Re: Dear Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:06:37 -0100 

My dear Miss Damara and Miss Jessica,

  Do I really write about twins excessively?  There are the St Evremonde
brothers in "A Tale of Two Cities," to be sure, as you point out.  Then
there are Charles and Ned Cheeryble in "Nicholas Nickleby,"  Jeremiah and
Ephraim Flintwinch in "Little Dorrit,", the Micawber twins in "David
Copperfield," Bart and Judy Smallweed in "Bleak House," and one or two other
minor examples, such as Pet Meagles and her dead sister, also in "Little
Dorrit."  But I created many thousands of characters.  Some, in such a
gigantic assembly surely, have to be twins?
  I own to no secret fantasy about twins, nor do I feel I am obsessed by
them.  The fact is, twins are useful to a writer.  In "Nicholas Nickleby" I
didn't want the hero's problems to be solved by a married couple.  To say no
more, a married couple, even without children, would be likely to have
natural heirs.  A bachelor might have served my purpose, but I wanted the
rescuer or rescuers to be transparently good.  Twin brothers, on an entirely
equal footing, was a device that enabled me to dramatise the good they did
by having them talk about it.
  The St Evremonde twins were another device, which enabled me to place a
greater moral distance than would otherwise have been possible between
Charles Darnay and the Marquise of the story, between Charles Darnay,
indeed, and the misdeeds of his family.  Darnay's good and loving mother and
his liberal principles separate him from the Marquise, and motivate the
latter to hate him.
  Bart and Judy Smallweed enabled me to create comedy out of male and female
versions of the same personality.  The Micawber twins, one of them always
attached to Mrs Micawber, enabled me to load poor Mr Micawber with more
responsibility, more domestic distraction than I otherwise would have been
able to.
  For a writer of fiction, I suppose, twins always hint at the mysteries of
personality and morality, whether they behave in similar fashions or very
differently.  They prompt questions about human uniqueness, the roots of
good and evil, freedom and choice.  To such a fascination I confess, but to
no more rare and strange a fascination.
  As for the resemblance between Darnay and Carton, that has nothing to do
with twins.  Is it not just an example of being and seeming, something that
has always seized the imagination of novelists?

Faithfully yours,


Charles Dickens

________________________________________________________________________________
>Dear  Mr.  Dickens,
>We  are  writing  to  you  to  ask  about  why  you  excessively  write
about  twins?  Are  you  a  twin?  Do  you  have  some  secret  fantasy
about  twins?  We  noticed  that  in  your  book,  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities
the  Marquis  had  a  twin  brother,  and  Carton  and  Darney  had  very
similar  appearences.  What  were  your  reasons  for  this?  We  found
this  to  be  an  interesting  technique  and  were  just  curious  for
your  reasons  behind  such  technique?  If  you  could  write  back  with
our  response,  it  would  be  greatly  appreciated.  Thank you!
>Sincerely,
>Damara  and  Jessica
><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
><HTML>
><HEAD>
>
><META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type>
><META content='"MSHTML 4.71.1712.3"' name=GENERATOR>
></HEAD>
><BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Dear&nbsp; Mr.&nbsp; Dickens,</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>We&nbsp; are&nbsp; writing&nbsp; to&nbsp;
>you&nbsp; to&nbsp; ask&nbsp; about&nbsp; why&nbsp; you&nbsp; excessively&nbsp;
>write&nbsp; about&nbsp; twins?&nbsp; Are&nbsp; you&nbsp; a&nbsp; twin?&nbsp;
>Do&nbsp; you&nbsp; have&nbsp; some&nbsp; secret&nbsp; fantasy&nbsp;
about&nbsp;
>twins?&nbsp; We&nbsp; noticed&nbsp; that&nbsp; in&nbsp; your&nbsp; book,&nbsp;
><U>A&nbsp; Tale&nbsp; of&nbsp; Two&nbsp; Cities&nbsp;</U>&nbsp; the&nbsp;
>Marquis&nbsp; had&nbsp; a&nbsp; twin&nbsp; brother,&nbsp; and&nbsp;
Carton&nbsp;
>and&nbsp; Darney&nbsp; had&nbsp; very&nbsp; similar&nbsp; appearences.&nbsp;
>What&nbsp; were&nbsp; your&nbsp; reasons&nbsp; for&nbsp; this?&nbsp; We&nbsp;
>found&nbsp; this&nbsp; to&nbsp; be&nbsp; an&nbsp; interesting&nbsp;
>technique&nbsp; and&nbsp; were&nbsp; just&nbsp; curious&nbsp; for&nbsp;
>your&nbsp; reasons&nbsp; behind&nbsp; such&nbsp; technique?&nbsp; If&nbsp;
>you&nbsp; could&nbsp; write&nbsp; back&nbsp; with&nbsp; our&nbsp;
>response,&nbsp; it&nbsp; would&nbsp; be&nbsp; greatly&nbsp; appreciated.&nbsp;
>Thank you!</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Sincerely,</FONT></DIV>
><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Damara&nbsp; and&nbsp;
>Jessica</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>

======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author