'In Little Dorrit, Dickens depicts
England as a prison…places, institutions, religion, social classes, families
and individuals are all part of the prison world.'
Discuss the truth of this statement.
When reading Little Dorrit in the 20th century,
we are nowadays aware of the facts and conditions of that era. We know that the
Marshalsea was indeed a real debtor's prison that existed south of the river in
Southwark, (closed in 1849). We know that Dickens's father was a prisoner there
in 1824, (Dickens was then 12 yrs old), and we know that Dickens visited the
remains of the prison in 1858. The book places itself in the era of the 1820s
and therefore the use of the Marshalsea within the book is ideal as it cannot
be used as a political point in the book. However we must bow down to realism
and accept that Dickens's interpretation of life in the Marshalsea in the 1820s
does not stand up to critical reality. Easson (1980) quotes primary sources
from the Public Records Office (Giles Hemen Papers dated Feb. 1820) which
showed that the Marshalsea was 'Often
a place of riot and personal violence. Dickens's presentation, or tone of the Marshalsea was created by him
for the purposes of the fiction'.
Whatever the
true reason is, the Marshalsea is presented by Dickens as a microcosm of
society with its own hierarchical structure, from the lowliest to the highest
being represented. We are allowed to examine its inhabitants at our leisure. It
also allows us to examine the effect of incarceration within the Marshalsea,
and how it can reach out to affect the lives of others that are not prisoners.
Therefore it is not out of place to suggest that Dickens placed the Marshalsea
at the centre of a spiders web. The radiating fibres are cast far and wide to
embrace the lives and conditions of many others that are incarcerated whether
realistically or metaphysically, either voluntary or involuntary.
When we look
into the workings of the Marshalsea, we find that incarceration is more
acceptable than would normally be believed. The 'inmates' regard themselves as
'Collegians' Their College complete with a 'snuggery' has an acceptable
hierarchy that works without being overseen by the paid authorities being to
involved at all. Dickens introduces us to the concept that we can be lulled
into self-incarceration of our soul by acceptance of the status quo. This is
beautifully explained by the 'surgeon' (Dr Haggage) who attending the birth of
Mrs Dorrit says 'A little more
elbowroom is all we want here…. Elsewhere, people are restless, worried,
hurried about, anxious respecting another. Nothing of the kind here, sir. We
have done all that-we know the worst of it; we have got to the bottom, we can't
fall, and what have we found? Peace. That’s the word for it. Peace.'
Through this we are introduced to the 'anti-hero' Mr William Dorrit.
Mr Dorrit,
although imprisoned for debt quickly becomes morally bankrupt, his
self-deception becomes his personal prison within the real prison. His
acceptance of 'testimonials' becomes to his mind, a form of just reward due to
him as the 'Father of the Marshalsea'. This form of incarceration rapidly
becomes self-sustaining. (Release would break this cycle, and therefore Mr
Dorrit never seeks to leave the Marshalsea by his own efforts). Roopnaraine
(1979) says about Mr Dorrit, 'That so
entrenched is Mr Dorrit into the prison routine, that even after coming into
money etc. he reverts before his death to his previous role as the 'Father of
the Marshalsea' at the Merdles dinner party. He goes on to say 'That Dorrit moves from evasion to illusion
to the last stages of mythomania'. Through this character Dickens shows
that long-term incarceration persists even after the debt is paid. One is
tempted to ask whether Dickens sees some people as 'prison dependent' in order to survive. Other members of the
Dorrit family are also thrust into the book as heroines. The greater of which
is Amy Dorrit (youngest daughter).
Amy Dorrit named by Dickens as 'The child of the Marshalsea' is seen
by Splitter (1980) 'As a child of
society, she resembles the innocent Christ-child, born of woman but conceived
without sin'. Dickens obviously sees her as the reservoir of societies
guilt. She herself becomes imprisoned by her sense of duty to her family.
Although always free to leave the Marshalsea she is a prisoner almost of
choice. She frequently introduces herself with the phrase 'I was born here sir'. This prison
badge allows Amy to wander outside, to take up paid work etc, but always as a
caged song bird she feels compelled to return to the prison she hates. Dickens
uses Amy to show that even a physical prison is better than having no roots at
all. Her persistence in providing for her father and siblings could almost be
seen as a form of self-flagellation for having been born. (Again, almost Christ
like).
Even when her family is released, Amy Dorrit cannot accept
freedom, she sees representations of the Marshalsea both in Venice and
elsewhere, and reflects her past sufferings. So great is Amy's mental
imprisonment, that even when travelling 'Sitting
opposite her father in the travelling carriage, and recalling the old
Marshalsea room, her present existence was a dream. All that she saw was new
and wonderful, but it was not real; it seemed to her as if those visions might
melt away at any moment, and the carriage turning some abrupt corner, bring up
with a jolt at the old Marshalsea gate'. Finally her marriage to Arthur
Clennam whilst desirable, is hardly a great joy to her. We are continually
reminded that the relationship between Arthur and Amy is more a father-daughter
one, rather than a husband-wife partnership. The interplay between Arthur and
Amy is in Little Dorrit the theme onto which the whole
story is hung. Was he a true hero? or yet another victim of societies imperfections.
The use by
Dickens of the 'anti-heroine' in the form of Mrs Clennam very cleverly
reinforces the 'prison theme' of the book. Her self incarceration is firstly
depicted as a medical dysfunction reinforced by the religious piety of
Calvinism and 'predestination', in which she has a duty to be God's instrument
of punishment for sin, this legitimises her spite and vindictiveness. Her
religious cursing and damnation of all is used by Dickens to hide the criminal
intent of the 'codicil'. This is good old Dickensian rhetoric used in many of
his books, and becomes the vehicle that creates false imprisonment for others.
That 'good will out in the end'
allows Mrs Clennam to make retribution to Amy Dorrit in order for the book to
have a satisfactory ending. The collapse of the Clennam house is surely a
Dickensian symbol of Mrs Clennam's release from her personal prison. (As well
as removing the criminal Rigaud from the story). Mrs Clennam allows Dickens to
show that crime and money are often the main causative factors of imprisonment.
Whilst this
essay is restricted to only a few characters, it must be mentioned that in
Little Dorrit a whole range of families are included to give a cross section of
society as a whole. Each family represents a class. Starting from the top and
going downwards they are the Barnacles, the Merdles, the Gowans, the Meagles,
the Clennams, the Dorrits, and the Plornishes. Dickens shows in Little Dorrit, that we all have our
prisons within ourselves whatever our class. Page (1984) says 'We are shown the prison of poverty in
Bleeding Heart Yard, the prison of administration in the Circumlocution Office,
the prison of heredity and temperament in Mrs Clennam and Miss Wade, the
environmental prison of the city dweller, the religious prison that was the
Evangelical Victorian Sunday and many more…the novel is sad, depressing and
embittered'
Dickens shows
us yet another form of self imprisonment, that of the prison of 'paranoiac
delusion' suffered by Miss Wade.
This powerful piece of prose shows the understanding of Dickens, that even
those innocent of any crime can suffer great distress, and that their
imprisonment has no release date. The chapter 'History of a Tormentor' is sensitively written. Lucas (1980)
says 'That there is no doubt that Miss
Wade is aided in building her prison by the social context in which she finds
herself…and that Dickens shows compassion in his depiction of her and the
tortured world she inhabits'.
Whilst the book
Little Dorrit is set in the
1820s, did events occurring later on affect Dickens's portrayal of his
characters?. Some Dickens scholars propose that the Lord Decimus Tite Barnacles character was stimulated by
Dickens's view of Lord Palmerston.(PM in 1855). The character of Mr Merdle may have been based on the
suicide of MP John Sadleir (£200,000 overdrawn in 1856) Following the collapse
of the huge 'Tipperary Bank' . A railway stock crash in 1850 (Some £80 million
lost) may also have affected the story content. In 1855, Dickens published a
series of articles in Household Works
attacking governmental muddle and incompetence. (? precursor of the Circumlocution Office)
To conclude, one must ask whether Little Dorrit does depict
England as a prison. Brown (1982) regards Little Dorrit 'As a
mature phase in Dickens's life, and that along with Bleak House (1853) Dickens
had moved away from the 'novel', and in doing so began to address the
metaphysical that demanded more skill of the reader'. The use and
misappropriation of money throughout the book is used as the reason for the
physical incarceration. However Dickens very cleverly introduces the effect
that the mind brought up under conditions of poverty and stress, and in stress
alone can and does induce a state of mental imprisonment just as real to the
recipient as a physical incarceration. Dickens's father (John) provided the
Marshalsea as a location, though the society of the Marshalsea in Little Dorrit is founded upon
mutually accepted fictions, and a collective fantasy of self denial. Did John
Dickens's job in the 'Naval Pay Office' also provide the basis for the inept
'Circumlocution Office'?
Little Dorrit, throughout its length
concentrates on mans weakness for financial reward and his acceptance by
society, even if, in its pursuance, it leads to disgrace and subsequent
imprisonment. This is not a book of happy endings for any of its characters.
Dickens lays bare mans greed and the result that money can be the means of
imprisonment, or at least a subjugation of God given plans for a betterment of
mankind. Roopnaraine (1980)
says 'The world of little Dorrit
offers no solace. The prison is everywhere. There is nowhere to turn, and that
it is futile to look to human capacity for comfort'. Therefore the
premise that the book is a depiction of England as a prison is well proven in
this book.
REFERENCES.
Brown,J. (1982) Novelist
in the Market Place.(Macmillan,London)
Dickens,C. (1857) Little
Dorrit (Penguin Classics, London)
Easson,A.(1980) Marshalsea
Prisoners (AMS Press, New York.)
Lucas,J.(1980) The
Melancholy Man. (Harvesters Press, Sussex)
Page,N. (1984) A
Dickens Companion. (Macmillan Press, London)
Roopnaraine,R. (1979)Time
& Circle in Little Dorrit.(AMS Press,New York)
Splitter,R. (1980) Melodrama
in Little Dorrit. (AMS Press,N.Y.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Brown,J. Novelist in
the Market Place.(Macmillan,London. 1982)
Cockers,A.The
Imagination of Charles Dickens.(Collins Press,London, 1961)
Collins,P. Dickens:
Critical Heritage. (Routledge Press, London. 1971)
Connor,S. Charles
Dickens. (Longman Press, London, 1996)
Dickens,C. Little
Dorrit (Penguin Classics, London.1989)
Easson,A. Marshalsea
Prisoners (AMS Press, New York.1980)
Hearst,B. The Dickens
Hero. (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 1980)
Hornback,B. Noah's
Arkitecture of Dickens. (Ohio Press, Ohio, 1972)
Lucas,J. The Melancholy
Man. (Harvesters Press,Sussex, 1980)
Page,N. A Dickens
Companion, (Macmillan Press, London, 1984)
Roopnaraine,R. Time
& Circle in Little Dorrit.(AMS Press, New York.1979)
Splitter, R. Melodrama
in Little Dorrit. (AMS Press,New York,1980)
Walder,D. Dickens and
Religion.(Allen & Unwin, London. 1981)
INTERNET.
Word Count: 1965.