Note 7 to Chapter 9 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.
Dickens makes it clear, in fact, that Podsnap's prudery is based on notions which are actually prurient: "And the inconvenience of the young person was that, according to Mr. Podsnap, she seemed always liable to burst into blushes when there was no need at all. There appeared to be no line of demarcation between the young person's excessive innocence, and another person's guiltiest knowledge" (I. XI).
Last modified: 3 May 2001