and unknown to Copperfield, who has an abiding love for Steerforth, the latter lays plans to entrap Em'ly into eloping with him. David Copperfield chooses law as his profession, and his aunt establishes him 108 DICKENS SYNOPSES with Spenlow and Jorkins in London, and leases some bachelor apartments for him. David's impressionable heart meanwliile has received a series of shocks on account of various members of the fairer sex ; and finally gets the worst shock of all when he meets Spenlow's daughter Dora. She is chaperoned by the terrible Miss Murd- stone of David's youth, yet the two young people find opportunities to cultivate each other's acquaintance. The beginning of the second book of David Copperfield's " History " is marked by gloom. Peggotty's husband Barkis dies while David is visiting at Yarmouth, and Steerforth finally succeeds in persuad- ing Little Em'ly to go abroad secretly with him. The deluded girl hopes to induce him to marry her and thus make her "a lady." The despair in the Peggotty home is intense. Em'ly's uncle sets out in search of her. The finances of David's Aunt Betsey also come to a bad state at this juncture, and he is thrown upon his own resources. He obtains a position as DAVID COPPERFIELD 109 secretary to Dr. Strong, his former school- master, and occupies his odd hours in the study of shorthand, being assisted by his old friend, Tommy Traddles, who at one time had lodged with the Micawbers, and is now aspiring to the practice of law. David finally masters shorthand and ob- tains a position as Parliamentary reporter ; but meanwhile his dejection at the un- happy turn of affairs is increased by the shadow hovering over Agnes and her father, who have fallen into the clutches of the rascally Heep, and by the refusal of Dora's father to consider David's court- ship. But Spenlow dies suddenly, and the two young people who have been secretly engaged for some time now marry. David is turned twenty-one. While their wedded life is happy, David does not find a helpmate in his "child- wife." She does not pretend to house- keeping ability, but finds her dog Jip more engrossing. David meanwhile be- gins to attain distinction as an author. Certain magazine pieces are successful 110 DICKENS SYNOPSES and lie begins his first book. After he has been married a year or two, he and Mr. Peggotty hear news of Em'ly and succeed in rescuing her. The Peggottys determine to emigrate to Australia. At this point comes a crisis in the affairs of Agnes, her father, and Heep. The latter has let Micawber into the secret of his plots, and Micawber exposes him. Uriah is brought to bay, and made to dis- gorge his gains, including Betsey Trot- wood's property. Agnes and her father are freed from their enemy. The Micaw- bers are advanced enough money to allow them to emigrate to Australia, where some- thing finally "turns up." They go with Dan Peggotty and his niece. Her be- trayer, Steerforth, is driven ashore at this time by a storm at sea, and Ham loses his own life in the vain effort to rescue him. Copperfield's sorrow on account of his friends' distresses is heightened by personal loss. His child-wife gradually fades away. After her death he travels for three years BAVID COPPERFIELD 111 in foreign lands, seeking rest from his load of grief. He finds it at last in renewed literary work which brings him fame, and in the thought of Agnes, his life-long in- spiration. He discovers at last that his strongest love is and has been for her, and they become united. Of the other characters, not already out- lined, the emigrants meet with success in Australia ; Miss Betsey and Peggotty live to a ripe old age; Traddles rises in his profession and marries happily, though he comes near to adopting his wife's whole family; and poor Mr. Dick is found a highly valuable man on several occasions, most of all when he aids in reconciling' Dr. Strong with his young wife, Annie. BLEAK HOUSE Ninth novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from March, 1852, to September, 1853; published in book form, September, 1853. Scene : London, Lincolnshire, and Herefordshire. Time: 1832-1852. CAST OF CHARACTERS Augusta, maid-sei'vant to the Snagsbys. Bayham Badger, surgeon at Chelsea. Mrs. Laura Badger, his wife. Matthew ("Joseph") Bagnet, retired soldier. Mrs. Bagnet, his wife., the "old girl," Malta, Quebec, and Woolwich Bagnet, his chiU dren. Bagsby, tavern keeper. Miss Barbary, aunt and godmother of Esther Sum- rnerson. Mrs. Blinder, landlady in Chancery Lane. Lawrence Boythorn, friend to Jarndyce. Bucket, inspector in detective service. Richard Carstone, ward of Jarndyce. Chadband, a pious clergyman. Mrs. Chadb AND, /onnerZi/ Mrs. Rachael, his wife. Ada 'Clare, Richard Carstone's cousin and afterward wife; ward 0/ Jarndyce. Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet of Chesney Wold. Lady Honoria Dedlock, his wife. Volumnia Dedlock, his cousin. The Misses Donny, in charge of small hoarding school for girls. Miss Flite, crazy attendant tqwn Chancery. William Guppy, clerk at law firm of Kenge and Car- boy. 115 116 DICKENS SYNOPSES Mrs. Guppy, his mother. Gusher, a man with a Mission. Gridley, an attendant upon Chancery. W. GrubbivE, tavern keeper. Captain Hawdon ("Kemo"), unknown copyist in Chancery Lane. HoRTENSE, French maid to Lady Dedlock. John Jarndyce, of Bleak House, guardian of Esther Summerson, Ada Clare, and Richard Carstone. Jellyby, ^'husband of Mrs. Jellyby." Mrs. Jellyby, a woman with a 3Iission. Caroline (" Caddy ") Jellyby, Ji is daughter ; after- ward Mrs. Prince Turveydrop. " Peepy " and other Jellyby children. "Jenny," "Liz," and their Husbands, poor tenants and brickmakers of Herefordshire. Jo, street-sweeper. Tony Jobling, friend to Guppy. Kenge, attorney, of Kenge and Carboy. Krook, dealer in rags and bottles. The Lord High Chancellor. Neckett, bailiff and collector. Charlotte Neckett, knovm as " Charley," his daughter, maid to Esther Summerson. Tom and Emma Neckett, his children. Mrs. Pardiggle, a woman V)ith a Mission. Egbert, Oswold, Francis, Felix, and Alfred Par- diggle, her children. Quale, a man with a Mission. Rosa, maid to Lady Dedlock. Mrs. Rouncewell, housekeeper to the Dedlocks. Rouncewell, her elder son, an ironmaster. BLEAK HOUSE 117 Watt Kouncewell, his son. George Rouncewell, ilfrs. EounceweWs younger son, known as " Mr. George" of the shooting-gallery. Harold Skimpole, a " child " in experience., to ichom the world owes a living. Mrs. Skimpole, his wife. Arethusa, Laura, and Kitty Skimpole, his daugh- ters. Joshua ("Grandfather") Smallweed, money- lender. Mrs. Smallweed, his wife. Judith ("Judy") Smallweed, his granddaughter. Bartholomew (" Bart " or "Chick ") Smallweed, his grandson. Snagsby, stationer at Cook's Court. Mrs. Snagsby, his wife, of the Chadband |)ersw«siOJi. " Phil " Squod, assistant a« George's shooting-gallery. "Bob" Stables, .sporting kinsman of Dedlock's. Esther Summerson, natural daughter to Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock ; loard 0/ Jarndyce. "Little " Swills, a vocalist of Chancery Lane. Tangle, lawyer in Chancery. Tulkinghorn, lawyer to Dedlock, TuRVEYDROP, a gentleman of deportment. Prince Turveydrop, his son, a dancing -master. Vholes, lawyer to Carstone. Allan Woodcourt, a surgeon. Mrs. Woodcourt, his mother. Doodle, Foodie, and other adherents of Dedlock ; court officers, reporters, coroner, beadle, police- men ; "Mercury," the footman, and others. ARGUMENT Two dark threads are interwoven to form the plot of " Bleak House." The first is a story of public wrong — the delays of the English Court of Chancery. The second is a story of private wrong — the sin of a woman and her lover. These two wrongs singly or collectively cast shadows over a great variety of people from a street-sweeper to a baronet ; but gleaming here and there in the shadows are the sun- lit rays of pleasant romance. During many terms of the Court of Chancery in London a suit over a con- tested will has come up for decision, but met with so little progress that it has come to be a jest among the legal profes- sion. " Jarndyce and Jarndyce has passed into a joke. That is tlie only good that has ever come of it." It has been death to many, meanwhile, and the heart-sick 118 120 DICKENS SYNOPSES principals would gladly compromise it if they could ; but it is not to be got out of, or through, Chancery. One of the last principals, Tom Jarndyce, committed sui- cide. His kinsman, John Jarndyce of Bleak House, will have nothing to do with the suit. However, he takes to his home as his wards two other parties to the suit, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare — rela- tives not yet come of age. In order to provide a companion for Ada, he also be- comes the guardian of Esther Summerson, a young woman near Ada's age, and the narrator in part of a story which hence- forth fluctuates between personal and impersonal. Esther begins her narrative with her earliest years, which were passed with a stern but not unkind godmother who dies when the girl is in her "teens." This godmother. Miss Barbary, proves to be Esther's aunt, but will not claim her, since -the child is illegitimate. Esther is placed in a small boarding school, Miss Donny's, at Greenleaf. Here she remains for six BLEAK HOUSE 121 years, and being now grown assists by tutoring. It is at this juncture that she is invited to become one of the inmates of Bleak House, Herefordshire, and meets John Jarndyce, a staid, benevolent gentle- man past middle life, and his two wards. The two girls become devoted comrades from the first. Esther is installed as housekeeper. Ada and Richard speedily fall in love with each other, a course which meets the approval of their guardian. Jarndyce, however, does not allow the match to proceed any farther, until the lovers come of age, and Richard has be- come established in life. But Richard is a ne'er-do-well. He pins his faith upon the ancient lawsuit, instead of working earnestly in a profession. He studies medicine for a time, and laAv for a time. Finally he enters the army. Esther proves herself a born house- keeper, and also possesses the faculty of winning general affection. Indeed, she has one laughable proposal of marriage from a young law clerk named Guppy. 122 DICKENS SYNOPSES Meanwhile life at Bleak House passes quietly and pleasantly. Esther makes several acquaintances in London and the country, among whom must be mentioned : little Miss Flite, a crazy woman attending Chancery in the hope that her own hope- less suit will be decided ; Mrs. Jellyby, a woman so intent on her Mission of colo- nising a part of Africa that she allows her own home-keeping to take care of itself ; " Caddy " Jellyby, her daughter, of the inky fingers, who has had little home train- ing ; Mrs. Pardiggle, another woman with a Mission ; Harold Skimpole, a trifler with existence, who wishes to avoid all respon- sibility and have other people pay his debts ; Lawrence Boythorn, a blustering comrade of Jarndyce's ; and Allan Wood- court, a young surgeon about whom Esther has little to say at present. Boy thorn's neighbours in Lincolnshire are Sir Leicester Dedlock and his lady, whose country-seat is Chesney Wold. Sir Leicester — as we are informed early in the book — is a ceremonious gentleman BLEAK HOUSE 123 nearly seventy years old. Lady Dedlock is a beautiful woman some twenty years his junior, wliom he married for love, and who previously had no family position. They live together pleasantly, and Lady Dedlock soon becomes one of the proudest ornaments of aristocratic society. Never- theless, she is cold and reserved, giving the impression of being always on her guard. This habitual attitude of hers arouses the suspicions of Tulkinghorn, the family solicitor, who begins to hunt for skeletons in the closet. He begins with clews seemingly slight in themselves, but uses them to harass her Ladyship. She has heard of an unknown legal copyist who lives over a rag and bottle shop run by an old man named Krook. This copy- ist dies suddenly, and after his burial Lady Dedlock gets Jo, a poor street sweeper, to point out the gate of the cemetery. These incidents are discovered by Tulkinghorn, who interrogates Jo and others who may know anything about the mysterious dead man, among them Snagsby, a well-mean- 124 DICKENS SYNOPSES ing but hen-pecked stationer, and " Mr. George," the proprietor of a shooting-gal- lery. Mr. George, it develops, was orderly, in the army, to the man, then known as Captain Hawdon. Not to anticipate the story appreciably at this point, Tulking- horn gradually learns that Lady Dedlock, before her marriage, had a secret love- affair with this Captain Hawdon, and gave birth to a child by him, the child growing up as Esther Summerson. No one besides Tulkinghorn now knows this story, al- though Esther's former suitor Guppy nearly unearths it through some papers left at Krook's rag shop. Guppy ac- quaints Lady Dedlock with the existence of the papers, and she realises both the imminence of her peril and the fact that Esther is her daughter, this fact having been concealed even from her. Little Jo, the sweeper, is so harried by Tulkinghorn's agents that he leaves Lon- don and is sheltered over night at Bleak House, where he has the misfortune to leave small-pox germs. Esther's maid. BLEAK HOUSE 125 " Charley," and Esther herself are seized by the disease, but recover — Esther to find her face greatly altered and her beauty gone. When she becomes convalescent she visits at Boythorn's home, and pri- vately meets near there with Lady Ded- lock, who avows her for daughter and prays her forgiveness. Meanwhile affairs are not going well with Esther's cousin, Richard Carstone. He sells his commission in the army to avoid disgrace, and comes to London to watch the ill-fated lawsuit. Here he falls into the clutches of a trickster lawyer, Vholes, who fleeces him ; but he finds one friend in Allan Woodcourt the surgeon, lately returned from abroad. Between Wood- court and Esther an unconfessed attach- ment has arisen, and it is at her bidding that he looks after the welfare of Richard. Ada also comes as Richard's good angel. She marries him secretly and devotes her property to the cause he has so blindl}^ followed in Chancery. Esther does not allow her own love-affair to proceed, on 126 DICKENS SYNOPSES account of receiving a proposal from none other than her guardian himself — a man who has been so continually good to her that her grateful heart cannot find it possible to refuse him. She therefore stifles her strongest feelings and accepts Jarudyce. Lady Dedlock's affairs approach a crisis. Tulkinghorn has completed his case, and threatens her with disclosure. The night after his threat he is shot through the heart. Lady Dedlock is suspected, as is also George of the shooting-gallery. The latter is cleared; but when the lady is anonymously charged with the crime, and finds, moreover, that the story of her former life has reached Sir Leicester's ears, she flees secretly from her home. The detective in charge of the case. Bucket, persuades Esther to help him seek her, and assure her of her husband's full for- giveness. They trace her for twenty-four hours in a snowstorm, only to find her at last lying dead before the gate to her lover's burial ground. As for the murder, BLEAK HOUSE 127 it is cleverly traced to Mademoiselle Hor- tense, a former maid to Lady Dedlock who held a grudge against both the lady and the murdered man. George, the other suspect, now turns out to be the long-lost son of Mrs. Rouncewell, housekeeper to the Dedlocks. Esther becomes ill because of her recent trials, but recovers and makes preparations for her wedding to her guardian, who has been made acquainted with her past his- tory. He, however, has quietly altered his plans — not on this account, but be- cause he discovers the love existing be- tween Esther and Woodcourt. Instead of marrying her, Jarndyce generously be- stows her hand upon the surgeon and gives her a home for dowry. Only one further shadow falls across Es- ther's life. The lawsuit is ended at last, but the costs have eaten up the proceeds of the will. Richard and Ada are ren- dered penniless, and the overstrained man succumbs from the shock. The young widow with her boy are henceforth sheb 128 DICKENS SYNOPSES tered at Bleak House, and the child finds a second mother in Esther. Several of the many minor figures in this complicated novel have already been mentioned. Others also are so clear cut as to require notice : Turveydrop, the model of deportment ; his son Prince, who runs a dancing school and marries Caddy Jellyby ; Grandfather Smallweed, the money-lender, and his uninviting family; the pious Chadband, whose name has be- come associated with a certain kind of rambling sermonising ; and Phil Squod, the protege of Mr. George. But the clear- est of these figures is the pathetic one of poor Jo, perpetually told to " move on," and realising that he "don't know no- think " to the end of his miserable life. HAKD TIMES Tenth novel ; appeared in Household Words, April to August, 1854 ; published in book form, August, 1854. Scene : " Coketown," an inland manufacturing town of England and vicinity. Time : circa 1850. CAST OF CHARACTERS BiTZER, porter at Bounderby's Bank. Stephen Blackpool, " Hand" in Bounderby's Mill. Mrs. Blackpool, his wife^ an outcast. JosiAH BouNDERBY, " o/Coketown," a self-made man. Mrs. Louisa Bounderby, nee Gradgrind, his wife. E. W. B. Childers, performer in Sleary's Circus. Thomas Gradgrind, a man of " Facts.'''' Mrs. Gradgrind, his wife. Louisa Gradgrind, his daughter., afterward Mrs. Bounderby. Thomas Gradgrind, his son, the "Whelp," Adam SxMIth, Malthus, and Jane, other children of Thomas Gradgrind. James Harthouse, a dilettante adventurer. Cecilia Jupe, " Sissy," a child of the circus. Kidderminster, performer in Sleary's Circus. M'Choakumchild, schoolmaster. Mrs. Pegler, mother to Bounderby. Rachael, employee in Bounderby's Mill. Slackbridge, walking delegate. Sleary, proprietor of a circus. Josephine Sleary, his daughter. Mrs. Sparsit, "a real gentlewoman," housekeeper to Bounderby. 131 ARGUMENT " Hard Times," one of Dickens's shorter novels, and noteworthy as containing fewer characters than any other, is a ser- mon against the oppression of Fancy by Fact, and against the grinding life of factory workers. Thomas Gradgrind is "a man of reali- ties, a man of facts and calculations," who has smothered a naturally tender heart under a merciless system of education. This system he has advocated in the schools and practised in his own home. His children have not been allowed to use their imaginations, or indulge in sentiment, their whole existence being regulated by "Facts." The two oldest chiklren, Louisa, aged about fifteen years when the story opens, and Tom, slightly younger, are models of machine-made education though really of stunted per- 134 DICKENS SYNOPSES sonality. A ray of interest enters the home when Cecilia Jupe, called " Sissy," the child of a circus performer, is be- friended by Gradgrind, who wishes to try his system upon her. While Sissy does not learn much under the system, her quiet, loving nature makes her a favourite in the household. Gradgrind's most intimate friend is Josiah Bounderby of Coketown, a bully of humility, who delights to tell how he rose from the gutter to become owner of Coketown's mills. Bounderby's admira- tion for Louisa Gradgrind has been of long standing, although she shrinks from his rough manners. Four or five years elapse, and young Tom Gradgrind, now well grown, is given a position in Bounderby's Bank. Tom has developed into a " whelp " of deceit and selfishness, yet is the sole object of Louisa's starved affections. For his sake she accepts Bounderby, when a proposal of marriage is made, and enters uncomplain- ingly into the manufacturer's dreary home. HABD TIMES 135 Tom at once makes use of this situation to borrow money from his sister, and to shirk his duties. After a year of Louisa's uncongenial married life she becomes acquainted with James Harthouse, a careless man of the world sent on a political mission to Coke- town. Harthouse is suave, polished, and keen of scent. He quickly discovers the situation above outlined, and establishes himself in Louisa's regard — although she is unusually repressed — by pretending an interest in Tom. This young "whelp" has gone from bad to worse, adding gambling and defalcation to his other sins. He finally covers up a bank shortage by pretending that a robbery has been committed, and directing suspicion against Stephen Black- pool, a mill employee who has recently been discharged. Blackpool had not joined a union of his fellow-workers, and his blunt, honest speech had angered the blustering Bounderby ; hence his dis- charge. As he has disappeared from the town, Tom's plot of suspicion works ad- 136 DICKENS SYNOPSES mirably. Louisa, however, suspects the truth, to her inward anguish. And Rachael, Stephen's steadfast friend, starts to work to clear his name. Mrs. Sparsit, ''a born gentlewoman,"' who has been Bounderby's housekeeper and an aspirant for his hand, is greatly cha- grined when he weds Louisa. She works assiduously to undermine the latter's repu- tation and ingratiate herself Avith Boun- derby. She is secretly delighted, therefore, with Harthouse's pursuit of Louisa, which has become more and more assiduous. She finally overhears the pair agree to secret elopement, and she hastens to the husband with the tale. Louisa, however, does not keep the appointment, but instead goes to her father and tells him the whole story of her wrecked, loveless life. Gradgrind realises, too late, the fatal flaw in his sys- tem of Fact. The alarmed Bounderby goes to ac- quaint Gradgrind with Louisa's flight, only to find her under her father's roof. Husband and wife part, and Louisa re- HARD TIMES 137 luains there, being cared for aud awakened into something like affectionate life b}^ the devoted Sissy. The latter also induces Harthouse to leave the neighbourhood, and the dangerous incident is closed. Bounderby turns to the hunt for the bank robber with renewed vigour. Ra- chael, who alone knows Stephen's where- abouts, writes him to return. Nothing is heard from him for some days, until she and Sissy find that he has fallen down an abandoned shaft. He is rescued, and, dying, gives Gradgrind an inkling of the truth. The latter follows Tom — who has decamped upon the discovery of Stephen — to a place near Liverpool, and secures his escape to foreign parts, where Tom later dies. Mrs. Sparsit's machinations receive a final defeat when she unearths Boun- derby's mother, a simple soul who gives the true facts in the case of that self-made man's career. Some five years later, Bounderby dies in a fit on the Coketown street. Louisa, 138 DICKENS SYNOPSES however, never marries again. Grad- grind retains the seat which he has se- cured in Parliament, but tries henceforth to tincture his politics and life with "Faith, Hope, and Charity." LITTLE DORRIT Eleventh novel ; appeared in monthly instalments, from December, 1855, to June, 1857 ; published in book form, June, 1857. Scene : London, and points on the Continent. Time: 1827-1830. CAST OF CHARACTERS Mrs. Bangham, attendant at the Marshalsea. Bar, of the social set. TiTE Barnacle, of the "Circumlocution Office." Mrs. Tite Barnacle, his wife. The Three Misses Tite Barnacle, his daughters, Clarence Tite Barnacle, his son. Ferdinand Tite Barnacle, his relation. William Tite Barnacle, his relation. Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle, of the social set. Harriet Beadle (" Tattycoram"), companion to Minnie Meagles. Bishop, of the social set. Blandois (see Rigaud). Christopher Casby, hypocritical landlord. Giovanni Baptiste Cavalletto. John Chivery, turnkey of the Marshalsea. Mrs. Chivery, his wife. John Chivery, Jr., his son. Arthur Clennam, friend to the Dorrits. Mrs. Clennam, his sup2)osed mother. William Dorrit, inmate and "Father of the Mar- shalsea." Amy Dorrit ("Little Dorrit"), his daughter. Fanny Dorrit, Ids daughter. 141 142 DICKENS SYNOPSES Edward Dorrit ("Tip"), his son. Frederick Dorrit, brother to William Dorrit. Daniel Doyce, of Doyce and Clennam, an inventor. Mrs. Flora Casby Finching, a talkative widow; former Jlame of Arthur Clennam. "Mr. F.'s Aunt," her aunt by marriage. Jeremiah Flintwich, servant to Mrs. Clennam. Affery Flintwich, hisidfe. Mrs. General, chaperon to the Misses Dorrit. Mrs. Gowan, member of the social set. Henry Gowan, her son ; a dilettante artist. Mrs. Minnie Gowan, nee Meagles, his wife. Doctor Haggage, physician at the Marshalsea. Jenkinson, messenger in " Circumlocution Office." Lagnier (see Rigaud). "Little Dorrit " (see Amy Dorrit). Maggy, half-witted protegee of " Little Dorrit." Meagles, " a man of business.'*^ Mrs. Meagles, his wife. Minnie Meagles, his daughter; later, Mrs. Gowan. Merdle, banker and promote?'. Mrs. Merdle, his wife. John Edward Nandy, father to Mrs. Plornish. Pancks, agent for Casby. Thomas Flourish, plasterer. Mrs. Sally Plornish, his wife. Rigaud, alias Lagnier, alias Blaudois, adventurer and criminal. RuGG, landlord to Pancks. Anastasia Rugg, his daughter. Edmund Sparkler, suitor, then husband to Fanny Dorrit. LITTLE DORRIT 143 Lord Lancaster Stiltstalkino, of the social set. "Tattycoram" (see Harriet Beadle). Mrs. Tickit, cook and housekeeper to Meagles. Miss Wade, a woman with a temper. AVobbler, of the "Circumlocution Office." Tenants of Casby's ; Master Cripples ; inmates of tht Marshalsea; members of the social set, and others. ARGUMENT The story of "Little Dorrit" was di- rected against the English debtors' pris- ons, and the red-tape system and delay of governmental offices. Arthur Clennam, who has been travel- ling in India, returns to his home in Lon- don, which is presided over by a stern, puritanical, paralytic woman whom he be- lieves to be his mother. Since his father's death she has managed a declining com- mission business, with the assistance of a bullying servant, Flintwich ; but she and Arthur are not in sympathy, and he de- cides to withdraw from the firm. At his home he notices a young woman seamstress who is known as Little Dorrit. She interests him and he inquires into her history. Her father, William Dorrit, has been confined for debt in the Marshalsea Prison for so many years that he is known 145 146 DICKENS SYNOPSES as the ''Father of the Marshalsea." His daughter, Amy, or " Little Dorrit," as she is called because of her diminutive size, was born there and spent her early years in the shadow of the jail. Her mother died when Amy was eight. There were two other Dorrit children now grown, Fanny and Edward, — one pretty and frivolous, the other a ne'er-do-well. Upon Little Dorrit, therefore, devolves the care of her father and the oversight of her brother and sister — a heavy duty for the stanch, loving girl. In the daytime she hires out as a seamstress, and this explains her presence in the Clennam household. All this Arthur Clennam learns, and he resolves to aid her if possible. He inquires into the original Dorrit case in the national " Circumlocution Office," presided over by the Barnacle family, but the science of ''How not to do it" is so thorough as to balk all his efforts. How- ever, he makes the acquaintance of Daniel Doyce, an inventor who has been seeking government recognition with as little sue- LITTLE DORBIT 147 cess. The two men decide to go into partnership, Doyce furnishing a plant and manufacturing experience, Clennam giv- ing capital and time. Their mutual friend, Meagles, a " prac- tical man," has an only daughter, Minnie, who is the object of Clennam's regard, but who favours a young artist of the aristo- cratic set, Henry Gowan by name. Gowan marries her and takes her to the Continent, where he is assisted in his artistic career by the purse of Meagles. Minnie's life thereafter is not particularly hapj^y. Clennam stifles his disappointment by working closely in his new office and also by renewing his efforts to assist the Dor- rits. He is offered consolation by a buxom and voluble widow. Flora Pinching, who had been a former flame of his ; but his heart now withstands her wiles. Little Dorrit, meanwhile, has instinc- tively turned to him, gratefully, for friend- ship, ever since he first proved his interest by releasing her brother from a small debt. His greater efforts on behalf of her 148 mCKENS SYNOPSES father likewise prove successful at last. Dorrit is found to have inherited an estate, and he leaves the prison — after a quarter of a century — a free and wealthy man. The second book is concerned with the Dorrits in affluence, travelling through Switzerland and Italy and much encum- bered by servants with whom Mr. Dorrit is exceedingly pompous. Fanny and Ed- ward are likewise greatly given to pride on account of their new position. The two, in fact, are so conscious of their importance that they henceforth ignore Arthur Clennam. Little Dorrit alone is unspoiled through it all, and her heart goes out to her friend in childlike, undis- guised affection. Fanny Dorrit makes " a good match " by marrying Sparkler, a young man be- longing to the same set Avith Henry Gowan, and connected with the officials of the " Circumlocution Office." Dorrit is glad to cultivate one of the shining lights of this coterie, Merdle, a banker and pro- moter of speculations. Mrs. General, a LITTLE DORBIT 149 very proper chaperon engaged by Dorrit for his daughters, almost becomes their stepmother ; but her designs are thwarted by the sudden decline and death of Dorrit. After his demise it is found that he has intrusted all his funds with Merdle. The latter commits suicide. It is then discov- ered that he is a swindler, and that hun- dreds of investors have suffered by his frauds. Dorrit's wealth thus vanishes. Another sufferer is Arthur Clennam, who likewise loses all his capital, and, not seek- ing escape from his creditors, is imprisoned by them in the same Marshalsea quarters where he had formerly visited the Dorrits. Here Little Dorrit finds him upon her return to England, and ministers to him just as she had ministered to her father. She nurses him through an illness, and the heart's secret of each is revealed to the other. Clennam's business friends, Doyce, Meagles, and others, come to his rescue. He is released from prison and weds Little Dorrit. 150 DICKENS SYNOPSES Meanwhile his supposed mother, Mrs. Clennam the paralytic, is forced to confess a secret regarding his birth. An adven- turer, Rigaud, alias Blandois, endeavours to blackmail her, but is prevented by the collapse of her old house which buries him in its ruins. Mrs. Clennam, how- ever, has confided her story to Little Dorrit, who had also been concerned in the past with the wrong and its conceal- ment. Mrs. Clennam soon after passes away, and thus removes the shadow from Arthur's life. Other characters concerned with the story are Pancks, the puffing rent collector, who traces up the Dorrit estate, and proves a good fortune-teller to Little Dor- rit ; Casby, the patriarchal leech, for whom Pancks sucks the tenants' blood ; young John Chivery, a devoted admirer of Little Dorrit, who finds relief from blighted affection by writing epitaphs ; Maggy, the simpleton woman, who calls Little Dorrit ''little mother"; the explosive "Mr. F,'s Aunt " ; Cavalletto, a jail companion of LITTLE DOB BIT 151 Rigaud, who later assists Clennam to track the adventurer ; Plornish, a plas- terer and his family; Harriet Beadle, known as " Tatty coram," a companion for Minnie Meagles ; Miss Wade, a lady with a temper; Mrs. Gowan, Henry's mother; and the tribe of Barnacles which thrive upon the "Circumlocution Office.'* A TALE OF TWO CITIES Twelfth novel ; appeared in AU the Year Bound, April to November, 1859 ; published in book form, December, 1869. Scene : London, Paris. Time : 1775-1792. CAST OF CHARACTERS Sydney Carton, Imo student and idler. Roger Cly, police spy. Jeremiah Cruncher, porter for Tellson and Co. Mrs. Cruncher, his wife. "Young Jerry" Cruncher, his son. Charles Darnay, adopted name of a French gentle- man living in England. Mrs. Lucie Darnay, nee Manette, his wife. Lucie Darnay, their daughter. Ernest Defarge, French wine-seller. Mme. THERi:sE Defarge, his wife. FouLON, French Revolutionist. Theophile Gabelle, French tax-collector. Gaspard, French assassin. Jacques, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, French Bevolutionists. Jarvis Lorry, agent of Tellson and Co. Dr. Alexandre Manette, rescued French prisoner. Lucie Manette, his daughter; later, Mrs. Darnay. Miss Pross, her nurse. Solomon Pross, alias John Barsad, her brother; police spy. Marquis de St. Evremonde, uncle io Charles Darnay. C. J. Stryver, a bullying laioyer. Tellson and Company, bankers. '*The Vengeance," French B evolutionist. English : Coachman, guard, jailers, judge, lawyers. French: Wood-sawyer, turnkeys, tribunal, mob. 155 ARGUMENT The " Two Cities " are London and Paris. The Tale is divided into three books, the action of the first beginning in 1775. Jarvis Lorry, an English gentleman and confidential agent of the banking-house of Tellson and Company, goes to Paris at the request of his firm to seek out a French physician. Dr. Alexandre Manette, who had been secretly imprisoned in the Bas- tille, during eighteen years, for political reasons. Lorry is accompanied by Lucie Manette, daughter of the physician, who had believed her father dead. At Paris they discover the old Doctor living in a solitary, demented state, mak- ing shoes. They persuade him to accom- pany them to London, where his mental condition slowly improves, though subject to occasional lapses. 157 158 DICKENS SYNOPSES The second book takes up the narrative five years later — m 1780. Charles Darnay, a French gentleman earning a quiet livelihood in London as a tutor, is tried before the Court of Old Bailey for treason, being charged with supplying the French throne with infor- mation detrimental to England. Doctor Manette and his daughter are present, the latter reluctantly testifying to facts which threaten Darnay with conviction. But he is saved by a question of identities aris- ing, when it is found that a bystander, Sydney Carton, resembles him greatly. This fact disturbs the prosecutor's chain of evidence, and Darnay is acquitted. Both Carton and Darnay become fre- quent callers at the Manette home, as suitors for Lucie's hand. Carton, who has led a reckless, dissipated life, has no assured means of support and so does not press his suit. He reveals his heart to Lucie, however, and begs her to remember that he would make any sacrifice — even life itself — to render her happy. A TALE OF TWO CITIES 159 Darnay is the accepted suitor, and mar- ries Lucie with the approval of her father, their good friend Lorry, and the devoted nurse, Miss Pross. Meantime public affairs in France have become more and more turbulent. The common people, borne down by the cruel wrongs of centuries, are beginning to rise and plan riot and murder. Charles Dar- nay 's uncle, the Marquis de St. Evre- monde, is murdered in his bed ; and the mob later sets fire to his chateau, and threatens the life of Gabelle, his col- lector of rents and taxes. Darnay, though his uncle's heir, has preferred to remain in England rather than live off a people whom he feels to be oppressed. To him Gabelle writes a letter praying protection. Although the waves of revolution are rising, Darnay cannot resist this appeal from his servant, but goes to France to his relief, without telling even his wife. The third book finds Darnay in the toils of the French Revolution of 1792. 160 DICKENS SYNOPSES Being an "aristocrat" he is seized and imprisoned. His wife and her father hasten to Paris to succour him. Lorry is also there at this time. Old Doctor Manette tinds favour with the mob by reason of the fact that he was a former Bastille prisoner. Darnay is brought before the improvised Tribunal and through the popularity and pleading of the Doctor is released. But the same day he is re-arrested on another charge, through the implacable animosity of the wife of Defarge the wine-seller. This time the Tribunal sentences the prisoner to death by the guillotine within twenty-four hours. His case is well-nigh hopeless, when Sydney Carton arrives on the scene, and obtains entrance into the prison by threatening to testify against a turnkey whom he recognises as a spy. He drugs Darnay, exchanges clothes with him, and effects the prisoner's escape by himself remaining in his stead. The re- semblance between the two men had been previously of service, and is now strong enough to prevent detection. A TALE OF TWO CITIES 161 Darnay, Lucie, the Doctor, and their constant friend Lorry make their way to England and safety ; while Carton goes to the guillotine for the husband of the woman he loves. He mounts the scaffold in the calmness of genuine triumph — triumph in the prophetic knowledge that all this woe and carnage must give place to a grander nation and true liberty ; tri- umph that his own hitherto useless life has gone out in splendid service whose memory will never die among the loved ones he has j)reserved to peace and happiness. His thoughts are tinged only by the glow of self-sacrifice. " It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." GREAT EXPECTATIONS Thirteenth novel ; appeared in All the Year Bound, from December, 1860, to August, 1861 ; published in book form, August, 1861. Scene : Cooling Village, Kent ; London and vicinity ; reference is also made to Cairo. Time: 1830-1860. CAST OF CHARACTERS Clara Barley, daughter of the invisible "Bill Bar- ley." Biddy, village friend of Pip ; conijmiiion to Mrs. Gargery. Mrs. and Miss Brandley, chaperons to Estella. Mrs. Camilla, a parasitic relation of Miss Havi- sham. Mrs. Coiler, neighbour of the Pockets. CoMPEYsoN, a convict^ former suitor to Miss Havisham. Bentley Drummle, « '■'■ gentlemanhj'''' acquaintance of Pip. Estella, ward of Mrs. Havisham. Flopson, servant to the Pockets. Joe Gargery, blacksmith^ friend to Pip. Mrs. Gargery, his wife, sister to Pip. Mrs. Georgiana, a parasitic relation of Miss Havi- sham. Miss Havisham, an eccentric spinster. Hubble, wheelwright. Mrs. Hubble, his wife. Jaggers, criminal laimjer and family solicitor; a man without feelings. Abel Magwitch, alias Provis, a convict; father to Estella. Mary Anne, servant to Wemmick. 166 166 DICKENS SYNOPSES Mike, a client of Jaggers. Millers, servant to the Pockets. Molly, housekeeper to Jaggers ; mother to Estella. DoLGE Orlick, apijrentice to Joe Gargery. Pepper, otherwise the '■'■Avenger^'''' " buttons'''' to Pip. Philip Pirrip, alvmys known as "Pip," a poor or- phan who comes into (jreat expectations; the narrator of the story. Matthew Pocket, a well-meaning ^ harassed relation of Miss Havisham ; tutor to Pip. Mrs. Belinda Pocket, his wife, of aristocratic de- scent. Herbert Pocket, his son, chum of Pip. Alick, Jane, and other Pocket children. Miss Sarah Pocket, a parasitic relation of Miss Havisham. Pumblechook, iincle to Mrs. Gargery ; self-appointed benefactor of Pip. Miss Skiffins, the object of John Wemmick's regard. Startop, friend to Pip. Trabb, tailor. "Trabb's Boy," an apprentice. Wemmick, the '•''Aged Parent''' to John. John Wemmick, clerk to Jaggers. Mrs. Whimple, landlady to the Barleys. Wopsle, church clerk turned tragedian. Sergeant, soldiers, judge, court officers, landlord, clients of Jaggers, atid others. ARGUMENT '' Great Expectations " is a sermon against snobbishness and ingratitude; it is the story of a poor boy lifted out of his first station, and of the effect this change produces in his character and career. The narrative is told in the first person by the boy himself, Philip Pirrip, whose name soon becomes shortened to Pip. He is left an orphan at a very early age, and is " brought up by hand " by the only other remaining member of his family, his sister, who is married to Joe Gargery, a worthy blacksmith of Cooling Village, Kent, " five hours out from London " and in a marsh country twenty miles from the sea. Mrs. Gargery is a vixenish woman, who visits her temper upon the boy ; and it would go still harder with him but for the quiet kindness and comradery of her husband. 167 168 DICKENS SYNOPSES One evening while out near the marshes, Pip is approached by a skulking stranger who proves to be an escaped convict. The boy is frightened into filching some food from his sister's pantry for this con- vict, who is recaptured with a fellow- prisoner next day, and returned to the Hulks. Pip's education begins in a primitive way at a small evening school, where he meets a village girl near his own age, known as Biddy. Soon afterward, Mrs. Joe's " Uncle Pumblechook " takes Pip to the neighbouring market town, where lives an eccentric spinster lady, Miss Havi- sham. This lady had been disappointed in a love-affair many years before, on the very eve of her wedding, and had lived ever since as if in preparation for it. Her only companion is a proud, beautiful girl about Pip's age, called Estella. Pip is introduced to these two, and visits the lonely mansion at regular intervals, in answer to a whim of the spinster. This glimpse of higher society makes the lad GREAT EXPECTATIONS 169 secretly discontented with his own boor- ishness and ignorance, and he resolves to rise. However, he soon becomes apprenticed to Joe in the forge, and ceases his visits to town. He makes a secret enemy of Orlick, another apprentice. The chief incident during the apprenticeship is a mysterious attack upon Mrs. Gargery. She is knocked senseless by a blow on the head, which, while not fatal, leaves her senses benumbed. Biddy is called in to nurse her. After Pip has served four years, Jag- gers, a London lawyer, brings him news that a bequest has been granted him from a secret source, and that he has Great Expectations. Joe willingly releases him for the unexpired term, and Pip goes to London, invests in a wardrobe, secures apartments, and begins his life of a gen- tleman of means. Jaggers secures him a tutor in the person of Matthew Pocket, a kinsman of Miss Havisham, living near London. Pip's city lodgings are shared 170 mCKENS SYNOPSES with Mr. Pocket's son Herbert, who speedily becomes Pip's steadfast friend. Pip becomes possessed with the idea that Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor, and that she has destined Estella for him. Meanwhile he finishes his education, with- out studying for any profession, and de- votes his energies to living expensively and foolishly. Although he goes down to the Havisham home to see Estella, he does not stop with Joe at the forge ; nor does he visit Joe and Biddy but once, when he is called there by the death of his sister. Pip now comes of age, and finds he has an income of five hundred pounds a year. His secret friend is not revealed to him, however. He invests one hundred a year in a partnership business for Herbert, and this deed is the first worthy one which has yet come of his expectations. After two more j^ears of a life aimless but for his fruitless wooing of Estella, a crisis comes in Pip's affairs. He learns that Miss Havisham is not his benefactor, GREAT EXPECTATIONS 171 but that it is none other than the convict he had aided years before. This convict, Abel Magwitch, had been sent abroad for life, but escapes, and now returns to Lon- don to see Pip, whom he wishes to make a gentleman. Pip hears his story with horror ; but all other emotions are smoth- ered in planning to shelter the wanderer, who, if captured, would be put to death by law. He hides the man in a house near the river, and confides his dilemma to Herbert and Wemmick, the crusty but friendly clerk at Jaggers's office. To add to the convict's peril he has a long-time enemy in a former convict, Com- peyson, who was the suitor of Miss Havi- sham. Compeyson learns that Magwitch has returned, and spies upon him, although his friends use every safeguard. Orlick is an accomplice of Compeyson, and nearly succeeds in murdering Pip, through a de- coy letter. Orlick is also revealed as the assailant of Pip's sister. Pip plans to smug- gle Magwitch on board a steamer going abroad, and to go with him to see him 172 DICKENS SYNOPSES safely out of England. He has, however, refrained from touching any of the con- vict's money since learning the facts of the case. Wemmick gives the signal for Mag- witch's escape, which Pip and Herbert set about effecting. They row the convict down the river, but at the moment when they have hailed their steamer, Compey- son appears with ofBcers. Magwitch and his enemy grapple, the boat is overturned, and Compeyson is drowned. Magwitch also receives mortal injuries; and though soon after tried and sentenced to death, he anticipates his sentence. The strain upon Pip, his worry and his debts, cause a physical breakdown. He is nursed through a severe illness by the faithful Joe, who settles with his creditors. He recovers to a sense of his past foil}" and ingratitude, and goes back to the vil- lage, half resolved to ask Biddy to marry him and begin life anew with her, but finds on his arrival that she is the wife of Joe. Meanwhile Miss Havisham dies, and GREAT EXPECTATIONS 178 Estella (discovered by Pip to be Mag- witch's daughter) is married to a rival of Pip. Herbert's business takes him to Cairo, where Pip, having no other pros- pects or friends, joins him as clerk, and eventually works up to a partnership. After eleven years' absence Pip returns to England, discovers that Estella is a widow, and finally wins his suit with her. The leading characters have already been mentioned. Pumblechook is a type of hypocrite and pretender which Dickens delighted to draw. Wopsle, the village tragedian, should not be forgotten. Biddy is a figure of quiet womanliness. Jaggers and Wemmick cultivate the absence of feelings. And Joe Gargery's simple man- liness stamps him the strongest figure in the book. OUR MUTUAL FRIEND Fourteenth novel ; appeared in monthly instalment^ from May, 1864, to November, 1865 ; published in book form in November, 1865. Scene : London and vicinity. Time : 1860. CAST OF CHARACTERS SoPHRONiA Akersham (sec Mrs. Lammle), Blight, office boy to Lightwood and Wrayburn. NicoDEMus Boffin, inheritor of the Hd^nwon property Mrs. Henrietta Boffin, his wife. Boots, member of the Veneering social set. Brewer, member of the Veneering social set. Buffer, member of the Veneering social set. Cleaver, a drunken longshoreman. Fanny Cleaver, his daughter (see Jenny Wren). "Fascination" Fledgeby, money-lender. "Bob" Glibbery, servant to Miss Potterson. Julius Handford, assumed name of John Harmon. John Harmon, alias Julius Handford, alias John Rokesmitli, prospective heir to Harmon property., and supposedly deceased. Bradley Headstone, schoolmaster and rival of Wrayburn. Jesse Hexam ("Gaffer"), longshoreman. Lizzie Hexam, his daughter. Charley Hexam, his son. Mrs. Betty Higden, an old woman who dreads the Poorhouse. Little Johnny, an orphan in charge of Mrs. Higden. Jacob Kibble, sea-going merchant. Alfred Lammle, social adventiirer. 177 178 DICKENS SYNOPSES Mrs. Sophronia Lammle, nee Akersham, his wife, and likewise an adventurer. Mortimer Lightwood, lawyer associated with Wray- burn. Mary Ann, pupil to Miss Peecher. Rev. Frank Milvey, a clergyman. Mrs. Margaretta Milvey, his emphatic wife. Miss Emma Peecher, a schoolmistress. Podsnap, member of the Veneering social set. Mrs. Podsnap, his wife, also a member. Georgiana Podsnap, his daughter. Miss Abigail Potterson, mistress of the " Fellowsliii) Porters" Inn. Job Potterson, her brother, a ship steward. RiAH, a Jew in charge of Fledgeby's money-lending business, as " Pubsey and Co." Roger ("Rogue") Riderhood, longshoreman. Pleasant Riderhood, his daughter. John Rokesmith, assumed name of John Harmon. George Sampson, admirer of Lavinia Wilfer. Sloppy, one of Mrs. Higdeii's charges; boy who is later cared for by the Boffins. Lady Tippins, member of the Veneering social set. Melvin Twemlow, member of the Veneering social set. Hamilton Veneering, a brand-new member of so- ciety, and finally an M.P. Mrs. Veneering, his wife, also a brand-nexo member. Venus, '•^preserver of animals and birds, articulator of human bones.''"' Silas Wegg, a one-legged ballad-monger, loho be- comes interested in Boffin's affairs. OUM MUTUAL FRIEND 179 Reginald Wilfer, clerk to Veneering. Mrs. Wilfer, his wife. Bella Wilfer, his daughter ; later, Mrs. Harmon. Lavinia Wilfer, his daughter, the Irrepressible. Eugene Wrayburn, lawyer associated with Light- wood ; admirer of Lizzie Hexam, Jenny Wren (real name Fanny Cleaver), dolVs dressmaker ; protegee of Lizzie Hexam. Police inspector, longshoremen, members of the social set, physician, and others. ARGUMENT '' Our Mutual Friend " is an involved, loosely constructed story of London life introducing three themes. The leading plot is that of a man supposed to be dead, and legally dead for a period, so far as his interests and acquaintances are con- cerned. The second is the idle pursuit of a young woman by a man of superior social station, and its result. While the third theme shows the mischief caused by two adventurers in society. An eccentric and wealthy old man named Harmon, after quarrelling with his son, dies while the son is abroad and leaves him the bulk of his property upon condi- tion that the young man will marry a girl of the father's choosing. The remainder of the property is left to Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, the family servants. John Harmon, the son, takes passage home, and on land- ■ 181 182 DICKENS SYNOPSES ing in London falls into the hands of ras- cally longshoremen who rob him. Another man, much like him in general appearance, is robbed at the same time, and both are rendered senseless and thrown into the river. Harmon manages to escape drown- ing. The others dead body is picked up and identified as Harmon's. The young man finds himself in the singular position of being dead in the eyes of the law, but resolves to profit by it. He has never seen his destined bride, and, fearing that she might accept him only because of his prop- erty, he decides to woo her as a stranger. He takes the name of Julius Handford, and then that of John Rokesmith. The plot does not reveal the identity of the supposed Rokesmith clearly at the out- set, although the reader soon recognises him. But during the greater part of the story he is known to his acquaintances by this name only, which will be followed here. Rokesmith takes lodgings in the home of Reginald Wilfer, a mild man, clerk by OUR MUTUAL FRIEND 183 profession, entirely at the mercy of a severe wife and two spoiled daughters. The elder of these, Bella, is the young woman specified in the Harmon will; and it is secretly on her account that Rokesmith becomes a lodger under her father's roof. He finds her beautiful, but heartless, proud, and wayward ; yet is attracted to her despite these traits. He next seeks out Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, who have not seen him for several years and do not recognise him, since they be- lieve him dead. That worthy couple have come into possession of the entire estate on account of his supposed demise, and their simple natures are much perplexed as to the future. They move into a fine house and make strenuous efforts to live fashionably. By way of education. Boffin secures the services of a one-legged ballad- monger, named Silas Wegg, to read to him. Rokesmith now seeks Boffin's employment as secretary and is engaged. Soon afterward the Boffins invite Bella Wilfer to live with them, the invitation 184 DICKENS SYNOPSES being prompted by their feeling that she has lost a prospective fortune through young Harmon's death. She accepts the offer, and the secretary has further oppor- tunity to press his suit. He proposes, but is scornfully rejected, she calmly stating that she intends to make a wealthy match. To consider the second theme of the book, it will be necessary to revert to the opening chapter. The supposed body of Harmon is picked up by Hexam, a boat- man who makes a living out of this doubt- ful business. He has two children, Lizzie, a young woman of naturally refined tastes, and Charley, a boy who is being urged forward to the procuring of an education by his unselfish sister. When the " Har- mon " body is found, a young lawyer, Eugene Wrayburn, is brought thereby to the Hexam cottage and becomes interested in Lizzie, in so far as his indolent disposi- tion will let him get engrossed in any- thing. He has a further chance to gain her friendship, when her father is falsely accused by a former partner, Riderhood, OUR MUTUAL FRIEND 185 of the murder of Harmon. Nothing comes of the accusation, for Hexam is acciden- tally drowned at this juncture ; but the stigma is left for Lizzie to bear. Eugene now persuades the girl to allow him to provide a common-school teacher for her, and she takes private lessons. After her father's death she lives with a little crip- pled girl, of thirteen or fourteen, called Jenny Wren, who supports herself and her drunken father by making dresses for dolls. Lizzie's brother Charley is achiev- ing rapid progress at school, but his edu- cation tends to make him selfish and overbearing. He hears of Eugene's share in his sister's affairs and, justly enough, interferes, but without success. His school- master, Bradley Headstone, takes the lad's part, but his interest becomes personal when he meets Lizzie. He conceives a violent passion for her, and becomes a bit- ter rival of Wrayburn, who, on his part, is merely drifting in the matter. The false accusation made by Riderhood comes to Rokesmith's ears and he makes the accuser 186 DICKENS SYNOPSES sign a retraction. Lizzie, meanwhile, is subjected to the attentions of Wrayburn and Headstone and the criticisms of her brother, until finally in despair she seeks the protection of Riah, a friendly Jew, who obtains secret employment for her at a mill outside of London. Wrayburn at once begins to trace the girl, while Head- stone dogs his rival's every movement. The third theme in the book deals with the world of fashion. Mr. and Mrs. Veneering are newly rich people whose surroundings and friends are brand-new. Among these friends are Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Lammle, who have been mutually deceived in marrying each other for money, and who now seek to keep up appearances by a species of social piracy. After being foiled in one of their schemes, they seek to get into the good graces of the Boffins by telling them that Rokesmitli is a designing adventurer who has used his position to lay siege to Bella Wilfer. Boffin is outwardly indignant at this news and dismisses Rokesmith summarily, in OUR MUTUAL FRIEND 187 Bella's presence. But her better nature has meanwhile prevailed. She has noted that Boffin himself has seemed to grow hard and grasping under the influence of money, and she now renounces all idea of a mercenary marriage. She leaves the Boffin home on the same day that Roke- smith is discharged, and the secretary finds out that her heart is his after all. They become secretly wedded and start to house- keeping in a modest way. The Lammles do not greatly profit by their treachery. They have hoped to take the places of Rokesmith and Bella with the Boffins, but are quietly dismissed. They are sold out by creditors and leave England. Wrayburn at last learns Lizzie Hexam's country address and sets forth to see her, closely pursued by the indefatigable Head- stone. Wrayburn meets the girl, who lets him see that she cares for him, but will continue to fly from his attentions. After the interview. Headstone assaults his rival and throws him in the water, whence he 188 DICKENS SYNOPSES is rescued by Lizzie, who has been attracted by the sound of the struggle. She carries him to an inn, where he lingers for a long time between life and death. Upon his sick-bed he marries Lizzie. He at last recovers to begin life with new and worthy resolution. Headstone is well-nigh de- mented when he learns that his interfer- ence has joined instead of parting the lovers. He is also preyed upon by the informer, Riderhood, until in desperation he commits suicide, dragging with him into the rushiiig canal lock this contemp- tible man. "Our Mutual Friend" — as Boffin has formerly styled Rokesmith — lives a retired happy life with Bella, who is quite con- tented with their modest income. But he has not yet summoned up courage to tell her his true name. Circumstances, how- ever, bring it unexpectedly to light, and Bella finds that she actually has married the John Harmon of her dreams, so long supposed to be dead. She finds also that the good-hearted Boffins have for some OUB MUTUAL FRIEND 189 time been a party to the secret and that they have treated the secretary harshly in order to awaken her sympathies. And she and John return to the Boffin home and complete the provisions of the will. Another underplot now comes to the surface. Silas Wegg, the one-legged versi- fier, has discovered another Harmon will, giving the bulk of the property to the Crown. Boffin makes a great show of terror at this, when Wegg threatens him with it and demands a large sum of hush money. But Boffin himself has a still later document giving the entire property to himself and his wife, and although he will not disturb John and Bella in their posses- sion, he uses the will to overthrow Wegg completely. The latter makes an undig- nified exit from the field. The several situations end at this point. Among the minor characters, mention must be made of : Jenny Wren, one of Dickens's most delightful girls who "knows their tricks and their manners"; Sloppy, the good-natured boy; Lightwood, the 190 DICKENS SYNOPSES fellow-solicitor with Wrayburn; Fledgeby, the mean backer of the Jew Riah ; Venus, the "preserver of animals and articulator of human bones " ; the Podsnaps, " old " friends of the new Veneerings ; Betty Higden, the woman who flees from the Poor Laws ; and the Irrepressible Lavvy Wilfer, who refuses to be awed by her majestic " Ma." THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD Fifteenth and last novel ; begun in monthly instalments, April, 1870 ; left unfinished, June 8, 1870 ; last number appeared, September, 1870, when incomplete book was published. Scene : Rochester ; London. Time : circa 1866. CAST OF CHARACTERS 15AZZARD, clerk to Grewgious. xMrs. Billickin, keeper of hoarding -house. HosA Bud, orphan^ at first engaged to Drood. Kev. Septimus Crisparkle, minor canon of Cloia- terham Cathedral. Mrs. Cimspakkle, his mother. "Dick" Datciierv, dctectwc. Dean, 0/ Cloisterham Cathedral. '• Deputy," alias " Winks," street hoy whose chief occupation is throwing stones. EinviN Drood, civil engineer. "Stony" Ddrdles, stone-mason. Hiram Grewgious, lav)yer ; guardian to Rossb E\i6. Luke Honeythunder, professional philanthropist. John Jasper, choir-master in Cloisterham Cathedral ; uncle and guardian of Drood. Joe, stage driver. Neville Landless, ward to Honeythunder. Helena Landless, his livin sister, and also ward to Honeythunder. Lobley, ahle seaman under Tartar. Old Woman Opium-eater. Thomas Sapsea, auctioneer ; mayor of Cloisterham. Lieutenant Tartar, retired from the Navy. Mrs. Tisher, assistant to Miss Twinkle ton. Tope, verger at Cloisterham Cathedral. Mrs. Tope, his wife. Miss Twinkleton, principal of young lady^s semi- nary. 193 ARGUMENT "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" re- mains a mystery by reason of the fact that its author passed away before he had time to clear it up. The story is left in fragmentary state, with the murder or disappearance of the titular character un- explained. In a quiet cathedral town called Clois- terham, not many hours out of London, lives a choir-master, John Jasper, who pre- sents an irreproachable front to the world, but who is an opium-eater and a thoroughly unprincipled man. His ward and nephew, Edwin Drood, believes in him, and loves him. Edwin is a young man, — not much the junior of Jasper, — who has studied engineering and now contemplates going to Egypt. First, however, Edwin is to be married to Rosa Bud, an orphan, like himself, who has been destined for him by 195 196 BICKENS SYNOPSES the terms of their respective fathers' wills. The young people are fond of each other, but do not love heartily, perhaps because their choice is not free in the matter. Jasper on his part has a secret passion for Rosa and is determined to obtain her, even at the cost of his nephew's life. Edwin does not suspect this passion, but Rosa has been made to feel it through a hypnotic power exercised by the music-master. Jasper does not see his way clear to a plot against Edwin until chance sends to Cloisterham a twin brother and sister reared in Ceylon, Neville and Helena Landless. Their guardian, Honey thun- der, a professional philanthropist, sends them here to complete their education — Neville under the Rev. Crisparkle, minor canon of the cathedral, and Helena, at the seminary attended by Rosa. Neville becomes acquainted with Edwin Drood, but the two young men are of antagonistic types and indulge in a boyish quarrel, being egged on by Jasper, who perceives in Neville a tool to his liking. Jasper THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD 197 causes it to be circulated that Neville is a dangerous character and has designs upon the safety of Edwin, through love for Rosa. Although the young men are reconciled, and the good Mr. Crisparkle is sponsor for Neville's conduct, the latter comes to be regarded generally with distrust. When Jasper has brought matters to this state, he invites Edwin and Neville to his home, one Christmas Eve. It is hard upon the time when Edwin and Rosa are to marry, but the plighted couple have already determined to break off the match, although the fact has not become known even to Edwin's uncle. That night EdAvin disappears and is never seen again. Jasper claims that Neville was the last one with him, the two having left his home to go for a walk by the river. Nev- ille admits this, but asserts that Edwin after leaving him returned to Jasper's house. Crisparkle believes his pupil's story, as indeed would any one who knew the young man's real nature. But Jasper 198 DICKENS SYNOPSES has poisoned the sentiment against him, and he is believed to be Edwin's mur- derer. A watch and pin belonging to the lost man are found in the river, a fact heightening the suspicion. But no direct clews are as yet fastened to Neville. He is, therefore, suffered to go free, although under a cloud. Jasper is seized with extraordinary emotion when he finds that the putting away of his nephew was entirely unneces- sary, on account of the parting between Edwin and Rosa. Nevertheless he does not relax in his efforts against the welfare of Neville. Instead, he comes openly to Rosa with a proposal of marriage, hinting dark threats if she does not accept him. In alarm she flees to her guardian in London, Mr. Grewgious, for protection. There she continues her acquaintance with her good friend Helena Landless, who is now in the metropolis with her brother. Rosa also meets Lieutenant Tartar, retired from the Navy, and this officer's attentions are not at all displeasing to her. THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD 199 The tale ends with Datchery, a detec- tive, working to clear up the mystery, one or two hidden threads of wliich lead toward Jasper. The actual denouement can only be surmised, and never definitely known. Dickens's original plan, as out- lined to a friend, was to have Jasper, seized for the crime, tell his own story. " The last chapters were to be written in the condemned cell, to which his wicked- ness, all elaborately elicited from him as if told of another, had brought him. Discov- ery by the murderer of the utter needless- ness of the murder for its object was to follow hard upon the commission of the deed [this the story shows] ; but all dis- covery of the murderer was to be baffled till toward the close, when, by means of a gold ring, Avhich had resisted the corro- sive effects of the lime into which he had thrown the body, not only the person mur- dered was to be identified, but the locality of the crime and the man who committed it. . . . Rosa was to marry Tartar, and Crisparkle, the sister of T^andless, who 200 DICKENS SYNOPSES was himself to have perished in assisting Tartar finally to unmask and seize the murderer." This outline does not account for all the situations in the story, and might later have been changed in the development, but must now suffice as the fullest clew left to the Mystery of Edwin Drood. INDEX TO CHARACTERS The following abbreviations are used in this index : Barnaby Rudge=Eudge; Bleak House = Bleak H. ; David Copperfield = David C. ; Dombey and Son=Dombey; Edwin Drood=Drood; Great Expectations = Great Ex. ; Hard Times = Hard T. ; Little Dorrit= Dorrit ; Martin Clnizzlewit= Martin C. ; Nicholas Nicklebj' = Nickleby; Old Curiosity Shop=0. C. Shop; Oliver Twist = Twist; Our Mutual Friend = Mutual ; Pickwick Papers = Pick- wick ; A Tale of Two Cities = Two Cities. Akerman Ricdge Akersham, Sophronia Mutual Allen, Arabella . , Allen, Benjamin , Allen's Aunt . . , Augusta . . . . Babley, Richard . . Badger, Bay ham , Badger, Laura . , Bagnets, The . . Bagsby Bagstock, Jos. . , Bailey Bangham, Mrs. . . Bantam, A. C. . . Baps, Mr. and Mrs. Barbara's Mother Barbary, Miss . Bardell, Martha . Bardell, Tommy Barkis Darid C. Pickicick PickwicJc Pickicick Bleak H. David C. Bleak 11. Bleak IT. Bleak H. Bleak H. Domhey Martin C. Dorrit Pickroiek . Domhey . Dorrit 0. C. Shop 0. C. Shop Bleak H. Pickwick Pickicick Barley, Clara . Great Ex, Barnacles, The Tite . Dorrit Barney . Twist Bates, Charley . Txcist Bazzard . . . Drood Beadle, Harriet Dorrit Bedwin, Mrs. . TxciHt Berry, Miss . Domhey Betsey . . . . Twist Bevan . . . Ifartiii C Biddy . . . Great Ex. Billickin, Mrs. Drood Bishop . . . . Dorrit Bitherstone . . . Dombey Bitzer . . . . Hard T. Blackpool, Steph en . Hard T. Blackpool, Mrs. . Hard T. Blandois . . . Dorrit Blight . . . . Mutual Blimbers, The . Domhey Blinder, Mrs. Bleak H. Blockitt, Mrs. . Domhey Blotton . , . Pickwick Boffin, Mr. and M rs Mutual 201 202 DICKENS SYNOPSES Boldwig .... Pickwick Bolo, Miss . . . Pickwick Boots Mutual Bounderb}', Josiah . Hard T. Bounder bj', Louisa . Hard T. Boythoru, Lawrence Bleak //, Brandleys, The . . Great Ex. Brass, Sampson . . O. C. Shop Brass, Sally . . . 0. C. Shop Bray, Walter. . . Nicklehy Bray, Madeline . . Mcklehy Brewer Mutual Brick, Jefferson . Martin C. Briggs Domhey Brittles Ticist Brogley Domhey Brooker .... MckWby Browdie, John . . Kickleby Browdie, Matilda . Nickleby BroAvn, Mrs Domhey Brown, Alice . . . Domhey Brownlow Twist Bucket Bleak H. Bud, Eosa .... Drood Budger, Mrs. . . Pickwick Buffer Mutual Bumble, Mr. and Mrs. . Twixt Bunsby, John . . . Domhey Buzfuz Pickwick Camilla, Mrs. Carkers, The . . Carstone, Richard Carton, Sydney . , Casby, Christopher Cavalletto, G. B. Chadbands, The . Charlotte . . . Cheeryble Bros. Great Ex. . Domhey Bleak H. Tico Cities . Dorrit Dorrit Bleak H. . . Twist Mcklehy Cheeryble, Frank Cheggs .... Cheggs, Miss . . Chester, Sir John Chester, Edward Chick, John . Chick, Louisa Childers, E. W Chillip . . . ChitliDg, Thos. Chiverys, The Choke, Cyrus Chollop, Hannibal Chuckster . Chuffey . Chuzzlewits, The Clare, Ada Clark . . . Clay pole, Noah Cleaver . . . Cleaver, Fanny Clennam, Arthur Clennam, Mrs. Cluppins, Ehz. Cly, Roger Cobb, Thos. . Codlin, Thos. Coiler, Mrs. . Compeyson . Copperfields, The Corney, Mrs. Cracklt, Toby Craddock, Mrs. Creakles, The Crimple, David Crisparkle, Septimus Crisparkle, Mrs. Crowl .... Crumraleses, The Nickleby 0. a Shop O. C. Shop . Rudge Rudge . Dotnhey . Domhey . Hard T. David a . . Twist . Dorrit Jlariin C. Martin C. O. a Shop JIartin C. Martin C. Bleak U. . Domhey . . Tivist . Mutual . Mutual Dorrit . Dorrit Pickwick Two Citiex . Rudge O. C. Shop Great Ex. Great Ex. David C. . . Twist . . Twist Pickwick David C. Martin C. Drood , Drood Nicklehy Mcklehy IND EX TO C HARACTERS 203 Crunchers, The , Two Cities Finching Flora . . . Dorrit Crupp, Mrs. . . David 0. "Mr. F.'s Aunt" . . Dorrit Cuttle, Edward . . Dombey Tips . Martin C. Fizkin, Horatio . . Picktoick Daisy, Solomon . . Rudge Fladdock . . . . Martin C. Darnay, Chas. . Tii:o Cities Flasher, Wilkin s . Pickwick Darnay, Lucie . Dartle, Rosa . . Two Cities Fledgeby . . . . . Mutual David C. Fleming, Rose . . . . Twist Datchery, Dick . . Drood Flintwich, Mr. and Mrs. Dorrit Dawkins, Jack . . . Twist Elite, Miss . . . Bleak II. Dedlocks, The . Bleak II. Flopson . . . . Great Ex. Defarge, Ernest . Two Cities Fogg .... . Pickwick Defarge, Ther^se Two Cities Folair, Thos. . Mckleby Dennis, Edw. , . Budge Foulon .... . Tioo Cities "Deputy" . . . Drood "Dick, Mr.". . David a Gabelle, Theophile . Two Cities "DismalJemmy " Pickwick "Game Chicken " . . Dombey Diver .... Martin C. Pickwick. Gamfield . . . . . . Twist Dodson .... Gamp, " Sairey " . Martin C. Dombeys, The . . Dombey Gargery, Joe . . . Great Ex. Donny, The Misses Bleak II. Gargery, Mrs. . . Great Ex. Dorrits, The . . Dorrit Garlands, The . . 0. C. Shop Dowler, Mr. and Mi s. Pickwick Gashford . . . . . Budge Doyce, Daniel . . Dorrit Gaspard . . . . Two Cities Drood, Edwin . . Drood Gay, Walter . . . . Dombey Drummle, B. Great Ex. General, Mrs. . . Dorrit Dubbley . . . Pickwick George, Mrs. . 0. a Shop Durdles . . . . . Drood Georgiana, Mrs. . Great Ex. Gilbert, Mark . . . Rudge Edwards, Miss . . 0. C. Shop Giles .... . . . Twist " Em'ly, Little " David C. Gills, Solomon . . . Dombey Endell, Martha . David C. Glibbery, "Bob" . . Miitual Estella .... . Great Ex. Glubb .... . . Dombexi Goodwin . . . . Pickwick Fagin .... . . . Twist Gordon, Lord George . Budge Fang .... . . . Twist Gowan, Henry . . . Dorrit Feeder .... . . Dombey Go wan, Mrs. . . . . Dorrit Feeder. Alfred . . . Dombey Gradgrinds, The . . Hard T. "Feenix, Cousin " . . Dombey Graham, Mary . . . Martin 204 DICKENS SYNOPSES Granger, Edith . , Grewgious, Hiram Gride, Arthur Gridley . . . Grimwig . . Grinder . . Groves, Jem . Grabble, W. Grudden, Mrs. Grueby, John Grummer . . Gummidge, Mrs. Gimter . . Guppy, "Wm, Guppy, Mrs. Gusher . . . Domhey . Drood Nicklehy Bleak II. . . Twist o. a Shop 0. a Shop Bleak II. Mckleby . Rudge Pickicick David C. Picktcick Bleak H. Bleak II. Bleak II. Haggage .... Handford, Juhus . Haredale, Emma . Haredale, Geoffrey . Harmon, John . . Harris Harris Harthouse . . . Havisham, Miss Hawdon .... Hawk, Sir Mulberry Headstone, Bradley Heep, Uriah . . . Heep, Mrs. . . . H exams, The . . Higden, Betty . . Hominys, The Dorr it Mutual Rudge Rudge Mutual Pickivick 0. C. Shop . Hard T. Great Ex. Bleak n. Nicklehy . Mutual David C. David C. . Mutual . Mutual Martin C. Honeythunder, Luke . Drood Hopkins, Jack . . Pickwick Hortense .... Bleak II. Howler, Melchisedech Domhey Hubble, Mr. and Mrs. Oreat E^. Hugh Rudge Humm, Anthony . Pickwick Hunter, Leo . . . Pickwick Hunter, Mrs, . . Pickwick Jackson .... Pickwick Jacques .... Trco Cities Jaggers .... Great Ex. Janet David C. Jarley, Mrs. . . . O. C. Shop Jarndyce, John . . Bleak H. Jasper, John .... Drood Jellybys, The . . Bleak II. Jemima Domhey Jenkinson Dorrit Jerry 0. C. Shop Jingle, Alfred . . Pickwick Jiniwin, Mrs . . . 0. C. Shop Jinkins Martin C. Jinks Jo, "Little" . . . Jobling, John . . JobUng, Tony . . Joe Joe Johnny, " Little" . Pickwick Bleak H. Martin C. Bleak II. Pickwick Drood . Mutual Johnson Domhey Joram, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Jorkins .... David C. Jowl, Mat . . . . 0. C. Shop Jupe, "Sissy" . . . Hard T. Kags Txcist Kenge Bleak H. Kenwigs, The . Kettle, Lafayette Kibble, Jacob . Kidderminster . Knag, Miss . . Krook .... Mcklehy Martin C. . Mutual . Hard T. Nicklehy Bleak H. INDEX TO CHARACTEBS 205 La Creevy, Miss . Nickldby Lagnier Dorrit Laramie, Alfred . . . Mutual Lammle, Sophrouia . Mutual Landless, Helena . . Brood Landless, Neville . . Drood Langdale Rudge Ledrook, Miss . . Mckleby Leeford, Edward . . . Twist Lenville .... Nickleby Lewsome .... Martin C. Lightwood, Mortimer Mutual Lillyvick .... Nicklehy Linkinwater, Timothy Mckleby List, Isaac . . . 0. C. Shop Littimer .... David C. Lobley Drood Lorry, Jarvis . . Two Cities Losberne Ticiat Lowten .... Pickwick, Lupin, Mrs. . . . 3fartin 0. M'Choakumchild . . Hard T. MacStingers, The . . Doinhey Maggy Dorrit Magnus, Peter . . Pickwick Magwitch, Abel . . Great Ex. Maldon, Jack . . David C. Mallard ..... Pickwick Manette, Alex. . . Two Cities Manette, Lucie . . Two Cities Mann, Mrs Twist Mantalini, Alfred . Nickleby Mantalini, Mme. . ^ Nickleby "Marchioness" . O. C. Shop Markleham, Mrs. . David C. Martin Pickwick Marton 0.0. Shop Mary Pickwick Mary Ann Mutaial Mary Anne . . . Great Ex. Maylies, The Twist Meagleses, The . . . Dorrit MeU Danid C. Merdle, Mr. and Mrs. Dorrit Micawbers, The . . David 0. Miff, Mrs Dombey Miggs, Miss .... Rudge Mike Great Ex. Miller Pickwick Millers Great Ex. Mills, Julia . . . David C. Milvey, Frank . . . Jfutual Milvey, Margaretta . 3futual Mivins Pickwick Moddle, Augustus . 3Iartin 0. Molly Great Ex. Monflathers, Miss . O. C. Shop Monks Twist Morfin Dombey Mould, Mr. and Mrs. Martin C. Mowcher, Miss . . David C. Mudge, Jonas . . Pickwick Murdstone, Edward David C. Murdstone, Jane . David 0. Mutanhed, Lord , Pickwick Muzzle Pickxoick Nadget . . . Namby . . . Nancy . . . Nandy, J. E. Necketts, The Nell, "Little" Nicklebys, The Nipper, Susan Noddy . . . Noggs, Newmao . Martin 0. . Pickwick . . . Twist . . Dorrit . Bleak If. . O. C. Shop Mckleby . . Dombey . Pickwick . Mckleby 206 DICKENS SYNOPSES Norrises, The . .. Martin C. Nubbleses, The . . 0. C. Shop Nupkinses, The . . Pickwick Omer David C. Orlick, Dolge . . Grmt Ex. Pancks Dorrit Pankey, Miss . . . Dotnbey Pardiggles, The . . Bleak H. Parkes, Philip . . . Rudge Pawkinses, The . . Martin C. Payne Pickwick Pecksniffs, The . . Martin C. Peecher, Emma . . . Mutual Peggottys, The . . David C. Pegler, Mrs Hard T. Pell, Solomon . , Pickwick Pepper Great Ex. Peps, Sir Parker . . Domhey Perch, Mr. and Mrs. . Domhey Perker Pickwick Petowker, Henrietta Nickleby Phoebe Nickleby Phunky .... Pickwick Pickwick, Samuel . Pickwick Pilkins Domhey Pinch, Ruth . . . Martin C. Pinch, Tom . . . Martin C. Pip Martin C. Pipchin, Mrs. . . . Domhey Pirrip, "Pip" . . Great Ex. Plornish, Mr. and Mrs. Dorrit Pluck Nicklehy Pockets, The . . . Great Ex. Podsnaps, The . . . Mutual Pogram, Elijah . . Martin C. Pott, Mr. and Mrs. Pickwick Potter son, Abigail . . Mutual Potter son, Job Prigg, Betsey Pross, Miss . Pross, Solomon Pumblechook Pyke . . . . . Mutual . Martin C. . Two Cities . Two Oitiett . Great Ex. Nicklehy Quale . . Quilp, Daniel Quilp, Mrs. Quinion Rachael . . Raddles, The Riah .... Riderhood, Pleasant Riderhood, Rogue . Rigaud Rogers, Mrs. . . . Roker, Tom . . . Rokesmith. John . Rosa Rouncewells, The . Rudges, The . . . Rugg Rugg, Anastasia . Sampson, Geo. . . Sanders, Susannah Sapsea, Thos. . . Sawyer, Bob . . . Scott, Tom . . . Scudder, Zephaniab Sharp Sikes, Bill . . . . Simmery .... Simmons, Henrietta Simmons, Wm. . . Skettleses, The . . Skewton, Mrs. . . Bleak H. 0. C. Shop 0. C. Shop David C. . Hard T. Pickwick . Mutxial . Mutual . Mutual Dorrit Pickwick Pickwick . Mutual Bleak H. Bleak H. . Rudge Dorrit . Dorrit . Mutual Pickwick Drood Pickwick 0. C. Shop Martin C. David C. . . Twiat Pickwick 0. C. Shop Martin C. . Dovihey . Dombey INDEX TO CHARACTERS 207 Skiffins, Miss Skimpln . . Sklmpoles, The Slackbridge . Slammer . . Sleary . . . Sleary, Josephine Sliderskew, Peg Great Ex. Pickicick Bleak H. . Hard T. Pickwick . Hard T. . Hard T. Nickleby Sloppy 3Ritual Slum 0.0. Shop Slumkey, Samuel . Pickwick Slurk Pickwick Slyme, Chevy . . Martin C. Smallweeds, The . Bleak U. Smangle .... Pickwick Smauker, John . . Pickwick Smiggers, Jos. . . Pickioick Smike Mckleby Smorltork, Count . Pickwick Smouch .... Pickwick Snagsby, Mr. and Mrs. Bleak H. Snawley, Mr. and Mrs. Nicklehy Snevellicci, Miss . Nicklehy Snodgrass, Augustus Pickwick Snubbin, Sergeant . Pickwick Snuphanugh, Lady Pickwick Sowerberry, Mr. and Mrs. TwUt Sownds .... Domhey Sparkler, Edmund . . Dorrit Sparsit, Mrs. . . . Hard T. Spenlows, The . . David C. Spottletoes, The . Martin C. Squeerses, The . . Nicklehy Squod, Phil . . . Bleak H. Stables, Bob . . . Bleak H. Stagg Budge Stareleigh, Justice . Pickwick Startop Great Ex. Steerforth, Mrs. . David C. Steerforth, Jas. . . St. Evr6monde, . . Stiggins . . . . Stiltstalking, Lord . Strong, Dr. and Mrs Stryver, C. J. . . Summerson, Esther Sweedlepipe, "Poll' Swills, " Little " . Swiveller, Kichard . David C. Two Cities Pickwick Dorrit David C. Two Cities Bleak H. ' 3rartin C. Bleak H. 0. C. Shop Tacker Tangle Tapley, Mark . . Tappertit, Simon . Tappleton .... Tartar "Tattycoram" . . Tellson and Co. . . Tickit, Mrs. . . . Tiffey Tigg, Montague Tippins, Lady . . Tisher, Mrs. . . . Todgers, Mrs. . . Toodles, The . . . Toots, P Tope, Mr. and Mrs. Towlinson . . . Tox, Lucretia . . Tozer Trabb "Trabb'sBoy" . Traddles, Thos. . . Traddles, Sophy . Trents, The . . . Trotter, Job . . . Trotwood, Betsey . Trundle . . . . Martin C. Bleak H. Martin C. . Budge Pickicick Drood Dorrit Two Cities . Dorrit David C. Martin C. . Mutual Drood Martin C. . Domhey . Domhey Drood . Domhey . Domhey . Domhey Great Ex. Great Ex. David C. David C. O. C. Shop Pickwick David C. Pickicick 208 DICKENS SYNOPSES Tackle .... Pickiciak "Wemmick, John . Great IXe. Tulkiughorn . . . Bleak H. Westlock, John . . Martin (\ Tungay . . . David C. Whiffens . . . . Piekicick Tupman, Tracy . Pickwick Whimple, Mrs. . . Great Ex. Turveydrops, The Bleak H. Wiokam, Mrs. . , . Domhey Twemlow, Melvin . . Mutual Wickfield . . . . David V. Twiukleton, Miss . . Drood Wickfield, Agnes . David C. Twist, Oliver. . . . . Ticist Wicks Wilfers, The . . . Pickwick . Mutual Vardens, The . . Budge Willet, John . . . . Budge Veneerings, The . . Mutual Willet, Joe . . . . Budge " Vengeance, The " Two Cities Winkle Picktcick Venus . Mutual Winkle, Nathaniel . Pickroick Verisopht, Lord Nicklehi/ Witherfield, Miss . Piekicick Vholes .... Bleak If. Wititterlys, The . mcklehij Vuffin .... 0. C. Shop Wobbler . . . . . Dorrit Wolf Marti7i C. Wackleses, The . 0. a Shojy Woodcourt, Allan , Bleak If. Wade, Miss . . . Dorrit Woodcourt, Mrs. . Bleak ff. Wardles, The . Pickwick Wopsle Great Ex. Wegg, Silas . . . Mutual Wrayburn, Eugene . Mutual Wellers, The . . Piekicick Wren, Jenny . . . . Mutual Wemmick . . . Great Ex. Wugsbys, The . . Pickwick ^ARYOFCONbHtSS 014 490 936 7 «