Little Dorrit
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Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period.
Much of Dickens's ire is focused upon the institutions of debtor's prisons—in which people who owed money were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The representative prison in this case is the Marshalsea where the author's own father had been imprisoned.
Most of Dickens's other critiques in this particular novel are about other issues with regards to the social safety net: industry, and the treatment and safety of workers; the bureaucracy of the British Treasury (as figured in the fictional "Circumlocution Office" [Bk. 1, Ch. 10]); and the separation of people based on the lack of intercourse between the classes.
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[edit] Original publication
Little Dorrit, like most Dickens novels, was published in 19 monthly installments, each comprising 32 pages and two illustrations by Phiz. Each cost one shilling, with the exception of the last, double-issue, which cost two.
BOOK THE FIRST: POVERTY
- I - December 1855 (chapters 1-4);
- II - January 1856 (chapters 5-8);
- III - February 1856 (chapters 9-11);
- IV - March 1856 (chapters 12-14);
- V - April 1856 (chapters 15-18);
- VI - May 1856 (chapters 19-22);
- VII - June 1856 (chapters 23-25);
- VIII - July 1856 (chapters 26-29);
- IX - August 1856 (chapters 30-32);
- X - September 1856 (chapters 33-36).
BOOK THE SECOND: RICHES
- XI - October 1856 (chapters 1-4);
- XII - November 1856 (chapters 5-7);
- XIII - December 1856 (chapters 8-11);
- XIV - January 1857 (chapters 12-14);
- XV - February 1857 (chapters 15-18);
- XVI - March 1857 (chapters 19-22);
- XVII - April 1857 (chapters 23-26);
- XVIII - May 1857 (chapters 27-29);
- XIX-XX - June 1857 (chapters 30-34).
[edit] Literary significance and reception
Like many of Dickens's late fiction, this novel has seen many reversals of critical fortune. The novel has been shown to be a critique of HM Treasury and the blunders that led to the loss of life for 360 British Soldiers at the Battle of Balaclava[1]. It has also been asserted that it is concerned with the Marshalsea Prison as an instance of the Panopticon.
[edit] Adaptations
Little Dorrit has been adapted for the screen twice. The first, in 1988, was for a feature film, Little Dorrit. The second is a recently announced BBC production, Little Dorrit, to be written by Andrew Davies[2] In May 2008 filming for the scenes set in Marseille (featuring Freema Agyeman, Bill Paterson, Matthew Macfadyen and Janine Duvitski) occurred at Deal Castle [3] - other publicised cast-members include James Fleet, Ruth Jones, Mackenzie Crook and Amanda Redman.
[edit] References
- ^ Philpotts, Trey. "Trevelyan, Treasury, and Circumlocution." Dickens Studies Annual. 22, 1993, 283-302.
- ^ The Stage / Blogs / TV Today / The Busiest Man in Television?
- ^ [1],[2],[3]
[edit] External links
Online editions
- Little Dorrit, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Little Dorrit - Searchable HTML version.
- Little Dorrit - Easy to read HTML version.
- Little Dorrit - Google Books version of the 1857 Bradbury & Evans edition.
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