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| "John and Dot" by Clarkson Stanfield (scanned by Phillip V Allingham www.victorianweb.org) |
The Cricket on the Hearth is one of Dickens's five Christmas stories, the most famous being A Christmas Carol.
The story centres around the family of John and Dot Peerybingle. Through them we meet Tilly Slowboy, their maid; Caleb and Bertha Plummer, a toymaker and his blind daughter; Mrs Fielding and her daughter May; and Mr Tackleton, Caleb's insensitive employer.
Mr Tackleton announces his intention to marry the much younger May Fielding. As the set date coincides with John and Dot's first wedding anniversary, Tackleton sees it as an excuse to make their social acquaintance in the most intrusive manner; however, the arrival of a mysterious stranger complicates matters. There are misunderstandings and misdirections but, this being a Dickens Christmas story, there is redemption and a happy ending.
I like Dickens, even when he is laying the syrup on with a trowel, and there is a lot of syrup to be laid on in this novella. The good and decent folk are good and decent, and their shortcomings don't amount to a hill of beans; the bad guy is bad, even when he is being decent. Lots of opportunity to boo and hiss. That's the fun of it; and the idea of a happy home is, of course, a warming thought.
According to Dickens, having a cricket living in your hearth is a good omen. The cricket that shares the Peerybingle's hearth acts as a kind of intermediary between this world and the world of the benign powers. There are fairies, and Dickens does spend a lot of time anthropomorphising the non-human elements in the Peerybingle household. 19th century magic realism? Would you expect any less of a Dickens Christmas story? I like this kind of stuff; others may find it a bit much.
Publishing details: Cricket on the Hearth was written and published in 1845. I read an e-book version without publishing details.
The story centres around the family of John and Dot Peerybingle. Through them we meet Tilly Slowboy, their maid; Caleb and Bertha Plummer, a toymaker and his blind daughter; Mrs Fielding and her daughter May; and Mr Tackleton, Caleb's insensitive employer.
Mr Tackleton announces his intention to marry the much younger May Fielding. As the set date coincides with John and Dot's first wedding anniversary, Tackleton sees it as an excuse to make their social acquaintance in the most intrusive manner; however, the arrival of a mysterious stranger complicates matters. There are misunderstandings and misdirections but, this being a Dickens Christmas story, there is redemption and a happy ending.
I like Dickens, even when he is laying the syrup on with a trowel, and there is a lot of syrup to be laid on in this novella. The good and decent folk are good and decent, and their shortcomings don't amount to a hill of beans; the bad guy is bad, even when he is being decent. Lots of opportunity to boo and hiss. That's the fun of it; and the idea of a happy home is, of course, a warming thought.
According to Dickens, having a cricket living in your hearth is a good omen. The cricket that shares the Peerybingle's hearth acts as a kind of intermediary between this world and the world of the benign powers. There are fairies, and Dickens does spend a lot of time anthropomorphising the non-human elements in the Peerybingle household. 19th century magic realism? Would you expect any less of a Dickens Christmas story? I like this kind of stuff; others may find it a bit much.
Publishing details: Cricket on the Hearth was written and published in 1845. I read an e-book version without publishing details.
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