In this lesson, we will focus on Charles Dickens's ''The Pickwick Papers.'' We will first examine some context on both Dickens and the novel's genre, and then we'll summarize the novel, pointing out its most memorable scenes and characters.
The Pickwick Papers by Dickens: Summary & Overview
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was an extraordinarily popular writer of the Victorian Period, which spanned the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Arguably the most influential novelist of the nineteenth century (Jane Austen notwithstanding), Dickens is best known for his memorable characters and intricate plots. Think about the twists and turns of your favorite movie or television show. It probably owes a lot to Dickens's innovative craft, which mixed realism with caricature and tragedy with comedy.
The Pickwick Papers
Genre
Many of Dickens's best known novels come from what is now regarded as his ''dark period.'' During this time, the lighthearted comedy of his early work gave way to harsh social commentary. You've probably heard of some of these novels, which include A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1861). Compared with the dark themes found in Dickens's later novels, the plot of The Pickwick Papers (1836) seems almost farcical. This novel, his first, demonstrates Dickens experimenting with building his own voice. The Pickwick Papers in many ways mimics the structures and themes of eighteenth-century novels, including works by Laurence Sterne and Henry Fielding.
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The Pickwick Papers is a series of linear adventures, unlike the convoluted plots of Dickens's later novels. In other words, we follow our heroes from one stop to the next and meet interesting characters, rather than unraveling a mystery. The novel is a late example of the picarequese, a style of story in which we follow a rough, but still likable, hero through his adventures. The hero of The Pickwick Papers is Sam Weller, though Sam isn't always the focus of the narrative.
Characters
Samuel Pickwick is a kind gentleman who establishes the Pickwick Club, whose goal is to examine and research the stunning specimens of human life. Together with other members of the club (Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass and Tracy Tupman), Samuel sets off through the English countryside. The club members meet many curious people along the way and are joined for spells by other characters, including Mr. Wardle and Alfred Jingle, who is a sort of trickster figure. Sam Weller, the ostensible hero of the novel, does not appear until Chapter Ten. It's super confusing that the club has both Samuel Pickwick and Sam Weller. Dickens is known for this sort of thing. Readers must always be on their toes and able to distinguish characters by speech and mannerisms.
Events
Sam Weller serves as a comic foil to Samuel Pickwick and the other learned members of the club. Acting initially as a servant, Sam possesses a cockney accent and a low upbringing, which clashes with the often ridiculous judgments and morals of the other characters. The Pickwick Papers comments on society's strata through the inconsistencies of its characters. Winkle, for example, considers himself a sportsman but is physically inept. Snodgrass fancies himself a poet but says little that is poetic. Tupman comports himself as a romantic, even though he is fat and old.
Among the club's many adventures is a legal suit against Samuel, which leads to his brief incarceration. Various characters are also caught up in a riot, witness an election, fall into mishaps with horses, and expound on the negatives of marriage. Nevertheless, the novel concludes happily with the marriages of both Snodgrass and Sam, who has fallen in love with a housemaid, Mary.
Lesson Summary
We began this lesson learning that Charles Dickens was a popular and influential novelist of the Victorian Period, who is best known for his 'darker' novels published later in his career. The Pickwick Papers, published in 1837, is Dickens's first novel. It is a late example of the picaresque, a primarily eighteenth century genre in which we follow a roguish hero through a series of adventures. We concluded this lesson by examining the novel through its interesting set of characters, which includes Samuel Pickwick, who forms the traveling Pickwick Club, and Sam Weller, who begins as a servant to the club.
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The Pickwick Papers by Dickens: Summary & Overview
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