ABSTRACT
A r e c u r r e n t f e a t u r e o f Victorian literature was the tendency to look at life from within its temporal sequence, from points in the middle o f life's progress, after the beginning and before the end. David Copperfield on the road from London to Dover and a loving family in Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dick, only one stage in his lifelong pilgrimage toward fame and fortune, provided a familiar point o f reference for the last century. 1 N ine teenth-century images for human life, in fact, often stressed length more than shortness. And many Victorian narratives underscored the oppor tunities along life’s path rather than its limited options: a series o f recog nized steps (not without danger, to be sure) marked the individual’s (and the group’s) long climb from infancy through m aturity and on to an adulthood marked more by accomplishment than failure. The notion o f the individual (and communal) life span as expansive, rich, nurturing, had underpinnings in more than the culture at large, however.2
