DC Chp 32-34

[Peter]

Chapter 32

The Beginning of a long Journey


This chapter begins with a confession from David. He states “I never loved Steerforth better than when the ties that bound me to him were broken.” David says this is a natural feeling in him and other men. This statement is curious and puzzling. I wonder if it is true. I imagine such a statement profoundly interested Freud. David comments “My sorrow may bear involuntary witness against you at the Judgement Throne; but my angry thoughts or my reproaches never will, I know.” What do you think it means? Do you think the statement has elements of truth to it?

There are a number of characters that populate this chapter. I will highlight each separately.

Mr Peggotty

Mr Peggotty says it is his “dooty evermore” to search for Em’ly. He intends to have the family home in Yarmouth keep up by Mrs Gummidge. Peggotty wants the house to be a welcome and familiar place should Em’ly ever return. He directs that a candle be placed in the window each evening to greet Em’ly should she ever come back.

Mrs Gummidge

The formerly mournful Mrs Gummidge has a new lease on life. She is now a busy woman who makes breakfasts willingly and cleans the house happily. She says she will keep up a correspondence with David. She claims she will not feel like a solitary figure. She appears to have forgotten her sorrow and found a purpose to live. How would you explain this?

Miss Mowcher

From Miss Mowcher we learn much of the untold backstory of Steerforth and watch how Dickens changes her from a somewhat disreputable character into a supportive and positive figure. This change in character occurred (according to many) because the person who Dickens modelled Miss Mowcher after strongly objected to the portrayal of the fictional character. Miss Mowcher tells David that “to think that it should come to this, when I might have known it and prevented it, if I hadn’t been a thoughtless fool.” Mowcher comments that because of her diminutive size people dismiss her and “make a plaything of me, use me for their amusement, [and] throw me away when they are tired.” Is there a tinge of self-pity in her words? I found a sense of pride in how she has been able to navigate through the world.

Miss Mowcher tells David that she knew Steerforth “was crossing you, and wheedling you, I saw; and you were soft wax in his hands ... . I saw Steerforth soothe and please you by his praise of her!” Miss Mowcher says she thought David was a “young libertine in everything except experience, and had fallen into the hands that had experience enough.” We learn that Steerforth had Miss Mowcher give a letter to Em’ly which she believes was the initiation of Em’ly speaking to Littimer. We learn that Littimer stayed behind in Yarmouth on purpose to act as Steerforth and Em’ly’s go-between.

David believes that both Miss Mowcher and himself have been the “hapless instruments of designing hands.” She states that she believes Steerforth and Em’ly have gone abroad and if she ever hears of their return she will inform David. Finally, Miss Mowcher reminds David that he should “try not to associate bodily defects with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason.” A good lesson for us all.

Mrs Steerforth, Rosa Dartle, Mr Peggotty and David

The meeting of this group of people is understandably frosty. Mr Peggotty shows Mrs Steerforth Em’ly’s” letter and asks if Steerforth will bring Em’ly back a lady. Her answer is no. When asked why, Mrs Steerforth points out that Em’ly is far below Steerforth’s rank and station. Mr Peggotty remains calm, but his hopes that Steerforth would marry Em’ly are dashed for, as Mrs Steerforth points out, “such a marriage would irretrievably blight my son’s career, and ruin his prospects.” Mrs Steerforth wonders if some “compensation” can be made to Peggotty but he refuses to accept any offering of money “for my child’s blight and ruin.”

Mrs Steerforth then asks what compensation Peggotty can offer for Em’ly opening “such a pit between me and my son.” Mrs Steerforth launches an attack on how she has been hurt by her son’s actions. I find Mrs Steerforth’s selfish pity too much. Rosa Dartle tries to get a word in sidewise but is rebuffed. She calls Em’ly a “whim” and states that if Steerforth does not return to her soon she will never allow him back. David, observing her response, sees the wilfulness of both mother and son. Rosa does not seem like much of a rose - too many thorns.

As David and Peggotty prepare to leave Mrs Steerforth’s home Rosa Dartle appears. The scar on her face is livid and throbs. Rosa lifts her hand to her face and strikes herself. She wonders why David would bring division between “these two mad creatures... they are both mad with their own self-will and pride.” Dartle says she knows Steerforth has “a false, corrupt heart, and is a traitor.” To be brief, Dartle has a meltdown. Her greatest anger is directed towards Em’ly who Dartle says she would “whip, brand on her face, dress her in rags and cast her out to the streets to starve.” David says “I have seen passion in many forms, but I have never seen it in such a form as that.”

For his part, Mr Peggotty has remained calm and determined. “My unchanged love is with my darling child, and I forgive her.”

Thoughts

This chapter propels our narrative forward on many levels. We have the contrast of parental love and forgiveness demonstrated between Mrs Steerforth and Mr Peggotty, we learn the backstory of how Steerforth managed his “courtship” of Em’ly, and we are exposed further to the seemingly endless fury of Rosa Dartle. In this chapter Dickens softens the edges of Miss Mowcher and establishes her as a possible character who will generate more information concerning Steerforth. All in all, a very packed chapter. What events in the chapter did you find to be most compelling?

In this chapter we can add another nickname to David as we learn Steerforth has referred to David as “Young Innocence.” The list continues to grow.



In earlier chapters Dickens has drawn our attention to comparisons between Little Em’ly and Martha. We know that Martha is a prostitute. In this chapter Mrs Steerforth offers to provide “compensation” to Mr Peggotty since her son will never marry Em’ly. I believe Dickens is drawing the reader’s attention to the plight of young women in Victorian society. David's mother was left with a small amount of money, no husband, a young son, and few prospects for life. She chose to marry a man who later turned out to be abusive. Em’ly is young and had dreams of being a lady. Within the strict structures of Victorian society this is little more than a fantasy. Martha’s life is, however, the worst. She is a fallen woman who believes life in London will afford her anonymity and hope. She will be doomed in London. It will be interesting to see if Dickens continues to develop the problems of young unattached women in this novel. We saw a so what similar scenario developed in Dombey and Son with Alice and Edith.

[Peter]

Chapter 33

Bliss


As the title of this chapter tells us we move from sorrow to bliss. David tells us that he loves Dora “harder than ever” and the “greater the accumulation of deceit and trouble in the world, the brighter and the purer shone the star of Dora high above the world.” David sounds completely smitten to me. He often walks to Norwood to meander around her home and blow kisses. I think I’ll move on now.

David is in charge of settling Barkis’s will for Peggotty. David and Peggotty discover Mr Murdstone in Spenlow’s office and learn that Murdstone is getting a marriage license. Their meeting is very frosty. Later, we learn that Mudstone’s new bride is “just of age” and comes with money. To this news Peggotty comments “Lord deliver her.” I wonder if it is by chance that David and Spenlow’s court appearance later that day was a divorce-suit. We shall see.

The next paragraphs are interesting as we learn that while David may love Dora he is losing interest in the occupation of a proctor. He sees the unjustness of power and wealth that too often confronts the working clerks. Spenlow counters David’s observations. Are we seeing the first cracks in David’s professional aspirations? Will his beliefs clash with Mr Spenlow and Dora? David recounts his feelings to us when he comments that “I have set all this down, in my present blissful chapter, because it comes into its natural place.” Such thoughts do not seem to bother Mr Spenlow and he asks David to attend Dora’s birthday. David, of course, agrees to attend and brings flowers.

At the Spenlow house David finds Dora and Jip and a friend of Dora’s named Julia Mills. It turns out that Julia Mills has been “unhappy in a misplaced affection.” Her sadness is transferred to the energy of helping Dora and David in their “unblighted hopes and loves of youth.” Dora and Julia go in a phaeton and David on a horse to an outdoor picnic. They arrive and find others there as well. One young man David calls “Red Whiskers” apparently shows interest in Dora so David flirts with “a young creature in pink.” Julia Mills comes to the rescue and all is well. This pleasant, rather innocent and definitely humourous interval, plays well against the far darker episode of Steerforth and Little Em’ly.

The David - Dora courtship continues with the help of Julia. David goes to Julia’s house where Dora is spending a few days. He finds Dora painting the flowers he gave her for her birthday. David declares his love for Dora and Dora (with Jip in attendance) become engaged. They decide to keep it a secret from Mr Spenlow. David measures Dora's finger for ring and gets a ring with blue stones, symbolizing Forget-me-nots. David comments that when he saw such a ring again “on the finger of my own daughter, there was a momentary stirring in my heart, like pain.” This sentence struck me hard. Here we see the narrator stretching far into the future and unveiling to his reading audience much of what is to come. The term for this is prolepsis, whose definition is “a flash-forward and reference to plot events that jump ahead of the narrative and thus appear before their chronological position in the story.” From the phrase in the text we know that David will marry, that he will have a daughter, and it is “by chance” that David sees the ring on his daughter’s finger. The daughter must be of a similar age to Dora. Why has David as a narrator written these words? Why do they occur in this chapter?

We learn that David and Dora have their first quarrel soon after their engagement, and Dora sent the ring back to David. David then went to Julia Mills, and soon David and Dora were once again together. David and Dora decide to write each other at least once a day. As our chapter ends David recalls from his position as the mature writer “what an idle time! What an unsubstantial, happy, foolish time!” These are the days that David recalls and on retrospection he can “smile at half so much, and think of half so tenderly.”

Thoughts

Did you find that this chapter subtly lifts the veil of our narrative and peeks into the future? What do you see as you peer into the future?

In this chapter Mr Murdstone makes a cameo appearance. We learn that he is getting married again to a very young woman “just of age” who comes with money. Why would Dickens introduce us to Mr Murdstone again and indicate the person he is about to marry is young and has some money? In chapter 10 Murdstone told David he was not rich and school was expensive so David would have to go out into the world and work. To what extent can we conclude that Murdstone makes a habit of finding women and then marries them for reasons other than love?

Another Murdstone thought. We know that Miss Murdstone is a companion for Dora. Being someone’s companion would mean you are a servant within a house, although a servant of higher stature. Nevertheless, it would not be a high-paying job. Mr Murdstone is marrying a very young woman who has financial resources. What does this tell us (or further confirm) about the Murdstone’s characters and financial situation?

Predator. A rather disquieting word, but one I give to both Murdstone and Steerforth. I find these men very much alike. They are both predators. Both like to prey on young women. Do you remember Steerforth telling David about how he liked a “pretty, timid, little, bright-eyed sort of girl? Later, we learn Steerforth twists Em’ly’s mind and runs away with her. Em’ly at that time was engaged to Ham. In this chapter Murdstone is going to marry a “young” and beautiful girl who comes with money. Earlier, Murdstone had married David's mother who Aunt Betsey described as “a wax doll ... not yet twenty.” To what extent do you find these men alike? Why would Dickens include two such people in the novel?

[Peter]

Chapter 34

My Aunt astonishes me


This chapter is one that ties up some loose threads, advances the plot, and offers some subtle commentary on the nature of love, courtship, and marriage. It begins with David writing a letter to Agnes informing her of his engagement to Dora. David assures Agnes that he is very happy and looking forward to his future. Of Steerforth he says nothing but comments that he is sure Agnes would be able to “divine the truth.” Agnes returns David’s letter with one of her own that was like a “cordial voice in my ears. What more can I say more!” Well, David, I’d like to have a few words with you but I can’t create any spoilers. Just listen to your inner self.

We learn that Traddles and Peggotty have become fast friends but David’s landlady Mrs Crupp finds Peggotty an interference. Mrs Crupp declines to assist David while Peggotty is on the scene. That said, Crupp reminds David that he still must pay his rent. Fair enough. Wouldn’t you trade the attention and intentions of Mrs Crupp for Peggotty? I know I would. In Mrs Crupp we find another Mrs McStinger. What does Dickens have against landladies?

Traddles and David discuss their individual pre-marital lives. The brides-to-be are very different. Traddles’ fiancée Sophy is a remarkable woman. It seems that Sophy does everything for her rather large family. In contrast, Dora is a hothouse flower. She does little except carry Jip around. Not directly mentioned, but inferred is a third couple. Steerforth and Em’ly are another young couple whose life is before them. What will happen to these three couples?

Traddles wants the furniture that he has lost to a pawnbroker because of Micawber’s debts and hatches a plan with David and Peggotty. Since the pawnbroker would charge Traddles more to get his furniture back Peggotty is sent to buy it. The plan works and Traddles is reunited with his furniture and a flower-pot. Whether he will ever get any of his money back from Micawber is another matter for another chapter.

When David returns to his rooms he finds his aunt sitting on her luggage, and accompanied by her two birds and her cat. Mr Dick has his kite. David compares her to “a female Robinson Crusoe.” Once again Dickens mentions this specific book. What reason might Dickens have?

The strange appearance of David's aunt Betsey is explained. David’s aunt tells David that she is ruined, and all her worldly possessions are in her trunks and her cottage. She asks David to put her up for the night and promises that she will talk further tomorrow about her state of affairs. Our chapter ends with David’s aunt telling him that “We must meet reverses boldly, and not suffer them to frighten us, my dear. We must learn to act the play out. We must live misfortune down, Trot!

Thoughts

What can possibly have happened to Aunt Betsey?

In this chapter we also see a reversal of fortunes for David’s aunt.. Why might Dickens be developing such hardships for seemingly good characters in the novel?

[Mary Lou]

Peter wrote: "Chapter 32..."

There was SO MUCH in this chapter. As a unit, it seemed disjointed to me.

I was stunned by the opening, in which David states he “never loved Steerforth better than when the ties that bound me to him were broken.” Can anyone explain this to me? Peter seemed bemused - how about you other men in the group? I had to read it a couple of times to make sure I hadn't misunderstood. It surely didn't make me like David at that moment.

As a stylistic point, why does Dickens use the spelling, "dooty" when it is phonetically the same as the proper spelling, "duty"? Things like that distract me and drive me crazy.

[Mary Lou]

Peter wrote: "Chapter 33 ..."

There's an episode of the Partridge Family in which a girl named Dora wants a singing career, but can't carry a tune in a bucket. Her beauty hides her lack of talent from Keith, the show's heartthrob, and it's a rude awakening for him when he hears an audio recording of her terrible voice. In this chapter, we have Traddles (I so like Traddles!) comparing the altruistic but plain Sophy to her dazzling older sister, whose beauty, it would seem, is only skin-deep. Dora and David have already fought. I fear that David's bliss will not be long-lived, and that his assurances to Agnes that THIS love isn't a whim will prove false in the long run. Time will tell.

And can I just say that Dora has been physically cruel to Jip twice already in the handful of interactions to which we've been privy? I don't think I care much for Dora.

Peter wrote: Murdstone and Steerforth. I find these men very much alike. They are both predators.

The difference, of course (at least until we get different information), is that Murdstone is after money, as well as a trophy wife. Emily's family has no money, and we don't think she and Steerforth will marry. Is it just lust? A way to stick it to David? (And if so, why?) Frankly, looked at through this lens, Steerforth makes Murdstone a little less awful.

[Mary Lou]

Peter wrote: "Chapter 34..."

Chapters like this one are why I love Dickens. My older daughter asked me why once, and I cited his humor. Like so many, she didn't know Dickens novels are FUNNY.

Mrs. Crupp marking her territory with water pitchers, and making references to spies, intruders, and informers had me laughing out loud. The second interaction between Peggoty and Betsey had me in tears. And while it wasn't funny, the scene with Peggoty helping Traddles buy back his belongings was incredibly heartwarming. One needs the dark to better appreciate the light, but it's a shame more people don't know this side of Dickens. And the cherry on top was Betsey's good advice which brought the chapter to a close:

'We must meet reverses boldly, and not suffer them to frighten us, my dear. We must learn to act the play out. We must live misfortune down, Trot!'

Question: The interaction between Betsey and the ingratiating Mrs. Crupp was wonderful, as well, and Betsey had this to say after Crupp was dismissed:

'Dick!' said my aunt. 'You know what I told you about time-servers and wealth-worshippers?'

Mr. Dick - with rather a scared look, as if he had forgotten it - returned a hasty answer in the affirmative.

'Mrs. Crupp is one of them,' said my aunt.

Have the readers been privy to Betsey's admonitions about time-servers and wealth-worshippers? If so, please refresh my memory. I'm sure it's a pithy observation that should be noted.

[[deleted user]]

Of course David should still pay his rent. And I would choose Peggotty any time too. The 'problem' is, though, that part of the rent would be Mrs. Crupp waiting on David, cooking his food etc. She already weaseled herself out of the cooking in the previous installment, and now weasels herself out of waiting on David, while she still gets the money for it - and probably David's sherry for her fits. I found it quite telling that those stopped at once as soon as Betsey Trotwood was present.

I wonder how the courtship will go. I don't have a good feeling about it, Dora is way too much of a hothouse flower. David was scared about her father approving I believe, but I think the chance is huge that she dumps him as soon as she hears he is not rich anymore. Or she doesn't officially, but she'll be mean to him about it and distance herself anyway. But perhaps I'm wrong. I do think in his heart David loves Agnes though, and Dora again is a mere infatuation. Only this time an infatuation who returned the sentiment.

And then, Em'ly. It is clear that in Mrs. Steerforth's eyes, she is just the same as Martha - and it is all about the money, she thinks. Which is probably was, because Em'ly always wanted to be a lady, to give the people she really loves enough to live upon. But then, why would she do this, just as the Peggotty's have quite enough thanks to Barkis' will? There must be a part of her being infatuated with Steerforth too.

[[deleted user]]

Mary Lou wrote: "It surely didn't make me like David at that moment.."

Me neither! I mean, infatuation is a thing, but to like someone better when they are so mean and devastating to people who have only always been good to you ... I just don't get it.

[Mary Lou]

Emily and Ham
Emily and Steerforth
Murdstone and Clara
Dr. and Annie Strong
Rosa and Steerforth

To continue the theme of a discussion in a different thread, all of the above are the incompatible relationships we've seen in this novel so far. The relationships are often uneven in either age or status. I wonder if Rosa and Steerforth are like Rhett and Scarlett -- the fiery duo really do belong together but haven't figured that out yet. Poor Emily is a wannabe - she isn't happy in her own class, but isn't accepted into Steerforth's. She's doomed.

The novel's presumably happy relationships include:
Troddles and Sophy
Barkis and Peggoty
The Omers
The Micawbers
The Jorams
Betsey and Mr. Dick (though - perhaps? - not romantic)
Mr. Peggoty and Mrs. Gummidge (ditto)

All relatively equals in age and socio-economic status, with the exception of the Micawbers, and she gripes about it the gap between her family and Micawber all the time, despite her declarations of loyalty to him.

Where do David and Dora fit in? They're closer in age and status, and yet I don't think they'll end up being happy together. I think, like Ham and Emily, perhaps they just don't have a lot in common.

I didn't include Julia Mills on the list, since we've not had the pleasure of meeting her former beau. I wonder if that opportunity will present itself, or if, perhaps, we've met him already but aren't aware of it.

[Julie]

Jantine wrote: "Mary Lou wrote: "It surely didn't make me like David at that moment.."

Me neither! I mean, infatuation is a thing, but to like someone better when they are so mean and devastating to people who ha..."

I guess I'm on a different page from others on this. I know David's a fool, but I can't help but appreciate how much he loves to be in love, with his friends as well as his lady-prospects. He has a deeply affectionate nature and not a lot of judgment: he's a puppy. But I think he will gain judgment in time (our narrator also seems to think his former self was foolish), and in the meantime I find his enthusiasm winning.

As for David's love for wicked Steerforth: David knows it's wrong. It's something the narrator admits to awkwardly: he says he's going to go ahead and tell us about it because he figures other people have probably felt the same, so it's not bad to admit this (bad) feeling. I think Steerforth has broken his heart (along with the hearts of a number of other people), and David has to experience that heartbreak. A betrayal isn't too big a deal if you don't love the person who betrayed you. This is a huge betrayal because David did love Steerforth, and he has to feel that love to grieve it properly.

I guess it is a bit selfish for him to be feeling for himself instead of only for the Peggotty family, who are bearing a greater grief. But he's only human, and he has also been hurt.

[Julie]

Peter wrote: "David sounds completely smitten to me. He often walks to Norwood to meander around her home and blow kisses. I think I’ll move on now."


Ha!

Yes, I love David's enthusiasm, but yes--this was too much even for me.

[Kim]

Julie wrote: "I guess I'm on a different page from others on this. I know David's a fool, but I can't help but appreciate how much he loves to be in love, with his friends as well as his lady-prospects."

I had a friend once. We had so much in common, mostly music and could sit and talk for hours about chords and tempo and scales and timing that would drive other people crazy. We spent holidays together, we vacationed together, the only thing was my friend was a man. This mattered not at all to me, it did to other people, one person anyway. His wife. His second wife. We did so many things together, the four of us during his first marriage, and the only thing that changed after his divorce was now there were only three of us. In fact we probably spent more time with him after the divorce because he didn't have another family to spend time with since he didn't have a wife anymore. Then he met and married his second wife. She didn't live near us and I've only met her once. He moved to the town she lived in (about five hours away), got a job at the college nearby, and sent me a text he had asked her to marry him and she said yes. I sent back congratulations, when's the wedding type of thing, but I heard nothing back. For weeks and weeks I kept trying and heard nothing and kept getting angrier, Tristram knows how I get when I'm angry. Finally I got an email saying, in short form, that we can't be friends anymore because I'm a woman, he's a man, and it's not fair to our families. My response to that email, my inner response, I never responded to him, was how I imagine David's response to Steerforth was. I can't exactly describe it, it wasn't anger though, but it wasn't exactly sadness either. Shock and bewilderment maybe. I spent quite a lot of time after that going through my old journals blacking out his name from my journal entries. It looks kind of strange with black marks all over the place and I know what's under those marks, but at least I don't have to see it over and over. I can see David almost doing the same thing but I don't think he could actually go through with marking out Steerforth's name.

[Peter]

Mary Lou wrote: "Emily and Ham
Emily and Steerforth
Murdstone and Clara
Dr. and Annie Strong
Rosa and Steerforth

To continue the theme of a discussion in a different thread, all of the above are the incompatible r..."

Hi Mary Lou

You are right. There is an abundance of relationships in the novel. All types, all shapes and sizes, and a couple of relationships that make us scratch our heads. The novel could almost be a primer for marriage. I found the Jack Maldon and Annie to be something of an outlier. Annie and the good aged doctor have a relationship that will outlast the time to complete the dictionary, but the hovering presence and actions of Jack Maldon are disquieting.

And why does Dickens constantly refer to Maldon as Jack Maldon? I found that strange and have no explanation for it.

[Julie]

Kim wrote: "I spent quite a lot of time after that going through my old journals blacking out his name from my journal entries. It looks kind of strange with black marks all over the place and I know what's under those marks, but at least I don't have to see it over and over."

I'm not sure I've ever been more in awe of you, Kim, which is saying something.

[Julie]

Peter wrote: "And why does Dickens constantly refer to Maldon as Jack Maldon? I found that strange and have no explanation for it."

I wonder if it's like Jack Frost or Jack Sprat and he's some kind of nursery-rhyme force of nature. Though he seems a little lazy for that.

[Mary Lou]

Kim wrote: "I had a friend once. ..."

That's a shame. What a sad loss for you.

[Kim]

Julie wrote: "I'm not sure I've ever been more in awe of you, Kim, which is saying something."

Thanks. I think. :-)

[Kim]

Mary Lou wrote: "That's a shame. What a sad loss for you."

Oh, there's a part two of the story. This happened in the summer of 2015, I never contacted him again, at least not for the next few years. Then last Christmas, I finished all my decorating and was working on our Christmas cards. I was tired of skipping over the people I hadn't spoken to in years and years, people I knew were dead, people I knew moved but I had never updated my addresses, so I thought that was a good time to do it. So I sent an email out to all those I wasn't sure of, asking if I had their address right, if I had their email address right, if they remember me at all, and I sorted out my address book that way. Well, when I got to his name I don't know what I was thinking, I should have just thrown it out, but for some reason I sent him the same email I sent everyone else and he called me that night. I couldn't bring myself to answer and made my husband do it. So he talked to my husband for a while and then asked if he called back in a few days did my husband think I would talk to him, so that's what he did, and by then I was able to have a conversation with him. It turns out that his second wife, the one to cause all this, was now his ex-wife. He had been divorced for about a year but couldn't bring himself to call me after what had happened. So now we're OK, we're not what we were, but we're OK. We talk every few weeks, perhaps a month or two at times, but it's not what it once was. Maybe it will be some day I don't know. Right now he's in Seattle with his brother, so he's even further away then he's been these last years. But I find myself not needing the friendship the way I once did, or thought I did. All this reminds me that I haven't asked him if he's coming for Thanksgiving yet, he used to every year, I guess I'll do that tomorrow, but I don't know where he'll be then.

[Kim]

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter wrote: "Chapter 33 ..."

There's an episode of the Partridge Family in which a girl named Dora wants a singing career, but can't carry a tune in a bucket. Her beauty hides her lack of talent ..."

The Partridge Family! Keith Partridge! David Cassidy! I almost married him once, the only thing that stopped me was that he had no idea that I existed and I was ten years old, around there anyway. He was my first true love. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsyUN...

[Kim]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AL8o...

[Kim]

Now you have me listening to all my old Partridge Family music. :-)

[Kim]

Now if I can tear myself away from my PF music I'll post the illustrations.






Mr. Peggotty and Ham

Chapter 32

Frank Reynolds

Text Illustrated:

The news of what had happened soon spread through the town; insomuch that as I passed along the streets next morning, I overheard the people speaking of it at their doors. Many were hard upon her, some few were hard upon him, but towards her second father and her lover there was but one sentiment. Among all kinds of people a respect for them in their distress prevailed, which was full of gentleness and delicacy. The seafaring men kept apart, when those two were seen early, walking with slow steps on the beach; and stood in knots, talking compassionately among themselves.

It was on the beach, close down by the sea, that I found them. It would have been easy to perceive that they had not slept all last night, even if Peggotty had failed to tell me of their still sitting just as I left them, when it was broad day. They looked worn; and I thought Mr. Peggotty’s head was bowed in one night more than in all the years I had known him. But they were both as grave and steady as the sea itself, then lying beneath a dark sky, waveless—yet with a heavy roll upon it, as if it breathed in its rest—and touched, on the horizon, with a strip of silvery light from the unseen sun.

[Kim]

"Take a word of advice, even from three foot nothing."

Chapter 32

Fred Barnard

1872 Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

‘What did I know?’ said Miss Mowcher, taking out her handkerchief again, and giving one little stamp on the ground whenever, at short intervals, she applied it to her eyes with both hands at once. ‘He was crossing you and wheedling you, I saw; and you were soft wax in his hands, I saw. Had I left the room a minute, when his man told me that “Young Innocence” (so he called you, and you may call him “Old Guilt” all the days of your life) had set his heart upon her, and she was giddy and liked him, but his master was resolved that no harm should come of it—more for your sake than for hers—and that that was their business here? How could I BUT believe him? I saw Steerforth soothe and please you by his praise of her! You were the first to mention her name. You owned to an old admiration of her. You were hot and cold, and red and white, all at once when I spoke to you of her. What could I think—what DID I think—but that you were a young libertine in everything but experience, and had fallen into hands that had experience enough, and could manage you (having the fancy) for your own good? Oh! oh! oh! They were afraid of my finding out the truth,’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher, getting off the fender, and trotting up and down the kitchen with her two short arms distressfully lifted up, ‘because I am a sharp little thing—I need be, to get through the world at all!—and they deceived me altogether, and I gave the poor unfortunate girl a letter, which I fully believe was the beginning of her ever speaking to Littimer, who was left behind on purpose!’

I stood amazed at the revelation of all this perfidy, looking at Miss Mowcher as she walked up and down the kitchen until she was out of breath: when she sat upon the fender again, and, drying her face with her handkerchief, shook her head for a long time, without otherwise moving, and without breaking silence.

‘My country rounds,’ she added at length, ‘brought me to Norwich, Mr. Copperfield, the night before last. What I happened to find there, about their secret way of coming and going, without you—which was strange—led to my suspecting something wrong. I got into the coach from London last night, as it came through Norwich, and was here this morning. Oh, oh, oh! too late!’

Poor little Mowcher turned so chilly after all her crying and fretting, that she turned round on the fender, putting her poor little wet feet in among the ashes to warm them, and sat looking at the fire, like a large doll. I sat in a chair on the other side of the hearth, lost in unhappy reflections, and looking at the fire too, and sometimes at her.

‘I must go,’ she said at last, rising as she spoke. ‘It’s late. You don’t mistrust me?’

Meeting her sharp glance, which was as sharp as ever when she asked me, I could not on that short challenge answer no, quite frankly.

‘Come!’ said she, accepting the offer of my hand to help her over the fender, and looking wistfully up into my face, ‘you know you wouldn’t mistrust me, if I was a full-sized woman!’

I felt that there was much truth in this; and I felt rather ashamed of myself.

‘You are a young man,’ she said, nodding. ‘Take a word of advice, even from three foot nothing. Try not to associate bodily defects with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason.’

She had got over the fender now, and I had got over my suspicion. I told her that I believed she had given me a faithful account of herself, and that we had both been hapless instruments in designing hands. She thanked me, and said I was a good fellow.

‘Now, mind!’ she exclaimed, turning back on her way to the door, and looking shrewdly at me, with her forefinger up again.—‘I have some reason to suspect, from what I have heard—my ears are always open; I can’t afford to spare what powers I have—that they are gone abroad. But if ever they return, if ever any one of them returns, while I am alive, I am more likely than another, going about as I do, to find it out soon. Whatever I know, you shall know. If ever I can do anything to serve the poor betrayed girl, I will do it faithfully, please Heaven! And Littimer had better have a bloodhound at his back, than little Mowcher!’

[Kim]

Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth

Chapter 32

Phiz

Commentary:

For the first illustration in the eleventh monthly number, March 1850, comprising chapters 32 through 34, Phiz and Dickens bring together — one might say, into collision — the novel's chief parental figures who span the extended Victorian middle class: lower-middle class Dan'l Peggotty and upper-middle class Mrs. Steerforth at the latter's drawing-room, the textual passage realized is this:

No Littimer appeared. The pleasanter face which had replaced his, on the occasion of my last visit, answered to our summons, and went before us to the drawing-room. Mrs. Steerforth was sitting there. Rosa Dartle glided, as we went in, from another part of the room and stood behind her chair.

I saw, directly, in his mother’s face, that she knew from himself what he had done. It was very pale; and bore the traces of deeper emotion than my letter alone, weakened by the doubts her fondness would have raised upon it, would have been likely to create. I thought her more like him than ever I had thought her; and I felt, rather than saw, that the resemblance was not lost on my companion.

She sat upright in her arm-chair, with a stately, immoveable, passionless air, that it seemed as if nothing could disturb. She looked very stedfastly at Mr. Peggotty when he stood before her; and he looked quite as stedfastly at her. Rosa Dartle's keen glance comprehended all of us. For some moments not a word was spoken.

She motioned to Mr. Peggotty to be seated. He said, in a low voice, ‘I shouldn’t feel it nat’ral, ma’am, to sit down in this house. I’d sooner stand.’ And this was succeeded by another silence, which she broke thus:

‘I know, with deep regret, what has brought you here. What do you want of me? What do you ask me to do?’

He put his hat under his arm, and feeling in his breast for Emily’s letter, took it out, unfolded it, and gave it to her. ‘Please to read that, ma’am. That’s my niece’s hand!’

She read it, in the same stately and impassive way,—untouched by its contents, as far as I could see,—and returned it to him.

‘“Unless he brings me back a lady,”’ said Mr. Peggotty, tracing out that part with his finger. ‘I come to know, ma’am, whether he will keep his wured?’

‘No,’ she returned.

‘Why not?’ said Mr. Peggotty.

‘It is impossible. He would disgrace himself. You cannot fail to know that she is far below him.’

‘Raise her up!’ said Mr. Peggotty.

‘She is uneducated and ignorant.’

‘Maybe she’s not; maybe she is,’ said Mr. Peggotty. ‘I think not, ma’am; but I’m no judge of them things. Teach her better!’

‘Since you oblige me to speak more plainly, which I am very unwilling to do, her humble connexions would render such a thing impossible, if nothing else did.’

‘Hark to this, ma’am,’ he returned, slowly and quietly. ‘You know what it is to love your child. So do I. If she was a hundred times my child, I couldn’t love her more. You doen’t know what it is to lose your child. I do. All the heaps of riches in the wureld would be nowt to me (if they was mine) to buy her back! But, save her from this disgrace, and she shall never be disgraced by us. Not one of us that she’s growed up among, not one of us that’s lived along with her and had her for their all in all, these many year, will ever look upon her pritty face again. We’ll be content to let her be; we’ll be content to think of her, far off, as if she was underneath another sun and sky; we’ll be content to trust her to her husband,—to her little children, p’raps,—and bide the time when all of us shall be alike in quality afore our God!’

Dickens introduces readers to "the old brick house at Highgate on the summit of the hill" in chapter 20 (November 1849), a slightly dilapidated mansion rising above the noxious vapours of London in the distance and superintended by the "stately" widow. The previous scene occurred in the Steerforths' dining-room, and the focus of David's gaze then had been Rosa Dartle's scar, evidence of James Steerforth's meanness and brutality. Here, Phiz realizes the dramatic confrontation in the drawing room. David's gaze textually is divided between the forthright Mr. Peggotty, a pillar of rectitude in Phiz's illustration, and the afflicted Mrs. Steerforth, regally enthroned, as if reluctantly granting a courtier an audience. Phiz's David looks neither to the right (the enigmatic upper classes) nor the left (the stalwart labouring classes), but, conscious of the part he has unwittingly played in Em'ly's seduction, inward.

Dan'l Peggotty rather than David had proposed the visit to Mrs. Steerforth in order to learn where her son might have taken Em'ly. David had arranged the trip from London by letter earlier that same day. Curiously, the text announces their time of arrival as "two o'clock in the afternoon", but the clock on the mantelpiece behind David shows the beginning of the interview as occurring an hour later. Otherwise, the illustration seems to be a faithful visual adaptation of the text. Dickens stipulates that Mrs. Steerforth is seated in an arm-chair, but does not say where Mr. Peggotty and David are situated in relation to the lady; in particular, although Dickens indicates Rosa Dartle's position as being behind Mrs. Steerforth's arm-chair, he does not indicate David's position relative to the others. Crucially, then, Phiz has placed David in the middle of the scene with the principals to the extreme right (Mrs. Steerforth) and extreme left (Dan'l Peggotty), their poses being complementary. Phiz positions David in the centre, hat in hand, not to describe the protagonist's egocentricity but to emphasize how David feels caught in the middle, appreciating the feelings of both distraught parents. Sympathizing with Mrs. Steerforth because he still loves her son, though not as uncritically as before, David is Mr. Peggotty's companion and support, just as Rosa Dartle is Mrs. Steerforth's. Regarding Steerforth's abduction of Em'ly as a violation of his friendship, David silently commiserates with Dan'l Peggotty, a parent determined to rescue his adopted daughter from a life of disgrace and exploitation. Having just experienced the death of Barkis, David has in essence now suffered a second death, the extinguishing of Steerforth as his male role model. David in he illustration is devastated by the realisation that his idol has feet of clay, although he apprehends Steerforth's fallibility earlier in the chapter, when Miss Mowcher reveals her role in Steerforth's plot to abscond with Ham's fiancee.

In her physical rigidity, which foreshadows Mrs. Steerforth's refusal even to contemplate permitting her son to marry beneath him socially, she (who does not appear elsewhere in Phiz's narrative-pictorial sequence) reminds the viewer of Jane Murdstone. David, who stands below the painting above the mantelpiece portrsaying James Steerforth as an infant, appears stricken, his intense inner gaze perhaps reflecting his sense of personal responsibility for introducing Steerforth to the Peggottys. David is dressed exactly as in the previous illustration, "I find Mr. Barkis 'going out with the tide'" (February 1850), whereas Dan'l Peggotty, although looking much the same and again in profile, is wearing a travelling jacket rather than a nautical smockfrock. He is a far more serious and less jovial Dan'l Peggotty than the one depicted by Phiz in "I am hospitably received by Mr. Peggotty" (May 1849). Now he is animated by a seriousness of purpose that ennobles and dignifies him, so that he is no longer the two-dimensional "comic man" or jolly tar from the Victorian melodrama.

[Kim]

Under the lilac tree

Chapter 33

Fred Barnard

1872 Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

I think I committed every possible absurdity in the way of preparation for this blessed event. I turn hot when I remember the cravat I bought. My boots might be placed in any collection of instruments of torture. I provided, and sent down by the Norwood coach the night before, a delicate little hamper, amounting in itself, I thought, almost to a declaration. There were crackers in it with the tenderest mottoes that could be got for money. At six in the morning, I was in Covent Garden Market, buying a bouquet for Dora. At ten I was on horseback (I hired a gallant grey, for the occasion), with the bouquet in my hat, to keep it fresh, trotting down to Norwood.

I suppose that when I saw Dora in the garden and pretended not to see her, and rode past the house pretending to be anxiously looking for it, I committed two small fooleries which other young gentlemen in my circumstances might have committed—because they came so very natural to me. But oh! when I DID find the house, and DID dismount at the garden-gate, and drag those stony-hearted boots across the lawn to Dora sitting on a garden-seat under a lilac tree, what a spectacle she was, upon that beautiful morning, among the butterflies, in a white chip bonnet and a dress of celestial blue! There was a young lady with her—comparatively stricken in years—almost twenty, I should say. Her name was Miss Mills. And Dora called her Julia. She was the bosom friend of Dora. Happy Miss Mills!

Jip was there, and Jip WOULD bark at me again. When I presented my bouquet, he gnashed his teeth with jealousy. Well he might. If he had the least idea how I adored his mistress, well he might!

‘Oh, thank you, Mr. Copperfield! What dear flowers!’ said Dora.

I had had an intention of saying (and had been studying the best form of words for three miles) that I thought them beautiful before I saw them so near HER. But I couldn’t manage it. She was too bewildering. To see her lay the flowers against her little dimpled chin, was to lose all presence of mind and power of language in a feeble ecstasy. I wonder I didn’t say, ‘Kill me, if you have a heart, Miss Mills. Let me die here!’

Then Dora held my flowers to Jip to smell. Then Jip growled, and wouldn’t smell them. Then Dora laughed, and held them a little closer to Jip, to make him. Then Jip laid hold of a bit of geranium with his teeth, and worried imaginary cats in it. Then Dora beat him, and pouted, and said, ‘My poor beautiful flowers!’ as compassionately, I thought, as if Jip had laid hold of me. I wished he had!

Commentary:

Barnard sets his illustration of the protagonist's courtship in Mr. Spenlow's garden on his daughter's birthday. Barnard renders Mr. Spenlow's young guest, proctor-candidate David Copperfield, as far more earnest than the vain, self-centred, exquisitely dressed Dora, who has just received the bouquet that David purchased for her that morning at Covent Garden. Her older friend, Miss Julia Mills, acting as chaperon, discretely keeps to one side, but Dora seems much more interested in her flowers and dog Jip than in the well-dressed young man with the riding crop and penetrating gaze. To focus the viewer's attention on the doll-like Dora, Barnard has made her the central triangle in his composition shading the barely seen figure of Julia Mills and crowding David into the left register. Already David has received his usual rebuff from the jealous pet, and, thanking David, Dora has laid the floral tribute to her beauty "against her little dimpled chin," just as in Dickens's text.

[Mary Lou]

Kim wrote: "David Cassidy! I almost married him once..."

Me, too! :-D

My husband was generous enough to go with me to see David Cassidy in concert a few years ago. He was a great entertainer - had fun with the audience, which, of course was made up of giddy ladies of a certain age, and a lot of embarrassed husbands furtively scanning the audience to make sure they wouldn't be recognized. It was a really fun night. Even my husband admitted to enjoying the show, once he felt resonably safe that no one he knew had spotted him. And it's supplied him with some good stories to tell since.

Whenever I get really ticked off at my husband, I remind myself that he's gone with me to see all my teeny-bopper crushes - David Cassidy, the Monkees, Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits), Denny Laine (Moody Blues and Wings), Paul McCartney, and Ringo. He must truly love me to put himself through all that gushing.

[Kim]

My Aunt astonishes me

Chapter 34

Phiz

Commentary:


For the second illustration in the eleventh monthly number, which appeared 1n March 1850 and comprised chapters 32 through 34, Phiz realizes the revelation of the novel's chief plot, the unexpected financial failure of Betsy Trotwood, who had been the source of David's affluent lifestyle, the illustrated realized is the following:

We looked at one another, without knowing what to make of this, and went into the sitting-room. What was my amazement to find, of all people upon earth, my aunt there, and Mr. Dick! My aunt sitting on a quantity of luggage, with her two birds before her, and her cat on her knee, like a female Robinson Crusoe, drinking tea. Mr. Dick leaning thoughtfully on a great kite, such as we had often been out together to fly, with more luggage piled about him!

‘My dear aunt!’ cried I. ‘Why, what an unexpected pleasure!’

We cordially embraced; and Mr. Dick and I cordially shook hands; and Mrs. Crupp, who was busy making tea, and could not be too attentive, cordially said she had knowed well as Mr. Copperfull would have his heart in his mouth, when he see his dear relations.

‘Holloa!’ said my aunt to Peggotty, who quailed before her awful presence. ‘How are YOU?’

‘You remember my aunt, Peggotty?’ said I.

‘For the love of goodness, child,’ exclaimed my aunt, ‘don’t call the woman by that South Sea Island name! If she married and got rid of it, which was the best thing she could do, why don’t you give her the benefit of the change? What’s your name now,—P?’ said my aunt, as a compromise for the obnoxious appellation.

‘Barkis, ma’am,’ said Peggotty, with a curtsey.

‘Well! That’s human,’ said my aunt. ‘It sounds less as if you wanted a missionary. How d’ye do, Barkis? I hope you’re well?’

Encouraged by these gracious words, and by my aunt’s extending her hand, Barkis came forward, and took the hand, and curtseyed her acknowledgements.

‘We are older than we were, I see,’ said my aunt. ‘We have only met each other once before, you know. A nice business we made of it then! Trot, my dear, another cup.’

I handed it dutifully to my aunt, who was in her usual inflexible state of figure; and ventured a remonstrance with her on the subject of her sitting on a box.

Mrs. Crupp, David's housekeeper, occupies the centre of the room busily making tea in David's sitting-room at the Adelphi for Betsey Trotwood, who sits serenely on "a box" — as in the text. Behind David, at the extreme right, stands Clara Barkis (née Peggotty) in standard Victorian mourning. Behind Aunt Betsey, at the extreme left, behind a gigantic kite whose tail trails towards the centre of the room, is Mr. Dick. Thus, the weapon of fate depicted in the picture of the Sword of Damocles in "We are disturbed in our cookery", having descended upon the Micawbers for debt, and upon Em'ly and the extended Peggotty family as a whole for the girl's vain and deluded fancy, has now descended upon Aunt Betsey, who has entrusted her affairs to attorney Wickfield, and her extended family, Mr. Dick and David. Although she has been ruined financially, Betsey Trotwood faces her situation with same unflappable determination as Dan'l Peggotty in the previous illustration, "Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth".

Phiz has made the compositions of the two illustrations for the March number somewhat similar, perhaps intending to suggest thematic parallels as the movements in both have left what is known and safe, moving towards an uncertain future. Dan'l Peggotty will have to go abroad in search of his errant niece, and David and his aunt will have to live without the benefit of her fortune, in London, a source of apprehension for the elderly woman from Kent ("Whatever," one wonders, "will Mr. Dick be able to do with his kite in the confines of the metropolis?"). With five figures disposed in seated and standing postures in a drawing-room with chairs and a central fireplace, "My Aunt astonishes me" resembles "Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth." If one includes the picture of James Steerforth as a child above the mantelpiece, five figures occupy each scene. In each, a stately matriarch is seated and shown in profile, Mrs. Steerforth dominating the right-hand register and balancing the standing figure of her petitioner, Dan'l Peggotty, left, each side being presided over by a male and female bust, indicative of the public, male-dominated, and the domestic, female-controlled, spheres respectively. The movements implied in these illustrations likewise complement each other: in the first of the March 1850 etchings, the action proceeds from left to right, with Dan'l Peggotty and David having entered from the left and effectively blocked by Mrs. Steerforth and her dark companion, Rosa Dartle, in the quest for information and sympathy; in the second etching, the action flows in the reverse direction. Behind and beyond Dan'l Peggotty in the first illustration and David in the second the viewer is to understand that there lies the greater world. Still dressed for the street, David and Clara Barkis have just entered through the door, right, having climbed the stairs of the Adelphi Buildings beyond, and Mrs. Crupp is turned towards Aunt Betsey and her companion, Mr. Dick, as she attends to making the tea.

Whereas the background details, such as the painting, the busts, and the playful kitten contribute thematically to the viewer's understanding of "Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth," there are few such details in "My Aunt astonishes me." In "My Aunt astonishes me," in contrast, the only significant detail is the cracked mirror, which may imply the underlying flaws in David's former vision of a comfortable future and an admirable friend and mentor, James Steerforth. If the crack reflects such flawed vision, it may also portend a problematic future, with financial and emotional tribulations that the protagonist only dimly apprehends as he discovers his aunt, his earthly possessions, and her life-companion in his bachelor apartment.

[Kim]

My aunt astonishes me

Phiz colored

[Kim]

[Kim]

And here we have Kyd's Dora:

[Kim]

And here is his idea of Mr. Spenlow:

[Julie]

Kim wrote: "Mary Lou wrote: "That's a shame. What a sad loss for you."

Oh, there's a part two of the story. This happened in the summer of 2015, I never contacted him again, at least not for the next few year..."

That is a good sequel, though still kind of melancholy. I hope the relationship continues to mend.

[Kim]

Mary Lou wrote: "Kim wrote: "David Cassidy! I almost married him once..."

Me, too! :-D

My husband was generous enough to go with me to see David Cassidy in concert a few years ago. He was a great entertainer - ha..."

Today is my sister's birthday, I sent her this. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KEcL...

[Kim]

For awhile I thought that maybe David's first teacher and Dora's friend were brother and sister, which would be quite the coincidence, until I realized that he was Mr. Mell and she was Miss Mills.

[Kim]

I wonder if Dickens hadn't been threatened by a law suit from the original "Miss Mowcher" would he have brought her back into the story at all.

[[deleted user]]

He might have in a different way, he might not have. I like it that she came back though.

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "Now if I can tear myself away from my PF music I'll post the illustrations.






Mr. Peggotty and Ham

Chapter 32

Frank Reynolds

Text Illustrated:

The news of what had happened soon spread thro..."

Kim

Thanks for giving us the picture by Reynolds. To me, he is able to capture the characters and create a very simple yet evocative setting for the work.

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "And here we have Kyd's Dora:

"

Dora. Oh my ...

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "

Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth

Chapter 32

Phiz

Commentary:

For the first illustration in the eleventh monthly number, March 1850, comprising chapters 32 through 34, Phiz and Dickens bring t..."

Well, I guess it’s no surprise I like this illustration. The commentary identifies many of the various parts of this most interesting example of Phiz. I was impressed how Phiz situates David in the middle bottom half of the illustration. From this fixed point we have a chevron of faces that radiate upward towards the top left and right points of the illustration. From the top centre a young Steerforth looks down on David. From atop the heads of Mr Peggotty and Rosa are found busts which look down on David. Next, we see Peggotty and Rosa look down on David. At the point of the chevron David looks down too. David is the focus of everyone, both living, in portrait, and busts. David's downcast face suggest his feelings of guilt. Mrs Steerforth’s position suggests both pride in her son and sorrow that he has chosen to break with her and her social class. One other interesting point is the fact that over Peggotty’s shoulder is a bust of a male head. Over the shoulder of Mrs Steerforth is a bust of a female. It is a male, Steerforth, that has brought sadness to Peggotty; it is a female, Emily, who has brought social embarrassment and disgrace to Mrs Steerforth. Poor David. At the point of the chevron he is seen as the person who is looked upon by all.

Perhaps, as is often the case with Browne, a very telling emblematic detail can be found. In this illustration it is found on the right edge of the illustration. Here we find a cat in an upward position and gaze looking at a bird cage by the window. This reflects how Steerforth had stalked and captured the innocent Em’ly. The reason all the characters are assembled in this illustration is because of Steerforth’s action. Otherwise, there would never have been an occasion where the social classes of Peggotty and Mrs Steerforth would have crossed paths.

Em’ly’s cage was her social class. Now she has been transformed from an innocent caged bird into the stormy Petrel. She has sailed from her home and brought either sorrow or shame to all in the illustration.

[Kim]

I wonder how long it would take Browne to draw an illustration. They certainly have a lot of detail I would think it took quite a while to get all that on paper.

[Mary Lou]

Kim wrote: "

My aunt astonishes me

Phiz colored"

I like Phiz so much better in colored versions. Do we know if he did them, or did Ted Turner colorize them later?

Peter, the nuance you discern from Phiz's illustrations amazes me.

Re: Miss Mowcher - I wonder if she'll have a future role. If not, bringing her back would seem silly. They say any publicity is good publicity, so I'll bet the change in Miss Mowcher was enough to placate her inspiration and drop any lawsuit. All these people who would have been long forgotten are still remembered and discussed centuries later because Dickens immortalized them, for better or for worse.

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "I wonder how long it would take Browne to draw an illustration. They certainly have a lot of detail I would think it took quite a while to get all that on paper."

Hi Kim

Browne was a busy man. In general terms he would learn about/perhaps even read the evolving chapter. Frequently, Dickens would describe to Browne what he wanted to appear in the monthly instalment. Letters which exist between the two suggest Browne would cobble up an illustration, then send it off to Dickens for comments, criticism or even praise. Alas, praise was in short supply over the ten novel they collaborated on. :-( During the time of their collaboration, in general, Dickens became less of a micromanager over what Browne was doing. The little Paul and Pipchin illustration in Dombey and Son is, however, one famous example of how when Dickens did not like what Browne did, sparks would fly.

Alterations and a cleaning up of the image would then be done and the illustration would be engraved. Following that, the illustration would be printed and placed within the letterpress of each part. All in all, a furious pace.

[Peter]

Mary Lou wrote: "Kim wrote: "

My aunt astonishes me

Phiz colored"

I like Phiz so much better in colored versions. Do we know if he did them, or did Ted Turner colorize them later?

Peter, the nuance you discern..."

Mary Lou

I love your comment about Ted Turner colourizing the illustrations. I can just picture him watching a colourized classic movie and then barking out instructions to make Uriah’s hair redder.

[Tristram]

Maybe, the second wife was in the grips of jealousy, the green-eyed monster, and your friend just didn't have the guts to stand up for your friendship. Still, it was a kind of betrayal to fob you off with a short note, just as Steeforth betrayed David. Only I don't believe that Steerforth was a true and honest friend to start with.

[Tristram]

Peter wrote: "Mary Lou wrote: "Emily and Ham
Emily and Steerforth
Murdstone and Clara
Dr. and Annie Strong
Rosa and Steerforth

To continue the theme of a discussion in a different thread, all of the above are t..."

Strange, but Jack Maldon just slips off the tongue naturally, doesn't it? However, knowing Dickens, there must be something more to it.

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "Now if I can tear myself away from my PF music I'll post the illustrations.






Mr. Peggotty and Ham

Chapter 32

Frank Reynolds

Text Illustrated:

The news of what had happened soon spread thro..."

An interesting illustration with two very real-life like people. Strangely, I never thought of Ham as a strong and masculine man like that, but more as an awkward, overgrown boy. I think that Dickens's treatment of him does a lot to add to my impression.

[Tristram]

Jantine wrote: "He might have in a different way, he might not have. I like it that she came back though."

Plus, she comes back in a very believable way. I wonder if Dickens had not planned for Miss Mowcher to take an active part in luring Emily into Steerforth's path originally, but what he eventually did, placing Miss Mowcher on the other side and having her disclose a more humane face to David adds depth not only to the character but to the novel as a whole, making the character and the plot more ambiguous.

[Tristram]

There is an interesting detail I happen to remember right now: When David speaks of a ring he gives to Dora, he says that he has recently seen a similar ring on his own daughter's finger. So we can say that David must have married someone, perhaps Dora, and also has at least one child. He seems to have settled in life eventually, and by the way, Dickens has once again made brilliant use of the intermingling of different time levels. The question is why Dickens might have thought it fit to let the reader know that David is the father of one daughter at this point in the narrative.

[Peter]

Tristram wrote: "There is an interesting detail I happen to remember right now: When David speaks of a ring he gives to Dora, he says that he has recently seen a similar ring on his own daughter's finger. So we can..."

Tristram

Yes. David’s comment about seeing a similar ring on his daughter’s finger seems to be out of joint with any angle of chronology in the novel. I can’t figure out a reason or any logic either.

[Bobbie]

I agree the comment about the daughter is very odd, it kind of threw me for a loop. Also, I can't remember enough about the later part of the book from my first reading to know if we hear more of the daughter. I hope so.