The Mistress of The Blue Dragon
Sol Eytinge, Jr.
1867
Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (Diamond Edition).
Third illustration for Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit in the Ticknor and Fields (Boston, 1867) Diamond Edition.
In this third full-page character study for the novel, Eytinge characterises Mark Tapley's employer, Mrs. Lupin, as a young and attractive widow and self-assured businesswoman.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Image scan and text by Philip V. Allingham; formatting by George P. Landow.
Despite the fact that the artist has placed her in the context of the travellers' room rather than in Old Martin's sick-room sitting beside Mary Graham, the old man's attendant, we should connect this passage to the publican's portrait:
The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be, — broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. She was a widow, but years ago had passed through her state of weeds, and burst into flower again; and in full bloom she had continued ever since; and in full bloom she was now; with roses on her ample skirts, and roses on her bodice, roses in her cap, roses in her cheeks, — aye, and roses, worth the gathering too, on her lips, for that matter. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn’t like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon.
As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging–bath. [Chapter 3; Diamond Edition, p. 16-17]
Shortly after this point, Old Martin accuses the kindly landlady of The Blue Dragon in Phiz's dramatic introduction of Mrs. Lupin, "Martin Chuzzlewit Suspects The Landlady Without Any Reason", of being in league with one of his many mercenary relatives. Eytinge's free handling of his subject, although far less dramatic, has the advantage of presenting a study of Mrs. Lupin as a specimen of mature, feminine beauty and self-assurance (as signified by her direct gaze, erect posture, and hand on her hip), highlighting those qualities that make her so attractive to Mark Tapley, the hostler. Thus, she in her person, intellect, personality, and considerable property — the well-stocked public house suggested by the bottles that surround her in Eytinge's woodcut — offers a powerful inducement not to leave this very comfortable situation which has failed to test his mettle.
References
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Il. Sol Eytinge, Jr. Engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (1842-43). Il. Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.
Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., 1910.
Kitton, Frederic G. Dickens and His Illustrators. 1899. Rpt. Honolulu: U. Press of the Pacific, 2004.
Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978.
Last modified 27 April 2012