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Informationen zum Autor David Paroissien is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham. He edits Dickens Quarterly and co-edits, with Susan Shatto, the Dickens Companions series. He is the author of The Companion to Oliver Twist (1992), The Companion to Great Expectations (2000), and has edited The Mystery of Edwin Drood for Penguin (2002). Klappentext Charles Dickens is one of the most widely read authors in English literature. This companion, comprising essays written by leading Dickensian scholars from around the world, places Dickens's writings in their literary and historical contexts and offers the factual and referential knowledge to enable readers to approach his works with insight and understanding. Through Dickens's letters, journalism, and fiction, chapters examine the literary, visual, historical, ideological, and social forces that defined the world of his fiction. Individual essays explore a broad range of topics, including the role of illustrations in his novels, the literary tradition Dickens inherited, his unique facility with language, his uses of history and the extent to which Christian assumptions shaped him as a writer. Other contributions assess his attitude towards technology, the United States, law, gender, and political and social reform, while essays treating biographical matters and surveying Dickens criticism complete the volume. This unique companion will help readers better understand Dickens's work and will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals alike. Zusammenfassung Now in paperback , A Companion to Charles Dickens concentrates on the historical, ideological, and social forces that defined Dickens s world. This work traces the development of Dickens s career as a journalist and novelist and includes original essays by leading Dickensian scholars on each of Dickens s fifteen novels. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Illustrations viii Notes on Contributors ix Preface xiv Acknowledgments xvi Abbreviations xvii Part I Perspectives on the Life 1 1 A Sketch of the Life 3 Michael Allen 2 Dickens's Use of the Autobiographical Fragment 18 Nicola Bradbury 3 "Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens": The Epistolary Art of the Inimitable 33 David Paroissien 4 Three Major Biographies 47 Catherine Peters Part II Literary/Cultural Contexts 63 5 The Eighteenth-century Legacy 65 Monika Fludernik 6 Dickens and the Gothic 81 Robert Mighall 7 Illustrations 97 Malcolm AndrewsCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 8 The Language of Dickens 126 Patricia Ingham 9 The Novels and Popular Culture 142 Juliet John Part III English History Contexts 157 10 Dickens as a Reformer 159 Hugh Cunningham 11 Dickens's Evolution as a Journalist 174 John M. L. Drew 12 Dickens and Gender 186 Natalie McKnight 13 Dickens and Technology 199 Trey Philpotts 14 Dickens and America (1842) 216 Nancy Aycock Metz 15 Dickens and Government Ineptitude Abroad, 1854-1865 228 Leslie Mitchell 16 Dickens and the Uses of History 240 John Gardiner 17 Dickens and Christianity 255 Valentine Cunningham 18 Dickens and the Law 277 Jan-Melissa Schramm Part IV The Fiction 295 19 The Pickwick Papers 297 David Parker 20 Oliver Twist 308 Brian Cheadle 21 Nicholas Nickleby 318 Stanley Friedman 22 The Old Curiosity Shop 328 Gill Ballinger 23 Ba...
