Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit-In Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens created one of his most penetrating satires on the weaknesses of government in the Victorian era. He chose Marshalsea debtors’ prison as the setting, where his own father had been imprisoned. The story revolves around a complex mystery involving conspiracy, debt and a disputed will that results in unexpected consequences for the main characters.

Dickens sets the novel in the 1820’s, around the time his father was an inmate in the Marshalsea, but virtually ignores that time period during the novel in favor of the present time (mid 1850’s) introducing many anachronisms. The theme of imprisonment, both physical and psychological, carries throughout the novel.

Dickens notes in the preface for the completed novel that he had never had so many readers, indeed, sales of the monthly installments topped all of Dickens’ earlier works. This despite some critics declaring Little Dorrit Dickens’ worst offering, citing an overly complex plot and lack of humor. Modern critics have been kinder, calling the novel one of the best of Dickens’ later novels.

This book, along with its predecessor, Hard Times, marked a turn in Dickens’ writing toward a darker and gloomier outlook on life.

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