著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

桃山学院大学総合研究所

雑誌

人間文化研究 = Journal of Humanities Research,St.Andrew's University (ISSN:21889031)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, pp.73-102, 2023-02-23

---

Charles Dickens (1812-70) and Catherine, his wife, sailed from Liverpool on 4 January on board the steamship Britannia. For comfort during their absence of six months, they took with them Catherine’s maid, the ever-reliable Anne Brown, and a delightful sketch of the children by Maclise which was given pride of place in their room wherever they stayed. After a wretched voyage during which they were all extremely seasick, they arrived in Boston to a tumultuous welcome. People lined the streets whenever he went out; they cheered him at the theatre, deluged him with messages of congratulation; they besieged the hotel. In Boston, Dickens formed warm friendships with a number of prominent Bostonians. Among them were the city’s mayor, Jonathan Chapman, several Harvard Professors, and the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82). Dickens was fascinated by not only the Bostonians but also the city. He mentions University of Harvard as one of the sources of charm of Boston. The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind made a deep impression on him. Dickens explains the institution by the description of Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-76), who is an philanthropist, an abolitionist, and a pioneer of measures to deal with blind and intellectually disabled person. The account which has been published by Dr. Howe, describes the rapid mental growth and improvement of Laura Bridgeman. Dickens’s impression about Boston seems to have a relationship to charity. At south Boston, several charitable institutions were clustered together. One of them, was the State Hospital for the insane; admirably conducted on those enlightened principles of conciliation and kindness. Dickens also mentions the transcendentalists, the group influenced by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), his friend. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States. Transcendentalism emphasizes subjective intuition over objective empiricism. Dickens seems to feel an affinity with the transcendentalists. In Lowell he discovered that the factory girls were not ashamed to produce their own magazine, to subscribe to a circulating library, to play the piano. It was what Dickens had thought of the United States with hope and admiration. However, Dickens increasingly began to feel that everything had been pulled down. The first rifts appeared when he referred publicly to the Question of International Copyright. He, and indeed many other English writers, felt bitterly about this. He seems to avoid referring to it strongly. In New York, Dickens points out the filth and the wretchedness of the Five Points. In Philadelphia, he thinks that the system of the prison called Eastern Penitentiary is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement. In Washington, the two odious practices of chewing tobacco and expectorating displeased him. In Baltimore, he felt ashamed of slavery. What has to be noticed that Dickens appreciates the great Temperance Convention led by Theobald Mathew and the neighborly love by the Unitarian church, while he does not like the ascetism of the shakers of the Shaker Village although he recognizes their sincerity and fairness of trade. From the perspective of the memoires of the cities, Dickens reveals not only the good sides but also the bad sides of the cities and shows the nature of ideal cities and ideal Christianity.

著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

人間文化研究 = Journal of humanities research, St. Andrew's University (ISSN:21889031)

巻号頁・発行日

no.8, pp.5-35, 2018-02

---

Four Englishwomen established for themselves a well-grounded fame astravelers―Mrs. Bishop (Isabella L. Bird, 1831-1904), Miss North (MarianneNorth, 1830-90), Miss Kingsley (Mary Kingsley, 1862-1900), and MissGordon-Cumming (Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, 1837-1924).Each of these four ladies had her own special characteristics, literary and artistic; each in her own way showed what English Ladies could do, and pen andpencil aroused the interest and admiration of the reading pubic.Many readers have been strongly attracted by the books of travel byIsabella L. Bird, and her capacity for accurate observation, her retentive memory,and her power of vivid portrayal, have enabled multitudes to share her experiencesand adventures in those lands beyond the pale which drew her everwith magnetic force.Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880) shows how accurate Isabella's representationof Japan is. It represents not only daily lives of Japanese people but alsotheir confrontations with Western culture. Isabella seems to be interested especiallyin the missionary works of the Meiji Era. She ardently desired thespread of the kingdom of Christ Jesus in the world, but was not herself concernedto advocate any special rites or dogmas.Most Japanese think of Britain as a Christian country. In one sense, ofcourse, they are quite right. Historically, Britain has been Christian since atleast the 7th century, when the Church of Rome first sent missionaries to thecountry. The various churches and sects of Christianity which have developedover the country's long history, such as the Anglicans, Baptists, Quakers andMethodists, have spread out throughout the world, having a great effect oncountless lives. Moreover, England is one of very few countries in the worldto have a state church, the Church of England.Isabella was born on 15 October 1831 at Boroughbridge Hall, Yorkshire.Her father served as a curate at Boroughbridge. After that he was appointedcurate in Maidenhead. The Church of England as her background and thetrend of Christianity in England, seemed to have a great influence on her.When she visited Irimachi, Nikko, she saw those who worshippedDaikokuten, the god of wealth. She could not accept them because theyprayed God for wealth and was steeped in materialism. She could not acceptAinu people who were given to drinking as a part of worship. This reminds usthe temperance movement of Victorian England. Many Christian organizationssupported the temperance movement because drinking habits lead people tocollapse of families, crimes, and numerous absences from work.While Isabella set great hopes on the effect of Christianity, she representedthe missionary works of the Meiji Era in Unbeaten Tracks in Japan. Sheshowed that missionaries contributed to Japanese medical treatment and education,and how Japanese people were converted to Christianity. UnbeatenTracks in Japan gives her impression not only of Japanese culture and habitsbut also of the missionary works.

著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

英米評論 (ISSN:09170200)

巻号頁・発行日

no.20, pp.129-153, 2006-03-20

---

In The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), Charles Dickens (1812_70) used the same method as he had used in Oliver Twist (1838). He gave a strong impression of goodness to readers by showing the contrast between goodness and evil until the end of the story ; Nell's innocence, purity, beauty, and goodness, became more striking by the grotesqueness of Quilp, the evil.Quilp could scarcely be said to be of any particular trade or calling, though his pursuits are diversified and his occupations numerous. He collects the rents of whole colonies of filthy streets and alleys by the water-side, advances money to the seamen and petty officers of merchant vessels, has a share in the ventures of divers mates of East Indiamen, smokes his smuggled cigars under the very nose of the Custom House, and makes appointments on Change with men in glazed hats and round jackets pretty well every day.Quilp is also a malevolent dwarf who lends money to Nell's grandfather, takes over the Old Curiosity Shop in payment, and then pursues Little Nell and her grandfather when they flee from him. Dickens represented Quilp's appearance: `His head and face were large enough for the body of a giant. His black eyes were restless, sly, and cunning. What added most to the grotesque expression of his face, was a ghastly smile, which revealed the few discoloured fangs that were yet scattered in his mouth, and gave him the aspect of a panting dog.' One can safely state that Dickens created the sadistic Quilp by Punch and Richard III. First, the source of Quilp is, as Paul Schlicke supposes, Punch in Punch and Judy. Quilp who gives a lot of blows to Kit and Tom Scott with hiscudgel and says, `I'll beat you to a pulp, you dogs' in Chapter 6, reminds readers of the destructive power and the sadistic aspect of Punch who hits the characters with his stick and kills Toby, his child, Judy, the doctor, and the Devil. The feature of Punch can be seen in Quilp in his relationship with his wife. The words of Quilp to his wife in Chapter 4 (`Oh you precious darling! Oh you de-licious charmer!') are similar to the words of Punch to his wife (`What a pretty creature! Isn't she a beauty?). Not only the relationship between Quilp and his wife but also the relationship between Quilp and Nell is similar to the relationship between Punch and Judy. Dickens seems to intend to represent a male chauvinis and an obedient woman in the relationship between Quilp and his wife and the relationship between Quilp and Nell. The difference between Judy and Nell is that Judy is killed by Punch while Nell escapes from the menace of Quilp. Richard III is thought to be the other model of Quilp. As Philip Collins describes Quilp as an exultant bourgeois Richard III, there are some common points. The appearance of Richard III overlaps with the appearance of Quilp. Richard III tells us about his appearance, `I, that am curtailed this fain proportion, heated of feature by dissembling Nature, Deform'd, unfinish'd sent before my time Into this breathing world scarce half made up-And that so lamely and unfashionable That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them-', while Dickens represented Quilp as `a dwarf whose head and face are large enough for the body of a giant, whose black eyes are restless, sly, and cunning, and whose finger-nails are crooked, long, and yellow'.Quilp, the hideous dwarf, terrifies and dominates all who come into contact with him. His power of sexual invasion reminds us of Richard's power of sexual invasion. Ann is urged to make a definite decision by Richard III : `Take up the sword again, or take up me'. His persistence wears her down, and she gives in. Quilp admires the sexual attraction of Nell and says, `To be Mrs. Quilp the second, when Mrs. Quilp the first is dead, sweet Nell'. In The Old Curiosity Shop, the bird symbolizes Nell who has escaped from Quilp and dies at the ending ofthe story. Quilp's words, `Wring its neck', show his sadistic aspect. Dickens created the sadistic aspects of Quilp, dexterously making use of the sadistic aspects of Punch and Richard III. The sadistic aspects of Quilp contribute to the emphasis on Nell's femininity. What has to be noticed is that Quilp's death presents a contrast to Nell's death. Quilp's shout in the water is equivalent to Richard's shout, `My kingdom for a horse'. Richard notices that he is trifling before his death, and Quilp's death gives the impression of his pettiness. Nell's death presents a contrast to Quilp's death. The little bird, `the poor slight thing the pressure of a finger would have crushed', symbolizes Nell. It reminds us of the words of Quilp, `Wring its neck'. We can say that Dickens represented the condition of Nell who has been released from the sadistic Quilp by the little bird as a symbol.

著者

吉田 一穂 Kazuho Yoshida

雑誌

英米評論 = ENGLISH REVIEW (ISSN:09170200)

巻号頁・発行日

no.17, pp.127-142, 2002-12-20

---

Many literatures, pictures, photographs of the Victorian age show that the contemporaries were interested in childhood, and the novels of Charles Dickens also show that he was interested in it. Dickens’s interest in childhood, was related to his experience in his own childhood ; John Dickens, Charles's father, was a cheerful person but he had no sense of economy. He was imprisoned in the Marshalsea prison, and Charles had to work at Warren’s Blacking warehouse, which gave him an agony and despair. Dickens's childhood experience in the Warren's Blacking warehouse made him feel that his own childhood had come to an abrupt end, and that he had been prematurely exposed to adult responsibilities and independence. Dickens had suffered from the trauma and expressed his view of childhood in his novels. Dickens represented the ill treatment of workhouse to children in Oliver Twist. The children suffered from the hunger. The poor relief and the New Poor Law of 1834 were the highly topical subjects when Dickens took them up in Oliver Twist, and his related sense of outrage at the misery of pauper children brought up in baby farms and adults living in workhouses remained strong right through to the end of his life. Oliver who says, “Please, sir, I want some more”, is treated like a criminal. Oliver barely escapes being apprenticed to a chimney sweeper. Dickens showed that the children of chimney sweeper were ill treated and connects such children to “the image of child coming home to heaven”, as William Blake (1757-1827) did in “The Chimney Sweeper”. Dickens expressed his feeling toward the children as victims of his age by ‘the image of children coming home to heaven’, relating Oliver's destiny to a workhouse, a chimney sweeper, an undertaker, and a criminal.

著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

関西大学英語英文学会

雑誌

英文学論集 (ISSN:02867222)

巻号頁・発行日

no.46, pp.49-67, 2006-12

著者

吉田 一穂 Kazuho Yoshida 桃山学院大学兼任講師

出版者

桃山学院大学総合研究所

雑誌

英米評論 (ISSN:09170200)

巻号頁・発行日

no.18, pp.41-65, 2003-12

---

In 1857, Charles Dickens (1812-70) revisited the Marshalsea prison to look back upon the past and make a necessary atmosphere in Little Dorrit (1857). The Marshalsea prison was the place which Dickens could not forget in his lifetime. Dickens returned to his father's experience of debt again while he was drawing the portrait of the Father of the Marshalsea, William Dorrit, as 'a very amiable and very helpless middle-aged gentleman.' John Dickens, Charles's father, was a cheerful person but he had no sense of economy. He was imprisoned in the Marshalsea prison, and Charles had to work at Warren's Blacking warehouse, which gave him an agony and despair. Dickens seems to change the relationship between his father and him into the relationship between William Dorrit and Amy in Little Dorrit. William Dorrit who is called 'the Father of the Marshalsea prison, is proud of the title although he is a prisoner for debt. Amy as a 'Little mother' of his father and the chief support of the family, shows consideration for her father ; she is a protector of her father and his respectability. Indelibly marked by the more than twenty years to which the Circumlocution Office has condemned William Dorrit behind those walls, it is forever impossible for him, even when he is released, to lose those psychological scars. In Book 2, Chapter 19, 'The Storming of the Castle in the Air', William returns to the identity in the Marshalsea prison. William Dorrit who lived for many years, there is a victim of social system. Arthur who becomes a prisoner of the Marshalsea prison in Book 2, Chapter 27, is also a victim of social system. Arthur who has invested in the business of Merdle, goes bankrupt after he killed himself. Arthur is a victim of Calvinism which drives people to the condition of confinement, and is a prisoner of the wicked religion of Mrs. Clennam. Dickens showed how Arthur could be released from the cultural ideology of Calvinism which made him an indecisive man and how he could get freedom. In Book 2, Chapter 29, Amy visits Arthur who went bankrupt and became the prison of the Marshalsea prison. Amy gives him motherly love. What has to be noticed is that Amy says to Mrs. Clennam, 'Be guided only by the healer afflicted and forlorn, the patient Master who shed tears of compassion for our infirmities', before the house of Mrs. Clennam collapses. The words of Amy show the forgiveness of sin as a theme of Little Dorrit. Moreover, the representation of nature emphasizes the relief by Jesus Christ just before the house of Mrs. Clennam collapses : "From a radiant centre over the whole length and breadth of the tranquil firmament, great shoots of light streamed among the early stars, like signs of the blessed later covenant of peace and hope that changed the crown of thorns into glory." Amy delivers Arthur from the ideology of Calvinism which Mrs. Clennam brought him. In Little Dorrit, Dickens attacked the Christianity of Mrs. Clennam which deprived Arthur of his liberty and imprisoned his mind. Mrs. Clennam adopts Arthur, the love child of Mrs. Clennam and his love, to raise him in righteousness and retribution, but her Christianity which justifies her scheme of retribution does not bring her and Arthur happiness. Dickens demonstrated that people could be released from vengeful feelings by a practice of forgiveness of sin as Jesus Christ had done, through showing how Arthur could be released from the influence of the vengeful thoughts of Mrs. Clennam with the help of Amy.

著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

人間文化研究 (ISSN:21889031)

巻号頁・発行日

no.4, pp.139-159, 2016-02-26

---

When we consider the works of Charles Dickens (1812-70) from the viewpoint of gender, we can safely state that Dickens represents the collapse of the patriarchal myth but he does not represent the women who assert equal rights of men and women. In Dombey and Son (1848), Dombey's family has a system where the male head of the family has nearly absolute authority and the oldest male child falls heir to his father's property. The father's love and hopes are centered in Paul, Dombey neglects his daughter, Florence, and the estrangement is increased by the death of her brother. The representation of Florence's flight from her father takes the initiative in Dickens's later representations of feminism, but Florence's return is different from the return of Louisa Gradgrind in Hard Times (1854), because Florence asks her father to forgive her for her running away from home. In Hard Times, Gradgrind imposes his sense of values of materialism on Louisa, and she gets married to Bounderby to obey her father's will and support her brother. However, she cannot go against her nature and gets out of her life with Bounderby. In both Dombey and Son and Hard Times, Dickens represents the collapse of the patriarchal myth. It shows his affirmation of women's right, but the two works does not show that Dickens completely approves of women's advances into society. Bleak House gives a clue to it. In Bleak House, Mrs. Jellyby neglects her domestic responsibilities because of her mission in Africa. Her telescopic philanthropy causes her neglect of her family when her young son Peepy gets his head caught in the area railing. John Stuart Mill (1806_73) showed his opinion about Bleak House in the letter to Harriet Taylor : `Hard Times has the vulgar impudence to ridicule rights of women. It is done in the very vulgarest way-just the style in which vulgar men used to ridicule `learned ladies' as neglecting their children and household etc.' Mill's opinion admits of refutation, because it is likely that Dickens emphasizes the bad side of Mrs. Jellyby who neglects domestic responsibilities, in Bleak House which shows both the situation of Esther as an orphan and the lack of responsibility of Mrs. Dedlock. Dickens did not deny the right and the conspicuous activity of women. He also knew the usefulness of women who contributed to society. As the granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, founder of the London bank, Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906) was one of the wealthiest woman in Victorian England. She was one of the busiest as well, not only helping to manage the bank, but also engaging herself very activity in an enormous range of philanthropic project. Urania Cottage, at which fallen women could acquire new skills, was set up with Dickens's assistance. Although Dickens knew the usefulness of women like Angela Burdett- Coutts, he represented the negative side of Mrs. Jellyby. His representation of Mrs. Jellyby might come from his own experience. Dickens had a bitter experience with his own mother : she was against the plan that he would be released from the blacking factory, and tried to keep him there. Dickens unconsciously reveals his conviction that maternal love is important in his works. In Bleak House, the absence of mother has a great influence on Esther's life and Esther feels a deep sense of isolation. Therefore Dickens might have used his past experience with his own mother.

著者

吉田 一穂

出版者

ディケンズ・フェロウシップ日本支部

雑誌

ディケンズ・フェロウシップ日本支部年報 (ISSN:13460676)

巻号頁・発行日

no.30, pp.3-15, 2007