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Article: Mr. Pickwick's first brush with the law: civil disobedience in The Pickwick Papers.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Dickens Quarterly
- Article date:
- September 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Dickens Society of America. 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 climactic scene in chapter 22 of The Pickwick Papers describes the embarrassment that occurs when Mr. Pickwick tries to find his way back to his bedroom at night while staying at the Great White Horse at Ipswich, with its dark and labyrinthine passages. Having found what he thinks is his own room, he starts undressing and dons his nightcap, at which point he is horrified by the entrance of a middle-aged lady in curl-papers, returning to her bedroom (for it is her bedroom after all) and beginning to prepare for bed. A Fieldingesque scene of misunderstanding ensues which parallels the earlier misunderstanding between Mr. Pickwick and Mrs. Bardell.
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