Dickens

Titles

In this section, every answer is the title of one of Dickens's works – but note that questions in the style of "In which Dickens novel does [such-and-such a character] appear" are in the next section.

Dickens's first novel (published in 20 monthly instalments, March 1836 – Oct 37)		Pickwick Papers
Dickens's second novel (24 more or less monthly instalments, February 1837 – April 39)		Oliver Twist
Series of short pieces published before the Pickwick Papers (originally in various newspapers and periodicals 1833–6; collected in two volumes, Feb and July 1836)		Sketches by Boz
Dickens's last (unfinished) novel (1870)		The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The last novel that Dickens completed (1864–5)		Our Mutual Friend

Set against the background of the Gordon Riots; subtitle A Tale of the Riots of Eighty		Barnaby Rudge
Title character has a pet raven called Grip
Told partly in the third person, and partly by Esther Summerson – the only female narrator of a full–length Dickens novel; Lady Dedlock turns out to be Esther's mother		Bleak House
Tells the story of a long–drawn–out court case (Jarndyce and Jarndyce); characterises the Chancery law process as slow and arcane, helping to prepare the way for its reform in the 1870s
Title character goes to America to seek his fortune, but returns to England after nearly dying of malaria		Martin Chuzzlewit
The book in whose Preface Dickens wrote, "Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is ... "		David Copperfield
Written in the first person		David Copperfield
		Great Expectations
		Bleak House (partly)
By far Dickens's shortest novel		Hard Times
The only one that's not set at least partly in London
Comprised of three Books, or parts, entitled Sowing, Reaping, and Garnering
The only Dickens novel whose title names a female character		Little Dorrit
Describes the Circumlocution Office – a satire on government bureaucracy
Tells of a legacy that goes astray after the legatee (John Harmon, the estranged son of the deceased) is declared dead		Our Mutual Friend
Features a cricket match between Dingley Dell and All–Muggleton, and a Parliamentary election in Eatanswill, between the Blues and the Buffs		The Pickwick Papers
Central character is thrown into prison for refusing to pay a fine
Set (partly) in the French Revolution		A Tale of Two Cities
Consists of three parts, entitled (respectively) Recalled to Life, The Golden Thread, and The Track of a Storm
Opening words: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness …"
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known" are the final words of Sidney Carton, and of the novel

Characters

Seth Pecksniff – a villainous, widowed (self–styled) teacher of architecture, with two daughters Charity and Mercy (a.k.a. Cheery and Merry) – is the first character to be introduced in		Martin Chuzzlewit
Mark Tapley, ostler at the Blue Dragon, is a friend of the title character
Mrs. Lupin, landlady of the Blue Dragon: initially a great admirer of Mr. Pecksniff, but ends up marrying Mark Tapley (and renaming the pub The Jolly Tapley)
Montague Tigg is a down–at–heel rogue at the start, but gets rich through a sleazy insurance scheme, in
Mrs. Gummidge (a widow, subject to fits of great depression); James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles (school friends of the title character)		David Copperfield
John Peerybingle, a carrier, and his charming wife Mary		The Cricket on the Hearth
Mrs. Louisa Chick is the sister of the title character – who marries a young widow named Edith Granger, after the death of his first wife		Dombey and Son
The good–natured blacksmith Joe Gargery is the brother–in–law of the central character, and narrator, of		Great Expectations
Uncle Pumblechook (the hypocritical uncle of the above)
Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer
John Wemmick – clerk to the above – and his Aged Parent
Thomas Gradgrind (a retired wholesale hardware merchant, now running a school) and his friend Josiah Bounderby (banker, mill owner, and "self–made man", whose story is eventually exposed as a sham) and Bounderby's interfering housekeeper Mrs. Sparsit		Hard Times
Stephen Blackpool is suspected of robbing the bank owned by his employer (Bounderby), but dies after falling down a well; his name is cleared after the culprit is found to be the son of his employer's best friend (Gradgrind)
Mrs. Clennam, an austere semi–invalid who lives in a crumbling old house, her (adopted) son Arthur, and her confidential clerk and partner Jeremiah Flintwinch, are central characters in		Little Dorrit
Wackford Squeers, the cruel and crooked headmaster of Dotheboys Hall (a "harsh and desolate" boarding school in Yorkshire) and his "plain and shrewish" daughter Fanny		Nicholas Nickleby
Newman Noggs is the closest friend of the title character; the Cheeryble brothers (interchangeable twins); Vincent Crummles (head of a theatre company)
Mr. & Mrs. (Madame) Mantalini (respectively a curiously likeable blackguard, and a fashionable dressmaker)
Nell Trent ('Little Nell' – the central character), Christopher 'Kit' Nubbles (Nell's friend and servant), Daniel Quilp (a scurrilous moneylender), Sampson Brass ("an attorney of no very good repute"), Dick Swiveller (a friend of Nell's brother Fred, and clerk to Sampson Brass)		The Old Curiosity Shop
John Harmon (a.k.a. John Rokesmith) is the title character of		Our Mutual Friend
Nicodemus Boffin, the Golden Dustman, appears in
Nathaniel Winkle, Tracy Tupman and Augustus Snodgrass are associates of the central character of		The Pickwick Papers

Bleak House

Heroine of the story, narrates part of it – Dickens's only female narrator		Esther Summerson
Legal case that dominates the book		Jarndyce and Jarndyce
Scheming, manipulative lawyer who is murdered towards the end of the book (with plenty of people having potential motives)		Mr. Tulkinghorn
Detective who solves the mystery of Mr. Tulkinghorn's murder – the first detective in English (as opposed to American) fiction		Inspector Bucket
Despicable friend of John Jarndyce, seen by many as a portrayal of the poet and essayist Leigh Hunt		Harold Skimpole

A Christmas Carol

First sentence		Marley was dead, to begin with.
Number of ghosts that appear		4
The first ghost to appear – Scrooge's deceased partner		Jacob Marley
"God bless us, every one"		Tiny Tim
Scrooge's good–natured clerk, father of Tiny Tim		Bob Cratchitt
Warehouse proprietor to whom Scrooge was apprenticed, and who the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him to see		Fezziwig
Scrooge's nephew, who arrives early in the plot bringing Christmas greetings but is dismissed with "Bah! Humbug!"		Fred

Martin Chuzzlewit

Alcoholic midwife, monthly nurse and layer–out of the dead – who habitually carries a battered black umbrella, and was so popular with readers that her name became a slang term for an umbrella		Mrs. (Sarah) Gamp
Mrs. Gamp's landlord – barber and bird–fancier (a minor character)		Paul Sweedlepipe
Described by Dickens as "so maimed and lame, so full of sores and ulcers, foul to the eye and almost hopeless to the sense, that her best friends turn from the loathsome creature with disgust"		The USA

David Copperfield

David's cruel stepfather		Edward Murdstone
David Copperfield's nurse – married the phlegmatic coachman Barkis ("Barkis is willin'")		Clara Peggotty
Peggotty's niece, adopted by her brother, whom David falls in love with but who marries his school friend Steerforth		Emily
Character said to be based on Dickens's father, with whom David is sent to lodge while working at Murdstone and Grinby's wine warehouse; an incurable optimist – "something will turn up"		Mr. Micawber
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery"
Mr. Micawber's first name		Wilkins
Mr. Wickfield's treacherous clerk (eventually his partner – sometimes described as a moneylender) – describes himself as "a very 'umble person"		Uriah Heep
David Copperfield's first wife, said to be based on Dickens's childhood sweetheart		Dora Spenlow
David Copperfield's second wife		Agnes Wickfield
Real–life English fishing port that Peggoty lived in		Great Yarmouth
David Copperfield's aunt, who adopts him after he runs away from his stepfather		Betsey Trotwood
"If you're an eel, sir, conduct yourself like one. If you're a man, control your limbs, sir!" Aunt Betsey to		Uriah Heep
Dora's dog		Jip

Dombey and Son

Dombey and Son's business		Shipping agents
First name of both Dombeys		Paul

Great Expectations

Full name of the narrator and protagonist (commonly known as 'Pip')		Philip Pirrip
Jilted on her wedding day (many years before the time depicted in the story)		Miss Havisham
The beautiful adopted daughter of the above, whom Pip pursues – representing the life of wealth and culture for which he strives		Estella
Convict who turns out to be Pip's mystery benefactor		Abel Magwitch

Hard Times

Setting – supposedly based on Manchester and/or Preston

Coketown

Little Dorrit

London prison featured in Little Dorrit, and where the title character is born		Marshalsea
"The Father of the Marshalsea"		William Dorrit
Little Dorrit's first name		Amy

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas's uncle: "a hard moneylender", and the main antagonist		Ralph Nickleby
Headmaster of Dotheboys Hall		Wackford Squeers
Poor drudge living in the "care" of the above, befriended by Nicholas; falls in love with Nicholas's sister Kate, but his heart is broken when she falls in love with Frank Cheeryble; dies of "a dread disease" (tuberculosis) and is later revealed to be the son of Nicholas's above–named uncle, who hangs himself after this secret is revealed		Smike

The Old Curiosity Shop

Malicious, hunchbacked dwarf moneylender

Daniel Quilp

Our Mutual Friend

Described by Melvin Twemlow as 'the best club in London'

House of Commons

The Pickwick Papers

Mr. Pickwick's first name		Samuel
Mr. Pickwick's valet – said to be the character that made Dickens famous		Sam Weller
Occupation of Tony Weller (Sam's father)		Coachman
Widowed landlady who sues Mr. Pickwick for breach of promise		Mrs. Bardell
Mrs. Bardell's bullying counsel		Serjeant Buzfuz
Jolly old yeoman farmer of Manor Farm, Dingley Dell		Mr. Wardle
Accepts a bribe not to marry Mr. Wardle's sister Rachael		Alfred Jingle

Barnaby Rudge

Character who gave her name to a style of dress (popular from around 1869 to 1875), including a large hat trimmed with flowers

Dolly Varden

A Tale of Two Cities

Doctor who works as a cobbler while imprisoned in the Bastille		Dr. Manette
Dissolute but principled lawyer, who goes to the guillotine in place of Charles Darnay (who is innocent of the crime for which he is convicted); speaks the final words of the book: "It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done"		Sidney Carton
Vindictive leader of the mob – keeps a knitted tally of the names of her aristocratic victims		Madame Defarge

Oliver Twist

John (Jack) Dawkins is better known by the nickname		The Artful Dodger
Bill Sikes's dog		Bull's–eye
Bill Sikes's girlfriend		Nancy
On leaving the workhouse, Oliver was apprenticed to an		Undertaker
"If the law supposes that, the law is a ass."		Mr. Bumble
Mr. Bumble's occupation		Beadle
Mysterious character who turns out to be Oliver's half–brother, real name Edward Leeford		Monks

Other

Dickens's illustrator – nicknamed 'Phiz'

Hablot Knight Browne

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23