Other editions of book Little Dorrit

Widely considered to be Dickens’s greatest satire on poverty, Little Dorrit is the story of Amy “Little” Dorrit’s struggle to hold her poverty-stricken family together in the face of her father’s imprisonment in the Marshalsea debtor’s prison. Called the “child of the Marshalsea,” Little Dorrit struggles to support her family as a seamstress while dreaming of a future free of the Marshalsea. Little Dorrit was originally published as a serial between 1855 and 1857 as a critique of the British debtor’s prisons, in which debtors were imprisoned and unable to work until their debts were paid. The story pulls significantly from Dickens’s own experience as the child of an imprisoned debtor. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

How is this book unique? Free AudiobookIllustrations includedUnabridgedLittle Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It satirizes the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition he satirizes the stratification of society that results from the British class system.

The novel begins in Marseille "thirty years ago" (i.e. ca. 1826) with the notorious murderer Rigaud informing his cellmate that he has murdered his wife. There is also the character Arthur Clennam, who is returning to London to see his mother following the death of his father with whom he had lived for twenty years in China. As he died, his father had given Arthur a mysterious watch, murmuring, "Your mother." Naturally Arthur had assumed that it was intended for Mrs Clennam, whom he and the world supposed to be his mother.Inside the watch casing was an old silk paper with the initials D N F (Do Not Forget) worked into it in beads. It was a message, but when Arthur shows it to harsh and implacable Mrs Clennam, a religious fanatic, she refuses to reveal what it means, and the two become estranged.In London, William Dorrit, imprisoned as a debtor, has been a resident of Marshalsea debtor's prison for so long that his three children — snobbish Fanny, idle Edward (known as Tip), and Amy (known as Little Dorrit) — have all grown up there, though they are free to pass in and out of the prison as they please. Amy is devoted to her father and through her sewing, has been financially supporting the two of them.Once in London, Arthur is reacquainted with his former fiancée Flora Finching, who is now overweight and simpering. Arthur's mother, Mrs Clennam, although paralyzed and a wheelchair user, still runs the family business with the help of her servant Jeremiah Flintwinch and his downtrodden wife Affery. When Arthur learns that Mrs Clennam has employed Little Dorrit as a seamstress, showing her unusual kindness, he wonders if the young girl might be connected with the mystery of the watch. Suspecting that his mother played a part in the misfortunes of the Dorrits, Arthur follows the girl to the Marshalsea. He vainly tries to inquire about William Dorrit's debt at the poorly run Circumlocution Office and acts as a benefactor to her father and brother. While at the Circumlocution Office, Arthur meets the struggling inventor Daniel Doyce, whom he decides to help by becoming his business partner. The grateful Little Dorrit falls in love with Arthur, much to the dismay of the son of the Marshalsea jailer, John Chivery, who has loved her since childhood; Arthur, however, fails to recognize Amy's interest. At last, aided by the indefatigable debt-collector Pancks, Arthur discovers that William Dorrit is the lost heir to a large fortune and he is finally able to pay his way out of prison.William Dorrit decides that as a now respectable family, they should go on a tour of Europe. They travel over the Alps and take up residence for a time in Venice, and finally in Rome, carrying, with the exception of Amy, an air of conceit at their new-found wealth. Eventually after a spell of delirium, Mr Dorrit dies in Rome, and his distraught brother Frederick, a kindhearted musician, who has always stood by him, also passes away. Amy is left alone and returns to London to stay with newly married Fanny and her husband, the foppish Edmund Sparkler.

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William Dorrit has been a resident of the Marshalsea debtors prison for so many years that he has gained the nickname "The Father of the Marshalsea." However, his suffering is eased by his close bond with youngest daughter Amy, or "Little Dorrit." The dashing Arthur Clennam, returning to London after many years in China, enters their lives and the Dorrits' fortunes begin to rise and fall. A biting satirical work on the shortcomings of nineteenth-century government and society.

Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.BONUS :• Little Dorrit Audiobook.• 12 Illustrations about Charles Dickens.• The 49 Best Charles Dickens Quotes.

Little Dorrit grows up in the Marshalsea debtor's prison, where her father has been imprisoned ever since her birth. When Mr Dorrit's debt is excused, he is anxious to forget his inglorious past and be accepted back into the best circles of society. Dickens criticizes the hierarchical society which would demand such an impossible thing of a man, and also questions which class of their acquaintance are good people and true friends. When one of London's biggest banks fail, everyone is affected, high and low alike.

Little Amy Dorrit was born in debtors prison, the youngest child of William Dorrit, a long-time inmate of the Marshalsea. Earning meager wages as a seamstress, she is befriended by her employers son, Arthur, who eventually helps to free Mr. Dorrit from prison. When William Dorrit inherits a fortune, the newly free and wealthy family travels to Italy.Meanwhile, their benefactor falls on hard times when he becomes the victim of a gigantic fraud perpetrated by an eminent financier and is himself sentenced to the Marshalsea. Little Dorrit finds him there, and a relationship develops between them that juxtaposes ambition with humility, acquisitiveness with generosity, regret with optimism.A masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickenss maturity.

Little Dorrit is a classic tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, while Dickens' working title for the novel, Nobody's Fault, highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life. Dickens' childhood experiences inform the vivid scenes in Marshalsea debtor s prison, while his adult perceptions of governmental failures shape his satirical picture of the Circumlocution Office. The novel s range of characters - the honest, the crooked, the selfish and the self-denying - offers a portrait of society about whose values Dickens had profound doubts.