ABSTRACT
It would not be difficult to make Little Dorrit soWld very like Bleak House. If we say that both novels are about society as a prison from which nobody can escape and by which everyone is tainted we say what is, after all, perfectly true. And it is just as true of Our Mutual Friend. All three novels are critiques of Victorian society. But as EdmWld Wilson wisely pointed out, it simply will not do to make believe that Dickens goes on from novel to novel saying more or less the same thing. On the contrary:
It may be said that Dickens never really repeats himself: his thought makes a consistent progress, and his art, through the whole thirty-five years ofhis career, keeps going on to new materials and new effects.l
These words have an immediate bearing on my present concern. For I want to begin this chapter by pointing out how very differentLittle Dorrit is from Bleak House, and attempting to indicate its especial or distinctive quality.
