Montreal Dickens Fellowship Study Questions: “Dombey and Son”
Westmount Public Library
April 2, 2019 1:00-3:00
Chapters 41 - 50
- Why does Mr. Dombey confide in Mr. Carker, especially where Edith is concerned? Is it to hurt and demean her further? Is it because Mr. Carker means so little to him? He would never imagine him being anything but a groveling employee.
- Comment on Florence’s boldness in kissing her sleeping, injured father. Note the effectiveness of the repetition of “Awake…”
- After Mr. Dombey’s accident and his being used as a “go-between” between Edith and Mr. Dombey, Mr. Carker seems to delve more deeply into the business. What are his motives?
- In Chapter 47 Dickens seems to be justifying Mr. Dombey’s pride by saying that he was raised this way i.e. it is a “natural” consequence of his stifled upbringing and environment. Dickens the narrator moralizes that crime and immorality are a “natural” consequence of poverty, ignorance and disease. Comment.
- Do you think Dickens sees himself as a good spirit that lifts the roofs off house to reveal the moral problems that accompany filth and poverty so that people will pay more heed and effect positive change in society?
- Do you think Dombey recognized his moral failings of pride and an over belief in the power of money? If they were seeped in his upbringing, could he have changed his ways? Edith seemed to recognize her moral failings as being due to her environment and Mrs. Skewton’s bad parenting, but seemed totally unable to change, feeling her badness was totally engrained in her. Discuss.
- What do you make of the way the 17-year-old “angelic, virginal” Florence is described in terms of Dickens relationship with his late sister-in-law Mary Hogarth?
- Were you shocked by Edith’s choice to run off with Mr. Carker. Do you think she loved him? Did she do it purely to hurt Dombey?
- Do you think Edith has low self-esteem or heightened self-worth? Why couldn’t she bring herself to submit to Mr. Dombey for Florence’s sake? She professes to love Florence but will not unite Florence’s family for anything. Discuss.
- Comment on the continued theme of water as Florence is pushed along by the “current” of life in the city as she flees her home.
- Discuss the fairy tale quality of Florence and her relationship with kindly Captain Cuttle.
- Did you know all along that Walter would return to his first love Florence? In his original memoranda, Dickens revealed that Walter was going to be lost at sea. He was dissuaded by friends (John Forster) because this ending would have been most distressing to readers. What do you think of Dickens skills in writing romance?
- Had it occurred to you that letters might have been left at Mrs. MacStinger’s?
- What is your opinion of the character and behavior of Mr. Toots in light of his love of Florence and her attachment to Walter?