Note 7 to Chapter 4 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.
I am very much indebted to Pearson's article, particularly to his conception of the novel as being delined by the three forces of Nell, Quilp, and Dick. Though I do not agree that Dick's humour is a "subvemive commentary" (p. 87) on the other two forces, I think his general view of Dick's relation to Nell and Quilp is accurate, and I have wed it here.
Last modified: 1 May 2001