Pickwick Papers

A detailed Summary of Pickwick Papers

Characterization in The Pickwick Papers

In "'I thought of Mr. Pickwick, and wrote the first number': Dickens and the Evolution of Character", Robert L. Patten concentrates on the characters in The Pickwick Papers and their development throughout the novel. He points out many techniques Dickens employed in their depiction, and shows readers how Dickens effectively uses different forms of characterization to turn The Pickwick Papers into a novel rather than the "popular" serial publication it was intended to be.

Patten begins his critique by pointing out that Dickens "felt obliged to defend the change" (18) of the character of Mr. Pickwick. Dickens argued that this only came from the "readers' greater familiarity with Mr. Pickwick" (Patten 18) throughout the novel rather than an actual change. Patten then goes on to question why Dickens felt he had to defend these changes with a series of questions to the reader. One of the questions he asks is "Was it because . . . changes . . . might be another indication of the improvisatory nature of Pickwick's composition?" (Patten 18) This question is answered in the ensuing pages. The question brings up the fact that the serial publication of The Pickwick Papers resulted in incon

To look at The Pickwick Papers through Dickens' form of characterization is very revealing not only of what kind of an author Dickens was, but also of what he wanted to do with this novel. His ability to "change" characters while keeping them consistent at the same time not only kept readers interested but also gave him a way to escape from the norm of popular novels of the time. As Patten plainly points out at the end of his article, Dickens' use of "language-as-sign" allowed him to convert an "illustrated letterpress into a novel" (Patten 24).

Following this, Patten goes on to explain the different ways Dickens illustrates the characters. Some examples are "attitude was conveyed through stance, movement, and gesture" and "class and vocation . . . by clothing" (Patten 19). Patten then uses an example from the novel, in which Dickens describes Winkle, Snodgrass, and Tupman using these "characterological signs" (19). He also points out that Dickens "could not have done much else to develop these characters" (20) because of the way they were portrayed by Seymour in his illustrations. However, Dickens depicted to Seymour how Mr. Pickwick would be shown to the readers. Dickens was "able to construct a new kind of character" (Patten 21) because of the ambiguities of a "fat, genial beau . . . who was addicted

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Approximate Word count = 890
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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