Montreal Dickens Fellowship Study Questions: “The Old Curiosity Shop”
Westmount Public Library
December 1, 2015 1:00-3:00
Chapters 51 - 73
- Isn’t the ancient stone house next to the church akin to a mausoleum or tomb? Nell is at peace and comfortable there. It is a place of rest and tranquility. Do you think Dickens is preparing us for her death?
- Do you find Nell’s fascination with the peaceful, rotting church unnatural? She had grown up surrounded by old, decaying objects. She must feel right at home. In fact she is compared to the stone warriors laid to rest within earshot of life. Comment.
- Dickens loved to write about the gothic and melodramatic. Nothing piqued the Victorian interest like death. He has undertakers in Oliver Twist, Martin Chuzzlewit and Great Expectations. He has graveyards in Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities. He has taxidermy, bones and skeletons in Our Mutual Friend. Indeed the deaths of Little Nell and little Paul Dombey moved his readers from every walk of life. Discuss.
- Comment on greedy Mr. Brass’s name. Brass=Money and Quilp described him as a Judas.
- Do you think that Quilp could be “brought down” for suggesting to the Brasses that they falsely accuse Kit of stealing $5 pounds? Indeed it seems unlikely that the Brasses would be in trouble given that they are lawyers and the evidence was based on the word of an “unreliable” and easily discredited child servant who had stolen a key and eavesdropped. Why did Mr. Brass confess? Was he goaded by his desire to hurt Quilp? Did Sally try to protect Quilp out of hatred for her brother? Feelings for Quilp?
- Does it surprise you that Quilp cannot swim? He seems so acrobatic and strong for his size.
- Coincidence is just as prevalent in this novel as in Dickens’s other works if not more so. Comment on the fact that Grandfather and Little Nell end up with Mr. Garland’s brother the “Bachelor”. Does this take our suspension of belief too far? Does it detract from your enjoyment of the book?
- Does the identity of the single gentleman as Grandfather’s estranged brother surprise you? Did you expect it?
- Were you surprised by Little Nell’s death? Were you moved by it? Did you find Dickens’s description of it maudlin or realistic? What did she die of? Do you think the grandfather’s reaction to it plausible? Do you think Dickens could have spared her?
- It is interesting that the book ends with the Old Curiosity Shop being torn down and replaced by a road, the site forgotten forever. Why did Dickens do this? Is it done to impress upon the reader the “fairy-tale” like, magical quality of the story as a parable?
- Were you satisfied with the ending of the novel? Compare this book to other Dickens works you may have read in terms of plot, theme, characterizations, social message… Did you like it? Why? Why not?
- Would you recommend this book to a friend. Is it outdated? What lessons can we take away today?