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Article: The Scriptures of Charles Dickens: Novels of Ideology, Novels of the Self.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Scriptures of Charles Dickens: Novels of Ideology, Novels of the Self. By VINCENT NEWEY. (Nineteenth Century Series) Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. 2004. xii+315 pp. 47.50[pounds sterling]. ISBN 1-85928-434-5.
Vincent Newey makes three claims: that Dickens's fiction constitutes a Victorian Pilgrim's Progress or Protestant quest narrative, but one whose spiritual imperative has become ideological and ontological, exploring the psychological struggle between a personal self and social integration. The thesis is confidently demonstrated in relation to a range of Victorian cultural texts. Yet struggle animates the project, throughout shadowing the bold ...