This study is a selective examination of The Uncommercial Traveller, a collection of thirty-seven papers which originally appeared in All the Year Round in 1860, 1863, and 1868-69. The primary focus is upon the persona, a dual-voiced narrative device which allowed Dickens to speak from both a private and a public point of view. Balancing an often autobiographical impulse with an interest in society as distinct from himself, Dickens, as the Uncommercial Traveller, addressed his readers intimately in a voice which is unmistakably his own. Following a brief historical survey of Dickens' journalistic career, Chapter One examines Dickens' imaginative return to, and reassessment of, his past in the 1860 series, focusing upon the private side of his narrative voice. At a time when he was faced with his own physical decline, as well as with a growing awareness of the inevitability of change, the re-creation of his earlier days became a means of coping with the uncertainty brought about by old age. Thus, he attained a maturity of vision which played an important part in the making of Great Expectations, itself a novel about identity and the shaping influence of the past. Chapter Two begins with an examination of Dickens' imaginative returns in the 1863 and 1868-69 series. Then, following a more general approach, it focuses upon the range of Dickens' subject matter, provides an example of the structure within the series, and traces Dickens' mature handling of, and experimentation in, the essay form. Chapter Three, largely concerned with the public side of the persona, serves as an index to Dickens' social attitudes toward the end of his life, and considers the influence which Thomas Carlyle had upon him throughout the writing of the essay series. Whether Dickens speaks personally, often humorously, or preaches dutifully in the Carlylean manner, we never lose sight of / the fact that we have before us a representative of common sense and humanity--a man, who, not unlike ourselves, is capable of rollicking, Pickwickian humor as well as the sombre broodings characteristic of his later, "dark" period. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0451. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74736 |
| Contributors | FOLL, LEROY SCOTT., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 236 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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