Reading Dickens from a Bakhtinian perspective : authoring and dialogism in ‘Bleak house’ and ‘Our mutual friend’

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to instil a stronger appreciation for two of Charles Dickens’s later novels; Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend, through the application of Bakhtinian thought. This work draws a parallel between Mikhail Bakhtin and Charles Dickens’s work by highlighting their shared belief that all human pursuits attain substance and a higher level of worth through the multiplicity of perspective and self. Indeed, both of these great authors’ works seek to be enriched by being linked to the other’s. This study is divided into two chapters, with each chapter focusing on different Bakhtinian theories: one forming part of his earlier observations and the other capturing his more mature thoughts. In the first chapter, Bakhtin’s philosophical essay ‘Author and Hero’ is applied to Dickens's novel Bleak House in order to explore the notion of authoring through ‘otherness’. On the other hand, chapter two strives to bring out embedded elements of the dialogic by close reading from Dickens’s final novel; Our Mutual Friend. Through this study I attempt to show how the overarching themes of the novel are essentially complemented by Dickens’s use of form, characterisation and discourse. Thus, by applying significant concepts from Bakhtin’s theories a renewed appreciation for Dickens’s novels is rendered possible.