03-15-2019, 05:56 PM | #16 | |||
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The wrapper illustrations were done by his son-in-law David Collins (brother of Wilkie, and first husband of his daughter Kate), but he didn't do the illustrations which appear in the text. On the titles, Nicoll in his book The Problem of 'Edwin Drood': A Study in the Methods of Dickens (one of Catlady's finds) gives Dickens' notes for the novel. It includes a list of possible titles: Quote:
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03-15-2019, 06:11 PM | #17 | |
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Datchery has to be someone in disguise. Other suggestions are that he was Edwin himself (but surely that would require major changes to his face for him not to be recognised), Mr Grewgious' clerk Bazzard, or Tartar. But neither Bazzard nor Tartar would need to be in disguise, as Datchery clearly is. On the actions of Jasper after he drugged Durdles, he probably made wax impressions of Durdles' keys, so that in the future he could avail himself of either the crypt or the Sapsea tomb in disposing of Edwin's body. |
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03-15-2019, 08:07 PM | #18 | |
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It’s a neat website. I could easily see Helena taking up a disguise. She said when she first met Jasper that she’d never be afraid of him “under any circumstances”. It was quite surprising to read that the majority of 19th c. readers thought Edwin was still alive. Their reasoning is an interesting twist - Edwin wouldn’t come forward to clear his uncle, because Jasper had made an attempt on his life, which is plausible. He could have taken Princess Puffer’s warning to heart, and been on his guard. Maybe I was a bit hasty in saying there was no mystery Last edited by Victoria; 03-15-2019 at 08:12 PM. |
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03-15-2019, 08:36 PM | #19 |
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Regarding the possibilities like Datchery being being Helena, and stealing the keys to make wax impressions. Today these seem trite, almost a parody of the fiction of the times. That reaction makes me want to reject them as possibilities, but I guess I need to remember the reaction back then would have been different.
Datchery does seem to be too obviously a disguise (even just the timing of his arrival hints at this). That Andrew Lang article points out some of Datchery's behaviour that appears to be - perhaps - hiding his/her hands, which may argue for it being Helena ... or not. I keep wondering whether, rather than a wax impression, Jasper merely did something (left a door unlocked?), or moved something (the lime?). Were we, earlier that night, directed to look at the lime because it's important, or was it a diversion? Again I have trouble not looking at this as a modern reader who expects a Christie-like murder mystery to be full of misdirections, even to the extent (as noted earlier) to looking at the least-likely suspect (Crisparkle) and thinking he must be guilty. There is too much we don't know. Princess Puffer has to be important, but there are just so many ways that could go. |
03-15-2019, 08:55 PM | #20 |
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It didn't work very well for me as a mystery, but still some fine passages in it, starting with the opium den, and then the introduction to Cloisterham, which seemed to make it something of an anti-Barsetshire. Some hints already at the beginning that this will not have a happy ending.
I enjoyed the passage in the crypts, especially the description of Durdles as an aeronaut with the bottle. |
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03-15-2019, 09:12 PM | #21 | |
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03-15-2019, 10:56 PM | #22 |
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For me, Rosa started off as one of Dickens' sickly sweet pretty little heroines, but she did at least have the oomph to break off the engagement. Helena was a much more interesting young woman. I suppose I liked the idea of Datchery being Helena in disguise because she had the courage and drive to do it.
While it seems hard to believe she could get away with it, there were real live cases of women masquerading as men and fooling everyone. I seem to remember reading about one who worked as a doctor in the US during the Civil War or some other 19th century war? I really don't care for Dickens' caricatures: they always seem laboured and unfunny to me, but of course tastes change over time. And the same is true with the wickedness of Jasper and the heavy-handed pointers to things like the quicklime. It's all about as subtle as a sledgehammer. The child called Deputy or Winks sounds like a serial killer in the making, but given the awful life he was living, it's no wonder he was so vicious. I wonder if he was going to be redeemed by the end of the book and perhaps adopted by Helena and Crisparkle. On the other hand he might have been killed in the quest to capture Jasper. Dickens did like child deathbed scenes. Still, Dickens does get some good atmosphere going right at the beginning in the opium den, and at various other times, and you can see why people were so caught up in his serialised books. |
03-15-2019, 10:58 PM | #23 | |
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03-15-2019, 11:00 PM | #24 |
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You are welcome. Some of those old magazines are fascinating to look at, just for the advertisements!
The Nicolls book is worth a quick skim too, though he does repeat himself quite a bit. |
03-15-2019, 11:09 PM | #25 | |
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03-16-2019, 02:43 AM | #26 |
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It’s more of a howdunnit, and how brought to justice.
With Rosa and Jasper, I think it was that he was creepy because of his obsessive infatuation of her. He would be the sort to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. |
03-16-2019, 10:18 AM | #27 |
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According to Wikipedia "It was therefore approximately half finished." So we're not talking about missing just the last chapter, there was room left for a lot of things to happen. It seems to me that most of the proposed solutions don't really cut it in this aspect. Dickens could be wordy, but I think he still had a lot of story to tell. So I'm guessing there were going to be even more unanswered questions before the story started offering answers.
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03-16-2019, 05:27 PM | #28 |
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Nicoll (my go-to man) suggests that in his other books, all the main characters have appeared by the halfway point, so we have the cast there, with maybe only a minor character or two walking on later on.
But yes, room for a lot more action to come. |
03-16-2019, 08:38 PM | #29 | |
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This great expectation (sorry for the poor pun) is one of the reasons why Datchery stood out from the moment he was mentioned. Coming so late into the story, and seeming to be a significant character, the reader is naturally inclined to think it is an already known character in disguise. And along the same lines, we are already seeing an increasing significance to The Princess Puffer, even if we don't yet have any idea where that will lead us. |
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03-17-2019, 01:20 AM | #30 |
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Yes, Princess Puffer hates Jasper for some reason we don’t know, and so will presumably be a part of his downfall, having heard what he has said under the influence even of opium. Datchery, having observed her, will no doubt endeavour to track her down to learn more.
You can’t help wishing that Dickens had plotted out his book in at least some broad detail. I suppose he kept it all in his head. It wasn’t that he just made it up as he went along, as that example of the importance of Magwich shows. |
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