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Passage Illustrated: Minette The Vivandière dies in the storming of the Bridge

The moment after she was in the middle of the bridge. She waved her cap wildly above her head, and beckoned to the column to come on. A cheer answered her. The mass rushed forward; the fire again pealed forth; a shriek pierced the din of all the battle, and the leading files halt. Four grenadiers fall back to the rear, carrying a body between them: it is the corpse of Minette the vivandière, who has received her death-wound! [Chapter LXXXIV, "The Bridge at Montereau," p. 280 in the 1844 edition; 333 in the 1869 edition]

Commentary: The Tragic and Pointless Death of a Romantic Figure

Fittingly, the final instalment concludes the story of Tom's relationship with the young woman who has been in love with him throughout much of his career. Tom has recognized her battlefield and business acumen, but has been blind to the feelings she has had for him ever since she nursed him back to health in Chapter XLIV, "The Canteen" (December 1843). Hers has been a continuing secondary story for some nine monthly instalments, one which had limited possibilities for Lever, who had to decide whether to kill her off in battle, or to have her marry Tom after the demise of her ancient admirer, Big Pioche. The present illustration, therefore, completes her arc in the narrative-pictorial series, for which this (nineteenth) instalment's initial illustration, The Bridge, has just prepared us since these are companion plates in the text.

Deliberately inviting death when she suddenly stands above the level of the parapet on the bridge, she makes herself an easy target for the enemy sharpshooters as she waves the Old Guard forward. Apparently, although Tom has successfully ignited the petard against the stout doorway of the bridge (engulfed in a cloud of gunpowder smoke in the previous illustration, just over the page), the division of Grenadiers has failed to charge forward. What induces her to this act of folly amounting to suicide is her seeing Marie de Meudon's miniature in the silver locket that Tom wears about his neck. At her funeral, Pioche collapses beside her grave, is pronounced dead, and is buried alongside her.

This engraving is the companion piece to The Bridge, facing p. 332, but does not merely repeat the backdrop or the narrative-visual context. Here, the Grenadiers surge forward, and the leader attempts to catch Minette when she falls as she waves his fellows forward. The dead, piled up on the deck of bridge, now impede the charge, and all we can see of Tom is his head, centre, as he watches helplessly. In the swirling gunpowder (rear) we have lost sight of the gateway, the point of contention and so much slaughter, entirely.

Other Plates Involving the Vivandière, Minette

• 1. Frontispiece for Vol. One: Minette in attendance on Pioche. Facing title page (issued December 1843) in Part 11.
• 23. Murat and Mademoiselle Minette. Facing page 343 for Chapter XLV, "The 'Vivandière of the Fourth'." (December 1843)
• 29. Minette receiving the "Cross of the Legion." Facing page 120 in Chapter LVII, "The Return of the Wounded." (February 1844)
• 30. Fighting their battles o'er again. Facing page 120 in Chapter LX, "A Good-by." (March 1844)
• 37. The Summer House. Facing page 176 in Chapter LXXII, "A Chance Meeting." (June 1844)
• 42. The Bridge. Facing page 280 in Chapter LXXXIV, "The Bridge of Monterau." (September 1844).

Further Information

• Phiz and Lever: A Fascination with Napoleon (1840-43; seven plates)
• Charles Lever's Fourth Novel, Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843 — September 1844)
• Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843)
• Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (March 1843)
• Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters for Tom Burke's Adventures in France and Germany in Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (April 1843 through June 1844)
• Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters for Tom Burke's Final Adventures in Ireland and France in Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (July through September 1844)

Bibliography

Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.

Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Chapter 11: "'Give Me Back the Freshness of the Morning!'" Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004. Pp. 108-127.

Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Dublin: William Curry, Jun., 1844. Illustrated by H. K. Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. Serialised February 1843 through September 1844. 2 vols.

Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 24 February 2021.

Steig, Michael. Chapter Four: "Dombey and Son: Iconography of Social and Sexual Satire." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 86-112.

Stevenson, Lionel. Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939.

_______. "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.

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Created 4 December 2023