Mrs. Brown and Alice
Sol Eytinge, Jr.
1867
Wood-engraving
10 x 7.4 cm (framed)
Dickens's Dombey and Son (Diamond Edition), facing III, 278.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Context of the Illustration: Cunning Youth contrasted with Doting Age
The old woman, mumbling and shaking her head, and muttering to herself about her handsome daughter, brought a candle from a cupboard in the corner, and thrusting it into the fire with a trembling hand, lighted it with some difficulty and set it on the table. Its dirty wick burnt dimly at first, being choked in its own grease; and when the bleared eyes and failing sight of the old woman could distinguish anything by its light, her visitor was sitting with her arms folded, her eyes turned downwards, and a handkerchief she had worn upon her head lying on the table by her side.
"She sent to me by word of mouth then, my gal, Alice?" mumbled the old woman, after waiting for some moments. "What did she say?"
"Look,’ returned the visitor.
The old woman repeated the word in a scared uncertain way; and, shading her eyes, looked at the speaker, round the room, and at the speaker once again.
Alice said, "Look again, mother;" and the speaker fixed her eyes upon her.
Again the old woman looked round the room, and at her visitor, and round the room once more. Hastily seizing the candle, and rising from her seat, she held it to the visitor’s face, uttered a loud cry, set down the light, and fell upon her neck!
"It’s my gal! It’s my Alice! It’s my handsome daughter, living and come back!" screamed the old woman, rocking herself to and fro upon the breast that coldly suffered her embrace. "It’s my gal! It’s my Alice! It’s my handsome daughter, living and come back!" she screamed again, dropping on the floor before her, clasping her knees, laying her head against them, and still rocking herself to and fro with every frantic demonstration of which her vitality was capable. [Ch. XXXIV, "Another Mother and Daughter," 277-278]
Commentary
A full reading is not possible without some knowledge of James Carker's backstory and his betrayal of his mistress, Alice Marwood (the alias of Alice Brown, the young woman in this tenth Eytinge illustration). These details, including Alice's uncanny resemblance to Edith Granger (whose uncle seduced Good Mrs. Brown), Dickens has already provided in Chapter 33. The illustration is therefore significant in highlighting the importance of this subplot, which Dickens's original illustrator, 1847 engraving The Rejected Alms, which features Alice and her mother, left , and James Carker's older brother, John, and sister, Harriet, who live in a simple cottage outside London. Alice and her aged mother return Harriet's charity with disdain once they discover Harriet's relationship to James Carker. The cause of the antipathy is James's refusal to come to the aid of Alice and her mother, now living in a hovel with a leaky roof in the heart of east London
The Relevant Illustrations of Good Mother Brown and her errant daughter
Left: Phiz's August 1847 introduction of Good Mrs. Brown and her daughter, The Rejected Alms. Centre: Barnard's composite wood-engraving of the daughter's return, "She's come back harder than she went!" cried the mother, looking up in her face, and still holding her knees. Right of centre: Phiz's February 1848 finalé of the Marwood plot, Secret Intelligence. Right: Sir John Gilbert's frontispiece for the Sheldon & Co. third volume of the novel (1862): 'It's my handsome daughter, living and come back,' she screamed again. . . .
Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son
- Dombey and Son (homepage)
- The Diamond Edition of the Novels (1867)
- Phiz's Illustrations for Dombey and Son, Wholesale Retail & for Exportation (Oct. 1846 - April 1848)
- Fred Barnard's 61 illustrations for the Household Edition (1872)
- Harry Furniss's 29 Illustrations for the Charles Dickens Library Edition, 1910
- Kyd's five Player's Cigarette Cards for , 1910
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.
_______. Dombey and Son.16 Illustrations by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and A. V. S. Anthony (engraver). The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.
Hammerton, J. A. "Ch. XVI. Dombey and Son." The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., [1910], 294-338.
Last modified 7 December 2020