Perhaps no character is ‘recalled to life’ so forcefully as the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820). The Horseman returns to the land of the living but does so without his head. In losing his head, he is physically deprived of an integral part of his being, and is thereforeContinue reading “The Ghostly Cycle in ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’”
Tag Archives: Charles Dickens
Dickens and the classic Victorian Christmas
Dickens and the classic Victorian image of Christmas are inextricably linked, mostly because of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Published in 1843, the book sold 6000 copies in five days, and became massively popular. First editions today sell for ten to fifteen thousand pounds. Dickens is often credited with creating Christmas, but it is more accurate toContinue reading “Dickens and the classic Victorian Christmas”
Defending Estella from ‘Great Expectations’
A case for one of Dickens’ frostiest characters. To match with the chilly weather that we are getting this January I thought I’d write about one of the iciest characters out there, Estella from Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations.’ Her reputation precedes her, and I for one can’t understand Pip’s infatuation with her… or people’s hatredContinue reading “Defending Estella from ‘Great Expectations’”
The Gothic in ‘A Christmas Carol’
Searching for the Gothic in Dickens’ Christmas classic! ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a classic Christmas story, as it encompasses all that should be at the heart of Christmas. Love, joy, family… and a prize turkey that can feed the five thousand. It also gives us the lesson that people can change and that sometimes theyContinue reading “The Gothic in ‘A Christmas Carol’”
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