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“Little Dorrit” by Charles Dickens (Edited by Jesse L. Hurlbut) - Coggle…
“Little Dorrit” by Charles Dickens
(Edited by Jesse L. Hurlbut)
Characters
Amy Dorrit (Little Dorrit)
:
Gentle, kind-hearted young woman born in prison; "Although born and bred in the prison, Amy is far from being downtrodden and has grown up to be a gentle and kind-hearted yet enterprising and spirited young woman.
William Dorrit:
Proud father, Father of the Marshalsea; longest inmate who delusions his status
Arthur Clennam:
Returns from China, seeks family secrets; develops affection for Amy
Rigaud:
Villainous murderer, embodies deception; "Etymological Co-Conspirators: The Names of Little Dorrit's Rigaud.
Plot
Prison life and release: Dorrits confined in Marshalsea; Arthur investigates secrets leading to inheritance
Bureaucratic Circumlocution Office: Satirizes inefficiency; Arthur navigates red tape
Romance and revelation: Arthur proposes to Amy; family secrets resolved post-William's death abroad
Amy became a major figure... from the beginning to the end of the story and has a relationship with each character."
Setting
Marshalsea Prison: Debtors' jail in London, 1820s-1850s; birthplace of Amy, symbolizes entrapment
Circumlocution Office: Government bureaucracy in London
Society abroad (China, Europe): Arthur's return from China; Dorrits travel to Italy
Victorian London streets: "The spatial logic of the city... Marshalsea prison for London’s debtors."
Themes
Imprisonment: Physical and societal jails; debt traps families
Debt and poverty: Inherited burdens critique capitalism
Social critique: Bureaucracy, class divides; "Speculative Capital... in Little Dorrit.
Compassion and sacrifice: Amy's selflessness; "Amy’s petiteness as a symbol of her abstemious self-sacrifice."
Symbols
Marshalsea Prison: Broader societal prisons; "The carceral model represented by the Marshalsea.
Circumlocution Office: Red tape and inefficiency
Amy's smallness: Multiple perspectives, resilience; "Amy’s small size on a spectrum of human variation.
Rigaud's names: Deception and identity fluidity