Charles Dickens and the Image of Woman

Download or read book Charles Dickens and the Image of Woman written by David Holbrook and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dickens, of course, had to accept the conventions of his time. Clearly the Victorian problem - which was man's problem as much as it was woman's - was that of bringing the ideal woman and the libidinal woman together. It is obvious, argues Holbrook, that Dickens idealized the father-daughter relationship, and indeed, any such relationship that was unsexual, like that of Tom Pinch and his sister, but why? And why, for example, is the image of woman so often associated with death, as in Great Expectations? Dickens's own struggles over relationships with women have been documented, but much less has been said about the unconscious elements behind these problems.