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Topic History of: Nice Dickens show from Griff Rhys Jones on BBC1
Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)

Author	Message
zooloo	My feelings on Dickens are fairly neutral. He's written some very good books and some not so good. The claim has been made that he is a social reformer, I see no actual evidence of this. My feelings are that it's label that he's acquired and given credence by repetition but has no real basis on fact. So far the assertion "Dickens was virtually solely responsible for the improvements in Victorian society" and it's variants have not been backed up. It looks very much like one of those popular misconceptions from QI. It is an important issue because of the principle - rather than accept hearsay one ought to look further to discover the truth, a habit often encouraged on this board. Good advice for others is surley good advice for ourselves? To ask for the evidence and reasoning behind someone's opinion isn't a negative act, on the contrary it's in the spirit of positive learning. The truth cannot be harmed by questioning.
JK2006	The problem seems to be, Al, that I worship Charles with almost blind devotion (being well aware of his faults and suspecting I wouldn't have liked him at all in person) whereas Zoo appears to have more negative feelings about him.
Al	You seem to be coming down hard on Mr Dickens during this season of goodwill. Did he offend you in a former life, Zooloo? Surely it isn't that important an issue. While it might not be able to be proven that Dickens contributed to social reform, I also doubt it can be proven otherwise. 'Water under the bridge'. There's enough trouble in todays society which needs our attention.
zooloo	Thank you for the links. The first, Teachout's thesis, does not reveal anything about Dickens and his supposed zeal for social reform. Dickens had a romantic ideal of a kind Uncle mentality for the master and loyal subservience for the rest. Dickens exaggeration and belittling of reason, personified by Gradgrind, is to make his own view look as if it has some substance. Dickens misrepresents the alternative view but never offers any concrete proposal as his alternative. He only has a nebulous romantic idyl that is exactly the same as things were but with kindlier folk inhabiting it. Thinking that if only the masters were nice and the worker kept happily to his place is not advocating social reform. The thesis notes Dickens went to Preston not to understand the situation but to gather material for his next story, this is not concern for social reform. Dickens is simply using popular news of the day to become popular literature of the day in order to sell books. The other link has a vague reference to Dickens involvement with "fallen women". Very much a fashionable fad of the time and without detail on what he did and how the institute was structured we are left with nothing of any consequence. From what I know of the other "fallen women" faddists it is simply an opportunity for idle bored people to lecture and lord it over their supposed inferiors - and never let them forget they are inferiors. What Dickens did or did not is not revealed. The first link says more about the Preston Lockout than anything on Dickens advocating social reform, the second link has an unsubstantial reference to his passing interest in prostitutes and interviewing prostitutes to decide if they are deserving cases for moral lecturing is not social reform. Dickens the social reformer has yet to enter the stage.
The Cat	Before becoming a novelist Charles Dickens was a reporter on social issues for 'True Sun' newspaper. He also helped to lobby Parliament. On the school's issue, two people who named Dickens as a main contributer to the improvement of conditions in Yorkshire were Thomas Wright and John Forster. I did find a couple of interesting pieces on Charles Dickens' contribution to social reform. http://soar.wichita.edu:8080/dspace/bits...057/355/3/t06035.pdf au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_76155692...les_John_Huffam.html The last link includes something I didn't know. Dickens was also becoming more active as a social reformer. In 1847 he collaborated with the wealthy Angela Burdett-Coutts to open Urania Cottage, a rehabilitation centre for London prostitutes, an association which lasted until 1858. Dickens took a very active interest in the project, interviewing new admissions himself and keeping a journal of the women's progress. He was also very active in the growing campaign to establish writing as a profession, and he set up the short-lived Charitable Guild of Literature and Art in 1851 with Edward Bulwer-Lytton.