Dickens and Thackeray: Punishment and ForgivenessAttitudes toward punishment and forgiveness in English society of the nineteenth century came, for the most part, out of Christianity. In actual experience the ideal was not often met, but in the literature of the time the model was important. For novelists attempting to tell exciting and dramatic stories, violent and criminal activities played an important role, and, according to convention, had to be corrected through poetic justice or human punishment. Both Dickens' and Thackeray's novels subscribed to the ideal, but dealt with the dilemma it presented in slightly different ways. At a time when a great deal of attention has been directed toward economic production and consumption as the bases for value, Reed's well-documented study reviving moral belief as a legitimate concern for the analysis of nineteenth-century English texts is particularly illuminating. |
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... later narratives , this bare - bones presenta- tion is more extreme than later , more subtle versions ; still , those later narratives include the same basic elements , especially the prominent role of self - punishment . The pattern of ...
... later asks who is to compensate him for this insult , George suggests that , although they are only fifteen , the Warrington boys can offer the gentlemanly opportunity of a duel for redress . Ward rages , " This to a minister of the ...
... later novels , particularly The Newcomes and The Adventures of Philip , both narrated by Pendennis . But if Thack- eray so benevolently lets his readers know immediately that his hero and his be- loved will be happily united , as the ...
Contents
Attitudes Toward Punishment and Forgiveness | 3 |
Some of the contents of this study appeared elsewhere in different form Mate | 28 |
Education | 30 |
Copyright | |
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