Tales: The Tuggses at Ramsgate
Joseph Tuggs, a grocer of the Surrey side near London Bridge, unexpectedly inherits twenty thousand pounds through a long-pending lawsuit over a disputed will. With his wife, daughter Charlotte, and romantic, affected son Simon (who promptly renames himself "Cymon"), he resolves to give up trade and become genteel, and the family—now signing themselves "Ma," "Pa," "Cymon," and "Charlotta"—decides Ramsgate is the fashionable place to establish their new station. Aboard the steamer to Ramsgate, they fall in with Captain Walter Waters, a military-looking gentleman, and his pretty young wife Belinda, who flatter the Tuggses by declaring Cymon the image of a Marquis and Mrs. Tuggs the picture of a Dowager Duchess. After a comic search for lodgings, the family settles into Ramsgate life—sands, bathing machines, donkey rides, the pier, and the library—alongside the Waterses, who quickly become their inseparable companions. During a donkey excursion to Pegwell Bay, Cymon and Belinda pair off, and Belinda begins a flirtation, hinting that had she met "a kindred soul" earlier in life she might have been happier. Over six weeks of shared amusements, this develops into a declared "Platonic" attachment between Cymon and Belinda, conducted in secret meetings such as one on a cliffside bench the night before the captain's return. That night, Cymon walks Belinda home and is persuaded to come in; when the captain arrives unexpectedly with a Lieutenant Slaughter, Belinda hides Cymon behind the curtain. Trapped through a smoke-filled scene of cigars and brandy, Cymon is betrayed by an involuntary cough and discovered by Slaughter. The captain feigns fury and calls for his sabre; the Tuggses and Belinda faint in a tableau of alarm. Lieutenant Slaughter delivers a challenge, the captain threatens legal action, and Joseph Tuggs intervenes; the matter is settled when Slaughter negotiates a payment. Cymon recovers to find the Waterses' friendship lost and his father fifteen hundred pounds poorer, the money paid to hush up the affair—though the story becomes known regardless, leaving it said that Captain Waters, Mrs. Waters, and Lieutenant Slaughter had found no easier dupes than the Tuggses at Ramsgate.
By Charles Dickens · First published 1850 · Genre: Short Stories, Literature, Classics · 8,864 words
First lines
Once upon a time there dwelt, in a narrow street on the Surrey side of the water, within three minutes' walk of old London Bridge, Mr. Joseph Tuggs-a little dark-faced man, with shiny hair, twinkling eyes, short legs, and a body of very considerable thickness, measuring from the centre button of his waistcoat in front, to the ornamental buttons of his coat behind. The figure of the amiable Mrs. Tuggs, if not perfectly symmetrical, was decidedly comfortable; and the form of her only daughter, the accomplished Miss Charlotte Tuggs, was fast ripening into that state of luxuriant plumpness which had enchanted the eyes, and captivated the heart, of Mr. Joseph Tuggs in his earlier days. Mr. Simon Tuggs, his only son, and Miss Charlotte Tuggs's only brother, was as differently formed in body, as he was differently constituted in mind, from the remainder of his family.
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Tales: The Tuggses at Ramsgate is listed on Textopian as a novella by Charles Dickens, dated 1850 CE.
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- Work type: Novella
- Author: Charles Dickens
- Date: 1850 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Stories, Literature, Classics
- Length: 8,864 words
- Structure: 1 section, 248 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Tales: The Tuggses at Ramsgate by Charles Dickens
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Genres
- Short Stories — This is a compilation of short tales written by Dickens.
- Literature — Charles Dickens is well-known for his contributions to literature, and this book is an example of it.
- Classics — Dickens's works, including this one, are considered classics in literature.
Tags
fiction · literature · 19th century · British · satire · social commentary · family · humor · travel · adventure · class · society