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2.3. Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
(Chapters
1 & 2)
About
Author:
Charles
Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens) was the author of 15 novels and also
wrote short stories, essays and articles in Victorian era. Born on February 7,
1812. In 1833 Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to
periodicals. A Dinner at Popular Walk was Dickens's first published story. The
Pickwick Papers (1836) was the first novel by English writer Charles Dickens.
Oliver Twist (1837-39), Nicholas Nickleby
(1838-39), The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge as part of the Master Humphrey's
Clock series (1840-41), all being published in monthly instalments before being
made into books.
David Copperfield (1849) is an
autobiographical novel. Charles Dickens died on June 9, 1870.
About Prose:
The
Pickwick Papers (1836) was the first novel by English writer Charles Dickens.
It is considered a masterpiece of British literature. The Pickwick Papers was
published in 19 episodes spread over 20 months; the last instalment was of
double length and cost two shillings since Dickens had skipped the May 1837
issue due to the death of his sister, Mary Hogarth. Each instalment was usually
published at the end of the month.
The
book was published in 1837 and divided into 57 chapters. In 1913, The Pickwick
papers was made into a short silent film.
The
Pickwick Papers describes the travels of Mr. Samuel Pickwick, founder of the
Pickwick Club, with his friends Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass and Tracy
Tupman through early nineteenth century England.
About Club:
In May
1827, the Pickwick Club of London, headed by Samuel Pickwick, decides to
establish a traveling society in which four members journey about England and
make reports on their travels.
The
four members are Mr. Pickwick, a kindly retired businessman and philosopher
whose thoughts never rise above the commonplace; Tracy Tupman, a ladies' man
who never makes a conquest; Augustus Snodgrass, a poet who never writes a poem;
and Nathaniel Winkle, a sportsman of tremendous ineptitude.
Main characters of the Pickwick Papers
*
Samuel Pickwick -- the novel's protagonist, an elderly man, portly and jovial,
founder of the Pickwick Club.
*
Augustus Snodgrass: member of the club. He considers himself a poet, though he
has never written anything. Snodgrass marries, Emily, the daughter of Mr.
Wardle.
* Nathaniel
Winkle: a friend of Mr. Pickwick and a member of the Pickwick Club. He is an
awkward young man who deludes himself into believing that he is a sportsman,
though he is anything but. At the end of the novel, Winkle marries Arabella, a
friend of Emily.
* Tracy
Tupman: Another member of the Pickwick Club. He is an elderly, fat, gentleman
who considers himself a womanizer. He falls in love with Rachel Wardle, but
does not end up marrying her because Rachael runs off with Jingle.
* Sam
Weller: an honest young man, with Cockney a great sense of humour and a way of
mangling descriptions and proverbs that came to be known as
"wellerisms". When the Pickwickians first meet Weller, he is a shoe
shine boy at a local inn; later he becomes Mr. Pickwick's valet as well as his
friend. Towards the end of the book, Sam marries Mary, a pretty waitress.
Other Characters
* Mr.
Wardle: a jovial gentleman farmer. He hosts the members of the "Pickwick
Club" at his home several times.
* Joe:
a fat boy, and Mr. Wardle's servant. He is always falling asleep no matter what
time of day it is, or what is going on around him. Dickens' description of
Joe's sleep problem led to a real medical condition being named after him:
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (also known as Pickwickian syndrome)
*
Jingle: A con man, and the villain of the novel. He frequently deceives Mr.
Pickwick and his friends, seduces Rachel Wardle, for her money, but is then
imprisoned in the Marshalsea. Mr. Pickwick meets Jingle when he too is confined
there and finds Jingle sick and almost too weak to walk. Mr. Pickwick has pity
on him.
* Miss Bardle: Mr. Pickwick's landlady. She mistakenly believes that Mr. Pickwick has proposed marriage and when he does not keep his "promise" she successfully sues him for breach of promise to marry. Mr. Pickwick refuses to pay her and is imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea.
Chapter I – The Pickwickians:
Summary:
Dickens introduces a new branch of the United Pickwickians, under
the title of The Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club, by way of documenting
the minutes of a meeting held by the Pickwick Club on May 12, 1827.
The club's papers include an acknowledgement of Mr. Pickwick's
research, "Speculations on the Source of the Hampstead Ponds, with Some
Observation on the Theory of Tittlebats," which they proclaim to be of
tremendous scientific value.
The Pickwick Club dedicated “to the advancement of knowledge and
the diffusion of learning,” includes Samuel Pickwick, Tracy Tupman, Augustus
Snodgrass, and Nathaniel Winkle who are planning to provide periodic reports of
the journeys and investigations they have financed on their own.
Pickwick, the novel's protagonist, the founder of the club, is
bald, spectacled, and charismatic. Tupman has boyish charms, but with the
advancing years has become fat. Snodgrass is a poet though he has never written
anything, and Winkle is a sportsman.
In minutes discussion, as Mr. Pickwick speaks, he is interrupted by
cheers and also by an argument from Mr. Blotton, another club member. This
explanation minimizes the sting of the humbug insult.
Pickwick assures Mr. Blotton that the Pickwickian sense also applies to Pickwick’s indirect accusation of Mr. Blotton as being the person responsible for the art of travel’s decline. Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Blotton get into an argument, which is smoothed over through the efforts of Mr. Pickwick's friends.
Chapter II – The First Day's Journey and the First Evening's Adventures:
Summary:
Chapter 2 introduces a tall thin young man referred to as “the
stranger” throughout the chapter. Before encountering the stranger, Mr.
Pickwick departs on his travels and ends up upsetting the cab driver every time
he makes a notation in his notebook. The driver takes Pickwick to Golden Cross
club, where Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle are waiting for him, and
immediately challenges him to a fight for spying on him.
Mr. Pickwick and his friends find themselves in a bind and are
rescued by a tall, thin young man in a green coat who interjects and helps the
Pickwickians. His speech is rendered in broken sentences, but nonetheless saves
the men. Pickwick observes the gentleman – “His face was thin and haggard; but
an indescribable air of jaunty impudence and perfect self-possession pervaded
the whole man”.
Next, the men all take the coach to Rochester together and enjoy
the stranger’s tales about his romances, including one with an Englishwoman
named Donna Christina who is now dead. All we know is that a stomach pump was
involved and the woman's father mysteriously disappeared. This story touches
Mr. Tupman in particular.
The men agree to meet later for dinner to show their gratitude for
the stranger’s assistance with the cab driver. Mr. Pickwick spends the interim
time reviewing his notes on the towns they have visited – Stroud, Rochester,
Chatham, and Brompton.
After dinner, everyone falls asleep, except for the stranger and
Mr. Tupman, who decide to attend the ball being held at the inn. The stranger
does not have the proper clothes, so Mr. Tupman lends him a new suit of Mr.
Winkle's, which features special "P.C." buttons to honor the Pickwick
Club.
At the ball the stranger does not provide his name. He asks a
widow, Mrs. Budger, to dance with him. He unknowingly interferes with a local
doctor, Dr. Slammer, and his intentions towards Mrs. B. The doctor is
infuriated and challenges him to a duel, but the stranger ignores him and
leaves.
The next morning Boots arrives asking for the man who wears a coat
with "P.C." buttons. Pickwick tells him to look for Mr. Winkle. Since
it is Mr. Winkle's coat, he receives a challenge to a dual. Mr. Winkle is
astonished by this turn of events and goes to his room to find his blue coat.
He was evidently drunk and has no memory of the previous night, but the
messenger describes his coat precisely, so he feels obligated to participate in
order to uphold his reputation.
He figures if he asks Mr. Snodgrass to be his second, Snodgrass
will eventually tell Mr. Pickwick who will find a way to end the dual.
Mr. Winkle is terrified that he will be shot, but Dr. Slammer, the insulted doctor, realizes that Mr. Winkle was not the man who insulted him. The matter is cleared up and Mr. Winkle and Mr. Snodgrass invite the doctor and his friends to dine with the Pickwickians that evening.
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