Charles Dickens: Beyond Realism
What makes Charles Dickens such a brilliant and distinct writer? While he is technically categorized as Victorian realist writer his, style in the passages in chapter 8 of Great Expectations moves beyond strict realism. Literary critics often describe Dickens's style as Grotesque reslism or Dickensian Caricature. He takes a real mundane scene - a sleepy market town - and stretches it into something highly stylized, theatrical and almost surreal. Here is how Dickens pushes this passage beyond simple realism. 1. The Chain - Reaction Absurdity. In strict realism, a writer would just depict the town and its people - the town was quiet and the shopkeepers looked bored. Dickens, however, draws highly stylized domino-like chain of views. • Pumblechook watches the saddler. • The saddler watches the coachmaker. • The coachmaker watches the baker • The baker watches the grocer. This is structured like a comedic sketch of cartoon. I...