The Pickwick Papers
'The Pickwick Papers' Summary
The Pickwick Papers is a sequence of loosely related adventures written for serialization in a periodical. The action is given as occurring 1827–28, though critics have noted some seeming anachronisms. For example, Dickens satirized the case of George Norton suing Lord Melbourne in 1836.
The novel's protagonist Samuel Pickwick, Esquire is a kind and wealthy old gentleman, the founder and perpetual president of the Pickwick Club. He suggests that he and three other "Pickwickians" should make journeys to places remote from London and report on their findings to the other members of the club. Their travels throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief subject matter of the novel. A romantic misunderstanding with his landlady, the widow Mrs Bardell, results in one of the most famous legal cases in English literature, Bardell v. Pickwick, leading to them both being incarcerated in the Fleet Prison for debt.
Pickwick learns that the only way he can relieve the suffering of Mrs Bardell is by paying her costs in the action against himself, thus at the same time releasing himself from the prison.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1836Authors
Charles Dickens
England
Charles Dickens created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 18...
Books by Charles DickensDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
Thousandth Woman by E. W. Hornung
Set in late 19th-century London, *The Thousandth Woman* follows the unwavering love of a woman for her accused lover. The narrative unfolds in the ba...
Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson
Both Kidnapped and its sequel Catriona were initially published in 1886 and 1893, respectively. Since they were both written a century ago, their attr...
Holladay Case by Burton Egbert Stevenson
In Burton Egbert Stevenson's "Holladay Case," we meet Lester, a law clerk working for the prestigious New York firm Graham & Royce. Lester finds hims...
Thief by Anna Katharine Green
In Anna Katharine Green's "The Thief", a seemingly simple gathering of friends takes a dramatic turn when a valuable coin disappears. As suspicion fal...
Pickwick-Club by Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers, written by Charles Dickens, is a satirical novel that follows the misadventures of Samuel Pickwick and his companions. The story...
Dead Men's Shoes by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
In Mary Elizabeth Braddon's 'Dead Men's Shoes', Sybil, a woman of modest means, finds herself in a precarious position as her wealthy uncle's housekee...
Winnetou III by Karl May
It follows the adventures of the German protagonist, Old Shatterhand, as he travels across the frontier with his friend and ally, Winnetou. In this t...
Shifting Sands by Sara Ware Bassett
In the charming coastal town of Belleport, Marcia Howe, a captivating young widow, finds her life disrupted when Stanley Heath, a mysterious stranger...
The Sport of the Gods by Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Sport of the Gods is a novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar centered on American urban black life. Forced to leave the South, a family falls apart amid t...
Cousin Pons by Honoré de Balzac
Cousin Pons is a novel that delves into the complexities of family relationships, social hierarchy, and the corrupting influence of wealth in 19th-cen...
Reviews for The Pickwick Papers
No reviews posted or approved, yet...