Houses and Furnishings in Selected Novels by Dickens

Abstract

<p>This thesis is intended to improve our understanding and appreciation of Dickens' novel through an examination of his symbolic use of houses and furnishings. Five novels have been selected -- two from the early writings, one from the middle period, and two from the later fiction -- in order to trace Dickens' development as an artist. The first chapter explores the traditional symbolic associations of the house in general as well as the additional significance that house acquires in the Victorian era. Each succeeding chapter relates these general ideas to the specific novels themselves. The basic tenet of the thesis is that Dickens' symbolic use of houses is not only particularly suited to his imaginative vision of the world but it is also especially appropriate for the thematic concerns of the novels. His focus on houses and furnishings suggests that emphasis on externalities and material commodities that this society fosters. In fact special emphasis is placed on the relationships between social concerns in the fiction and the symbolic use of houses. Dickens frequently uses houses to suggest social forces such as alienation, dehumanization and moral disorder. Throughout the thesis, scholarly research on houses in general and on the intellectual, cultural and social background of Victorian society in addition to critical theories about Dickens' life and writings are used in order to view Dickens' work from a broad perspective.</p>