University of Al berta The Signifying Movement: Characterization Through Theatrical Gesture In the Novels of Charles Dickens by Bah J. Green O A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirernents for the degree of Master of Arts Department of English Edmonton, Al berta Fa11 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale ($1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON K1A OW Canada Canada Ywr iUe votre niférence Our Notre rBiérenc8 The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé me licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copy~@~tin this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 1 dedicate this work to my rnother. I am indebted to her for her invaluable help. encouragement, and ability to Iisten. ABSTRACT The dramatic nature of Dickens's witing is most evident in his abundant use of theatrical gesture as a rnethod of extemal characterization. Gesture can be defined as the movement that signifies and theatrical gesture implies the employment of the signifying movement with the consciousness of an audience, whether that audience is c~mpnsedof other characters interacting with the gesturer or the readers wmprehending the authof s description of gesture. The great length of Dickens's works. the large nurnber of characters therein, and the original method of serial publication over as much as nineteen months al1 dictated that the author create characters that remain memorable. Using his imagination to expand upon the stock, coded theatrical gestures of the Victorian stage. Dickens enables his readers to visualize his characters. particulariy his rninor figures and his villains. perforrning melodramatic. consciaus and unconscious gestures and thereby making them more calourful and memorable. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Dickens and the Theatre ............................................. 6 C hapter 2: The Professional Perfomers.................................... -20 C hapter 3: Melodramatic Gestures ............................................ -31 Chapter 4: Conscious Gestures................................................. -45 Chapter 5: Unconscious Gestures ............................................. -69 Chapter 6: Minor and Major Characters...................................... 96 Conclusion................................................................................ -132 INTRODUCTION: THE MOVEMENT THAT SIGNIFIES Every writer of fiction. though he may not adopt the dramatic fom, writes in effect for the stage. -Charles Dickens (Speeches 262) Dickens did indeed Mtefor the stage-a stage upon which he and his characters were the principal entertainers; and his audience was comprised of the readers of his novels. The dramatic nature of Dickens's writing is most evident in his abundant employment of theatrical gesture as a method of characterization. If gesture is defined as the movement that signifies. then the term theatrical gesture irnplies the employrnent of the signifying movement with the consciousness of an audience. Dickens, more than most novelists before or since, had an intense awareness of his audience of readers due, largely. to the serial publication of his major novels. Publication by instalment also shaped Dickens's writing methods because his characters had to remain memorable to his audience over as much as a nineteen-rnonth span of monthly, and in some cases, weekly nurnbers. Many of Dickens's characters, particularly his minor characters, are given a gestural signature which serves to individuate them, and differentiate them from the scores of other performers on the crowded stages of his novels. Dickens's mastery of the use of theatrical gesture not only enhances the performance aspects of his work, but also aids the reader's rnemory in his crowded, serially published novels. As a Me-long avid theatregoer, performer, director and stage manager, Dickens was very well versed in the techniques of evoking emotion and defining personality through stage gesticulation. Dickens's experiences in the theatre and the nature of theatrical gesture will form the basis of my discussion in the first chapter. The professional performers in Dickens's novels are the most obvious sources of theatrical gesture and they will form the subject of Chapter 2. As theatrical gesture is most evident in Nicholas Nickleby with its troupe of professional perfomers, it will be the facus for most of the textual analysis in this thesis. However, every one of Dickens's novels is packed with colourful characters performing dramatic, and often melodramatic, floudshes. Dickens's use 01: melodrama is not always appreciated by the modem reader. Serious melodrama often appears to us to be artificially ernotional. although there are some notable exceptions. Melodramatic gesture is most successful when it is humorous. as in the parodying of melodrama. and when it is used by the professional perfomers. The melodramatic gestures in Dickens's fiction are the subject of the third chapter. Dickens employs gesture in multifarious ways. It not only rounds out dialogue. but also acts as a replacement for it. Conspirators use coded gestures to communicate their intentions to their fellows within the hearing of the uninitiated. Propriety accounts for so many gestures that Dickens's novels can be read as anthropological treatises on behaviour patterns now, sadly, al1 but lost. Also gone today are the many accoutrements necessary to style in Victorian times. Such accessories naturally enhance theatn'cal gesticulation. I discuss the WOUStypes of conscious gestures in Chapter 4. While Dickens is a master at describing conscious gestures such as those perfomed with speech and used in matters of etiquette, his descriptions of unconscious gestures are equally remarkable. and 1 examine these in the fifth chapter. In these cases. the signifying movement often connotes not a universally recognised semiotic system but individualised. idiolectic motions that give specific characters meaning beyond simple movement. Dickens's use of gestures which reveal the psyche, such as unconscious mannerisms and tics, demonstrates his ability to externalize the inner workings of his characters. Some of his most interesting gestures cm be called failed false gestures. In these situations, the characters' atternpts to conœal their true natures and intentions with stock gestures are discovered by those adept at reading gesture. The dubious morality of many a villainous character is apparent in his gestures, which offen belie his speech. Gesture can therefore be an indicator of rnorality as well as of other traits of personality. in sorne cases, the repetition of a descriptive gestural phrase accretes so much meaning that a character not mentioned for chapters (or months in the case of seriai publication) can be instantly recognized by just the mention of the signature gestural phrase. Other characters are noted for their lack of gesture, which is a testament to the variety and abundance of gestures in Dickens's novels generally. Stiff or rigid characters exhibit few gestures. but when they do gesticulate. their sometimes subtle. sometimes violent movements carry more semiotic weight. His study of the relationship between gesture and space is most noticeable on the vertical plane, when he employs lowering gestures as signs of submission and heightening gestures as their opposite. Often, the characters' gestures serve as the main dues as to what they are really feeling. while their words and other behaviour are mitigated by their milieu. While many of the very minor characters are given a single. defining and mernorable gestural signature, some of the major characters have a whole range of gestural perfarmance. However, an examination of Dickens's protagonists reveals that few of his heroes and heroines are blessed with much in the way of gestural range. With these main characters, Dickens could be said to have regressed to, or at least never have progressed from, the stereotypical gestures of the ciassic virgins of the melodrama and their tender young saviours. This does not corne as much of a surprise when one considers that it is difficult ta have much in the way of gestural expression when the reader cannot even begin to picture many of Dickens's legless angelsl and bodiless, faceless innocents. Conversely, Dickens's villains are gestural triumphs. While many of his evil characters are largely presented through meladramatic gestures, the author's imaginative and vaned descriptions of the stock gesticulations enable thern to rise above the merely stereotypical. Chapter 6 provides a seties of character studies, focussing on the gestures of both