
"Marley was dead, to begin with." Why does the most beloved of Christmas books open with a death? What has death to do with Christmas and New Years, and with Dickens's Christmas books and stories over his entire life? This book starts at the Paris Morgue and takes Dickens through his Christmas experiences from childhood and beyond, his celebrations of the season, and the sorrows that he often reviews in the New Year.Robert L. Patten weaves together Dickens's life, career, writings, journalism, travel, theatrical presentations, and religious convictions to offer a richly designed and entertaining narrative, fulsomely illustrated, of the manifold ways Dickens figures the spirit and traditions of the winter holidays in Victorian England. Both the gothic of ghosts and retribution and what he saw as the grotesque of lower-class enjoyment surface importantly in Dickens's fantasies. This volume discloses many hitherto overlooked connections between Dickens's writings and life and arrives at some surprising conclusions about Dickens's imagination, understanding of the conditions and meaning of Christian life, and the failures of British society to meet the pressing needs of its people. Not only does it address the public reception of these writings; it also tracks the responses and understandings of Dickens's illustrators, friends who found novel ways of telling, and mis-telling, the stories.
This work investigates the paradoxical relationship between death and the festive spirit within the life and literary output of Charles Dickens. Robert L. Patten, a renowned Dickens scholar, utilizes biographical data, journalistic records, and the author's complete body of Christmas-themed writings to argue that Dickens used the winter holiday as a crucible for examining social inequality, religious conviction, and the gothic nature of Victorian life. The text posits that Dickens's preoccupation with mortality was not a contradiction to his holiday cheer, but rather a necessary component of his critique of British society.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and literary critics identify this volume as a significant contribution to Dickensian studies, noting its ability to synthesize disparate elements of the author's life into a cohesive thematic argument. Readers frequently highlight the academic density of the prose and the depth of the research, making it a valuable resource for those interested in the intersection of Victorian social history and literature.
Page Count:
368
Publication Date:
2023-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192862669
ISBN-13:
9780192862662
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