Charles Dickens (RLE Dickens)

Originally published in 1968, the main concern of this volume is Dickens' role as "entertainer". It examines the results of this role: Dickens' important contribution to the techniques of comedy and irony in prose. The social commentary and criticism which arise from a primarily comic art is emphasized and exemplified.

Martin Fido

1. Charles Dickens: His Life and Work 2. Scheme of Extracts 3. Comic Action: Nicholas Nickleby 4. Exuberant Domestic Optimism: Pickwick Papers 5. Comic Dialogue: Martin Chuzzlewit 6. Social Comedy: Nicholas Nickleby 7. Social Satire: Caricature and Irony: Oliver Twist 8. Comic Villains: Melodrama Tradition - The Old Curiosity Shop 9. Serious Dialogue: Melodrama Tradition - Barnaby Rudge 10. Description of Place: Sensational Horror - Oliver Twist 11. Structure: Thematic Unity - The Old Curiosity Shop 12. Structure: Introduction of Extraneous or Unplotted Material - David Copperfield 13.Symbolism - Bleak House 14. Serious Character: Mind Under Stress - Dombey and Son 15. Social Criticism: Emotional Appeal - Bleak House 16. Social Satire: Class or Type Representative Caricature - Hard Times 17. Serious Dialogue - Great Expectations 18. Insularity - Little Dorrit 19. Prose Technique - A Tale of Two Cities 20. Plain Narrative Prose - Great Expecatations 21. Serious Villains - Our Mutual Friend 22. Social Sature: Caricature of Class or Institution - Little Dorrit 23. Grotesque Caricature: Black Comedy - Our Mutual Friend