Metaphor and urban reality through the eyes of Dickens

WADE, JOHN CHRISTOPHER

2007-01-01

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Abstract

The works of Dickens have long held a fascination both in the eyes of literary experts and those who simply read for enjoyment. This is evident, in the first case, from the enormous amount of material published analysing the novels of the author from every conceivable perspective. In the second case, his works are made available to a wider audience in adaptations published for children or produced in television serials, musicals and films. This paper aims to briefly examine some of the reasons why the works of Dickens continue to hold such a fascination, focusing particular attention on the settings for his novels, in particular the Victorian industrial city, and how both minutely detailed descriptions and metaphorical reference are adroitly blended in painting a vivid picture of the urban reality, the richly crafted backdrop, in which his plots unfold and his characters come to life in the mind of the reader. The approach illustrated below for the analysis of Dickens’ works is not intended to be rigorously critical, but a tentative exploration of, firstly, how readers react to Dickens (cf. Hirvela (1996) and, secondly, how readily available electronically stored texts may be exploited either by experts who wish to analyse large bodies of text or for pedagogical uses at secondary and university levels: teachers seeking illustrative examples of a particular literary style and students wishing to explore a literary genre beyond the prescriptive anthology.