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The role of the dilettante in the novels of Dicken's middle period Stender, Carol 1991

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This document is brought to you for free and open access by Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ROLE OF THE DILETTANTE IN THE NOVELS OF DICKENS/S MIDDLE PERIOD

by Carol Stender

A Thesis

Presented to the Graduate Committee ·• ' of Lehigh University In Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts

1n•

English

Lehigh University

1990

.r This thesis ls accepted and approved ln partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.

, /

Profes Charge

•

Head of e Dep of Engl l sh

I I 11 !!l .. . '. . . .. •

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• • 1 Abstract • • • • • • • •

• • • Introduction • • • • • •

Historical Background of the 1 1 Victorian Dilettante • .. • • •

22 Dickens and the Dilettante . • • • • •

• • 31 Richard Carstone • • • • • •

• so Henry Go,11an . • • • • -· • • ·-

71 • • • • • Notes • • • • • •

• • • 73 Works Ci t·ed • • • • • •

77 • • • • \/ i ta • • • • • • •

I I I 111

..

Q ABSTRAC'I'

During the Victorian era, the idle young gentleman, though fashionable and clever, was unfortunately lost ln the shuffle of the swiftly changing Victorian world. Raised under traditional standards of good breeding, the dilettante was, nevertheless, unable to function effectively in a world that sorely needed hls input. Charles Dickens, sensitive to the social ills of the Victorian world, took exception to the wanton wastefulness of dilettantes. In his fiction, he always dealt with

their 1 lk harshly. Through careful analysis of Dlckens/s treatment of the dilettante l~ the novels, Bleak House and Little Docrlt, one obtains a unique understanding of Dlckens/s stance as an Englishman and a humanitarian, ln the throes of monumental economic and social upheaval. As a member of the upper class, the dilettante was a person to be respected, his position held in awe and envied. However, social ills demanded reform. The upper class had the ability to effect changes before revolution set in, but many remained aloof to the activist role. Dickens found men who played the role of ''idle gentlemen" inexcusable. He felt anyone born with the political connections, educational advantages, and innate abilities necessary for problem solving,

-1-

', ' should direct hls energies toward allevlatlng social lnJustlce. Since the dilettante, by his very nature, helped no one but himself, he was always one of

Dickens/s least sympathetic characters. Finally, a close study of the dilettantes, Richard Carstone and Henry Gowan, reveals the evolution of Dlckens/s attitude toward the upper classes. He comes to realize that the dilettante was not only a vehicle of social injustice, but also one of soclety/s saddest victims.

-2- INTRODUCTION

Among Dickens/a gallery of Victorian caricatures appears the dllettante--a sophisticated young gentleman on the fringes of society, leading a vaguely parasitic existence in the shadows of the worldly and successful. More often than not, he ls of good birth1.\ and accustomed to the benefits of the upper or upper-middle class world. He ls wel I-heeled, wel I-mannered, and wel I-educated, and he enJoys some degree of financial Independence. Dickens consistently represents the dilettante as one of society/s failures. We find him passing his life in unregenerate, dissipated idleness. Nurtured on the finest expectations and raised with the highest personal connections, the Dlckens/s dilettante ls nevertheless stymied ln his youthful ambitions and thus he spends the remainder of his existence enduring disappointment and frustration. Disenchantment turns his youthful openness Into bitter defensive sarcasm; his worldliness becomes only an additional source of pain as he compares his reality to his Ideals. He ls generally without direction in life, frequently bored, frequently dissipated. Hls Independent means are rarely enough to cover hls extravagances, and

Indebtedness further discolors his world. Unable to meet hls early expectations, he becomes defiant.

-3- Glo~la O~tlz, ln he~ 9tudy of the dilettante, describes

him In thle manner:

A male character, he ls basically Idle. Either heir to a relatively new fortune begotten by the labors of hls l,nmedlate ancestors or, more frequently, living on the llluslon of inherited money he has spent on dlsslpatlon, he generally shows a marked aversion to work. When he does work, he tends to dabble at the occupation .. . Pampered, Idle, and narclsslstlc, ... Chis] conquest of women swells hls sense of self-worth. (Ortiz 9) Despite their prevalence, Dlckens/s dilettantes have generally escaped close scrutiny. Ellen Moers/ The Dandy: Brununell to Beerbohm ls the one maJor study that explores the dilettante In Victorian literature.

However, many critics, such as J. Hill ls Miller and John Lucas, although focussing on the social crltlclsm in Dlckens/s later novels, give the dilettante only passing Interest. J. Hillis Miller, for instance, makes much of the paralysis and stagnation apparent in Bleak House and draws a direct connection between this stagnation and the fate of many of the novel/s characters, but includes only incidentally the tragedy of that novel/s dilettante, Richard Carstone. The maJorlty of Mlller/s analysis ls concerned with the pervasive role of Chancery Court and the plight of Jo, the pauper from Tom-all-Alone/s. Lucas explores the £allures of law, rellglon and education and the horrors -4-

I of class consciousness ln Dlckens 1 e canon, but, like Mlller/e, hl9 study emphasizes the Dedlocks and poor Jo, and barely touches Richard Carstone or Little

D0rrlt 1 e Henry Gowan. Yet Dlckene 1 s use of dilettantes

as both vehicles and victims of social lnJustlce ls a

slgnlflcant, Integral facet of hls social crltlcls111. One of Dlckens/s central characters who goes

through a period of dl lettantlsrn ls Pip ln Great Expectations. Plp/s transformation has been carefully analyzed from a number of different perspectives, but his dilettantism has not been of great concern, even though his unnatural assumption and eventual divestment of the role make an Interesting study. Little Docrlt/s Henry Gowan has attracted little crltlcal attention even though hls role as foll

Arthur Clennam provides the tension In the Meagles subplot. Charles Dickens himself testified to Gowan/s importance to the novel when he stated that '''society, the Circumlocution Office, and Mr. Gowan, are of course

three parts of one Idea and design ... one satire levelled against prevailing political and social I vices/'' (Forster 225). Eugene Wrayburn, the blase dilettante from Our Mutual Friend, on the other hand, has received critical attentlon.1

-5- '

Beginning with Mr. Pickwick, Charle9 Dickens lncludee at least one dilettante ln each novel/s cast of characters. The evolution of the character ln hls fiction testifies to Dlckens/s broadening involvement ln contemporary social issues and his lncreaslng insight Into the upper and upper-middle class world of Victorian England. Dlckens/s dilettantes reflect not only the Victorian society he lived in, but also his sometimes volatile reaction to that society~s shortcomings. In his portraits of dilettantes, Dickens sheds light on such questions as: Why does a young man born with many advantages become incapable of functioning usefully ln society? or Why does a gentleman, blessed with great promise and prospects, resign himself to failure? Under Dlckens/s pen, the dilettante as a character type goes through some Interesting stages of

development. Beginning as a rather benign, foppish type, frequently with only a minor role, he ends up as

a complex maJor interest in Dlckens/s last completed work, Our Mutual Friend. Frequently, Dlckens/s earl lest works gratuitously represent the idle Victorian gentleman as a colorful, but harmless character. In such works as Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nlckleby, ''gentlemanliness ls on the side of decency, the values of family life, social responsibility, the -6- true respectablllty of Innate worth as opposed to the

,/.. ------··-- "' . ---~ sham respectablllty of fashionable clothesN

11). The character take~ on increasingly malignant aspects with Richard Carstone ln Bleak Hou9e <1851-1853) and reaches a low point of loathsomeness In

1857 with Lltt1e Docrlt/s Henry Gowan. Novels of Dlckens/s later years explore the role of the dilettante with Increasing complexity and "the attempt to depict real aristocracy in the final phase of hls career reflects a slgnlflcant change In Dickens/ attitude since the days of Sir Mulberry Hawk and Lord Frederick Verlsopht in Nicholas Nlckleby"

11 Papers and O11 ver:, D 1ck ens pr'ospered f 1nanc 1al 1y: On

,r/f the basis of hls talent alone, ln a few short years he -7- had established himself as declelveJy upper middle In clas9• . Ae Dickens began to circulate elite London society, hls personal Interactions with the dilettante-type In real llfe Increased. Literary figures such as Leigh-Hunt, Thackeray and Wilkie Collins, though sometimes friends, often Irritated Dickens/s with their airs and attitudes.2 Consequently, the fictional dilettante became an increasingly negative portrait. Also, as he prospered, Dickens took on the burdens of supporting his dllettantlsh father, hls debt-ridden sons, brothers, and even his siblings' families. He felt he was cursed by others' flnanclal lrresponslblllty. Finally, as Dickens became more involved ln the social Issues of the day, he became Increasingly concerned that the upper classes were not fulfil ling their moral duty to I '\ all~viateI the suffering of the lower classes. The dilettante, as an integral part of his social Indictment, became more prominent In his fiction not only as a threat to society but also as one of its victims. Careful study of the development of Dlckens/s dilettantes reveals not only-the author/s attitude toward the English noblllty and upper classes, but also a hlstorlcal perspective on the effect of Victorian society on the young upper and upper-middle class -8- gentlemen. Although Dlckene never comes to like the dilettante, ln later works, particularly Our Mutual Friend, he treats the character with more understanding and sympathy. Ellen Moers points to Dlckens/s

' dlseatlsfactlon In the 1850/s and 1860/s with the stuffy Podsnap slde of Victorian middle-class life. Dlckens/s obJection to such personalities eventually led to more sympathetic portrayals of the dandy-type ln his fiction, In characters like Sydney Carton In A Tale of Two Cities (1859> and Eugene Wrayburn In Our Mutual Friend <1.864-65>. As an extension of hls strong sense

of social responsibility and as a reflection of his own tribulations as a family man trying to see his sons and younger brothers financially secure, Dickens ultimately

came to view the dilettante as one of society/s victims. It ls the goal of this work to examine how Dickens develops the dilettante in hls fiction of his middle period, roughly the 1850s. I distinguish this period from those works written In an earlier period, before he attained financial affluence and literary stature, and those of his later period, a time following hls own sons/ degeneration towards dilettantism and ruln. Works from his earlier period are written from a cheerful, but naive point of view toward the dilettante. Novels from his later period show more

-9- sympathy and a broader understanding of the character.

In his works from the flftle9, however, we can watch

Dlckens/s attitude toward the dilettante mature and

develop. By focu~slng on Just two novels from that period, Bleak House and Little Docrlt, I can present an accurate and concise comparison of two of Dickens/s ) more developed and reallstlcally portrayed dl lettantes, Richard Carstone and Henry Gowan. Through careful study of his treatment of these two ---.Igentlemen, the reader gains Insight Into Dlckens/s struggle with the many social Ills of his age.

I '

-10- ) '

Historical Background of the Victorian Dilettante

Dramatic changes In the social and economic environment directly affected the figure of the dilettante, particularly during the mid-1800/s, the period of Dlckens/s work. As Esrne Wlngf leld-Stratford says In The Making of a Gentleman, "The Victorian gentleman was no static or unalterable phenomenon, but like all other Ingredients of the social melting pot, in process of rapid alteration" <289). Victorian England was a very class-conscious society, largely because during the nineteenth century the class structure was changing. Although the elitist gentry class was quite distinct from the rest of society early ln the century, major economic changes blurred the distinction between England/supper class and an increasingly Influential upper-middle class. Ultimately, the more established upper class reacted to thls sudden expansion of the class below and tried to llmlt the definition of "gentleman." English society prior to the Industrial Revolution was largely composed of two classes--upper and lower. The upper, governing class, or gentry, owned the land

? '" and lived off the wealth the land produced. Supported

• by the profits of their accumulated wealth, the gentry

-11- wae freed from the need to labor for llfe/e necessltles. As Perkins explains:

The gentleman was by definition above the mercenary money-grabbing pursuits of the corrmercial classes. Even his vices were less vicious because indulged In with decorum and good taste, . . . . Hls typical vices, moreover-- gambling, drunkenness, sexual lndulgence--were private and confined chiefly to his own class, whereas hls Influence for good was public, and spread to all his ne I ghbors. 11 <275) Gentlemen were Independently wealthy and, therefore, free to pursue special Interests. Gilmour explains that "the man of noble birth, or of good family, was a gentleman by right

Its original sense means) 11 (3). By the end of the eighteenth century, the title of gentleman depended on the ownershlp of land and "certain attributes of birth which gave him or her a social position not to be

affected by economic circumstances, or even, possibly, by personal conduct"

11 point, Lewis and Maude tell us, ••• when pest! Jenee carried off half the population •.. labour, rather than land, became scarce'' <28). Peasant farmers were able to combine their holdings with strips of land left vacant by a decimated labor ·force. Thus began the emer:'gence of sma I l manor houses and ho l dl ngs. 11 To -12- complete the middle clas9e9, there arose from the ranks of the simple artisans ... the class of capitalist merchant manufacturers, of whom the clothiers were the

most Important"

their ranks to all who could acquire the one necessary qual lflcatlon, the purchase price of an estate. From the dawning of the old society with the decl lne of feudal isrn and serfdom in the fourteenth century ... there began that familiar rise of the new men into the gentry and nobil lty which became the most distinctive feature of English history.

-13- With the onset of the Induetrlal Revolution, EngJand/s economy shifted from an agrarian base to one centered In trade and manufacturing. Industry was control led by the middle classes. During much of the nineteenth century the aristocracy and gentry, ''preoccupied ln fighting the (Napoleonic] war and suppressing Jacoblnlsm ... [and] trying to ride the devastating post-war slump In agriculture, ... was running to seed"

provided the Industrialist with this protection, for It saw that "production was vital, for in production alone

could the natl on f 1 nd a way out of the dangers ~h l ch

threatened It: revolution and famine"

-14- / ------~-~------

The government~e policy was effective. The flret half of the nineteenth century wltne9eed a number of riots and revolts, but Increasing production, opportunity for emigration, and Improved living

9tandards eventually brought peace to the realm. Of course, a new set of problems, social problems, was created along the way. An uprising similar to that which had occurred across the channel was the gentry/s deepest fear. Despite a reluctance to share their elite status, the upper class found it necessary to broaden their ranks In an effort to maintain power: "In order to avoid a revolution based on class hatred, the gentry dee{ded to let the enemy (those pushy, inferior upper-middle classes] in their camp"

,, Parliament passed the first Reform Bill. The electorate was enlarged from 250,000 to 650,000. Passage of the Reform Bill essentially meant that "although the gentry still governed, the middle classes

were given a voice" (Lewis & Maude 57). The political growth of the middle classes was begun and, Increasingly, "active capital, open competition and the productive entrepreneur [became] a standing indictment

-15- of passive property, closed patronage and the leisured gentlemanN .

Natural Jy, as the wealth and power of the Industrial magnate grew, so did his desire to 9ee his heirs placed advantageously. Soon his sons were being educated at the finest schools, which formerly had served aristocrats exclusively. Gilmour notes that "by the last quarter of the nineteenth century it was

/ almost universally accepted that a traditional liberal education at a reputable public school should qualify a man as a gentleman, whatever his father/s origins or occupatlon 11 (8). Lewis and Maude concur, adding that 11 In the public schools, reorganized upon lines laid down by Arnold, the middle classes and the gentry were gradually welded together--and segregated at an early age from the rest of society" <65).

Therefore, one central qualification for gentlemanly status was a proper education, and for the first half of the century, education even superseded 1 1neage. In "The Economic Background of Great Expectations'', w. J. Lohman explains: the key to membership In the new urban gentility was education, especially at one of the many public schools which were founded or restructured during mid-century. The father who could place his son In one of these could see the boy rise to social heights where Englishmen of his own generation and station could never hope to follow. F~om mid-century on the social classes grew more seg~egated In their schooling, and the schools themselves -16- more class conscious; but until these force9 overtook them, they offered, for awhile, sor11eth 1ng approx lmat 1ng a democracy of opportunity; and lt would have been difficult to find a more enthusiastic 9upporter of the9e echoo1s than Dickens. (55)

Thus, the second generation of the wel I-healed bourgeoisie emerged wel I-educated, financially secure, and socially sought after. Paradoxically, "the ambitious merchant or manufacturer who exalted work valued idleness as a badge of status: It showed, as the saying went, that one was /a gentleman of Independent

means/ 11 (Houghton 190). So, as the sons of the rising newly-monled middle class swelled the ranks of the idle

gentlemen, Brown and Gilmour explain, 11 the definition of the gentleman broadened as the nineteenth century progressed"

By the end of the century the circle had been widened to include the whole middle class except those engaged ln retail trade, or drawing salaries below a certain level. Above that it was al I ladies and gentlemen, one class, one code, one pattern of living, as far as assumption and admission could make it so. <307 > However, to be a gentleman meant having an Independent income. "A gentleman would live without manual labor, and without too visible an attention to business, for lt was leisure which enabled a man to cultivate the style and pu~sults of the gentlemanly

-17- life"

oneself was ungentlemanly" (16). According to Brown, the amount of money that would support a gentleman/s style of llvlng during the Victorian era would have to amount to at least 30,000 pounds. This was the mlnlmum for "malntalnlng a gentleman/s family and residence on interest alone"

Unfortunately, the ambition that had driven the fathers to entrepreneurship and wealth was often lost to their heirs. In preparing his sons for a gentlemanly life, the lndustrlallst neglected to prepare him for the rigors of business. Tradltlona1 schooling was fashioned to prepare the gentry for government, not business. As Lewis and Maude explain:

The old landed aristocracy, studying the classics, had been studying not simply dead languages, but sociology; understanding of the ancient civilization contributed to statesmanship in the modern. No such benefit accrued to the manufacturer/s son. He may have been fitted by the new education to run the Empire--which was to provide the new upper-middle class with a new range of careers--but hardly to improve on his father/s industrial methods. (65>

-18- Knowing these facts, we should not be surprised that, ''while gentlemanly statue offered respectablllty and Independence wlthln the traditional social hierarchy, at the same time lt challenged the dignity of the work which made the new Industrial society possible"

few of the descendants of the very wealthy Improved upon the size of their ancestors/ estates .... most of the sons and grandsons simply lived upon their interest, invested unimaginatively in blue chip stocks and consols, and ln turn left little more than they inherited. <135)

Such information leads one to believe that the rich

re a 1 1y were " i d 1 e . 11 Although I have emphasized the expansion of the upper classes and wel I-to-do, this sudden infusion of newly-monied individuals Into the ranks of the gentry eventually caused a backlash of 11 snobblshness 11 from the established families. Despite Perkin/s assertion that entry to English aristocracy was more accessible than any Continental counterpart, and though many a successful entrepreneur/s wealth might be equal if not greater than an aristocratic counterpart, a definite soclologlcal chasm remained between the bourgeoisie and the upper class. Resentful of the Intrusion of the -19-

...---. ' . wealthy lndustrlallst and fJaehy parvenues, the upper claes eventually closed their doors, effectively halting the upward flow. Once the country was stabilized polltlcally and economlcally, nobility of birth was stringently re-emphasized In the gentry/s effort to maintain a social distance from wealthy suit upstarts. The better public schools soon followed and refused admittance to anyone not of arlstocratlc lineage. Thus the Industrial lst/s heirs were effectively ellmlnated from future social acceptance. However, for a period the channel up the social ladder was relatlvely open. As the empire expanded, men were needed to fill government posts (Burn 260-61). Traditionally these Jobs had been filled by the gentry through a system of patronage, but as the clvll service of I and military grew to meet the administrative needs the expanding empire, educated men were desperately needed to fill new positions. The number of gentlemen/s sons was insufficient to fill these newly created positions, so for a time, wealthy middle class men were promoted socially as well as economlcally the

',

-21-

( r------~------

Dickens and the Dilettante

Burn describes Dickens as a "socially rootless" man <16>, an interesting and perhaps apt description. His family belonged to the new upwardly mobile, monled middle class. His father was employed ln a civil service position. Through mis1nanagement, however, his parents suffered severe financial setbacks, until eventual Jy In February, 1824, his father was arrested for debt and imprisoned In the Marshalsea. Charles Dickens, barely twelve years old, was sent to work at a blacking factory, where his only companions were lower-class urchins. Thls was a most miserable period in the young Dlckens/s life. Charles had been "to school and raised as a middle-class gentleman/s son"

11 better 11 class: In one way his companions in the warehouse, co-sufferers though they were, became the source of Dickens's agony; and yet, In another way, looking at them he knew he was different and superior: "Though faml 1 lar with

them, my .,. conduct and manners were different from theirs to place a space between us," and they would "treat me as one upon a different footing from the rest" and "always spoke of me as 'the young gentleman.'''

-22- The whole experience mortified Charles Dickens and

developed his 9ense of class consciousness at an early age. Although used to living under the ~pectre of flnanclal ruln for most of his early life, Dickens

combined hard work and sheer genius In order to reach literary success. While he was still In hls twenties, literary success brought hlm affluence and social

status. By the late 1830/s, he was "able to afford new clothes, CandJ he began to dress theatrically, In the dandy tradition, partly to recompense for the rags of

hls adolescence"

material wealth were al 1 eventual Iy fulfl l led, but not without great effort and worry. Having fought so hard and so successfully for his own respectability, Dickens believed firmly In the values of self-help, hard work and earnestness. Spiritually, however, Dickens did not

fair so well. His constant struggle for the Ideal left him bankrupt emotionally. Much has been made of theI way Dlckens/s personal t I life influenced his writing. Such attention has been most marked In regards to such admittedly autobiographical novels as Dayld Copperfield and Great Expectations. However, the autoblographlcal aspects of

his work are far outweighed by the social message, by

hls increasing sense of Justice and morality. As

-23- Williams points out, Dickens wae a •man whose view of society le not available for reduction or detachment

f ron1 h 9 l who 1e v 1ew of I 1 f e, and to whom what others cal I an /Interest/ ln society or sociology ls a directly personal energy and commitment" <214). Despite crltlclS111, Dickens pursued this cormnltment.3 Spurred on by a growing admlratlon for the ideas of Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens used hls novels as weapons aga l nst soc i a I l nJ ust ice. In fact, "he was the first Victorian novelist to sense the horror of the new society and the most powerful to dramatize Its effect upon the lndlvldual"

ne~er-do-wells who closed their eyes to the pathetic ... conditions of the masses.

-24- Ae I noted earlier, the characters and circumstances of Dlckens/s novels alter ln direct relation to hls state of mind at the tlme of hls

wr 1 t 1 ng. Early works reflect the buoyancy and enthuslas,n of a thoroughly ambitious young fellow, warmed by success. Dicken~ as a young Idealist, fu1 l of promise and ambition, filled his pages with light, comic elements. Although humiliating family circumstances had left their mark on the sensitive boy, they never were able to crush him. When suddenly in command of financial abundance, life must have seemed quite rosy. Novels of those early years, such as Plckwlck, Oliver, and Nlcklebv, reflect this attitude of enthusiasru and optimls1n:

The note of optimism ls only to be found in the first novels, when the writer believed in the Inevitable triumph of virtue, and in an enlightened humanltarlanlsm that was capable of s111oothing out the difference between rich and poor: an expression of the state of mind ls Mr. Pickwick, the prosperous business man from whom radiates a benevolence so great that his bald and shining skull seems almost to be surrounded with a halo of sanctity.

{_·, quintessential Idle country gentleman, quietly raising a family. Typical of the age, the young Dlckens/s interpretation of the word "idle," as ln "idle -25- gentleman,• was synonymous with •tdeal" or "ldyllu; the position of the gentleman was held In awe and acinlratlon. Later In life, as the ambro9la of new success grew thln and Dickens became acclimated to the sweet life of

the affluent, his sense of we) I-being was affected more and more by the unrelieved suffering he observed on the city streets. Despite his progress from rags to riches, the relentlessly miserable condition of the

masses and the laissez-faire attitude of the upper classes Increasingly continued to distress him. As Raina explains, Dickens was caught "both urgently asplr[lngJ to the substantive fruits of the bourgeois culture that surrounded him and Intensely despls(ingJ the living expressions of bourgeois Victorian

lnsensltlvlty" <13). Middle age, family responslbllltles, and constant financial pressures added to his discontent.4 As Page notes, "the author of Great Expectations was twice the age of the author of Plckwlck, and personal dlstresses--notably the breakdown of his marrlage--had taken toll of his

youthful optlmis111, confidence and energy" (10-11). Fielding, among others, observes that Dlckens/s work becomes noticeably darker beginning in 1852 with Bleak House and continued to grow more somber throughout the remainder of hls career. "Increasingly the evil forces

-26- ,, - ~~------.....

triumph over the good• and heroic

optimists, like the young and courageous Nicholas Nlckleby and David Copperfield, disappear. Later novels have no hero capable of solving all the problems. The reader"s sense of "happily ever after" ls Increasingly accompanied by qualification. Although success enabled Dickens to fulfill his material desires, he eventually came to experience first-hand the pain of spiritual emptiness, a pain that wealth and social recognition failed to ease. By the

1850"s he was 11 a successful self-made man who had realized this /dream/ of his childhood, and yet despite the success also a lonely and disappointed man"

(Gilmour 110). His disappointment ls reflected ln his later works. Critics comment on how Dickens grew "lncreaslngly crltlcal of ht\, times, of the government and the governing classes, of the empty frlvolltles of society, and of the dr'ear'lness of contemporary life" (Fielding 226). Dickens lost his faith in humanity and found nothing to take its place. Hopelessness, critlclsm, and judgment abound in his later novels. Dlsllluslonment, often bordering on despair, led Dickens to search--for reasons and answers.5 In these later novels, his "dark" and "black" novels, the dilettante begins to play a more significant role, exposing the Ills of various social

-27-

,"1)

\ lnstltutlons. The pain Dickens felt for England's ls pranlslng but purposeless youths, the dilettante, expressed ln the treatment of such characters as In Richard Carstone ln Bleak House <1852-53), Gowan Little Dorrlt <1857>, Pip ln Great Expectations <1860-61>, and final Jy, Dickens's most completely explored dilettante, Eugene Wrayburn ln Our Mutual what Friend <1864-1865). Their slmlJarlties reveal the many Victorians, Including Dickens, thought of a young upperclassr11en. Dickens's dilettante exhibits characterlstlc glibness, extreme self-centeredness, as lack of commitment, and "a refusal to accept people

11 they are ( Lucas 326) . They are lrresponslbJe, Jazy, llst1ess, wornout, indifferent, cold, dlssatlsfled. They live wlth failure, not with success. Almost all of them are vaguely aristocratic ln upbringing: they have at least been to a "good" public school, and they have left it with great, never-to-be-fu1fl 11ed expectations .... They are occasionally unscrupulous and always careless ln money matters, and they survive by sponging on others .or going into debt.

Quite the dandy himself, especially in his youth,

/ Dickens was, nevertheless, disillusioned by the irresponslblllty of the uppeL classes and their own apparent resistance to positive action ln their As lives In particular and for society In general. Holloway points out, Dlckens"s "conception of society [was] a systematic and integrated working complex" -28- (288). If the a~letocracy, the class with the power and money to alleviate some of the more helnoue social refused to actively pursue conditions of English poor, Ml, change, D1cken9 fore9aw scant hope for the 11 Jlttle

11 man : Convinced that England was divided into the rich and the poor, without a middle class to speak of, he found the apathy, Ignorance, and unwarranted power of the upper classes lncreaslngly threatening to the social equlllbrium that he believed a healthy and humane class structure promoted.

This attitude finds expression ln Dlckens/s satirical the treatment of hls aristocratic characters, such as Dedlocks of Bleak House, who, besides being appropriately named, are described with adjectives suggesting paralysis and decay, and the Barnacles of Little Docrlt, who are also named appropriately and strongly denounced for their parasitism and fatal in stranglehold on progress. It also finds expression treatment of the dilettante. Although Dickens ls obviously on the side of the poor, he remains class-biased. His heroes tend to be upper-class. Orwell points out that" ... all his heroes have soft hands. His younger heroes--Nlcholas Nlckleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, Edward Chester, David of the type known Copperfield, John Harmon--are usually ,;, as "willklng gentlemen,,"

-30- RICHARD CARSTONE

Richard Carstone of Bleak House ls Dlckens/s first concentrated study of the dilettante. We meet Richard ln chapter 3, "a handsome youth, wlth an Ingenuous face, and a most engaging laugh ... talking gaily, l lke a 1 lght-hearted boy" <.llli 23). He ls an open, optlmlstlc, and childlike orphan, raised as a ward of the court ln connection with a suit In Chancery. Fortunately, his welfare ls looked after by the benevolent Mr. Jarndyce, also a principal ln the Jarndyce sult In Chancery. Throughout Esther/s narration, Richard ls consistently portrayed as inherently good and honest. His faults are typical of youth; he ls a bit too unfocused, confused and impetuous. The reader at first entertains great hopes

for Richard as Esther says: 11 he was perfectly confidential with me, and often talked so sensibly and feelingly about his faults and his vigorous reso 1 u t 1ons" <.llli 260 > • Unlike earlier protagonists, such as Nicholas Nlckleby and David Copperfield, who surmount all obstacles ln their climb to successful gentlemanly status, Carstone not only falls to reach his potential,

- 31 - but actually destroys himself emotionally, flnanclaJJy, and physically by choosing the wrong path. And though sympathy for him decllnes, the reader never really turns against the Ingenuous youth. He ls what Ellen

Moers classifies as one of Dlckens 1 s grey men--"nelther hero nor vl 1 laln 11

232). Although she makes some good points here, Moers blaming Richard for a lack of energy ls not real Jy valid. Enthusiasm and energy are essential characteristics of his personality. What Richard lacks, unfortunately, is the abll lty to properly focus his enthusiasms. As Richard reaches adulthood, Mr. Jarndyce welcomes him, along with his cousin Ada, to Bleak House, the family home. With seemingly dauntless enthusiasm, Richard embarks on his quest to find a meaningful and satisfactory adult vocation. Repeatedly, he plunges into fresh studies ln an attempt to master the different professions that catch his fancy and to find his place in the world. The immediate goal of finding a suitable profession for Richard to pursue is of primary importance. Raised under the unsteady influence of the Chancery suit, Richard needs some stabilizing force in

- 32 -

-. ·-·-· hle life. As J. H1111s Miller and Chris Brooks point

out, the "lnabl 11 ty to escape the past ... ls the thematic spring of the novel/s two main plots, Rlchard/s Involvement In Chancery and Lady Dedlock 1 s secret history" (Brooks 57). The Jarndyce suit in Chancery

suspends the present until the past ls settled. By taking up the case Rick condemns himself to a kind of Limbo-on-earth; as he says to Esther. /There/s no now for us suitors/ (37, 524). The result is spiritual and emotional stasis ... Rlcharct··s eternally postponed engagement with the present.

Ruth Danon argues that the Victorian myth of vocation "suggests that work ls the primary source of self-definition, psychic integration, and happy fulfillment available to a person" (1). A society which makes it impossible for an individual to engage

in meaningful work, makes 11 a happy life impossible as well"

Rlchard/s education, 11 I did doubt whether Richard would not have profited by some one studying him a little, instead of his studying them quite so often" (.fill 127). Richard Carstone, connected as he ls to the upper classes, reflects Dlckens/s Indictment of the - 33 - ,------

arletocracy. The young gentleman embodies Dlckens 1 e disappointment ln the wasted potential of the upper classes of England. The product of a classical education, he has been prepared for nothing. He ls self-centered and careless of hls money, frittering away not only hls own financial security, but his wlfe Ada/s inheritance also. His irresponsible nature harms even those he holds most dear, as the secret marriage to Ada and her subsequent suffering testify. Eliminating only positions in the Church and the Navy (the latter because of his age), Richard briefly experiments with, and then rejects, the occupations of surgeon, law clerk, and military man to concentrate on

the suit in Chancery. When he spends the last of his money to purchase a military commission, the Lord Chancellor describes him in the harshest words we are ever to hear in connection with Richard "as a vexatious and capricious infant"

heed. Unlike the stereotypical dilettante, Richard ls as

earnest a youth as anyone could want. Each profession he attacks with enthusiasm until he finally tires and becomes dlsi l lusloned. But up unti I the last, "in his - 34 - characterlstlc way, Chel plunged into a violent course of military study, and got up at five o"clock every morning to practise the broadsword exercise"

the lure of the suit. The day Richard ls to leave "to Join a regiment In Ireland," his fencing coach, Mr.

George, lets us know that Richard has not been applying himself to his work totally: ""He did at first, sir, but not afterwards .. Perhaps he has something else

upon lt--some young lady, perhaps""<.llli 260)--0R perhaps hls suit In Chancery court. That Richard has been spending more time at court

than the reader ls at first aware ls made clear by his

request that Esther to attend court on his last day in

the country. Wh 11 e there, she corra11ents on the unrea 1

aspect of the whole proceedings and 11 the sickness of

hope deferred [raging] in so many hearts" <.llli 264).

Incurably attracted to 'the posslbl 1 lty of "easy money," Richard abandons his military commission and concentrates on concluding the suit.

Rlchard"s earnestness ls also characterlstlc of

his romantic life. In this respect, he ls not the stereotypical callous-hearted dilettante. After ' Jarndyce persuades Richard and ·Ada to break their

- 35 -

-~ ... engagement, R 1chard becon1es qu 1 te broken-hearted. When

talking to Esther later ln London, uhe remembered her CAdal by fits and ~tarts, even bursts of tears, and at such times would confide to (Esther] the heaviest self

reproaches" <1lli 260). But hls youthful enthuslasrn

re-emerges. Daunt 1ess and ever hopeful , 11 in a few minutes he would recklessly conJure up some undefinable means by which they were both to be made rich and happy for ever, and would become as gay as possible" (fili

260 >. Trained originally as a Jegal clerk, Dickens was personally appal led by the British legal system, which was sorely In need of reform. Legal Incompetence of individual lawyers and the entire court system was a constant target In Dlckens/s writings. In Bleak House, the destructive nature of the infamous Chancery Court,

11 ••• the theme that Chancery ls a disease ls worked

out using Richard, among others" ~Harvey 145). Richard places ''his faith In the Justice of an unJust system''

himself to the suit, "His guilt ls at once Inherent and

socially caused; he ls simultaneously guilty and Innocent, both victim and accessory to the crime" . Edgar Johnson, In his biography of Dickens, makes Rlchard/s predicament clear:

'·

- 36 -

<1 All Rlchard 1 s buoyancy and courage, his gentleness and quick frankne~s, hls and/1 brll llant abllltles, are not enough to s~ve him. Gradual Jy he becomes entangled In the fatal hope of getting something for nothing, stakes everything on the favourable outcome of the Chancery suit, neglects hls capacities, fosters his careless shortcomings, dissipates the little money he has, feverishly drifts into suspicion and distrust of his honourable guardian, argues that Mr. Jarndyce/s appearance of disinterestedness may be a blind to further his own advantage In the case .... By early manhood his expression ls already so worn by weariness and anxiety .... (778)

The plight of Richard Carstone reveals not only the shortcomings of the legal institutions, but also the failings of the educational system. The educational system has also failed to change wlth the times and miserably falls to appropriately direct the youth/s inclinations:

\ (Richard] ... w\lth his quick abilities, his good spirits, his good temper, his gaiety and freshness, was always delightful. But, though I liked him more and more, the better I knew him, I still felt more and more, how much it was to be regretted that he had been educated in no habits of application and concentration. The system which had addressed him in exactly the same manner as it had addressed hundreds of other boys, al 1 varying in character and capacity, had enabled him to dash through his tasks, always with fair credit, and often with distinction; but in a fitful, dazzling way that had confirmed his reliance on those very qualities in himself, which It had been ,/ most desirable to direct and train. They were good qualities, without which no high place can be meritoriously won; but, like fire and water, though excellent, servants~ they were very bad masters. If they had been - 37 - under Rlchard1 e dlrectlon. they would have friends; but Richard being under been his

the fog of the opening chapter is both literal and allegorical. It is the sooty fog, but it covers all of England, and London and it is the fog of obstructive procedures outmoded institutions and selfish interests and obscured thinking as well. (770) a society Goldberg sees the novel/s setting "of fog, and stymied festooned with cobwebs, obstruct·ed by rendering by a 1 perpetual stoppage/ [as] a triumphant

-"38 -

·. - /;; of Carlyle's analysis.of the Vlctorlan malaise"

"Rick, the world ls before you; and it ls most probable that as you enter it, so it will receive you. Trust ln nothing but in Providence and your own efforts. Never separate the two, like the heathen wagoner. Constancy in love ls good thing; but it means nothing, and ls nothing, without constancy in every kind of effort. If you had the abilities of all the great men, past and present, you could do nothing well, without sincerely meaning it, and setting about it. If you entertain the supposition that any or ls snall, real,, success, In great things ever was or could be, ever will or can be, wrested from Fortune by fits and starts, leave that wrong idea here, or leave your cous 1 n Ada, here. 11 (.Bfl 137) Dickens carefully develops the point that are directly attributable to an Rlchard/s,, failures environment sustained by an acquisitive, stagnant society, epitomised by the Chancery Court.

- 39 - ;. "How much of thle lndecl~lon of character,• Mr. Jarndyce said to me, "ls chargeable on that Incomprehensible heap of uncertainty and procrastination on which he has been thrown from his birth, I don/t pretend to say; but that Chancery, among Its other sins, ls responsible for some of it, I can plainly see. It has engendered or confirmed ln him a habit of putting off--and trusting to this, that, and the other chance, without knowing what chance--and dismissing everything as unsettled, uncertain, and confused. The character of much older and steadier people may be even changed by the circumstances surrounding them. It would be too much to expect that a boy/s, In Its formation, should be the subJect of such influences, and escape them. 11

This statement portrays one form of paralysis that characterizes the world of Bleak House--that of

"eternal expectation 11

ls evermore about to happen . • • II ( 189) • This ls the atmosphere into which Dickens places the would-be hero, Richard Carstone. As a personable young fellow, full of energy and promise, Richard might be expected to meet with as much success an any David Copperfield or Nicholas Nlckleby. HoweveL, to many readeLs/ disappointment, Richard becomes Dlckens1 s sacrlflclal lamb in his written dlatLlbe against social WLong.

- 40 -

·;., l

• . ' As a chl ldlsh escape f~o111 his troubles,

Richard begins to follow false Illusions and ceases to

exploLe reallstlc alternatives. He befriends Sklmpole who offers escapism ln a large dose: ""He ls such a cheeLY fellow. No worldliness about hlm. Fresh and green-hearted!/"

-( duties, Richard becomes less sincere. At this point Esther begins for the first time to doubt Richard/s Jove for Ada. He has lost some of his honest openness:

11 I was not so sure that Richard loved her dearly"

feelings because of his involvement ln the suit. Later

he admits:

If you were living in an unfinished house, liable to have the roof put on or taken off--to be from top to bottom pulled down or built up--to-morrow, next day, next week, next month, next year--you would find it hard to rest or settle.

Just died a miserable death brought about by his pursuit of the Chancery suit. Esther can see that Richard/s preoccupation with the suit has twisted his reasoning. He now suspects even the noble Jarndyce/s

intentions because Jarndyce is also an interested party

In the suit. Richard Carstone/s wasted potential ls made more prominent by his foll, or, as Barbara Hardy would say,

- 41 - hls ·"moral double or oppoelteu (31), Allan Woodcourt. From the beginning, Woodcourt/s dominant characteristic ls hls constancy. He ls constant in applying himself to hls vocation as physician, and hls devotion to hls cal ling ls unsullied by avarice or self-aggrandizement. Unlike Carstone, Woodcourt ls not swayed from his purpose and takes no short cuts. Woodcourt is determined to help those In need, regardless of financial benefit. His nonpaying clients include such victims of society/sills as Miss Fllte and eventually Richard himself. At the end of his life, Richard himself is aware of the contrast. Richard "ls changed by seeing his ... opposite, who forces reluctant admiration and comparison. He sees his defect enlarged, isolated, unmistakably his own, but detached for inspection ... and ls irrevocably changed"

31). He says to Woodcourt, 11 /Oh, You, . . . you . . . pursue your art for its own sake; and can put your hand upon the plough, and never turn; and can strike a purpose out of anything. You, and I, are very

different creatures/ 11

- 42 -

I <-,-,,,_, under his protection, becoming the surrogate father. As Richard matures and passes through the Inevitable Identity crisis, he tries to free himself of Jarndyce/s

rule. Pressured to give up Ada by Jarndyce and

r disappointed In his vocational pursuits, Richard doubles hls efforts to assert hls independence. He

adamantly states, "I am not accountable to Mr.

Jarndyce, or Mr. Anybody 11 (.B.fi 394). Richard seeks a

more substantial social identlflcatlon than simply a ward of John Jarndyce and the Court. In an attempt to ( become established, Richard chooses to ride the bronco

of Chancery suit. The suit ls unbreakable. Richard ls

broken instead. In an adolescent-like search for self, Carstone strives to free himself from John Jarndyce/s control, however benevolent that control might be. Yet financial dependence seems to prohibit opportunities for self-determination. Therefore, Richard/s plan to

break away from his authority figure centers on his

~ ability to acquire financial independence. Such drive is commendable according to the Victorian self-help principle. But Richard falls short because of the manner in which he attempts to attain financial

Independence. Because his education has failed to

prepare him for anything and because he has grown up ... under the Influence of the court, he takes the most - 43 - C obvious course. Richard, with youthful enthusiasm, pursues the termination of the suit In Chancery Court whlch, he reasons, wlll make hlm Independently wealthy.

His lnablllty to accept reality and the destructive futl llty of the suit dooms him. John Jarndyce, the novel 1 s kind-hearted representative of~the gentry, though successful In saving Esther, falls to rescue

Richard who loses himself to the 11 lusory world of Chancery Court. Rick becomes so caught up In his obsession with the Chancery suit that he ls totally alienated from reality.

Peter Scott blames Richard 1 s downfall on "a general conspiracy of complacency among the privl leged classes" (67). Victorian society had been 1u1 led into a sense of unassaultable security by a period of unprecedented affluence. Supposedly, there were enough safety nets to save the wayward from ultimate disaster, so the wayward activities of family members were merely condoned and waited out. Proper manners precluded harsh denunciations or reprimands meant to bring the wayward to their• senses. For instance:

there was no intelligible reason ... why the Bleak House menage should not have been implacably horrified at Richard/s very first suggestion of going into the law--given his propensity to be attracted to the /family curse/ as Jarndyce had alre~dy named it; st i l 1· 1ess, that same guardian shou 1d arrange his apprenticeship with solicitors who are the reverse of hostile to the Chancery - 44 - .... ·-·------

proceedings as flagrant denials of Justice.

Though Jarndyce ls deeply concerned about hls ward,

good breeding, according to Scott, keeps him from • becoming too adamant or vocal in his misgivings. Esther also ls guilty of "abdicating critical

Intel 1 lgence"

touched with pity for Richard, that I could not

reproach him any more, even by a look. I remembered my

guardian/ s gentleness towards h 1s errors . . . / 11 <.a.ti

398). Although their ·behavior denotes good breeding, gentleness is not what Richard needs at this point.

All reproach directed to Richard ls couched with

such solicitude that it fails to alter Richard/s

perspective. For instance, Ada/s letter <.a.ti 401-402)

uroing-- Richard to cease his active involvement in the suit is couched in such tender language that, rather than altering his course, Richard renews his efforts, "animated and glowing, as if Ada/s tenderness had

gratified him 11 (filj 403). Richard rushes off to London

with Vholes, leaving Esther and Ada in the country:

11 Richard/s high spirits • • . al I flush and fire and

laughter"

his fortunes, with a sad sense that his future holds only disaster. Ada tells Esther that as a dutiful wife

11 she was /qulte determined. • • never to show him that

- 45 - \ \ ·-·------···-···-··-,-~

I grieved for what he dld, and eo to make hlm more unhappy. I want hlm, when he comes home, to find no

trouble In my face'" c-

--. priorities. Perhaps If there had been sterner

strictures pJaced on hlm, Richard could have been saved. However, "with her acquiescence in hls mania [Ada] seals hls doom, her own (as a widow) and that of their child which ls to be fatherless" (Scott 67). While most critics see Richard as a failure,

Taylor Stoehr finds him 11 a hero In his own right" (152)

v and blames Esther's unsympathetic narration of his story for our failure to see him as such: "His one ambition is to overcome his past, by bringing the case ~·~·,i of Jarndyce and Jarndyce to a profitable close"

- 46 - vocation, occupation, or direction ln hls life except hls philanthropy, which ls involved In questionable

causes, and his entertainment of such ne/er-do-wells and latter day dilettantes a Howard Sklmpole. Stoehr finds Richard a martyr, dying ln an effort to seriously tackle the blight of Chancery, rather than ignoring It as John Jarndyce does and, ln Dickens/s eyes, as a typical aristocrat would. Furthermore, In the social context of the novel, there ls no doubt that Richard ls a heroic victim. As Grahame Smith has said, Richard becomes "another example of a theme that ls to be of continuing interest throughout Dlckens/s later career, the power of a

hostile environment to taint the deepest levels of the lndlvldua1/s inner life" (132). Richard has been caught in the insidious web of Chancery court:

11 Jarndyce and Jarndyce was the curtain of Rlck/s cradle

eocletv, and unable to flnd the etrength to reelet the

lure of an easy fortune, Richard Carstone,,s "body, mind, and splrlt are destroyed by the pernicious melancholy bred of his absorption ln the law suit"

,,

that he dies in his moment of enllghtment, but even this ls not without qual iflcatlon. In chapter 51,

entitled 11 Enl lghtened", Richard says to Woodcourt:

I have not Intended to do much harm, but I seem to have been capable of nothing else. It may be that I should have done better by keeping out of the net into which my destiny has worked me: but I think not ...

A definite sense of fated doom pervades the end. 11 The forces of blight remain largely unappeased at the end of Bleak House. The dominant mood of its conclusion lies with Richard Carstone who, after suffering a /smolderin9 combustion/ through his contact with Chancery, must seek redress not in this world but in the "world that sets this right"

The tragic ~ndlng to Rick/s story reflects I Dickens/s despal~; his awareness of hostile circumstances in Victorian society. As Johnson has said, Richard was the victim of "the entanglements of vested interests and institutions and archaic traditions protecting greed, fettering generous action, obstructing men/s movements, and beclouding their

- 48 -

. \ ~~------

vlslon" (762). SlmllarJy, Richard Levine notee that with the "death of Rlchar-d Carstone, Dickens has left

11 opt 1m 1 Siu ( 167 >•

Richard Carstone 1 s story remains a fictional, but historically accurate, case study of the melancholia or malaise, which was steadfastly spreading over Victorian England. The rlslng incidence of the corruption of the English personal lty implied apocalypse to Dickens,

particularly since society seemed incapable of correcting the situation. Dickens places responsibility for this epidemic of melanchol la on the corruption of the nation/s Institutions. Richard Carstone/s destruction ls inevitable because the system cannot be overthrown. As John Forster and Bert Hornback have noted, as fanciful and fertile as Dlckens/s imagination ls, the darkness had to surface because "imagination ls stll l essentially grounded in the realism of experience"

characteristic 11 dark realism"

- 49 - HENRY GOWAN

Dlckens/s dilettante ls depleted in its most callous guise as Henry Gowan from Little Dorclt. As El Jen Moers says, "Gowan ls the most disagreeable of Dlckens/s grey men" <239). Typical of the young Victorian gentleman, Gowan ls lntel ligent. articulate. wel ]-educated and wel I-connected. Unfortunately, he ls not independently wealthy and has been disappointed in his expectations. To protect himself against further disappointment. he has carefully cultivated an attitude of nonchalance. Gowan is self-centered, self-serving, and self-indulgent. Although he has squandered his meager means and ls deeply In debt, he continues to travel in the best circles. He refuses to apply himself to his art, accomplishes nothing worthwhile, avoids any kind of serious attempt to better his plight, yet consistently holds himself superior. Although he ls physically attractlve-- 11 barely thirty ... well dressed, of a sprightly and gay appearance, a well-knit figure, and a rich dark complexion" (.LD 197)-- Gowan/s description ls qualified from the first moment we meet him. He exudes "an air of cruelty"

-50- Arthur Clennam, the etory/s protagonlet, we know that

Gowan/e "manner was easy, and the voice agreeable; but stl 11 ... Cone takes] a dlsl Ike to thle Henry Gowan ..

Gowan/s determination ls presented as a £alt accompll.

By omitting the process of Gowan/s descent, Dickens makes the reader miss that endearing period of youth/s innocence, buoyancy, enthusiasm, and expectation. By e11mlnatlng his past and by qualifying all positive aspects of Gowan, Dickens Insures an unrelentingly -51- we meet has unfavorable picture of Gowan. The Gowan hls already endured disappointment and adJusted impenetrable flat demeanor accordingly, developing an Ellen Moers says, 9urface, a facade of nonchalance. As In hls "he ls public-school trained, aristocratic In his manner, Impudent in his bearing, disappointed expectations" (239). upper-class The cynical descendant of the wealthy In his Barnacle clan, Gowan has been disappointed Barnacle patronage: expectations by being excluded from his "that he has not been provided for constitutes

-52- No lntrepld navigator could plant a flag-staff upon any spot of earth, and take possession of It In the British name, but to that spot of earth~ so soon as the discovery was known, the Clrcum1ocutlon Office sent out a Barnacle and a dispatch-box. Thus the Barnacles were al 1 over the world, In every dlrectlon--dlspatch-boxlng the compass. <390) The neglectfu1 treatment Gowan fee1s he has received from his influential re1atlons causes him to

retaliate by becoming, as Moers points out, 11 deflant and unscrupulous in his consciousness of failure" (239). He does not make any positive effort to prove himself, but rather, "to punish his family for their failure to provide for hlm, he has set up as an artist,

knowing they wll I feel huml I lated at his fol lowing that Bohemian course" (Johnson 892). In an effort to make certain that his point is made, Gowan states on several occasions that he wlll continue ~ls artistic pursuits until such a time that his relations see fit to provide '-. ,. him with something better. The longer he is left without anything better, the more cynical and unhappy he becomes and the more he reminds society of his relations and their neglect. As the narrator tel ls us, "he would publicly laud and decry the Barnacles, lest

it should be forgotten that he belonged to the family 11

-53- Weinstein points out that Gowan mocks ''the conventions of /gentleman,/ by lnslstlng on patronizing Rigaud, a callow distasteful Imposter" <64>. Gowan makes RJgaud hls companion only after he ls made aware that everyone, Including hls wlfe, finds the man thoroughly

distasteful. By raising Rigaud to a gentleman/s level, Gowan succeeds In making a mockery of the class that has seen flt to ignore hlm.

Gowan himself ls ful Jy aware of the cause of hls problems:

I have the good fortune of being beloved by a beautiful and charming girl whom I love with all my heart .... And of finding a father-in-law who is a capital fellow and a liberal good old boy. Stil 1, I had other prospects washed and combed into my cbildish head when lt was washed and combed for me, and I took them to a public school when I washed and combed it for myself, and I am here without them, and thus I am a disappointed man

is burdened by "an underlying consciousness of nullity"

(232-33). Gowan/s personal history lacks distinction

to be sure. His father died obscurely at his foreign

post and left his family virtually unprovided for. Hls mother has been relegated to occupying closet-like apartments that make a feeble effort of attaining grandeur. In addition to being "f lguratively orphaned by his uncaring mother 11 (Weinstein 48), and Ignored by -54-

.\ - ' his wealthy relations, the BarnacJee, Gowan has accomplished nothing on his own except to get Into debt, even though he ls obviously an Intel llgent,

• clever, and capable lndlvldual. In an effort to bolster hls damaged ego, Gowan goes about asserting himself In a most perverse manner: "Empty himself, he maintains, beneath his casual air, an undeviating project: to create emptiness In the human world that surrounds him"

r narrator explains in chapter 18, 11 Nobody/s Rival , 11 Mr. Gowan promotes the premise that "there ls much less difference than you are inclined to suppose between an honest man and a scoundrel" <200). The narrator explores the significance of such a premise:

The effect of this cheering discovery happened to be, that flhlle he seemed to be scrupulously findln~good In most men, he did In reality lower It where it was, and set it up where It was not ...

Gowan, therefore, becomes the great leveller, raising the unworthy and denigrating anyone really worthwhile.

By brlnglng everyone to his own level he ls able to maintain, In hls own eyes at least, an elevated status ln society. Although Gowan masks his deep disappointment ln his relatives/ failure to provide for him by acting as though nothing really matters, the novel offers -55- testimony to the depth of hie disappointment. Edmund Spark1er, one of Gowan/s more dlm-wltted acquaintances, receives a post from Lord Declmus, Gowan/s most powerful relation. Baslcal ly an Incompetent, Sparkler ls culled for favorltlSJu simply because he ls the step-son of the wealthy and powerful Mr. Merdle:

(Edmund Sparkler] was Mrs. Merdle/s only child. He was of a chuckle-headed high-shouldered make, with a general appearance of being, not so much a young man as a swelled boy. He had glven so few signs of reason, that a byeword went among his companions that his brain had been frozen up in a mighty frost which prevailed at St. John, New Brunswick, at the period of his I birth there, and had never thawed from that hour. Another byeword represented him as having in his infancy, through the negligence of a nurse, fal Jen out of a high window on his head, which had been heard by responsible witnesses to crack.

news of Sparkler/s appointment sends Gowan, "through

the whole round of his acquaintance ... with tears in

his eyes" <.L.D 569). The neglectful treatment Gowan receives from his relations ls just one Illustration of a main theme In Little Docclt--Dlckens/s indictment of the upper classes for their moral baseness. Forster, quoting

.,/ -56- Charles Dickens hlmeelf, wrote that N'soclety, the Clrcumlocutlon Office, and Mr. Gowan, are of course three parts of one Idea and design ... one ~atlre levelled against prevailing political and social vices/" . Dickens uses Gowan and hl!! mother as vehicles in his attack on the ruling class:

Their loose sexual ethics, thelr ruthless and utterly selfish egotiS111, their laziness, their slippery ability to evade absolute standards of morality, efficiency, truth, their slack, condescending, gentlemanly amateur/s attitude towards art--all this evidently not redeemed but aggravated when it goes with charm and cleverness ...

July 1860, Dickens took it upon himself not only to -57- clear the family of accumulated debts, but also to make arrangements for the contlnue-a·-suppoC"t of hls brotheC""s wife and five children. Dickens also supported the

wife and son of his youngest brother, Augustus, who, debt-ridden, abandoned his young family and fled to America . Dickens disapproved of the upper class practice of giving preferments to relations regardless of quallflcatlons, but, ln light of dutifulness, to fal 1 to provide at all must Dickens"s I have seemed unpardonable. Dlckens"s Indictment of the upper classes"s system of patronage was merely one target in his battle against misn1anagement of government. Actually, Dlckens"s stance para] lels Carlyle"s idea that the upper classes were accountable for "not giving leadership because It was an aristocracy by historical accident, not an aristocracy of virtue and talent" . Continued frustration with Parllament"s Ineffectual handling of social issues

./ L drove Dickens to denounce the government in print. He aimed to expose "a vast impersonal system of inefficiency, venality and wrong, baffling all endeavor to fasten responsibility anywhere••

the charge that he had set class against class by

saying: "Layard found them .,,already set In opposition./ The upper class had taken the lnltlatlve years ago, and lt ls THEY who have put THEIR class in

opposition to the country. 11

Layard.,,s failure at social reform.

more and more, in fact, he [Dickens] found himself deeply and bitterly skeptical of the whole system of respectable attitudes and conventional beliefs that cemented all of society into a monolithic structure stubbornly resistant to significant change. He derided the pompous self-assurance of the aristocracy and hated the cold-hearted selfishness of the men of wealth. (Johnson 858). The inefficient, incomprehensible Circumlocution

Office and the Barnacles that ran it stood for the gross misgovernment Dickens saw rampant in Victorian ~·. England. A man of action himself, Dickens was driven to distraction by governmental bumbling. Not that Dickens would do away with the upper classes. After his visit to America and his disappointing experience with the "classless" society, he felt that radical -59- i-.-,

change ln the type of government was not the answer either. Instead, ''the c1ase system, many of whoee faults he vigorously crltlclzed, stll I seemed to him

the solid structure on which a clvi1lzatlon higher than the American had been constructed"

than of the social system"

"Might not a presentation of this far from uncommon class of character, lf I could put It strongly enough, be likely to lead some men to reflect, and change a little? I think lt has never been done.''

Obviously, this ls why Dickens made Gowan so

completely devoid of sympathetic qualities. By showing only the worst face of dllettantls,11, Dickens hoped some lndlvldual might be moved to reform. As Hardy observes, "what dlstlngulshes Dlckens"s moral questioning from that of Cother Victorian writers, lsl -60-

• ,....------~----

, ... his capacity to dlet~ust both society and social reform while retalnlng and perhaps deepening a faith ln the power of human love• <3>. And as Johnson notes, "

• • . bursting irrepressibly through all his social dlsllluslon and discouragement," was Dlckens/s faith In the .. decency and good wll I of corrunon humanity ... He believed that goodness could win a modest victory"

<903). Amy Dorrlt ls the representative of goodness In this novel. Like the main characters of earlier works

-61- Pet/e predicament for ___the ,. reader through her lettere to ' . Arthur Clennam.

By making Gowan total Jy lrresponslble and self-centered, Dickens created the perfect foll to the novel/s protagonist, Arthur Clennam. Arthur ls everything that Gowan ls not: hardworking, honest,

moral. By placing Gowan next to Clennam, Dickens ls

able to clearly show the reader a favorable model. Dickens balances the £allure of Gowan/s marriage with the more successful union of Amy Dorrlt and Arthur Clennam. So, despite the tragedy of Pet Meagles and Henry Gowan, the novel does end positively. As the Gowans fade from the reader/s view, attention ls focused on Amy Dorrlt and Arthur Clennam. Their quiet, but successful marriage represents "the posslblllty of reclaiming this world and reordering our lives, indlvidually--one by one and two by two--through love"

As representative of the world/s darkness, Gowan r'ecelves little sympathy fr'om the reader. Yet, lt must be noted that Gowan ls Just as much victim as -62- ~------~------

vlctlmlzer of his world. As John Lucas notes, "given the conditions of English society, lives are circumscribed by the inevitable and inescapable pressures of the social arrangement and its process'' (327>. Gowan, as despicable as he ls, ls the product of an upper-class education, which has given him a fixed identity he ls unable to live up to. The theme of Little Dorrlt, although It carries Dlckens/s indictment of the upper classes, ls the imprisonment of both the rich and the poor by a shallow, stagnant

11 society. Gowan ls prisoner also, the vlctlm of ••• the desperate, unloving world we have made for ourselves in the name of society and civilization, the

chaos we have made of our lives" (Hornback 109). Raised with certain expectations and then set adrift, he ls no less a prisoner of his society than poor Jo of Bleak House. Disappointed In the reality of his condition, he lives a life of pretense and falsehood. Not unlike his own mother, he must recreate the world to reflect a more worthwhile image of himself. Gowan/s

mother, as Harvey SuckS111l th has noted, 11 radiates fa 1se

theatre wherever she goes", and 11 her artfully sadistic posturing .•• [gives usl one of the most incisive brief portrayals of class preJudlce in Dickens's work'' (Weinstein 61). Henry Gowan ls surely his mother's son. His worthlessness ls derived from his similar -63- lneletence on mls~epreeentatlon and moral shallowneee. He will never work hard. because to risk failure at the end of exertion would be too much for hl9 damaged ego. Gowan cannot let himself CARE enough to work hard at anything.

That Gowan does not deal wel 1 with his disappointment ls not to be denied, but that ls not the seat of his vll lalny. Gowan/slack of feeling ls what ultimately creates hls inability to interact constructively with others and what brings misery to those nearest him. His emotional shallowness ls the cornerstone of his perverted personality. The great sin ls not that he marries Pet and separates her from her doting parents, but that he will never be able to supply her with a satisfying emotional environment. The narrator, through Little Dorrlt/s thoughts, explains the problem:

Little Dorrit fancied It as revealed to her that Mr. Gowan treated his wife, even in his very fondness, too much like a beautiful child. He seemed so unsusplcious of the depths of feeling which she knew must lie below that surface, that she doubted if there could be any such depths ln himself. She wondered whether hls want of earnestness might be the natural result of his want of such qualities, and whether it was with people as with ships, that, In too shallow and rocky waters, thel~ anchors had no hold, and they drifted anywhere. <.L.D. 480)

-64- On the surface, Gowan ls self-assured, aloof, and facile ln his manner, clever and frankly flippant ln

l l hls conversation, carelesst and amateurish ln hls vocation, but steady In his suit for the hand of Pet ,. Meagles, the only daughter of a wealthy, retired middle-class buslness111an. A good marriage can help Gowan financial Jy, and he seems to be unable to make a

more suitable union. As Ross Dabney notes. 11 lt ls nowhere made expl lclt that he ls not fond of Pet, although it becomes quite clear that her being /the darling only child of a man in very easy circumstances/ is a consideration more relevant than whatever he may

feel for her 11 (107). Social Jy more acceptable young women were beyond Gowan/s reach. Amy Dorrit makes that observation in one of her letters:

I think I have noticed that they [society] have an inconsistent way of speaking about [Pet]~ as if she had made some great self-interested success in marrying Mr. Gowan, though, at the same time, the very same people would not have dreamed of taking him for themselves or their daughters 11 (LD 536) •

., ' ... ~ ' Unable to make himself happy, he cannot of course

make Pet happy. Amy Dorrit/s observation that 11 ! should feel that I was rather lonely and lost, for the

want of some one who was sted fast and firm in purpose 11

<.LD. 455) certainly describes poor Pet/s marital situation. Before she fades from our view, Pet is -65- ~------~---·---

conelstently portrayed as alone--lsolated from her parents, Isolated from society, even Isolated from her

husband by hls inability to show warmth. Little Dorrlt

writes to Clennam that "[Pet] ls very much alone. Very

much a 1one 1 ndeed 11 • Dickens makes his statement on the amoral behavior of Gowan, the

dilettante, as strongly as he can by making Pet/s

suffering more poignant and by placing her in a particularly dreary environment. The Gowan apartment in Italy ls described by Amy Dorrlt:

a rather bare lodging up a rather dark common staircase, and It ls nearly all a large dull room, where Mr. Gowan paints. The windows are blocked up where any one could look out, and the walls have been al 1 drawn over with chalk and charcoal by others .... When I first saw [Pet] there she was alone, and her work had fal Jen out of her hand, and she was looking up at the sky shining through the tops of the windows.

Pet ls another example of what Scott cal ls the

11 general conspiracy of complacency among the privileged

classes" (67). Pet bears the burden of her love without complaint, just as Ada Clare bravely bore her love for Richard Carstone. Molded by her culture to become subservient to her spouse, Pet remains loyal at

all costs:

She is so true and devoted, and knows so completely that all her love and duty are his .for ever, that you may be certain she will love him, admire him, praise him, and conceal all his faults, until she dies. I believe -66- ehe conceals them, and always will conceal 1 a them, even fra11 herse If. She has gl ven h lm heart that can never be taken back: and however much he may try lt, he will never wear out Its affection. I take Despite his assurance to Mr. Meagles that he wll He care of the darling Pet, Gowan ls simply incapable. as Pet falls to protect her from soclety/s innuendos, marrying ls ostracized from "society" for supposedly Gowan merely for his position. Gowan, rather than to defending his bride, capitalizes on the situation he bring attention to his plight. At Pet/s expense, to uses her position and their marriage as another way make himself seem more than he ls. As the narrator explains:

... it always soon came to be understood, wherever he and hls wife went, that he had married against the wishes of his exalted relations, and had much ado to prevail on them to countenance her ... From the days of their honeymoon, Minnie Gowan felt sensible of being usually regarded as the wife of a man who had made a descent in marring her, but whose chivalrous Jove for her had cancel led that inequality. <.L.D. 473) ls Gowan/slack of moral integrity and earnestness as a reflected also in his attitude to hls profession portrait palnter.6 Gowan 11 displays the same cynical carelessness about his art as about everything else••

-67- For the essential element ln all genlue, that which dlstlngulshes the master fru111 the dl lettante, ls nothing more nor less the ability than• the power of concentration, to keep any creative idea in the mind at a steady white heat until thought ls crowned by achievement. In hls art Gowan exhibits a "quick, Impatient unskillful touch"

out but trash? I turn out nothing else, and I make you a present of the confession""

Owing ... to Mr. Gowan"s unsettled and dissatisfied way, he applies himself to his profession very little. He does nothing steadily or patiently; but equally takes things up and throws them down, and does them, or leaves them undone, without caring about them ... I have sat wondering whether it could be that he has no belief in anybody else, because he has no belief In himself. (LlJ. 535) For Dickens there was no excuse for such di lettantls111. He took his art seriously and expected others to do the same. As stated earlier, Dickens increasingly involved himself with Britaln"s social problems: from working with Miss Coutts setting up Urania College, a refuge for prostitutes; to producing elaborate amateur theatricals to provide support for elderly, indigent literary figures; to editing the weekly magazine, Household Words, ''Designed for the Entertainment and Instruction of all classes of ~ -68- · ~------

readers, and to help ln the discussion of the most important social questions of the time" (Kaplan 265). For Dickens, all men of influence should be so Involved. Dickens took exception to the nonchalant attitude of other novelists toward their work. In a letter to Marla Beadnel 1

sums up his view of the duty of the artist: 111 Whoever is devoted to an Art must be content to deliver himself

wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in lt 111

Critics have suggested that Gowan 1 s character was

based partly on Dickens 1 s literary associates Wll liam Makepeace Thackeray and, more particularly, Wilkie

Collins. As Edgar Johnson has noted,"Gowan is not a portrait of Thackeray, but he is a rendering of the attitude in Thackeray toward both life and the art the two men practiced which Dickens found distasteful"

(892). Dickens took exception to many of Col lins 1 s practices also. Although Collins and Dickens were boon companions and collaborators from the eighteen-fifties, morally they came from two di.fferent worlds. Raised in

Italy in an upper class family, Collins was "lazy, skeptical, epicurean, languid"

,.;:;. other hand, was raised in a middle class family and took his profession more seriously. He attempted "to

-69- define w~lters as socially valuable and cormnunal ly

cohesive professionals caring about one another and about their position In the culture" (Kaplan 221>. For him, the novel was a powerful tool for social good. He believed that "persistent efforts to call attention to lnJustlce and exploitation might in the Jong run do more to elevate the level of life in Britain than any

revolution or experiment In radical democracy 11

142). As Bert Hornback tel ls us, in Little Dorrit Dickens attacks "the desperate, unloving world we have made for ourselves in the name of society and clvlllzatlon, the chaos we have made of our lives" <109). In Henry Gowan, Dickens produced a character in whom even redeeming characteristics of intelligence and breeding only highlight the shortcomings. Gowan epitomizes those qualities the individual must avoid in order to escape the blackness such an outlook provides.

r) II .,

-70- .. 'c--~ - • • - - • ~ - -- .-. -·.y·,. -... '· . - '. - --

'Ii!· ~ ....

I' ..,_ -- •· ,_, ~

NOTES 1 Eugene Wrayburn appears more conslstent1y as a maJor figure In crltlca1 works than Dlckens/s other dilettantes. J. Hll 1 ls Mll ler and John Lucas, among others, note that Eugene 11 lustrates the lack of freedom In Engl lsh society. Critics concur that the Wrayburn character, along with others from Our Mutual Friend, demonstrates how ''lives are clrcumscrlbed by the inevitable and inescapable pressures of the social arrangement and its process"

? ~ Col leagues such as Leigh-Hunt, model for the aging dilettante Skimpole in Bleak House, and Dickens/s good friend Wilkie Coll ins broadened his understanding of t h e ch a r a c t e r . Wi I k i e Co 1 l i n s i n p a r t i cu 1 a r ,.,1 a s a frequent guest at the Dickens/s household and Dickens/s constant companion on many an adventure. The upper class Col 1 ins \·las raised primarily in Italy and did not meet Dickens/s high moral standards. Col I ins ,.,1as notorious for his enjoyment of the physical pleasures of life includi.ng good food, plenty of drink, and numerous liaisons. 3 Many people closest to Charles Dickens and his early work (particularly John For~ter) felt that the strenuous "11ork he did for soc i a 1 cat.tses ",.,as too demanding. Also, the~, ,.,1ere not happ\1 ,.,1 1th the ,.,1a>' his ne~, social spirit was darkening his novels. 4 Kaplan notes that Dickens "gret,,, painfully at .. 1are that one of the prices of hard ,,,ork, st1ccess, and fatherhood ~,as the unwonted assumption of middle age ~,hile i n\•lard 1 ~, fee I i ng }1 oung, romantic, and un fu 1 f i 1 led" <222). It ~,as during the fifties that his marital problems were beginning to surface. Catherine had grown overweight and Georgina was taking over the domestic affairs.

",· 5 However, as a reflection of this search, some critics, Sanders among them, see in Dlckens/s last • c_, ' "i novels a movement "toward greater spiritual depth" -71'- . ~, :,~_'' ·,u- _ •I

• - • - .:,..J:I:'~ -· ·rn 1e::r·-....__,, ___ ,_:c

-72-

i-~~ - -- ~-· ~.· . '." ·' ~.

•

WORKS CITED •

B~ooks, Chris. Signs foe the Times: Svmbollc Real Ism in the Mld-Vlctorlan Wocld. London: George Allen and un,.. , in, 1984.

Bro,.,n, Ju 1 la Pre\·.7 it t. A Reader" s Gui de to the Nlneteenth-Centurv English Novel. New York: Macmi 1 lan Publishing Co., 1985.

Burn, W. L. The Age of Equipoise: A Study of the Mid-Victorian Generation. London: Allen and Un t,., i n , l 9 8 4 .

Dabney, Ross H. Love and Property lo the Novels of Dickens. Berkele)1 : U of Calif P, 1967:149-76.

Danon, Ruth. Work in the Enql lsh Novel: The Myth of Vocation. London: Croom Helm, 1986.

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., Riverside Edition, 1956. -- -. Little Dorrit. Har,;ey Sucksm1th,~ ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979. Fielding, K. F. Charles Dickens: A Critical Introduction. London: Longmans, Green, 1965: 224-35. Forster, John. The Life of Charles Dickens. Vol. 2. Ne\\7 York: Charles Scribner/s Sons, 1902. 2 vols.

Gilmour, Robin. The Idea of the Gentleman in the Victorian No\,el. London: George Allen and Un\·lin, 1981.

Goldberg, Michael. Carlyle and Dickens. Athens: U of Georgia Press, 1972.

Hardy, Barbara. The Moral Art of Dickens. New York: Oxford UP, 1970. l I I 11 ' Hollo\,1ay, .John. Dickens/s \/ision of Society_.)' The Listener 73 (1965):287-89.

Hornback, Bert G. Noah/s Arkitecture: A Studv of Dickens/~ Mythology. Athens, Ohio: Ohio UP, 1972.

-73-

..•. , "' ·_-··· "·_" . ... . · ·t-: . i i

..: - _·? ·- •• : ~-. ~)iJI~~·i~1~~:_)t:i~:.:_./ --- • The Hero of My Life: Essays on Dickens. Athens: Ohio UP, 1981:83-118.

Houghton, Walter E. The Ylctorlan Frame of Mind: 1830-1870. New Haven: Yale UP, 1957. Johnson, Edgar. Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph. Vol. 2. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952. 2 vols.

Kaplan, Fred. Dickens: A Biography. Ne~, York: Wil I lam Mor r 0\·.7 & Co . , I n c . , 1 9 8 8 .

Langland, El lzabeth. Society in the Novel. Chapel Hi 1 l and London: U of N. Carolina P, 1984.

Le av i s , F . R . D i c k en s t h e Nov e 1 i s t . Net,., York : Pan the on, 1970.

Le,;ine, Richard A. "Dickens, The Tt110 Nations, and I n d i \' i d 1..J a 1 Poss i b i 1 i t }' . " S t u d i e s i n t h e No\' e 1 1 (1969):161-75.

Le 1ch u ~ , A 1 an . " Se 1 f , Fam i 1}' , an d Soc 1e t ~' i n Gr e a t Expectations." Se\·.1anee Re\1 le\·.1 78 ( 1970): 407-26.

Let,., is, Roy and Angus Maude. The Eng 1 i sh Mi dd 1 e C 1ass e s . Ne \·.7 York : A 1f r e d A . Kn op f ,. 1 9 5 0 .

Lohman, W. J., Jr. "The Economic Background of Great Expectations." \lictorians Institute Journal 14 ( 1986) :53-66.

Lucas, John. The Melancholy Man: A Study of Dickens/s Novels. Ne,._, Jerse~': Barnes and Nob 1 e Books, 1980.

Mi 1 ler, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World of His Novels. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1958:279-327.

Moers, Ellen. The Dandy: Brummell to Beerbohm. Ne,,, York: The Viking Press, 1960:215-50. Monad, Sylvere. Dickens the Novelist. Norman, Oklahoma: U of Oklahoma P, 1968. \ Nadelhoft, Janice. 11 The English Malady, Corrupted Humors,. and Krooks Death." Studies in the Novel 1 ~ (1969):230-8.

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Orv,el l, George. "Charles Dickens." Inside the Whale and Other Essays. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1940:9-85.

Page, Norman. Dickens: Hard Times, Great ExP~ctations, and Our Mutual Friend. London: Macmi 1 Ian Press Ltd., 1979.

Perkin, Harold. The Origins of Modern English Society: 1780-1880. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1969.

Praz, Mario. -~The Hero in Eel lpse in Vlctorlan Fiction. London: Oxford UP, 1956.

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Weinstein, _Philip M. The Semantics of Desire. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1984. -75-

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.....

Wlngf leld-Stratfo~d, Esrne. The Making of a Gentleman. , London: Wll llams and Norgate Ltd., 1938.

--- • The Ylctorlan Tragedy. London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1930.

': > ~76-

l I

. I C • / ,, ,': :,,. ;

... • ' .

\ VITA

I t.,1as born In Darby, Pennsylvania on November 6,

1949. My parents are Carl and Joyce Larzelere. In·

1971, I married my husband, James Stender. Together,

we are raising our three children, born In 1976, 1981,

and 1984. Also in 1971, I t,,as graduated from Mil lersvllle State College, Pennsylvania, with a B.S. In Secondary Education-- English. In September of that

same ~,ear, I started \.. 1 orking as a junior high developmental reading teacher at the Hamburg Area Junior Senior High School in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1974, I t•. ,as graduated from Kutztot.. ,n State College

• S 1· 1 1· s t~ . From \•l i th an M.S. 1n Educatlon--Reading pee a

1974 to 1981, I t,., as the reading special 1st for the ) • \ Title I reading program at t ~·.70 e 1 ementar~' schools 1n the Hamburg Area District. In 1982, I returned to the

junior high classroom and taught English. In the fal 1

of 1985, I took a sabbatical from my teaching duties to

return to the formal study of literature in the

Master/s Program at Lehigh University. I continue to study literature on an informal basis and to teach junior high English at Hamburg Area. In 1986, a creative writing group I organized at the school published.,. Hamburg/s first annual literary magazine, Odyssey. Each year we endeavor to improve our

pub I i cation.

-77-

• • • 1

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