Online Exhibition: Character Sketches from the World of Charles Dickens
This exhibition celebrates one of the most enduring legacies of Charles Dickens's genius: the unforgettable characters he brought to life.
Quilp is one of Dickens's most reprehensible villains. Dickens describes his nasty smile as "appearing to be the mere result of habit and to have no connexion with any mirthful or complacent feeling." He adds: “The creature appeared quite horrible with his monstrous head and little body.”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
Nell comforts her grandfather after he has lost all of their money gambling. Quilp sneaks in to eavesdrop, “…he soon cast his eye upon a chair, into which he skipped with uncommon agility, and perching himself on the back with his feet upon the seat…”
George Cattermole. Illustration for Charles Dickens’s Master Humphrey’s Clock. London: Chapman and Hall, 1840.
Dick Swiveller was Dickens's favorite character in the novel. At first he conspires to marry Nell in a plot for Nell's brother Fred to get all her money. He is always in debt and willingly takes the job Quilp gets him in the Brass's law firm. When he meets Marchioness he becomes aware of the Brass's villainy.
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
"The Marchioness" is Dick Swiveller's name for the little servant girl who lives below stairs at the law firm of Sampson and Sally Brass. When Swiveller comes into his inheritance he pays to educate the Marchioness and renames her "Sophronia Sphinx." They eventually marry.
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
"Marchioness," said Mr. Swiveller thoughtfully, "be pleased to draw nearer." G. K. Chesterton calls their relationship the one true love story in all of Dickens. Swiveller eventually teaches the poor neglected child to play cribbage and enjoy beer.
Pictures from Dickens with readings. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.
As Nell and her grandfather make their way across the countryside they meet with all manner of itinerant show-folk, including a Punch and Judy show, a wax works, and this gentlemen with a troupe of dancing dogs.
Hablot K. Browne. Illustration for Charles Dickens’s Master Humphrey's Clock, 1840-41.
This 1874 Philadelphia production featured the actress Lotta Crabtree, who played both Little Nell and The Marchioness. She acted these roles from 1866 to 1887, when she was well past 40 years old.
Theatre Collection, 19th Century Playbills