"From each arm, she unclasped a diamond bracelet" — thirty-ninth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

From each arm, she unclasped a diamond bracelet by W. L. Sheppard. Thirty-ninth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter XLVII, "The Thunderbolt," p. 268. Page 267's Heading: "Mr. Dombey's Greatness Not Appreciated." 10.6 x 13.6 cm (4 ¼ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Edith Dombey throws down the marital gauntlet

She had better have turned hideous and dropped dead, than have stood up with such a smile upon her face, in such a fallen spirit’s majesty of scorn and beauty. She lifted her hand to the tiara of bright jewels radiant on her head, and, plucking it off with a force that dragged and strained her rich black hair with heedless cruelty, and brought it tumbling wildly on her shoulders, cast the gems upon the ground. From each arm, she unclasped a diamond bracelet, flung it down, and trod upon the glittering heap. Without a word, without a shadow on the fire of her bright eye, without abatement of her awful smile, she looked on Mr. Dombey to the last, in moving to the door; and left him. [Chapter XLVII, "The Thunderbolt," 269]

Commentary: Not a Trophy Wife

Phiz's original serial illustration only obliquely deals with Edith's rebellion against Dombey's marital tyranny: Florence and Edith on the Staircase (December 1847).

Refusing to assist her husband by presiding over a dinner party, Edith now demands a separation and casts aside the wealth and position of her second marriage. She throws down the queenly tiara and opulent diamond bracelets because these are tangible symbols of Dombey's having purchased her as he would purchase any other gorgeous status symbol for his London mansion. She rejects the notion that she is merely a beautiful object to be put on display for London society, but not treated as an equal partner in the arranged marriage. Clearly, she has had enough.

Sheppard shows Dombey as stunned. Carker, the dinner guest, looks down, embarrassed. The illustrator foils the wild-haired, rebellious wife in fashionable dress with the ornate but lifeless floral arrangement and elegant vase on the table, immediately to the left and separating her from Carker. Wary of what the impetuous rebel may do next, Dombey leans away from the table, but keenly observes Edith's shedding the signifiers of her former subservience, which now lie on the floor, again in the field that separates Dombey from Carker, whom the unhappily married couple have placed in the uncomfortable position of intermediary. Sheppard, however, generates sympathy only for Edith, whose forlorn expression suggests that she would rather that this act of defiance were not required as it will sever her relationship with her stepdaughter.

Depictions of the Breach in the British Household and Charles Dickens Library Editions

Left: Fred Barnard's version of the scene that terminates the marriage: Flung it down, and trod upon the glittering heap (1877). Centre: Harry Furniss's realisation of the same scene: Edith tearing off her jewels (1910). Right: Barnard's Household Edition study of the husband's response to the scattered gems and gowns: Thrown down in a costly mass upon the ground was every ornament she had had since she had been his wife; every dress she had worn; and everything she possessed. (dark plate, 1877).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1910)

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. IX.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

Created 21 February 2022