"If I am ever," said Mrs. V. — not scolding, but in a sort of monotonous remonstrance — "in spirits, if I am ever cheerful, if I am ever more than usually disposed to be talkative, and comfortable, this is the way I am treated." — Barnard's seventh illustration for Dickens's "Barnaby Rudge" (1874)

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"If I am ever," said Mrs. V. — not scolding, but in a sort of monotonous remonstrance — "in spirits, if I am ever cheerful, if I am ever more than usually disposed to be talkative, and comfortable, this is the way I am treated."

Fred Barnard

1874

13.8 cm high x 9.3 cm wide (5 5⁄16 by 3 7⁄16 inches), framed

Dickens's Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, the Household Edition, VII, 32.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Context of the Illustration: A less-than-jovial Gabriel Varden

"If I am ever," said Mrs V. — not scolding, but in a sort of monotonous remonstrance — "in spirits, if I am ever cheerful, if I am ever more than usually disposed to be talkative and comfortable, this is the way I am treated."

"Such spirits as you was in too, mim, but half an hour ago!" cried Miggs. "I never see such company!"

"Because," said Mrs. Varden, "because I never interfere or interrupt; because I never question where anybody comes or goes; because my whole mind and soul is bent on saving where I can save, and labouring in this house; — therefore, they try me as they do."

"Martha," urged the locksmith, endeavouring to look as wakeful as possible, "what is it you complain of? I really came home with every wish and desire to be happy. I did, indeed."

"What do I complain of!" retorted his wife. "Is it a chilling thing to have one’s husband sulking and falling asleep directly he comes home — to have him freezing all one’s warm-heartedness, and throwing cold water over the fireside? Is it natural, when I know he went out upon a matter in which I am as much interested as anybody can be, that I should wish to know all that has happened, or that he should tell me without my begging and praying him to do it? Is that natural, or is it not?"

"I am very sorry, Martha," said the good-natured locksmith. "I was really afraid you were not disposed to talk pleasantly; I’ll tell you everything; I shall only be too glad, my dear." [Chapter VII, 30]

Commentary

Barnard makes the put-upon, long-suffering husband Gabriel Varden look rather glum as Martha Varden verbally assaults him for his ingratitude and want of concern for her well-being. Her litany of complaints is founded on jealousy, for Martha is aware that on the previous evening, coming home from Chigwell, her husband stopped at Mary Rudge's hovel in Southwark to enlist the widow's aid in looking after a young man who had been assaulted and robbed. She frequently alludes to the highly doctrinaire Protestant Manual, but rarely exercises Christian forebearancein her attitude towards her own husband. The piece of which which the locksmith occupies may be an easy-chair, but his domestic circumstances are anything but. In the background, Mrs. Varden's moral prop and support, the maid Miss Miggs, who as a discordant force in the household is always ready to second her mistress's complaints about Varden's neglect and insensitivity.

Related Material including Other Illustrated Editions of Barnaby Rudge

Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (homepage)
Cattermole and Phiz: The First illustrators: A Team Effort by "The Clock Works" (1841)
Phiz's Original Serial Illustrations (13 Feb.-27 Nov. 1841)
Cattermole's Seventeen Illustrations (13 Feb.- 27 Nov. 1841)
Felix Octavius Carr Darley's Six Illustrations (1865 and 1888)
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s ten Diamond Edition Illustrations (1867)
A. H. Buckland's six illustrations for the Collins' Clear-type Pocket Edition (1900)
Harry Furniss's 28 illustrations for The Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge in Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Phiz and George Cattermole. 3 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841; rpt., Bradbury and Evans, 1849.

________. Barnaby Rudge — A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. VII.

Last modified 17 December 2020