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American Notes for General Circulation Vol. 2 (hosted by John)
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Shirley (stampartiste)
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Mar 18, 2025 02:49PM
Jean~. I loved all of your comments on Chapter 15 and couldn't agree with you more. You have summarized so well Dickens' assessment of Canada vs. US. I wonder if this is the chapter that sent Washington Irving over the edge. 😄
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Thanks Shirley! We cross-posted, so when I went back it was good to see that we were in accord! I suppose we'll never really know what the last straw was for Washington Irving with Dickens ... unless he confided it somewhere. 🤔
I think there were two issues at play for Dickens at this stage of the journey. He was probably exhausted. And exhaustion can create irritability, which seems to be a factor in some of the later chapters. I must say that on one of the boat rides, which was just a short commuter type trip, I was a little shocked by how quick he was to say these were lifeless and inert people. Actually, in my opinion, they were just commuters on a short trip who really did not have the luxury of a ride of days and weeks in which to chat and get to know one another. I don’t think he realized this. The second issue that may have affected his writing was probably the angst about the boat trip home. After the ride out, who would not be worried?
Sam wrote: "Dickens' reaction to the "graffiti" was probably my favorite moment of the book and probably the climax of Dickens' reaction to the coarseness and lack of civility and refinement he has been experi..."Hi Sam
I will reply to each of the comments from others below, but to you first as you have touched on a very key element of Dickens’s discoveries while in North America. First, he discovered that what he thought he was going to find was not going to happen. Disappointment, followed by a lack of privacy, and an excess of spitting, and then bluntly experiencing slavery first hand shook him to his core.
Mary Lou wrote: "The Dickenses left England on January 3rd, and it is now the "beginning of June". After five months of strange food, strange manners, uncomfortable weather and travel, not to mention those things w..."Hi Mary Lou
Yes, as the saying goes ‘there is no place like home.’ There has been much written about what happened to Dickens’s emotional well-being while in North America. He was prone to bouts of depression and was not in a good mental state when he reached Niagara Falls. The power and majesty of the Falls, and his believe that he was able to connect with Mary Hogarth, seemed to adjust his mental balance.
His 10 day rest in the Falls was also rejuvenating. That, when combined with the fact he was now on British soil, was another tonic. A look at his tone, his feeling of being British (Eg the Brock Monument) the sight of British soldiers, the Union Union Jack, and an increased sense of personal space also helped. As we see from his comments about Toronto, he found flaws in the British possessions as well. Tomorrow I will point out other ‘differences’ he discovered between the American side and the British side of the border.
As for how AN was written. He sent many, many letters to his friends back in England with the instruction to keep the letters. When he returned home he used those letters as his ‘rough notes’ as aides memoire to write AN. In Dickens’s typical fashion he wrote and churned out ANin a scant few months.
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "Peter wrote: "Clearly, Dickens wants to avoid any/all comparisons between the United States and the ‘British Possessions in Canada.´ A bit of history. Canada did not become a country until 1867 so ..."Hi Shirley
Yes, you have grasped the text’s change in tone and emotion wonderfully well. Dickens was much more comfortable in Canada. He understood the legal system better, he saw the Union Jack, the soldiers all wore red. So many incidentals when, taken together, add up to mean a great deal. Tomorrow I will cover the last days of Dickens’s time in Canada. We will see more of his Englishness.
Bionic Jean wrote: "The United States v. Canada in 1842, through Dickens’s EyesI know Peter has been keen to discuss this, and it looks as if now is a good time, just after Charles Dickens has left C..."
Ah, Jean, you sum up so much so very well. I too, was sorry Dickens wrote so little about Canada, but, like an iceberg there is so much under the surface, or to put it another way, so much left unsaid about Canada. We have, however, in this discussion been able to see the shift in tone, the realignment of Dickens’s focus. The title of the travelogue is ‘American Notes’ and, understandably, more time there would suggest more written about America.
Tomorrow I will make some observations about what happened in Montreal and Quebec City. Hopefully, much more will be revealed and discussed.
Bridget wrote: "I am finally caught up with the book, and the comments - which are all wonderful. I'm so glad Dickens wrote about meeting the Choctaw Chief. Sadly, Pitchlynn is right about his people's culture dying out. ..."In my area, also Washington State--hi Bridget!--the native tribes emphasize that their culture has not died out: they are still here, surviving--and, as you mentioned, working to keep their traditions going.
Wikipedia (that august source!) says there are currently still 4 recognized Choctaw tribes. An interesting story about the Choctaw in Dickens's time is that as hard as things were for them, they sent famine relief funds to Ireland in 1847, 5 years after Dickens met Pitchlynn. Here's an article about it:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
Thanks, Jean, for the photo of Pitchlynn. And my apologies for posting all this out of sequence! I have gotten behind again.
(another somewhat out of sync post)--agreeing with all those who mentioned that the timing of Dickens's journey maybe affected how he saw that prairie. I remember when I was living in Illinois how much I missed seeing spring come in March in Washington State, or at least the part of it that's west of the mountains. Very much enjoying seeing geese flying north overhead right now. As far as they're concerned, it's spring already!
Since Dickens was a city man living in a country with a long history, I wonder if he really appreciates how difficult it was for immigrants getting off the boat with absolutely nothing. They often were undernourished, sick, and had lost family members after spending weeks traveling in steerage. It takes time to build housing and plant a farm. Willa Cather wrote about Scandinavian immigrants who made sod houses on the prairie when they first arrived, or cut a dirt cave into a hillside in My Ántonia. They were fortunate if they had the resources to afford basic tools and animals for farming. Meanwhile, the immigrants still had to feed their families.
The Catskill hovels that the Irish families were living in sounded awful. Since they were living by a railroad under construction, they might not have even owned the land or the shacks, but could have been living in railroad shacks while their men worked. While there is good fishing and hunting in the Catskills, the land was formed by glaciers, is full of rocks, and is not conducive to farming. There is heavy snowfall in the Catskills in the winter. I can't imagine trying to get a start in that area without an established family to help you. (The Catskills eventually developed into an area that attracted summer tourists with camps and resorts instead of residents that stayed all year. The area was especially popular with Jewish and Irish groups coming from New York City in the 20th Century.)
While Dickens' observations sound valid, I'm surprised he doesn't write more about "why" conditions might be so primitive. He gave us the "why" in his books about the poor in England, but is not doing it so much when he writes about America.
Connie (on semi-hiatus) wrote: "Since Dickens was a city man living in a country with a long history, I wonder if he really appreciates how difficult it was for immigrants getting off the boat with absolutely nothing. They often ..."Interesting history and background on the Catskills, Connie. As a child in The Bronx, my dad would spend summers in the Catskills — Tannersville, to be specific. I visited the Catskills over the years when I lived in New Jersey. I remember the Nevele Resort and I golfed and rode horses there.
Mod
Thank you so much for the link to such an interesting article about the Choctaw tribes.
I think this footnote which I referenced about Mr Caitlin's Gallery (from my Heron Centennial edition which usually replicates one the Oxford Illustrated ones) is very misleading, and possibly incorrect!
"Mr Caitlin published, with coloured illustrations, a most interesting work on the now-extinct Mandan Indians. The drawings include several portraits, one of which corresponds to Dickens's descriptions of his Choctaw acquaintance."
From what you say - plus the fact that the Mandan Indians even have their own website - the bit I've put in bold is simply not true! The edition is from 1970 (obviously since it is the centennial one!) so perhaps it's a simple mistake based on incomplete knowledge. But I'm very glad you posted, to correct the impression given!
Mod
Peter - I'm glad you enjoyed my comments, and we look forward your further ones. (Peter is too modest to say, but he has an upcoming article on "Dickens in Canada" in the official journal of the Dickens Society "The Dickensian" due out next year! So we are privileged to be able to evidently have a preview of a few of his thoughts now.)
Bionic Jean wrote: "Connie - Those facts about the immigrants to the Catskill area are so interesting, thanks! Actually Charles Dickens was well aware of the problems immigrants face, as East London ha..."Jean
Thank you for your kind words. I must confess it has been an interesting time trying (at times unsuccessfully) of not getting into my forthcoming article in ‘The Dickensian.’ While I cannot send a proof copy of the ‘Dickensian’ article, if anyone would like to read an earlier iteration of the ‘Dickensian article I’d be glad to send it to you. It has lots of illustrations and was published in ‘Little Doric,’ the publication of the Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship. Just send me a private email via Goodreads.
Anyway, I thought first it would be interesting to talk about distances travelled. And goodness, Dickens did travel great distances while in North America. Here are the distances while in Canada. It is 25 km from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the Lake. By steamship, it was 50 km to Toronto. From Toronto to Kingston by steamship is 264 km. Kingston to Montreal by steamship and land would be approximately 288km. From Montreal to Quebec City one way is 260 km. If my math is right thanks 1147 km total in the span of 6 weeks. After his very extensive travels so far in the United States I’m exhausted (and sore all over) just thinking about it.
As Dickens entered the Province of Quebec he entered into a very different place than he had visited so far. Quebec was, and still is, very French in all ways. To this day, the official language is French, the culture is very predominately still French, the law is French Civil Law not English Parliamentary Law, and on and on. The Province of Quebec remains, in many ways, proudly French. In fact, in our Federal Government there is a distinctly French elected party. There is also a party in Quebec whose purpose is to succeed from Canada.With all that said, however, the presence of the British was very evident. During his time in Quebec, Dickens was the guest of the British government and had his most profound interactions with the British garrison stationed in Montreal.
I’m trying to present the information in chunks to make it easier to digest what was going on while Dickens was in the Province of Quebec. A bit of history. Dates.
In 1759 the British army tangled with the French army on The Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The British won, and thus the Province of Quebec came under British rule. This is the battle Dickens refers to in ‘American Notes.’ In the book Dickens acknowledges he visited the site of both the British and French armies. Looking back, we recall that Dickens had earlier seen the Brock Monument near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Thus, twice he had seen and found it important enough to note how England had defeated foreign enemies in battle. His pride in England is clear in his comments.
In 1776, of course, the Americans achieved their independence from England and began their quest to build a republic separate from England. Back to the Brock Monument … Brock fought the Americans in the war of 1812-14. Thus, on two occasions, the British fought for their right to keep Canada as a colony. While Dickens was in Canada, therefore, he saw his homeland, his familiar Parliamentary system, his flag the Union Jack, and was constantly surrounded by his familiar culture. Indeed, in letters home, which he did not refer to in the travelogue, he even got to drink English liquor which was not available in the US.
Sometimes, it is interesting, and indeed important, to find out what it means when information is not stated. My next post will explain what I mean.
While in Montreal Dickens directed, produced and acted in 3 plays. He threw himself into this commitment and spent much time ensuring everything was perfect. Dickens was a perfectionist!Those plays are extremely important to his life. As we know Dickens loved the theatre, wrote plays, acted in plays and had many friends who were actors. In fact while Dickens and Catherine were travelling in 1842 Macready, his friend and actor, was the person who looked after his four children.
Dickens had not begun to get involved in acting after he began his career as an author until his exuberant experience in Montreal, Canada. He learned how much he loved acting and launched himself back onto the stage after his Montreal experience.
If we look closely at the playbill announcing his Montreal experience we can see that Catherine took the stage with him. In Dickens’s handwriting we can see he marked the occasion with multiple exclamation marks. Catherine was not an actress, nor did she ever develop a deep passion to act, so her appearance in stage with Dickens was a major event. This playbill is now housed in the Dickens Museum in London.
And so we must ask ourselves a question … why did Dickens mention nothing about his preparations for, and acting in, three separate plays while in Montreal in ‘American Notes?’ And why no mention of being on stage with his wife?
The answer is one worthy of discussion.
http://www.dickensmontreal.ca/about_u...
Peter wrote: "Sam wrote: "Dickens' reaction to the "graffiti" was probably my favorite moment of the book and probably the climax of Dickens' reaction to the coarseness and lack of civility and refinement he has..."I agree 100% with your assessment. I had to finish the book early since my borrowing time for the library expired, so I will give my opinion on Dickens and slavery a little later. I disappointment is a bit of an understatement. My feeling is that Dickens had been experiencing an ongoing and worsening state of disillusionment as the trip progressed south and west. I do not hold Dickens responsible for this and think we should consider his response justified. It would be interesting to know exactly what picture he had of America before he visited. I imagine it was a very romanticized view. But many of Dickens' complaints are similar to what I would have had and match feelings I actually have had in my own travel, including my initial view of New York, the U.S south and Canada. My first adult visit to Canada prompted wishes to move there and I spent some time looking at real estate in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia all based on how I was treated by Canadian hospitality on that visit.
Dickens' alludes to the corruption he witnessed in Washington and I think that must also have been a major factor in his disillusionment. I imagine there were details that Dickens decided not to put in print that also contributed. Part of the reason I like his exaggerated reaction to the graffiti is that I feel he is using the guestbook as an allowable scapegoat for all the uncouth behavior he is experiencing. Thanks for your thoughts and looking forward to comments on remaining chapters.
Sam wrote: "Peter wrote: "Sam wrote: "Dickens' reaction to the "graffiti" was probably my favorite moment of the book and probably the climax of Dickens' reaction to the coarseness and lack of civility and ref..."Hi Sam
You have captured the essence of Dickens’s experiences very well. On 22 March 1842 Dickens wrote to his good friend William Macready ‘This is not the Republic I came to see. This is not the Republic of my Imagnation.’ Dickens had come to America looking to find what he expected to find and this did not happen.
That said, he made wonderful personal friendships that lasted a lifetime. Among them was the poet Longfellow. They first met in Boston in 1842. Longfellow visited Dickens in England on two occasions and stayed at Gad’s Hill. When Dickens returned to America for his reading tour the men enjoyed their brief time together very much.
Mod
Lots of interesting facts here, thank you Peter. It helps me get the balance between the English and French sorted out in my mind.
And oddly, I was reading about the time Charles Dickens spent with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow just this morning, (!) in Lucinda Hawksley's Charles Dickens: The Man, The Novels, The Victorian Age (another birthday present 😊)
Mod
I never knew you had lived in Canada!
"Part of the reason I like his exaggerated reaction to the graffiti is that I feel he is using the guestbook as an allowable scapegoat for all the uncouth behavior he is experiencing."
What an inspired bit of psychology! I think there may well be something in that.
Dickens went much further west in his US trip, then he went in Canada. Thus the part of Canada he visited was not the frontier, and not as undeveloped. It also makes sense that the travelers in Canada who were going west were not as exhausted as those on the western steamboats - they had not traveled as far yet.
To return to Niagara Falls again, I just read this so marvelous account of Niagara Falla yesterday, in Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky:“I could have found my way to Niagara Falls by following the sound alone, this low ominous rumble, this base-note voice of a waterfall, which even when we were miles away made the earth jitter and the air grow dense with moisture.”
I enjoy reading the comments here, which have most definitely furthered my understanding of this book. It is much more subtly complicated than your average travel book. I also wonder why Washington Irving got so put out by this book. I try to take everything as a whole, not as parts, and I feel whatever perturbed Irving should not have perturbed him. I am reminded of a line from the movie Stripes: “Lighten up, Francis.”
Although I looked at real estate, I never made the move to Canada, deciding instead to go further south in the states. It was probably a good thing for the Canadians. There soon were far too many people seeking to capitalize on cheaper properties in Canada and a weak Canadian dollar at the time as an investment. That was not my intent, but I probably would have been grouped in that bunch and it really pushed the price up on Canadian property.
fantastic conversation. I really have nothing to add at this point.
Mary Lou wrote: "Was anyone else reminded of the Rock Island song from the opening of "The Music Man" when Dickens was telling the "yes, sir" story? :-) "That is EXACTLY what I thought of!
Bionic Jean wrote: "And I was struck by the "droning gentleman" with his gun reference, which is pretty much the same now."That was so funny, particularly with Dickens reporting that in response he, "being for that moment rather prone to contradiction, from feeling half asleep and very tired, declined to acquiesce."
Clearly the travel got to him and he lost his temper. I am glad that at least even though he was left unmoved by the prairie, Niagara Falls surpassed his expectations.
When Dickens left Canada he was presented with a silver chalice by the soldiers he performed with while in Canada. The Dickens Museum in London now have it on display.https://www.collections.dickensmuseum...
Peter wrote: "Yes, as the saying goes ‘there is no place like home.’ There has been much written about what happened to Dickens’s emotional well-being while in North America. He was prone to bouts of depression and was not in a good mental state when he reached Niagara Falls..."By Chapter 14, it was obvious that Dickens was quite homesick and exhausted and ready to go home. Even as they were enduring that terrible stagecoach journey toward Niagara Falls, Dickens wrote "Still, it was a fine day,... we were moving towards Niagara and home."
Peter wrote: "...he [Dickens] discovered that what he thought he was going to find was not going to happen..."As I was drifting off to sleep last night (sadly, my mind never rests! 🙄), it hit me that maybe Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America had played a role in Dickens' views on what he would find in America. I just looked it up. The first volume was published in 1835 while the second volume was published in 1840. So it is possible that Dickens either read Tocqueville's books or at least was aware of some of their contents. I've never read them myself, but I understand he was highly complimentary toward the "American Experiment" (maybe too complimentary in Dickens' experience).
Peter, thank you for all of the additional information you have shared with us. It provides even more context to Dickens' experiences in America and Canada.When you mentioned how many miles he traveled just in Canada, it made me think of all of the things that could have gone wrong just in this portion of the trip - and for someone with OCD - not being able to control many of those things would have probably added to his stress level!
How interesting that Catherine took the stage with Dickens! I always thought of her as very retiring, so this was quite a myth buster! Sounds like she was becoming quite liberated. LOL. I wonder if this trip changed her. Mmmm...
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "Peter, thank you for all of the additional information you have shared with us. It provides even more context to Dickens' experiences in America and Canada.When you mentioned how many miles he tr..."
Hi Shirley
There is a biography of Catherine Dickens written by Lillian Nayder you might enjoy titled ‘The Other Dickens’ which I found very insightful.
Nayder points out how Catherine was a remarkable woman in many different ways. It must have been hard for most women in the Victorian age to assert their own self and identity. To be married to someone like Dickens would be an additional challenge.
Mod
I agree both times John, and am so pleased you are facilitating and bringing together all our discussions.
Sam - thanks for clarifying.
Kathleen - I loved that evocative quotation. Strange how things come together serendipitously ...
Mod
Catherine regularly acted in Charles Dickens's early plays and collaborations, as we discovered reading them last year. But since Nelly Ternan and her mother were actresses, it is perhaps not surprising that Catherine was not on stage so much later. The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth is supposed to be very good, as Peter says. It owes a lot to the earlier Dickens and Women by Michael Slater, as you might expect, but has an agenda of its own too.
I'm always sad when I think of Catherine and how badly Dickens, eventually, behaved towards her. She had a tragic life.
VOLUME TWOChapter The Eighth (or Chapter 16)
The Passage Home
From biographical information I have read, Dickens was thoroughly against taking a steamship back. He booked a large sailing ship instead -- the George Washington.
The morning he is to embark on the ship, he writes that "I never had so much interest before, and very likely I shall never have so much interest again, in the state of the wind." They are leaving the morning of June 7th and he is desirous of a westerly wind.
The sailing ship appears to have far less passengers. I would venture just 15, compared to the Brittania that had approximately 80 guests. He notes that they breakfast at eight, lunch at twelve, dinner at three, and tea at half past seven. There are plenty of things to do -- whist, cribbage, books, backgammon and shovelboard. It almost sounds like a modernn cruise. I am surprised no chess.
There is also music. An accordion, a violin, a bugle -- sometimes played together, sometimes not. Dickens notes that he knew some of the passengers from Canada, and also writes that some came to America but could not make a go of it and are heading back to England or perhaps Ireland. The journey has a couple of days of squalls, but seems mostly a calm crossing.
They arrive in Ireland and then on to Liverpool. I will leave the end of this chapter to Dickens: "The beauty of the fields, the hedgerows and the trees; the pretty cottages, the beds of flowers, the old churchyards, the antique houses.... the joy of many years and winding up Home and all that it makes dear: no tongue can tell, or pen of mine describe."
You can tell he is happy to be first heading home and then arriving home. I am sure Catherine and Anne felt the same way. It sounded like a pleasurable crossing, more temperate and better weather. Yes, having a west wind sounded good. This is really the end of the journey and the book. The remaining two chapters tend to deal with an appraisal of things, including slavery. I found this chapter quick -- it seemed like it was written with anxiousness -- anxiousness to be home. Who can fault him for that?
Sometimes I wonder if this book should have just ended with that last sentence. The concluding chapters, etc., well, they could have easily formed a separate essay, but we'll get to that. I just liked the ending here and felt it was sufficient.
Peter and Jean: Thank you so much for putting me on to the two books about Catherine Dickens. I definitely want to read at least one of these. Jean, which of the two authors (Naydor or Slater) appear to have an agenda of their own? I usually try to avoid these, as I like to be presented with the facts so that I can form my own opinion.
Can someone clarify what exactly "dinner at 3 pm" and "tea at 7:30 pm" are? Here in the States, tea (consisting of hot tea and maybe a sweet treat) would be a mid-afternoon snack; whereas dinner would be the last full meal of the day, usually between 5-7 pm, depending on local custom.Yes, John, it was definitely apparent that Dickens was ready to go home! He was beside himself with excitement. Like you, I do wish he had stopped his travelogue at the end of this chapter, but I also understand that it was not in Dickens' nature to remain silent without exposing the "institution" he found so loathsome.
I really found it interesting when Dickens described the people who had gone to America and were returning home, penniless, because they were unable to find work. It's just not something I had ever run across before. But it was also telling in that, as bad as the workhouses were in England, at least the government offered some type of safety net, whereas in America, people were expected to rise or fall on their own. It was a totally different dynamic at this time.
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "Can someone clarify what exactly "dinner at 3 pm" and "tea at 7:30 pm" are? Here in the States, tea (consisting of hot tea and maybe a sweet treat) would be a mid-afternoon snack; whereas dinner wo..."Shirley, I seem to recall on the Brittania that tea was around 9 PM — or at least after dinner. Perhaps a different custom on an American ship, which was what the George Washington was?
As for the book, I fully agree that he needed and wanted to address slavery. I guess I had thought that perhaps a separate book of essays would be good for such endeavors. But, then again, as far as being topical, it fits for a book on 1842 America.
One small fact related to tea that popped into my mind. Per capita (or based upon population) the largest imbibers of tea in the world are the people of Turkey. I always found that interesting — my grandmother was born and raised in Istanbul.
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "I really found it interesting when Dickens described the people who had gone to America and were returning home, penniless, because they were unable to find work."I found this section interesting too, and also very confusing, because one of these people was apparently carrying a letter back home to England from someone reporting how easy it was to find work.
I am just getting caught up. I do think the last few chapters have been dull, always with occasional highlights, of course (this is Dickens), but mostly just a quick disgruntled rundown of places. I am in agreement with those who speculate Dickens's interest in travel ran out before his travel did, and his happiness at being on a ship headed home would seem to confirm this.
In this last sailing chapter, I did love the section on watching the ship sweep through the waves, "a bright sun lighting us by day, and a bright moon by night." Definitely better Atlantic weather in June than there had been in January!
Oh, and one more catching-up point: I was very glad Dickens liked Montreal. I have been there on two visits, two decades apart, and both times felt it was one of my favorite cities.
Mod
Clearly the travel got to him and he lost his temper ..."
Yes! 😆
Mod
It's pretty much what you said Shirley. Dinner is always a full meal whereas "tea" varies according to where you are in the country. Northerners have a cooked meal for both, whereas for Southerners tea is just tea, cakes and sandwiches. I think Dickens is stressing the unusual times rather than anything else! Nobody would call a snack at 7.30pm "tea"! It's generally between 3pm and 5pm.
On the other hand, if the captain is Canadian, it might be different ... I did enjoy seeing the word "pilot" here. We looked at that before, as we tend to think of aeroplanes, but it fact the it meant someone with local knowledge who could steer a ship into harbour.
Mod
"which of the two authors (Naydor or Slater) appear to have an agenda of their own?"
I might have used an overly biased word here. 🤔 What I was trying to say was that Lillian Nayder is a feminist author, e.g. another book by her is Dickens, Sexuality and Gender. The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth is from 2010, so her "agenda" may well be the same as (y)ours. During the 1970s, feminist critics began to re-observe the man and his works with fresh eyes. Here are some essays - I don't know them but the blurb explains: http://www.eerpublishing.com/guiliano...
On the other hand, Dickens and Women is from 1983, so although some of these ideas were filtering through, the analysis of relationships might not be as we now see them. Michael Slater is a highly respected Dickens scholar though, whose biography of him is unsurpassed.
Perhaps the thing to bear in mind mostly is that The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth is about Catherine, whereas Dickens and Women goes into Dickens's female characters too. But I think I think for learning about Nellie Ternan The Invisible Woman (1990) by Claire Tomalin is probably a more thorough source than Michael Slater's.
Sorry if this is not very helpful!
Mod
John - What a fabulous illustration you have found of the ship, thank you! How wonderful it must have been to sail on it - but maybe for not as long a voyage as they did. At least the seas were calm, so the passengers did not experience the terrible seasickness all the time as they did on the outward journey.
Kathleen - I think the points you raised about the difference in the passengers' experience and length of their passages etc. (US v. Canada) determining their demeanour and behaviour is very valid.
Like Julie and others, I feel Charles Dickens can barely suppress his excitement at going home! I loved this chapter, with its vivid descriptions which really put me there, in the moment. Yes, the journal should have really stopped there I think - from the dramatic point of view.
Mod
Shirley said "I really found it interesting when Dickens described the people who had gone to America and were returning home, penniless, because they were unable to find work. It's just not something I had ever run across before."
This hit home to me too, as it describes my family. I was told as a child that "You could have been an American!" and it seemed so very exotic! I tried to imagine what it would be like!
There were 2 sisters, who with their husbands, set out from Liverpool for America, to work the land and make a new life. Obviously they went steerage. (My family were Yorkshire and Lancashire folk, and hard-up.) They were young, and excited, with everything before them. But it was not as they had hoped.
They did indeed farm the land, but one of the young men fell very ill and eventually died. The other three came back to England - probably on a ship like this. In 1880, one gave birth to my grandmother.
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