Charles Dickens is one of the most widely read authors in English literature. This companion, comprising essays written by leading Dickensian scholars from around the world, places Dickens's writings in their literary and historical contexts and offers the factual and referential knowledge to enable readers to approach his works with insight and understanding.

Through Dickens's letters, journalism, and fiction, chapters examine the literary, visual, historical, ideological, and social forces that defined the world of his fiction. Individual essays explore a broad range of topics, including the role of illustrations in his novels, the literary tradition Dickens inherited, his unique facility with language, his uses of history and the extent to which Christian assumptions shaped him as a writer. Other contributions assess his attitude towards technology, the United States, law, gender, and political and social reform, while essays treating biographical matters and surveying Dickens criticism complete the volume. This unique companion will help readers better understand Dickens's work and will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals alike.

List of Illustrations viii

Notes on Contributors ix

Preface xiv

Acknowledgments xvi

Abbreviations xvii

Part I Perspectives on the Life 1

1 A Sketch of the Life 3

Michael Allen

2 Dickens's Use of the Autobiographical Fragment 18

Nicola Bradbury

3 "Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens": The Epistolary Art of the Inimitable 33

David Paroissien

4 Three Major Biographies 47

Catherine Peters

Part II Literary/Cultural Contexts 63

5 The Eighteenth-century Legacy 65

Monika Fludernik

6 Dickens and the Gothic 81

Robert Mighall

7 Illustrations 97

Malcolm AndrewsCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

8 The Language of Dickens 126

Patricia Ingham

9 The Novels and Popular Culture 142

Juliet John

Part III English History Contexts 157

10 Dickens as a Reformer 159

Hugh Cunningham

11 Dickens's Evolution as a Journalist 174

John M. L. Drew

12 Dickens and Gender 186

Natalie McKnight

13 Dickens and Technology 199

Trey Philpotts

14 Dickens and America (1842) 216

Nancy Aycock Metz

15 Dickens and Government Ineptitude Abroad, 1854-1865 228

Leslie Mitchell

16 Dickens and the Uses of History 240

John Gardiner

17 Dickens and Christianity 255

Valentine Cunningham

18 Dickens and the Law 277

Jan-Melissa Schramm

Part IV The Fiction 295

19 The Pickwick Papers 297

David Parker

20 Oliver Twist 308

Brian Cheadle

21 Nicholas Nickleby 318

Stanley Friedman

22 The Old Curiosity Shop 328

Gill Ballinger

23 Barnaby Rudge 338

Jon Mee

24 Martin Chuzzlewit 348

Goldie Morgentaler

25 Dombey and Son 358

Brigid Lowe

26 David Copperfi eld 369

Gareth Cordery

27 Bleak House 380

Robert Tracy

28 Hard Times 390

Anne Humpherys

29 Little Dorrit 401

Philip Davis

30 A Tale of Two Cities 412

Paul Davis

31 Great Expectations 422

Andrew Sanders

32 Our Mutual Friend 433

Leon Litvack

33 The Mystery of Edwin Drood 444

Simon J. James

Part V Reputation and Infl uence 453

34 Dickens and the Literary Culture of the Period 455

Michael Hollington

35 Dickens and Criticism 470

Lyn Pykett

36 Postcolonial Dickens 486

John O. Jordan

Index 501

David Paroissien is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham. He edits Dickens Quarterly and co-edits, with Susan Shatto, the Dickens Companions series. He is the author of The Companion to Oliver Twist (1992), The Companion to Great Expectations (2000), and has edited The Mystery of Edwin Drood for Penguin (2002).