61 pages • 2 hours read •
Little Dorrit
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Complexities of Wealth and Class
In Little Dorrit, as in his other novels, Dickens explores and criticizes the inequities of 19th century England’s social stratification. This novel presents characters from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds in a way that highlights the conservative beliefs of the Victorian upper class as well as the changing scope of wealth in Britain. The idea of gentility or “good breeding” is key to the self-perceptions of many characters in the novel, including the Dorrits. Though their patriarch is in prison for debt, William’s status as a gentleman before his time in the Marshalsea affords their family certain privileges that are unavailable to other inmates and their families. In this way, Dickens highlights the inequalities of the class system.
Dickens also points out that their privileged position in society gives the Dorrits—aside from Amy—a false sense of superiority. For example, though Fanny Dorrit works as a dancer in a theater—a profession looked down upon by most Victorians—she rails against Amy for keeping “low company” like Old Nandy. Amy hears several remarks like this from her father and her siblings, both during and after their time at the Marshalsea. The Dorrits feel superior because of their high birth, despite being imprisoned for debt. Their hypocrisy about their social situation is reflected in other characters, too. In particular, Rigaud thinks of himself as a gentleman above all else, requiring others to serve him without thanks even after he has been imprisoned for murder. Another upper-class family, the Gowans, makes their superiority known despite Henry Gowan’s dwindling wealth and status as a “more or less of a knave” (272). Dickens mocks their superior airs and speaks out against their hypocrisy through the character of Frederick Dorrit. When Frederick sees how Amy is treated for being kind to those her family views as “beneath” her, Frederick tells his family, “I protest against pride. […] I protest against any one of us here who have known what we have known, and have seen what we have seen, setting up any pretension” (634). He points out that their financial situation and humbling experiences give them no right to “pride” and superiority due to the circumstances of birth.
However, the Victorian era also saw a growth in people with “new-money,” as exemplified by the Merdles. The rise of the untitled rich complicated the social hierarchy since poor “gentlefolk” resented the newly rich while also wanting a share of their wealth. In Little Dorrit, people praise Mr. Merdle for being a financial genius, but they do not let him into the top tiers of society. Rumors swirl around Merdle being given a title or being knighted, something that is not quite as prestigious as being born into a title but would nevertheless be a social step up for him. Merdle’s social position contrasts that of the poor but well-born William Dorrit, and both men try to use the other to cement their social statuses. However, Merdle’s death shows that social status and wealth are not only complex and often founded upon frivolous traditions, but that they can also be risky and transient.
Pride Versus Duty
Throughout Little Dorrit, Dickens establishes the concepts of pride and duty as foils to one another. While pride blinds many of the characters in the novel, preventing them from acting upon their duties to others, a few key characters are guided by their sense of duty and don’t let their pride get in the way of doing the right thing. William, Fanny, and Tip Dorrit are all prideful due to their sense of superiority, even while they are imprisoned for debt at the Marshalsea. When they are released after 23 years, the Dorrits try to hide that they spent time there as knowledge of this would tarnish their status as an upper-class family. Their pride prevents them from meeting with their old friends as they all know of William’s debt; this drives the Dorrits to hypocrisy and they end up rejecting the people who helped to raise their social status.
In the case of the Dorrits, Dickens equates pride with selfishness as William, Fanny, and Tip fail to see how their rejection of the past impacts Amy, since life at the Marshalsea is the only life she has lived. In addition to hypocrisy and cruelty, pride drives the Dorrits to paranoia as well. When William is asked to wait five minutes at an inn for his room to be prepared, he believes that the landlord somehow knows of his secret life in prison, telling him, “[You] separate me—ha—from other gentlemen; […] you make distinctions between me and other gentlemen of fortune and station. I demand of you, why?” (601). William’s constant fear that his secret has been discovered makes him perceive insults where none were intended; moreover, his own snobbery toward those of lower birth makes him believe that others will treat him poorly if they uncover his secret. The characters who are motivated solely by their pride end up badly because of it; for instance, Fanny marries a man she doesn’t like just to spite his mother, and William and Tip invest all of their money in a scam as they believe their social status makes them impervious to ruin.
Contrary to the selfishness of pride, Little Dorrit depicts doing one’s duty to others as the highest virtue. The characters of Amy and Clennam exemplify this virtue, both of whom are rewarded with “a modest life of useful happiness” at the end of the novel (1079). When Clennam is asked to think of what would be best course of action for him after he loses his company’s money, he replies, “What can I do for my partner, how can I best make reparation to him?” (935). This shows that Clennam is more concerned about setting things right for his business partner than about his personal losses, showing his unselfish nature. Clennam is very concerned about doing the right for others, such as when he suspects that his father has wronged someone and is determined to repay them. Even more than Clennam, Amy devotes her life to helping others. Though Clennam sees how this can put her at a disadvantage, Amy believes it is her duty to do absolutely anything she can to help her family be happy, even if it hurts her to do so. At the end of the novel, Mr. Meagles tells Tattycoram: “If [Amy] had constantly thought of herself, [...] she would have led an irritable and probably an useless existence. [...] Duty, Tattycoram. Begin it early, and do it well” (1061). This quote sums up Dickens’s message in Little Dorrit: the importance of helping others over helping oneself. To him, unselfish duty gives life meaning and purpose.
Governmental and Bureaucratic Inefficiency
Dickens’s critiques of governmental and bureaucratic inefficiencies appear frequently in his novels and can be found throughout Little Dorrit. He satirizes the British government through his depiction of the fictional Circumlocution Office, whose primary concern is “how not to do it” (140). Though the narrator argues that “How not to do it was the great study and object of all public departments and professional politicians” (141), the Circumlocution Office has the explicit goal of slowing down government operations and making them as inefficient as possible. Throughout the novel, the Circumlocution Office stops progress from being made, such as when Doyce and then Clennam go through various trials and tribulations to have Doyce’s invention tested. To contrast these scenes of inefficacy and waste, Dickens often juxtaposes mentions of government offices with descriptions of poor and suffering people in debtors’ prison, showing that the British government could solve problems and improve the lives of its citizens if it was not so bound by form and tradition.
Dickens depicts the Circumlocution Office as a waste of time and money, and this same inefficiency can be seen in other facets of society as well. This focus on “how not to do it” is also personified in characters such as Mrs. General, who represents the frivolity and ineffectiveness of society’s educated, upper-class women. However, Dickens’s strongest commentary against the inefficiency of bureaucracy is his fervent criticism of the prison system. Like William Dorrit, Dickens’s father spent time in the Marshalsea debtors’ prison, so prison reform is a common theme in many of Dickens’s novels such as Barnaby Rudge and The Pickwick Papers. His main argument against debtors’ prisons is summarized by a quote from Amy when she learns that her father will be freed from the Marshalsea: “It seems to me hard […] that he should have lost so many years and suffered so much, and at last pay all the debts as well. It seems to me hard that he should pay in life and money both’” (553). Dickens points out that the prison system is cruel, taking both money and time from those who are incarcerated. He also declares that it is illogical since debtors are imprisoned until they can pay their debts, but since they are imprisoned, they cannot work and earn the money they need to pay off their debts. Additionally, Dickens shows the extreme difference in the way prisoners from upper class families (like the Dorrits) are treated, as opposed to lower class prisoners. The Dorrits can afford to pay for lodgings and other comforts in prison while other inmates share cells and starve. Dickens addresses the government’s illogical, cruel laws in Little Dorrit, and the novel’s message about doing one’s duty toward others serves as a call to action to his readers.
Unlock all 61 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,100+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Charles Dickens
