A Companion to Charles Dickens

Name: A Companion to Charles Dickens
Price: 147 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781119602729

by David Paroissien, Leon Litvack

2nd Edition

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Book Details

Print ISBN	9781119602729
eText ISBN	9781119602750
Publisher	Wiley-Blackwell
Publishing Year	2025
Edition	2nd Edition
Language	English
Pages	560

Published by Wiley-Blackwell, A Companion to Charles Dickens, 2nd Edition provides a structured reference guide focused on the biographical background, cultural context, and literary output of the Victorian novelist. Edited by David Paroissien and Leon Litvack, the reference text offers foundational context for evaluating Dickens's complete fictional portfolio alongside his non-fictional writing.

The volume addresses major themes across Dickens's career, including his engagement with urban settings, European influences, and historical narrative techniques. It examines how Dickens approached institutional topics such as legal systems, social reform movements, and Christian religious thought. Additional sections contextualize his perspectives on gender dynamics, technological developments during the nineteenth century, and visual illustrations.

A key feature of this volume is its inclusion of dedicated analytical chapters for each of Dickens's fifteen novels, as well as his Christmas Books and shorter sketches. Designed for undergraduate students, graduate scholars, educators, and general readers, the text supports both focused research projects and broad literary studies.

Chapter 1: A Sketch of Dickens's Life
Chapter 2: "Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens": The Epistolary Art of the Inimitable
Chapter 3: Three Major Dickens Biographies
Chapter 4: Later Engagements with Dickens's Life
Chapter 5: Dickens's Eighteenth-Century Legacy
Chapter 6: Dickens and the City
Chapter 7: Illustrations
Chapter 8: Dickens and Serialization
Chapter 9: The Language of Dickens
Chapter 10: Dickens and Christianity
Chapter 11: Dickens and the Uses of History
Chapter 12: From Penny-a-Liner to Media Mogul: Dickens's Evolution as a Journalist
Chapter 13: Dickens and Gender
Chapter 14: Dickens and Technology
Chapter 15: Dickens and America (1842)
Chapter 16: Dickens as a Reformer
Chapter 17: Dickens and Government Ineptitude Abroad, 1854–1865
Chapter 18: Dickens and Europe
Chapter 19: Dickens and the Law
Chapter 20: Sketches by Boz
Chapter 21: The Pickwick Papers
Chapter 22: Oliver Twist
Chapter 23: Nicholas Nickleby
Chapter 24: The Old Curiosity Shop
Chapter 25: Barnaby Rudge
Chapter 26: Martin Chuzzlewit
Chapter 27: The Christmas Books
Chapter 28: Dombey and Son
Chapter 29: David Copperfield
Chapter 30: Bleak House
Chapter 31: Hard Times
Chapter 32: Little Dorrit
Chapter 33: A Tale of Two Cities
Chapter 34: Great Expectations
Chapter 35: Our Mutual Friend
Chapter 36: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Chapter 37: Dickens and the Literary Culture of the Period
Chapter 38: Dickens Before Modernism
Chapter 39: Global Dickens
Chapter 40: Dickens Now: Adaptations and Representations, 2012–2020