Re: "Sickness of the Mind"
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Wed, 13 May 1998 19:17:35 -0100
My dear Miss Schreiber,
You flatter the Inimitable. He is weak with your blandishments.
I confess to working hard at my creatures whose wits were impaired, I
confess to taking the keenest of interest in the treatment of the mad, in
asylums and in regimes.
Obsession was something that stirred my interest, in characters as varied
as Mr Dick ("David Copperfield") and Miss Flite ("Bleak House"). I sought
to convey my sadness at the thought of those whose minds were turned or
enfeebled at an early age, in the characters of Smike ("Nicholas Nickleby")
and Barnaby ("Barnaby Rudge"). I did not scruple to denounce and expose
those whom I thought both mad and bad, such as Charley, the old clothes
dealer in "David Copperfield," or Mr Mopes in the Christmas Story, "Picking
up Soot and Cinders." Feel free to ask me about these and others.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________
>My Dear Mr. Dickens,
> Indeed, I do not expect you to be able to discuss your characters in
>modern psychopathological terms. That is neither your area of expertise, nor
>your era. However, I would like to discuss with you the characters who, as
>you say, have a "sickness of the mind." Your keen powers of observation and
>description of human behavior make your literary works rich in the kind of
>material which I seek.
> I look forward to a lively discussion with you and the other members of
>this list.
> Sincerely,
> Annette Schreiber
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author