Dickens and Thackeray: Punishment and Forgiveness Contributor(s): Reed, John R. (Author), Reed, John Robert (Author) |
|
![]() |
ISBN: 0821411756 ISBN-13: 9780821411759 Publisher: Ohio University Press OUR PRICE: $79.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 1995 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Literary Collections | European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
Dewey: 823.809 |
LCCN: 94040416 |
Lexile Measure: 1390 |
Physical Information: 1.05" H x 6.02" W x 9.05" (1.50 lbs) 528 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: 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. |