Charles Dickens and the Language of Images

The stories of Charles Dickens (1812–1870) appeal to the child inside every reader because his characters are easily visualized by the mind’s eye.  Influenced by the fairy tales Dickens read in his youth, his villains tend to be exaggeratedly wicked, while heroes and heroines wear almost saintly auras. Dickens distorts descriptions of characters’ features and dress, speech and gestures, to suggest their inner states of mind and ethical dispositions. For example, the vengeful spinster, Miss Havisham ofGreat Expectations, portrayed in a faded wedding dress with one shoe on and one off, becomes emblematic of all jilted lovers. Like Madame Defarge’s knitting, or Mr. Micawber’s verbal tics, the exaggerated physical detailing that Dickens gives Miss Havisham associates her in the manner of a stock character to a single emotional trait or moral quality.  Dickens’s art of characterization is discussed in this slideshow presentation that links him to the graphic narratives of the previous century and, earlier, to early modern emblem books.











When: Thu., Nov. 29, 2012 at 1:15 pm - 2:30 pm
Where: New York Public Library—Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
476 Fifth Ave.
917-275-6975
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The stories of Charles Dickens (1812–1870) appeal to the child inside every reader because his characters are easily visualized by the mind’s eye.  Influenced by the fairy tales Dickens read in his youth, his villains tend to be exaggeratedly wicked, while heroes and heroines wear almost saintly auras. Dickens distorts descriptions of characters’ features and dress, speech and gestures, to suggest their inner states of mind and ethical dispositions. For example, the vengeful spinster, Miss Havisham ofGreat Expectations, portrayed in a faded wedding dress with one shoe on and one off, becomes emblematic of all jilted lovers. Like Madame Defarge’s knitting, or Mr. Micawber’s verbal tics, the exaggerated physical detailing that Dickens gives Miss Havisham associates her in the manner of a stock character to a single emotional trait or moral quality.  Dickens’s art of characterization is discussed in this slideshow presentation that links him to the graphic narratives of the previous century and, earlier, to early modern emblem books.

Buy tickets/get more info now