Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It tells the story of Amy Dorrit, a young woman who has been born and raised in the Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy's father, William Dorrit, has been imprisoned for debt for most of her life, and she has grown up in the prison, taking care of her father and the other inmates. She is a kind and gentle soul, and is beloved by all who know her. When a mysterious benefactor, Arthur Clennam, arrives at the prison, he takes an interest in Amy and her family. He discovers that her father was once a wealthy man, and that his fortune has been mismanaged by his brother, Frederick. Arthur helps the Dorrits to regain their fortune, and Amy is released from the prison. She and Arthur fall in love, and they eventually marry. The novel follows the Dorrits as they travel around Europe, and Amy discovers the truth about her family's past. Along the way, she also learns about the power of money and the corrupting influence of wealth. In the end, she and Arthur are reunited and the Dorrits are restored to their former glory.
By Charles Dickens · First published 1855 · Genre: Realistic Fiction, Social Criticism, Satire · 60 chapters · 339,516 words
First lines
Thirty years ago, Marseilles lay burning in the sun, one day.
A blazing sun upon a fierce August day was no greater rarity in southern France then, than at any other time, before or since. Everything in Marseilles, and about Marseilles, had stared at the fervid sky, and been stared at in return, until a staring habit had become universal there.
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Little Dorrit is listed on Textopian as a novel by Charles Dickens, dated 1855 CE.
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- Work type: Novel
- Author: Charles Dickens
- Date: 1855 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Social Criticism, Satire, Romance, Historical Fiction
- Length: 339,516 words
- Structure: 70 chapters, 7,207 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Realistic Fiction — Little Dorrit is a realistic novel that follows the lives of the Dorrit family and their struggles with poverty and debt.
- Social Criticism — The novel is a critique of the Victorian social system and its effects on the lower classes.
- Satire — The novel is full of satirical elements, such as the depiction of the wealthy and powerful as corrupt and hypocritical.
- Romance — The novel contains a romantic subplot between Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam.
Tags
Children of prisoners · Debt · Domestic fiction · England) · Fathers and daughters · Fiction · Imprisonment for · Inheritance and succession · London · London (England) · Love stories · Marshalsea Prison (Southwark
Contents
- Sun and Shadow
- Fellow Travellers
- Home
- Mrs Flintwinch Has a Dream
- Family Affairs
- The Father of the Marshalsea
- The Child of the Marshalsea
- The Lock
- Little Mother
- Containing the Whole Science of Government
- Let Loose
- Bleeding Heart Yard
- Patriarchal
- Little Dorrit's Party
- Mrs Flintwinch Has Another Dream
- Nobody's Weakness
- Nobody's Rival
- Little Dorrit's Lover
- The Father of the Marshalsea in Two or Three Relations
- Moving in Society
- Mr Merdle's Complaint
- A Puzzle
- Machinery in Motion
- Fortune-telling
- Conspirators and Others
- Nobody's State of Mind
- Five-and-twenty
- Nobody's Disappearance
- Mrs Flintwinch Goes on Dreaming
- The Word of a Gentleman
- Spirit
- More Fortune-telling
- Mrs Merdle's Complaint
- A Shoal of Barnacles
- What Was Behind Mr Pancks on Little Dorrit's Hand
- The Marshalsea Becomes an Orphan
- Fellow Travellers
- Mrs General
- On the Road
- A Letter from Little Dorrit
- Something Wrong Somewhere
- Something Right Somewhere
- Mostly, Prunes and Prism
- The Dowager Mrs Gowan is Reminded That ‘it Never Does'
- Appearance and Disappearance
- The Dreams of Mrs Flintwinch Thicken
- A Letter from Little Dorrit
- In Which a Great Patriotic Conference is Holden
- The Progress of an Epidemic
- Taking Advice
- No Just Cause or Impediment Why These Two Persons Should Not Be Joined Together
- Getting On
- Missing
- A Castle in the Air
- The Storming of the Castle in the Air
- Introduces the Next
- The History of a Self-tormentor
- Who Passes by This Road so Late?
- Mistress Affery Makes a Conditional Promise, Respecting Her Dreams
- The Evening of a Long Day