Note 2 to Chapter 2 of the author's Dickens and the Rhetoric of Laughter which Clarendon Press published in 1972. It has been included in the Victorian Web with the kind permission of the author and of the Clarendon Press, which retains copyright.
This theme is also discussed, though very differently, by J. Hillis Miller. The most suggestive treatment of Mr. Pickwick's development is by W. H. Auden. Auden sees Pickwick as moving from Eden into the fallen world and thereby losing his innocence. My debt to this brilliant essay is very great, though I disagree with Auden's view of the novel's ending. Other readings of the novel which are exceptionally worthwhile include: William Axton and Steven Marcus.
Last modified: 1 May 2001