Re: morals and customs
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Wed, 4 Feb 1998 11:36:21 -0100
My dear Mr Wahl,
For the most part, except in superficial ways, the manners of my age
differed little from the manners of yours. That is not to say there were no
differences at all, however. Perhaps some of the most surprising, for your
generation, would have been customs surrounding courtship. Chaperones, for
instance, were important. And contrary to what I understand to be the
widely held twentieth-century view, they were not unpopular figures, not
killjoys. Young lovers could see each other only when a suitable chaperone
could be found. A compliant one was a jewel beyond price. I well remember
that role being played by my wife's dear sister, Mary, when I was paying my
addresses to her. If you have read my book "David Copperfield," you will
remember Dora Spenlow's dear friend Julia Mills, a droll figure I like to
think, but one whom David and Dora valued.
Another custom rarely found now is one in the work place. I mean
apprenticeship. A musical comedy made from my book "Oliver Twist" has Mr
Bumble wanting to be paid for Oliver's services. In the book, in fact, he
seeks an employer to take on Oliver as an apprentice, to whom the Union will
be pay a premium. You may remember too that, even when Pip is apprenticed
to his brother-in-law, Joe Gargery the blacksmith, in "Great Expectations,"
a premium has to be paid. It is in fact Miss Havisham who pays it.
I hope you will find these two examples sufficiently curious and satisfactory.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
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>what were some of the customs of society during the age?
>
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Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author