Introduction
Richard. Best of all is the use which is made of Meg’s love for her child. “ ‘Thank God!’ cried Trotty, holding up his folded hands. ‘O God he thanked! She loves the child!’ ” But soon comes the warning voice: “ ‘Follow her!’ was sounded through the house. ‘Learn it from the creature dearest to your heart!’ ”
It would he interesting to know what were the original contents of the note which Toby carries to Sir Joseph Bowley. By the time this message is delivered, in the Second Quarter, Dickens has, as we have seen, made up his mind concerning the roles which Lilian and her uncle are to play in the working out of his story. But at the time the note is sent, this idea has not yet been developed. It is nevertheless entirely possible that the note may have been conceived originally just as it now stands—an expression of Alderman Cute’s stern determination to put Will Fern down. Originally, we may suppose, the incident was intended simply to illustrate the character of Cute and of Bowley, and this before the idea had come to Dickens of introducing Will Fern into the story as anything more than a name. Is it not probable that this was the case? As the thing stands, it does illustrate perfectly the obsequiousness of Cute and the impotent grandiloquence of Bowley: what other purpose could any other note, in this contingency, have served? It is probable, then, that when the idea of Lilian came to Dickens, he picked up this thread, and made the incident, originally a very minor one, a bit of preparation for more important matters.
Dickens’s own opinion with regard to characterization in his
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