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Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit - Group Read 2
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Little Dorrit: Chapters 1 - 11
In Chapter 9, the compassion and kindness of both Arthur and Little Dorrit was heartwarming. Sometimes people who have had hard lives themselves can be the most compassionate because they understand the distress that others may be experiencing. It was heartbreaking that Maggy's idea of heaven was being in the hospital with a soft bed, good food, and some attention. Her home life with her grandmother was one of neglect, and frequent beatings.
Jean, thanks for sharing that illustration by Phiz that shows how Little Dorrit is such a caring person.
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Connie wrote: "Nisa, that's a great sentence that ends Chapter 8. I thought Arthur was referring to Mr Dorrit since he just visited him. It's interesting that he uses the term "inexorable," and has us wondering w..."He being Mr. Dorrit seems right too but he doesn't even recognize their surname so make me wonder :). I guess he used inexorable, because it was what his mother would say.
Bionic Jean wrote: "It is indeed. I also like the touch where Arthur has to stay overnight in the Marshalsea, thereby getting a glimpse of what it would be like to be locked up, and have no choice of getting out."It was funny too how he was lost in his curiosity and he missed his chance getting out. :)
It seams to me that in Maggy, Little Dorrit has found someone who appreciates all she does for them, without feeling that it is only their due.
Jenny wrote: "It seams to me that in Maggy, Little Dorrit has found someone who appreciates all she does for them, without feeling that it is only their due."❤️❤️☝️☝️
Jenny wrote: "It seams to me that in Maggy, Little Dorrit has found someone who appreciates all she does for them, without feeling that it is only their due."Dickens has several characters in various books who are what we today call "special needs". It would have been very common at a time with many diseases, malnutrition, no educational interventions, etc. I think they are always portrayed with kindness. Some have physical issues like Tiny Tim and the seamstress in Our Mutual Friend (forgot her name). Smike in Nicholas Nickleby is more like Maggy. You could say Mr. Dick in David Copperfield fits this mold, high functioning but definitely not able to live and work in the ordinary world. He had the good fortune to have support or else he could have been on the street somewhere.
Yes, Robin, Charles Dickens does seam to have a much more modern view of disabled people, be it mentally or physically. At a time when most were written off as of no use, or not worth the time, it is a rather refreshing view point.
Jenny wrote: "Yes, Robin, Charles Dickens does seam to have a much more modern view of disabled people, be it mentally or physically. At a time when most were written off as of no use, or not worth the time, it ..."Agreed☺️😊
Nisa wrote: "I feel like I read it before I couldn't find that sentence in previous chapters. So I'm not sure if I'm right about it."When he awoke, and sprang up causelessly frightened, the words were in his ears, as if her voice had slowly spoken them at his pillow, to break his rest: ' He withers away in his prison; I wither away in mine; inexorable justice is done; what do I owe on this score!'""
Nisa, I had the same impression. The chapter that gave me the impression of having read that part already, is Chapter 5: Family Affairs.
Arthur says to his mother that their old house in his father’s earliest times was a place of business, and now it was out of purpose. Mrs Clennam answers:
"Do you consider […] that a house serves no purpose, Arthur, in sheltering your infirm – justly infirm and righteously afflicted – mother?”
And just a few lines ahead:
“In my sinfulness I merit bitter disappointment, and I accept it.”
And a few more lines ahead, Dickens comments:
Great need had the rigid woman of her mystical religion, veiled in gloom and darkness. […] Smite thou my debtors, Lord, wither them, crush them.
What a comforting religion. :-O
ClaraBelle wrote: "I’ve already read Little Dorrit, but I will participate in the discussions! It’s my favorite book by Dickens after A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and A C..."I'm glad you're on board, ClaraBelle :)
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Yes, absolutely, He was "dreaming" or day-dreaming in character!
I hadn't thought of Arthur getting locked in as funny, but of course it is really! We all get absorbed in something, and miss our bus, or something. It is a very human touch :)
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I like this aspect too :)
I have always thought that how caring Amy is to all around her, but there is a psychological element too. Independence can be a cursed blessing, because some folk are "independent" when it is no longer safe for them to be so, for instance, asserting their competence to cope out of a sort of doggedness, or pride, rather than accepting help.
What they forget is that people like to help, and it is in our natures to do so. Little Dorrit helps Maggy to attain a limited independence, and praises her for doing so. She makes Maggy feel good, and in turn knows that her help (by tuition) is honestly appreciated - possibly the only occasion when it ever is. It must be a good feeling!
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Yes, they pepper all his works, even his short stories. What I particularly like is that they cover the whole spectrum. So in David Copperfield we had Miss Mowcher, who was a dwarf, and also happened to be one of the most intelligent and resourceful characters in the whole novel (I daren't say the most, or I'll be in trouble with Aunt Betsey's Fan Club!) But another dwarf, in The Old Curiosity Shop, called Quilp is downright vicious and ill-tempered, and perhaps the most thoroughly evil character he ever created!
By the way, the dolls' dressmaker you are thinking of Robin in Our Mutual Friend, is Jenny Wren. You both have the name of sweet songbirds :) Jenny Wren's real name is "Fanny Cleaver", but nobody else ever calls her that. And it's another case of the child looking after the parent, but even more overtly than Little Dorrit. Jenny Wren is about the most deductive and logical character in the novel :)
Milena wrote: "Nisa wrote: "I feel like I read it before I couldn't find that sentence in previous chapters. So I'm not sure if I'm right about it."When he awoke, and sprang up causelessly frightened, the words..."
Thank you, Milena. Now, I know why I thought I read it before :) The thought confused me.
I liked Chapter 9. It was like a reprieve from all the darkness; the calm of a storm, so to speak. It's nice to see Amy making a friend. She needs one. She's a friend to all but is so alone.
I like Maggy's introduction. She's a stabilizing character, expecting nothing and seeing friends and good around her. What she notices and sees in her world is Good.
I'm interested in this family secret that seems to be something that involves both families. It's a bit of a stretch that Arthur connected his mother with the Dorrit family, so a bit of an awkward segue but perhaps there were hints, names and comments in the years before (the part of the story before where the book starts) that are coming together in Arthur's mind now.
This is a telling chapter for all the characters associated with the Marshalsea. Jean, your comment about missing a bus made me think of something that happened to me when I was young. I got on a bus downtown and became engaged in conversation with a stranger and missed my stop. I didn't realize I had done until we were in some obviously unfamiliar place and the panic I felt stays with me still. I wasn't actually in any danger, but it felt that way, and I think that might be some of what Arthur feels in the prison. He knows he is likely just to sleep there overnight and get out, but even in the morning there is a kind of urgency to see the doors open and KNOW he is released. This seems a natural reaction, so it contrasts rather sharply with Tip who would really rather be locked inside the prison at night than be outside on his own merit.When Arthur and Amy are talking about his doing something for her father and he mentions that he will look into freeing Tip, I couldn't help thinking, here goes another person trying to help the undeserving Tip.
Dickens is so marvelous with making you feel the places. I got absolutely claustrophobic when he visited the uncle:
The house was very close, and had an unwholesome smell. The little staircase windows looked in at the back windows of other houses as unwholesome as itself, with poles and lines thrust out of them, on which unsightly linen hung; as if the inhabitants were angling for clothes, and had had some wretched bites not worth attending to.
That sounds little better than the prison itself and emphasizes how widespread the poverty and need is even outside its gates. I also thought a lot this chapter about the fate of those who are locked inside and do not have an Amy, a friend or relative, or someone who takes pity and will bring them food daily. You would literally starve and your death would go virtually unnoticed. Say what you will, our prison system does at least provide food for those incarcerated.
Finally, Amy wonders if it would be a service to have her father released, and I tend to agree with her. He isn't the kind of man who would take the initiative to work and provide, even for himself, if outside. He has an illusion of importance inside those walls, what illusion would he have outside. To say prison is a better option seems ridiculous, but he has carved himself a place and, while his freedom might serve to help Amy, I wonder if it would serve to help him.
Sarah, I agree that releasing Mr. Dorrit would do him a disfavour. He's become a complacent type, allowing others to do for him and not doing for himself. In the "outside" world, this would make his life harder than in prison. He's better off where he is, where he's well liked, has friends & company and is taken care of. Yes, the poor folks who have no safety net through family & friends would quickly die in this system. It's kind of barbarous to think that food wasn't provided when people were locked up for debt.
I also have a "lost" story. I had gone to pick up my step-dad and his sister-in-law at the ferry once. While on the way home, we were chatting and I missed a turn. I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings. I wasn't scared or worried; all roads lead to home, so to speak....we were just going to take a scenic route home. LOL.
However, I wasn't sure where we'd find the turn off to home, how far out of our way we'd have to go, etc. I'd never been in that section of the road before and it was heading away from home. I felt a bit out of place, unsure and uncomfortable at not being in my "safe" place of knowing.
I'm sure Arthur felt a bit of that. This experience of mine shows me how quickly we can be thrown out of our comfort zone, even in a mild way.
Petra, I got lost on Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn at age 3, so I can relate. I turned around and my parents were gone...I was returned to them hours later.I found Chapter 9 a mixed bag. I found the interaction between Arthur and Little Dorrit a bit mawkish. Arthur seems sincerely concerned for Amy, though today he might be accused of stalking her.
Maggy, on the other hand, provides a much needed comic relief. I found this description of her clothing especially humorous:
““A great white cap, with a quantity of opaque frilling that was always flapping about, apologised for Maggy’s baldness, and made it so very difficult for her old black bonnet to retain its place upon her head, that it held on round her neck like a gipsy’s baby. A commission of haberdashers could alone have reported what the rest of her poor dress was made of, but it had a strong general resemblance to seaweed, with here and there a gigantic tea-leaf.”
Excerpt From
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
This material may be protected by copyright.
Sara wrote: "This is a telling chapter for all the characters associated with the Marshalsea. Jean, your comment about missing a bus made me think of something that happened to me when I was young. I got on a b..."Sara, I agree about Tip. I don't think getting him out of prison is going to help him any more than it would his father.
Dicken's description of the the laundry made me laugh out loud. What a great line.
Katy wrote: "Sara wrote: "This is a telling chapter for all the characters associated with the Marshalsea. Jean, your comment about missing a bus made me think of something that happened to me when I was young...."❤️☝️
Just ordered LD from my local library as I wanna reread it with y’all as I love it so much!
I really like this description in Chapter 9. To me, it has a real painterly feel to it, as if watching impressionist art in motion."Thus they emerged upon the Iron Bridge, which was as quiet after the roaring streets as though it had been open country. The wind blew roughly, the wet squalls came rattling past them, skimming the pools on the road and pavement, and raining them down into the river. The clouds raced on furiously in the lead-coloured sky, the smoke and mist raced after them, the dark tide ran fierce and strong in the same direction."
Maybe after all the closed, static, Chiaroscuro scenes in the various prisons and dark rooms, this seems extra vivid to me because it is a scene with an open, dynamic sky and the two figures moving quietly through it?
Clarabelle - Glad you are joining in. Dickens with this group is irresistible. Mark You are so right about the painterly feel to this description. One of the things I think Dickens does exceptionally well is setting his scenes. I always feel as if I were standing there with the characters. I can feel the rain slapping my face when reading this.
Mark wrote: "I really like this description in Chapter 9. To me, it has a real painterly feel to it, as if watching impressionist art in motion."Thus they emerged upon the Iron Bridge, which was as quiet afte..."
This reminds me of Monet's paintings of bridges and trains.
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And of course the "chiaroscuro" or lighting effects: the shafts of light, light and shade, or directional light which Charles Dickens makes us aware of so well, are all there.
Another example is the one over Mrs. Clennam's chair: John Martin’s painting “Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still on Gibeon”. This painting which Charles Dickens has specifically directed us to, behind Mrs. Clennam's chair, had great chiaroscuro effect in the storm clouds.
Also, I like the shift Robin feels, to an Impressionistic light quality in the outside scenes. That "open" feel we have with Claude Monet's series, provides a dynamic contrast. The very first Impressionist painting ever was by Monet, and it was of a sunrise over water—not too remote from this.
This is another of his, of Waterloo Bridge, in 1903. It's later of course, but is another, very similar, iron bridge, also designed by John Rennie. It is just a little way along the river Thames from the Iron Bridge, which Little Dorrit loved so much that she would part with her hard-earned pennies to pay the toll.
But if she could envisage a view like this from it, full of light and colour, what a contrast that would be to her life inside the prison.
Waterloo Bridge, London, 1903 - Claude Monet
Petra, Sara, Mona, Katy and Nisa - Thank you so much for your additional observations, which are adding so much to our reading enjoyment :)
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A highly satirical chapter, beginning:
“The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government.”
Several pages describe in detail the “glorious establishment” devoted to “the art of the art of perceiving—HOW NOT TO DO IT.”
The Circumlocution Office is a cumbersome, self-serving institution administered by various branches of the Barnacle family, and to a lesser extent, the Stiltstalkings. The narrator describes how it consists of a series of self-perpetuating sinecures, and how Arthur, who is attempting to help the Dorrit family, finds he is blocked at every point.
He waits in various corridors to see various people, or to send a memorandum, or he is advised to go to another department, and so on. He accepts that this is correct procedure, because he has been so long in China, and is no longer acquainted with England’s laws and institutions.
“For Mr Tite Barnacle, Mr Arthur Clennam made his fifth inquiry one day at the Circumlocution Office; having on previous occasions awaited that gentleman successively in a hall, a glass case, a waiting room, and a fire-proof passage where the Department seemed to keep its wind.”
When Arthur eventually thinks he may be able to see Mr. Tite Barnacle, he discovers that only his son is there, as Mr. Tite Barnacle has gout, and is nursing it at home, near Grosvenor Square.
Tite Barnacle Junior and Arthur Clennam - James Mahoney
Barnacle Junior, frightened and limp, complete with his ill-fitting monocle, is perfectly sure he can’t help—unless Arthur’s question is to do with Tonnage. He advises Arthur to consult his father, at Twenty-four, Mews Street.
When Arthur arrives at the house near Grosvenor Square, he discovers that it is “a squeezed house”, rather shabby and airless. However, this part of town used to be fashionable, and it remains near to prestigious addresses. The Barnacles consider that this makes it worthwhile for them to pay an enormous rent for such ”a gentlemanly residence in the most aristocratic part of town”.
Mr. Tite Barnacle by 'Kyd'
Mr. Tite Barnacle is a perfect example of the Circumlocution Office’s best adepts. He is unwilling to answer Arthur Clennam’s questions about the nature of Mr. Dorrit’s debts in a straightforward way, always preferring to sidestep, and give provisional or vague answers. He even looks the part:
“He wound and wound folds of white cravat round his neck, as he wound and wound folds of tape and paper round the neck of the country.”
However, Arthur does discover that he should go back to the Circumlocution Office itself, to proceed. He resolves that this will be “an exercise in perseverance”.
Back in the office, Arthur once more comes across Barnacle Junior, who objects:
“‘Look here. Upon my soul you mustn’t come into the place saying you want to know, you know,’ remonstrated Barnacle junior, turning about and putting up the eye-glass.”
After much more agitation by Barnacle Junior, Arthur is sent to see a “Mr. Wobbler”. Mr Wobbler and his two colleagues are far more interested in partaking of their lunch and chatting, to take any notice of Arthur, but on the third time of asking, send Arthur to see a “Mr. Clive”, further down the passage. The “Circumlocution Sages” keep referring him to this person and that, until he is referred to:
“a vivacious, well-looking, well-dressed, agreeable young fellow—he was a Barnacle, but on the more sprightly side of the family—and he said in an easy way, ‘Oh! you had better not bother yourself about it, I think …
‘I don’t say it would be hopeless,’ returned number four, with a frank smile. ‘I don’t express an opinion about that; I only express an opinion about you. I don’t think you’d go on with it.’“
Nevertheless, on Arthur’s insistence, he explains the proper procedure, which rather dumbfounds Arthur:
“‘But surely this is not the way to do the business,’ Arthur Clennam could not help saying.
This airy young Barnacle was quite entertained by his simplicity in supposing for a moment that it was.“
This young Barnacle knows perfectly well, that Arthur is right, and it is not the way to do business. The narrator tells us that he fully understands the Department to be a “politico-diplomatic hocus pocus piece of machinery for the assistance of the nobs in keeping off the snobs.” He understands how things work so perfectly, that such a dashing and disarming bright young Barnacle as he, was likely in time to become a statesman, and well-respected figure.
Arthur thanks him for his courtesy, and with a handful of forms thrust at him, makes his way to the entrance. But just as he is by the swing doors leading into the street, who should he comes across but his old acquaintance, Mr. Meagles:
“Mr Meagles was very red in the face—redder than travel could have made him—and collaring a short man who was with him, said, ‘come out, you rascal, come Out!’”
Arthur passes some pleasantries with Mr Meagles, and when he is a little calmer, asks what has ruffled him. The “rascal” is nothing of the sort, but is an engineer: an inventor by the name of Daniel Doyce.
Daniel Doyce is one of those unfortunate well-meaning people, who have to deal with the Circumlocution Office, because twelve years ago he had made an important invention. He judged that this could prove very useful to the country, but his attempts at getting approval, and putting this invention to good use, are continuously blocked by the workings of the Circumlocution Office.
Mr. Meagles indignantly tells Arthur that Daniel Doyce is treated like a kind of criminal. Daniel Doyce himself ruefully admits that his situation is extremely frustrating:
“’I undoubtedly was made to feel,’ said the inventor, ‘as if I had committed an offence. In dancing attendance at the various offices, I was always treated, more or less, as if it was a very bad offence.’”
But as an engineer, with an understanding how things work, he knows the ways of the Circumlocution Office, so this no longer surprises him.
“I ought to have let it alone. I have had warning enough, I am sure.”
Arthur thinks how much better it would have been for Daniel Doyce if he had acted on the Circumlocution Office’s own advice, and “had learnt How not to do it.”
The chapter ends with Daniel Doyce going back to his factory in Bleeding Heart Yard, accompanied by Mr Meagles and Arthur Clennam.
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However, I can see that if you’re not used to Charles Dickens at his most outrageously indignant, this description can seem to go on a bit, and perhaps be a bit tiresome if you want to get on with the story. So please stay with it! We have just met someone who will be fairly central to one of the plots. And there are some truly wonderful characters to meet yet—and most surprising events :)
This was my favorite chapter so far. I was laughing out loud in many places. Jean, I couldn't agree more that it is exquisitely brilliant satire on beaurocratic offices and the people who man them. Unfortunately, it reminds me so much of my own experiences in such offices. I loved every moment of the chapter. In one part Arthur is offered paper and forms, as many as he would like... not that they would do anything with them. Than there is the poor Inventor Doyce who created something out of his own time and money and has been treated as if he had committed an offense, which he has; he has done something which would make these people WORK or get organized which they have no intention of doing.
Lordy! Holy cow! I did not enjoy this chapter for a minute. At first. Then, I reread it, twice. Ok. I get the satirical point clearly. Bureaucracy at its worst! And, seriously, I see it in California’s state government for criminy sakes. It is rampant here in the U.S. too. Not only England. HAhahaha. Now, let me get on to Chapter XI. Sheesh.
Martha wrote: "Lordy! Holy cow! I did not enjoy this chapter for a minute. At first. Then, I reread it, twice. Ok. I get the satirical point clearly. Bureaucracy at its worst! And, seriously, I see it in Californ..."So funny, Martha. I loved the humor in this chapter so much I read it twice! :))
My favorite description so far- "The present Barnacle (had) the fluffiest little whisker, perhaps, that was ever seen. Such a downy tip was on his callow chin, that he seemed half fledged like a young bird..." Dickens was a bit of a beard snob lol!
Jenny wrote: "My favorite description so far- "The present Barnacle (had) the fluffiest little whisker, perhaps, that was ever seen. Such a downy tip was on his callow chin, that he seemed half fledged like a yo..."Mine too❣️💖
It is quite amusing isnt it ClaraBelle!
Wonderful descriptions of bureaucracy. “Mr Tite Barnacle” has to be one of my favourite names from Dickens.
I wonder what the invention is?
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I loved the "fire-proof passage where the Department seemed to keep its wind". Like you said about all the red tape and pen-pushing, Anne, I've worked in places like that!
Anne wrote: "This was my favorite chapter so far. I was laughing out loud in many places. Jean, I couldn't agree more that it is exquisitely brilliant satire on beaurocratic offices and the people who man them...."Anne, I couldn't agree with you more -- I loved Dickens's description of the Circumlocution Department! For me, that is Dickens at his best!!
Bionic Jean wrote: "I'm betting something Industrial, rather than a new formula of lotion for Tite Barnacle Junior, to spread on his downy beard to make it grow!I loved the "fire-proof passage where the Department s..."
Yes, I so enjoyed the "fire-proof passage/wind" description! I am listening to Mil Nicholson read the book on LibriVox, and she is absolutely phenomenal (I listened to her read "Bleak House" and she was amazing!!)! But still sometimes, since I'm not actually seeing the words, I back-track a few seconds and listen again to the descriptions so that I don't miss anything. Dickens's writing can be so intricate, and I don't want to miss a thing!
Trisha wrote: "Wonderful descriptions of bureaucracy. “Mr Tite Barnacle” has to be one of my favourite names from Dickens."Trisha, I'm like you, I love the names Dickens gives to his characters in all his books. And "Mr. Tite Barnacle" is one of his best! :)
Terris wrote: "Anne wrote: "This was my favorite chapter so far. I was laughing out loud in many places. Jean, I couldn't agree more that it is exquisitely brilliant satire on beaurocratic offices and the people ..."Absolutely, Terris. The name and everything about the Circumlocution Department.
Jenny wrote: "It is quite amusing isnt it ClaraBelle!"Yep😍
Terris wrote: "Trisha wrote: "Wonderful descriptions of bureaucracy. “Mr Tite Barnacle” has to be one of my favourite names from Dickens."Trisha, I'm like you, I love the names Dickens gives to his characters i..."
They are so corny, yes😂❤️
Bionic Jean wrote: "I'm betting something Industrial, rather than a new formula of lotion for Tite Barnacle Junior, to spread on his downy beard to make it grow!I loved the "fire-proof passage where the Department s..."
That was another hilarious line - "the fireproof passage where the department keeps its wind. " Non-stop hilarity.
Terris wrote: "I loved Dickens's description of the Circumlocution Department! For me, that is Dickens at his best!!"I agree, that is definitely Dickens at his best.
“As a practical man, I then and there, in that presence, took Doyce by the collar, and told him it was plain to me that he was an infamous rascal, and treasonable disturber of the government peace.”
When I read “disturber of the government peace” I almost choked with laughter :D
And now I understand better what Mr Meagles means when he says that he is a practical man: maybe someone who accepts things as they are, and learns to take the best from them without worrying too much about doing something to make the world a better place. So taking a little girl from the orphanage to be a servant for his daughter is practical. She must not expect to change her position and be something more than a servant, she must be happy that she is being fed. I don’t know what to think about Mr Meagles yet. Maybe he is just a man of his time.
I’m glad Dickens was not too “practical”.
I agree- the title of the Department “Circumlocution” is hilarious and perfect!
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There seems to be a few similarities between Mr. Dorrit and the Circumlocution Office. Both of them are useless, yet revered. Both perfect their roles, and are complacent as they sit back and bask in their hollow glory. Also, both have been placed in Arthur's way, as he tries both to solve the puzzle of his family's secret, and find his own way through life. They represent symbols of the attitudes and institutions that he must confront.
I think it becomes more clear in this chapter just how kind and good-natured Mr Meagles is at heart, despite his comic aspects. He has clearly supported Daniel Doyce all the way through the workings of the Circumlocution Office and is furious at the way the Barnacles have treated him. The way Mr Meagles sarcastically criticises the Circumlocution Office is very much what Dickens himself is doing as narrator.Having said that, I think Mr Meagles is definitely a bit obtuse/shortsighted over some things, as we saw earlier through the way he speaks to foreigners loudly in English, and also through the nickname he gives to Tattycoram - he doesn't realise that she might not enjoy the nickname as much as he does and might find it patronising.
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"When he awoke, and sprang up causelessly frightened, the words were in his ears, as if her voice had slowly spoken them at his pillow, to break his rest: ' He withers away in his prison; I wither away in mine; inexorable justice is done; what do I owe on this score!'"
Yes!! That's the million dollar question which occupies Arthur's thoughts. And it was the cliffhanger Charles Dickens wanted to leave us on, at the end of chapter 8.
It's clear that Arthur suspects his mother and father of wrongdoing, and is imagining or dreaming his mother saying this. And because he is fascinated by the Dorrit family, he is making a guess that something his mother has been involved in, is the reason why Mr. Dorrit is in prison. So it would make sense, in his mind, if his martyrish mother had imposed her self-isolation and imprisonment as a sort of penance and recompense - paying her debt - for depriving Mr. Dorrit of his freedom.
But it's only a passing thought of his :)
I've added my comments now, by the way, after the summary.
(Sorry Connie - cross-posted)