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The Resource Charles Dickens and the image of woman, David Holbrook

Charles Dickens and the image of woman, David Holbrook

Creator
Summary
How successful is Dickens in his portrayal of women? Dickens has been represented (along with William Blake and D.H. Lawrence) as one who championed the life of the emotions that belong to the "feminine." Yet some of his most important heroines are simply bearers of the household keys and the basket of domesticity or are totally submissive and docile. Dickens, of course, had to accept the conventions of his time. Clearly the Victorian problem - which was man's problem as much as it was woman's - was that of bringing the ideal woman and the libidinal woman together. It is obvious, argues Holbrook, that Dickens idealized the father-daughter relationship, and indeed, any such relationship that was unsexual, like that of Tom Pinch and his sister, but why? And why, for example, is the image of woman so often associated with death, as in Great Expectations? Dickens's own struggles over relationships with women have been documented, but much less has been said about the unconscious elements behind these problems. Using recent developments in psychoanalytic object-relations theory, David Holbrook offers new insight into the way in which the novels of Dickens - particularly Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Great Expectations - both uphold emotional needs and at the same time represent the limitations of this view of women and that of his time. Holbrook pays tribute to Stephen Marcus's observation that Dickens was haunted by the Primal Scene and expands this diagnosis, suggesting how Dickens's residual dread about sexual intercourse deformed all Dickens's dealings with female characters, despite his eminent goodwill and delight in the image of woman
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Charles Dickens and the image of woman
Title
Charles Dickens and the image of woman
Statement of responsibility
David Holbrook
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
How successful is Dickens in his portrayal of women? Dickens has been represented (along with William Blake and D.H. Lawrence) as one who championed the life of the emotions that belong to the "feminine." Yet some of his most important heroines are simply bearers of the household keys and the basket of domesticity or are totally submissive and docile. Dickens, of course, had to accept the conventions of his time. Clearly the Victorian problem - which was man's problem as much as it was woman's - was that of bringing the ideal woman and the libidinal woman together. It is obvious, argues Holbrook, that Dickens idealized the father-daughter relationship, and indeed, any such relationship that was unsexual, like that of Tom Pinch and his sister, but why? And why, for example, is the image of woman so often associated with death, as in Great Expectations? Dickens's own struggles over relationships with women have been documented, but much less has been said about the unconscious elements behind these problems. Using recent developments in psychoanalytic object-relations theory, David Holbrook offers new insight into the way in which the novels of Dickens - particularly Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and Great Expectations - both uphold emotional needs and at the same time represent the limitations of this view of women and that of his time. Holbrook pays tribute to Stephen Marcus's observation that Dickens was haunted by the Primal Scene and expands this diagnosis, suggesting how Dickens's residual dread about sexual intercourse deformed all Dickens's dealings with female characters, despite his eminent goodwill and delight in the image of woman
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1923-2011
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Holbrook, David
Index
index present
LC call number
PR4592.W6
LC item number
H63 1993
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Dickens, Charles
  • Women and literature
  • Women and literature
  • Women in literature
  • Vrouwen
  • Femmes
  • Littérature anglaise
  • Frau
  • Sexualität
  • Frau (Motiv)
  • Great Britain
Label
Charles Dickens and the image of woman, David Holbrook
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
194 pages
Isbn
9780814734834
Lccn
92033074
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)26673174
  • (OCoLC)ocm26673174
Label
Charles Dickens and the image of woman, David Holbrook
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
194 pages
Isbn
9780814734834
Lccn
92033074
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)26673174
  • (OCoLC)ocm26673174

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