Note 8 to Chapter 1 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.
There have been a few excellent discussions of Dickens's humour, and these have aided me greatly in this study, though none has used the same approach. Of the earlier critics, Chesterton is clearly the best on this subject, though his remarks are often evocative in the woolliest way. Of the more recent studies, four are exceptionally perceptive: V. S. Pritchett; Mark Spilka; Barbara M. Cross; and Northrop Frye.
Last modified: 1 May 2001