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Fanny becomes Affectionate
Harry Furniss
1910
13.9 x 7.4 cm, vignetted
Dickens's Little Dorrit, in The Charles Dickens Library Edition, Book the Second, "Riches," Chapter 15, "No Just Cause or Impediment Why These Two Persons Should Not Be Joined Together," facing XII, 641.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Here, she threw her bonnet from her altogether, and flounced into a chair. But, becoming affectionate almost immediately, she flounced out of it again, and kneeled down on the floor to take her sister, chair and all, in her arms.
"Don’t suppose I am hasty or unkind, darling, because I really am not. But you are such a little oddity! You make one bite your head off, when one wants to be soothing beyond everything. Didn’t I tell you, you dearest baby, that Edmund can’t be trusted by himself? And don’t you know that he can’t?"
"Yes, yes, Fanny. You said so, I know."
"And you know it, I know,’ retorted Fanny. ‘Well, my precious child! If he is not to be trusted by himself, it follows, I suppose, that I should go with him?"
"It — seems so, love," said Little Dorrit.
"Therefore, having heard the arrangements that are feasible to carry out that object, am I to understand, dearest Amy, that on the whole you advise me to make them?"
"It — seems so, love," said Little Dorrit again.
"Very well," cried Fanny with an air of resignation, "then I suppose it must be done! I came to you, my sweet, the moment I saw the doubt, and the necessity of deciding. I have now decided. So let it be." [Book Two, "Riches," Ch. 15, "No Just Cause or Impediment Why These Two Persons Should Not Be Joined Together," 630]
Furniss, perhaps at J. A. Hammerton's suggestion, has provided the following detailed subtitle or caption for this lithograph from pen-and-ink: Fanny threw her bonnet from her altogether, flouncedout of her chair, and knelt down on the floor to take her sister, chair and all, in her arms. — Dorrit, p. 630.
Although Amy has a sympathetic nature, and has demonstrated with Maggie that she has the capacity to be a true friend, she has always been somewhat reserved with her older sister — and with good reason, for Fanny is consistently condescending with Amy. Amy therefore cannot be blamed for being somewhat aloof as Fanny professes herself in doubt as to whether she should accept Edmund Sparkler's marriage proposal.
Of the fifty-five named characters in the novel's illustrations Furniss focuses on Amy Dorrit throughout — she appears in eleven of the twenty-eight illustrations, including prominently in both the frontispiece and the engraved title (top centre), more by far than the pallid protagonist Arthur Clennam (3). Although she is a principal character, as a foil to her virtuous sister Fanny occurs prominently in eight illustrations beyond multiple appearances in Characters in the Story: Little Dorrit among the Professionals; Little Dorrit disgraces her Family; Mr. Dorrit and the Swiss Innkeeper; Miss Fanny meets an Acquaintance in Venice; "Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism"; Fanny becomes affectionate; Mr. Dorrit forgets himself; and finally Mr. Merdle gives the Sparklers a Call. However, Fanny, the chorus dancer, is at her most forceful in her vanity and egocentricity in just the first few illustrations; here, she may merely seem to be a slender, statuesque blonde contrasting her demure, diminutive brunette sister in Fanny becomes affectionate. However, Furniss gives her face a genuinely affectionate quality that suggests she is no longer being condescending or judgmental as she grips the arms of Amy's chair.
Left: Phiz's original serial illustration of the Dorrit sisters backstage at the theatre where Fanny dances and William plays in the orchestra, Miss Dorrit and Little Dorrit (Book I, Ch. 20; May 1856). Right: James Mahoney's 1873 study in contrasts: Amy, Fanny, and Frederick Dorrit: When they arrived there, they found the old man practising his clarionet (Book I, chap. 20, "Moving in Society," 121)
Dickens, Charles. Little Dorrit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Authentic Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1901 [rpt. 30 May 1857 volume].
_______. Little Dorrit. Illustrated by James Mahoney. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1873. Vol. V.
_______. Little Dorrit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. XII.
Hammerton, J. A. "Chapter 19: Little Dorrit." The Dickens Picture-Book. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Co., 1910. Vol. XVII, 398-427.
Created 11 February 2020
Last modified 18 November 2020