Other Dickens , livre ebook

377

pages

English

Ebooks

2012

Écrit par
Lillian Nayder

Publié par
Cornell University Press

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377

pages

English

Ebooks

2012

Lire un extrait

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 février 2012

EAN13

9780801465147

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

3 Mo

Catherine Hogarth, who came from a cultured Scots family, married Charles Dickens in 1836, the same year he began serializing his first novel. Together they traveled widely, entertained frequently, and raised ten children. In 1858, the celebrated writer pressured Catherine to leave their home, unjustly alleging that she was mentally disordered-unfit and unloved as wife and mother. Constructing a plotline nearly as powerful as his stories of Scrooge and Little Nell, Dickens created the image of his wife as a depressed and uninteresting figure, using two of her three sisters against her, by measuring her presumed weaknesses against their strengths. This self-serving fiction is still widely accepted.In the first comprehensive biography of Catherine Dickens, Lillian Nayder debunks this tale in retelling it, wresting away from the famous novelist the power to shape his wife's story. Nayder demonstrates that the Dickenses' marriage was long a happy one; more important, she shows that the figure we know only as "Mrs. Charles Dickens" was also a daughter, sister, and friend, a loving mother and grandmother, a capable household manager, and an intelligent person whose company was valued and sought by a wide circle of women and men.Making use of the Dickenses' banking records and legal papers as well as their correspondence with friends and family members, Nayder challenges the long-standing view of Catherine Dickens and offers unparalleled insights into the relations among the four Hogarth sisters, reclaiming those cherished by the famous novelist as Catherine's own and illuminating her special bond with her youngest sister, Helen, her staunchest ally during the marital breakdown. Drawing on little-known, unpublished material and forcing Catherine's husband from center stage, The Other Dickens revolutionizes our perception of the Dickens family dynamic, illuminates the legal and emotional ambiguities of Catherine's position as a "single" wife, and deepens our understanding of what it meant to be a woman in the Victorian age.

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Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 février 2012

EAN13

9780801465147

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

3 Mo

History of Europe Lettres et linguistique

The Other Dickens

l i l l i a n n a y d e r The Other Dickens a l i f e o f c a t h e r i n e h o g a r t h

c o r n e l l u n i v e r s i t y p r e s sIthaca & London

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House,512East State Street, Ithaca, New York14850.

First published2011by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks,2012

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Nayder, Lillian. The other Dickens : a life of Catherine Hogarth / Lillian Nayder. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN9780801447877(cloth : alk. paper) ISBN9780801477942(pbk. : alk. paper) 1Catherine,. Dickens, 1815–1879.2. Authors’ spouses— Great Britain—Biography. I. Title. PR4582.N392011 823'.8— dc22 [B]2010022625

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood ﬁbers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing1098765432 Paperback printing10987654321

f r o n t i s p i e c e Catherine Dickens (ca.1863–1865), photograph by John J. E. Mayall, H1201, Gimbel Collection, Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

To the memory of Helen Roney (1833–1890), and to Margaret KoskiKent, Diane Selinger, Carol Grumbach, Kelly Ann Johnson and Beverly Johnson, “For there is no friend like a sister” or cousin

Contents

List of Illustrationsix Acknowledgmentsxi Introduction: Constructing Catherine Dickens1 1. “The Mind of Woman Occasionally Asserts Its Powers”: Catherine Hogarth among Enlightened Patriarchs,1815–183519 2. Becoming Galatea: Courtship and Marriage,1835–183750 Interlude I. “The Girls Hogarth”: Catherine and Mary77 3. “Their Voices, Mr. Dickens’s Imperative”: Mesmerized,1837–184288 4.“Their Voices, Mrs. Dickens’s Expostulatory”: Disentranced,1843–1847119 5.“Richer in That Respect”: Overbearings,1848–1852153 Interlude II. “Catherine Georgina”; or, What’s in a Name?191 6.The Meaning of “Our”: Sleights of Hand,1853–1858210 7.“As If She Were Sole and Unmarried”: Separation,1858–1870250 Interlude III. “Forget Me Not”: Catherine and Helen297 8.Last Wills and Last Words: Widowhood,1870–1879311 Afterword: “Suttee Business”338 Primary Sources343 Index347

Illustrations

Catherine Dickens (ca.1863–1865)frontispiece 1. Sir Henry Raeburn, portrait of Mrs. Thomson (ca.1805)4 2. Autograph letter, Catherine Dickens to Mr. Mason,17October18708,9 3Ternan, Catherine Dickens, Charles Dickens”. “Ellen 13 4letter signed Catherine Hogarth and Charles Dickens. Autograph to Mary Hogarth of Scremerston [4July1835]22 5. “To Miss Mary Scott Hogarth [4July1835]”23 6Laurence, portraits of Charles Dickens (. Samuel 1837) and Catherine Dickens (1838)99 7. Daniel Maclise, portrait of Catherine Dickens (1847)104 8. Daniel Maclise, drawing of Charley, Mamie, Katey, and Walter Dickens (1841)114 9Richmond, portrait of Charley Dickens (. George 1852)122 10. Estimated days pregnant and not per year,1836–1852156 11intervals (. Estimated 1–11) between pregnancies,1837–1851158 12. Daniel Maclise, drawing of Georgina Hogarth, Catherine Dickens, and Charles Dickens (1843)204 13. Catherine Dickens (ca.1852–1855), daguerreotype by John J. E. Mayall215 14addressed to W. C. Macready by Catherine Dickens,. Envelope with postscript by Charles Dickens inside ﬂap, September1853227 15. “Mr. & Mrs. Charles Dickens. Married April2nd1836,” postcard237 16Dickens in Uniform (. Walter 1857), photograph246 17and Frank Dickens in the later. Henry 1850s, photograph247

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