Dickens and Thackeray: Punishment and Forgiveness - Softcover

Reed, John Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0821411756 ISBN 13: 9780821411759

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Attitudes toward punishment and forgiveness in English society of the nineteenth century came, for the most part, out of Christianity. In actual experience the ideal was not often met, but in the literature of the time the model was important. For novelists attempting to tell exciting and dramatic stories, violent and criminal activities played an important role, and, according to convention, had to be corrected through poetic justice or human punishment. Both Dickens' and Thackeray's novels subscribed to the ideal, but dealt with the dilemma it presented in slightly different ways.
At a time when a great deal of attention has been directed toward economic production and consumption as the bases for value, Reed's well-documented study reviving moral belief as a legitimate concern for the analysis of nineteenth-century English texts is particularly illuminating.

About this title

About the Author

John Reed is professor of English at Wayne State University. His most recent books include Victorian Conventions (1975) and The Natural History of H.G. Wells (1982), both published by Ohio University Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0821411756
• ISBN 13: 9780821411759
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 528