"Yes, sir," returned Miss Pecksniff, modestly. "I am — my dress is rather — really, Mrs. Todgers!"(1872). Fifty-eighth illustration by Fred Barnard for the Household Edition of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (Chapter LIV), page 417. 10.7 by 13.8 cm, or 3 ¾ high by 5 ½ inches, framed, engraved by the Dalziels. Running head: “Miss Pecksniff's Nuptials," 417. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated
Mrs. Todgers, though most unwilling to part with her, added her persuasions. Even poor old Chuffey (of course included in the project) added his. She hurriedly attired herself, and was ready to depart, when Miss Pecksniff dashed into the room.
Miss Pecksniff dashed in so suddenly, that she was placed in an embarrassing position. For though she had completed her bridal toilette as to her head, on which she wore a bridal bonnet with orange flowers, she had not completed it as to her skirts, which displayed no choicer decoration than a dimity bedgown. She had dashed in, in fact, about half-way through, to console her sister, in her affliction, with a sight of the aforesaid bonnet; and being quite unconscious of the presence of a visitor, until she found Mr. Chuzzlewit standing face to face with her, her surprise was an uncomfortable one.
"So, young lady!" said the old man, eyeing her with strong disfavour. "You are to be married to-day!"
"Yes, sir," returned Miss Pecksniff, modestly. ‘I am. I — my dress is rather — really, Mrs. Todgers!"
"Your delicacy," said old Martin, "is troubled, I perceive. I am not surprised to find it so. You have chosen the period of your marriage unfortunately."
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Chuzzlewit," retorted Cherry; very red and angry in a moment; "but if you have anything to say on that subject, I must beg to refer you to Augustus. You will scarcely think it manly, I hope, to force an argument on me, when Augustus is at all times ready to discuss it with you. I have nothing to do with any deceptions that may have been practiced on my parent," said Miss Pecksniff, pointedly; "and as I wish to be on good terms with everybody at such a time, I should have been glad if you would have favoured us with your company at breakfast. But I will not ask you as it is; seeing that you have been prepossessed and set against me in another quarter. I hope I have my natural affections for another quarter, and my natural pity for another quarter; but I cannot always submit to be subservient to it, Mr. Chuzzlewit. That would be a little too much. I trust I have more respect for myself, as well as for the man who claims me as his Bride." [Chapter LIV, "Gives the Author Great Concern. For It Is the Last in the book," 419. Running Head: "The Sisters"]
Commentary: Poetic Justice for All But Tom
Despite her brother-in-law's recent arrest and suicide, in ignorance of Augustus Moddle's sudden departure for Van Diemen's Land (Australia), Charity Pecksniff presses ahead with her wedding plans, if only to spite her sister, Mercy.
The page's headline, "The Sisters," draws the reader's attention to the animosity that has arisen between the sisters. Old Martin tries unsuccessfully to have his niece, Charity, sympathize with the plight of her sister, Mercy, now the widow of a proven murderer. She is obdurate. But nemesis quickly strikes as she suddenly learns that her groom, Augustus Moddle, has chosen to get out of marrying her by decamping for Tasmania, off the southern coast of the Australian continent. Otherwise, the novel concludes happily in the multiple marriages, for John Westlock, Ruth Pinch, Mark Tapley, and young Martin Chuzzlewit and Mary Graham. The negative side of Poetic Justice is demonstrated in the fate of Seth Pecksniff, who has lost his life savings in the collapse of Montague Tigg's life assurance company, and is reduced to becoming a begging-letter writer. Sadly, although welcome at the hearths of all his married friends, Tom Pinch remains a bachelor.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Allingham, Philip V. "Phiz's Illustrations, Part Four." [Ch. 38-52] The Dickens Magazine: Martin Chuzzlewit. 5.4 (August, 2009): 8-13.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.
_____. Martin Chuzzlewit. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1863. Vols. 1-4.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Junior. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, with 59 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition, 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 2. [The copy of the Household Edition from which this picture was scanned was the gift of George Gorniak, proprietor of The Dickens Magazine, whose subject for the fifth series, beginning in January 2008, was this novel.]
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 7.
Guerard, Albert J. "Martin Chuzzlewit: The Novel as Comic Entertainment." The Triumph of the Novel: Dickens, Dostoevsky, Faulkner. Chicago & London: U. Chicago P., 1976. Pp. 235-260.
Hammerton, J. A. "Chapter 15: Martin Chuzzlewit." The Dickens Picture-Book. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 17. Pp. 267-294.
Kyd [Clayton J. Clarke]. Characters from Dickens. Nottingham: John Player & Sons, 1910.
"Martin Chuzzlewit — Fifty-nine Illustrations by Fred Barnard." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Eight Hundred and Sixty-six Drawings by Fred Barnard, Gordon Thomson, Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), J. McL. Ralston, J. Mahoney, H. French, Charles Green, E. G. Dalziel, A. B. Frost, F. A. Fraser, and Sir Luke Fildes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1907.
Steig, Michael. "From Caricature to Progress: Master Humphrey's Clock and Martin Chuzzlewit." Ch. 3, Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978. Pp. 51-85. [See e-text in Victorian Web.]
Steig, Michael. "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz." Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 119-149.
Vann, J. Don. Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985.
16 February 2008
Last modified 27 November 2024