little dorrit

Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period.

Much of Dickens' ire is focused upon the institutions of debtors' prisons—in which people who owed money were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The representative prison in this case is the Marshalsea where the author's own father had been imprisoned.

Most of Dickens' other critiques in this particular novel concern the social safety net: industry, and the treatment and safety of workers; the bureaucracy of the British Treasury (as figured in the fictional "Circumlocution Office" [Bk. 1, Ch. 10]); and the separation of people based on the lack of intercourse between the classes. Contents [hide] 1 Original publication 1.1 Book the First: Poverty 1.2 Book the Second: Riches 2 Synopsis 3 Literary significance and reception 4 Adaptations 5 References 6 External links //

Original publication

Little Dorrit was published in 19 monthly installments, each comprising 32 pages and featuring two illustrations by Phiz. Each installment cost a shilling, with the exception of the last, a double issue which cost two shillings.

Book the First: Poverty I - December 1855 (chapters 1–4) II - January 1856 (chapters 5–8) III - February 1856 (chapters 9–11) IV - March 1856 (chapters 12–14) V - April 1856 (chapters 15–18) VI - May 1856 (chapters 19–22) VII - June 1856 (chapters 23–25) VIII - July 1856 (chapters 26–29) IX - August 1856 (chapters 30–32) X - September 1856 (chapters 33–36)

Book the Second: Riches XI - October 1856 (chapters 1–4) XII - November 1856 (chapters 5–7) XIII - December 1856 (chapters 8–11) XIV - January 1857 (chapters 12–14) XV - February 1857 (chapters 15–18) XVI - March 1857 (chapters 19–22) XVII - April 1857 (chapters 23–26) XVIII - May 1857 (chapters 27–29) XIX-XX - June 1857 (chapters 30–34)

Synopsis

The novel begins in Marseille with the notorious murderer Rigaud informing his cell-mate that he has murdered his wife. Also in the town is Arthur Clennam, returning to London to see his mother following the death of his father, after twenty years of life in the East.

In London, William Dorrit, imprisoned as a debtor, has been a resident of Marshalsea debtor's prison for so long that his children – snobbish Fanny, idle Edward (known as Tip), and doting Amy (known as Little Dorrit) – have all grown up there, though the girls are free to pass in and out of the prison as they please.

Once in London, Arthur is reacquainted with his former fiancée Flora Finching, though she is now overweight and simpering. Arthur's mother, Mrs Clennam, lives housebound with her servant Jeremiah Flintwinch and his down-trodden wife Affery, and decides to employ Little Dorrit as a seamstress.