An article recently appeared at The Paris Review in which the work of Charles Dickens is placed in a different light. Many who read him believe his work to be the epitome of anti-capitalistic, anti-business ideology. After all, we are all familiar with the soot-covered factory workers of Hard Times, the poverty of Oliver Twist, the legal and class distinctions in Bleak House, and of course, the much reviled character of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
But is this understanding of Dickens too simple? Dickens himself was quite a sharp entrepreneur and marketeer of his own work, and there are other readings of his texts that provide a surprisingly free-market flavor. While Dickens did expose problematic aspects of English business and industry, he was just as strongly critical of government entities and personal behaviors that led to economic failures.
His work is still lifted up as a Romantic Era standard of Victorian society struggling against the enormous reach of the Industrial Revolution. But I encourage you to look more closely and avoid reductionist boxes and labels. The article above is a good place to start, but this video and this book are also helpful guides on the path to rediscovering Dickens for all he has to offer the literary world.
Hat tip: The Literary Order
But is this understanding of Dickens too simple? Dickens himself was quite a sharp entrepreneur and marketeer of his own work, and there are other readings of his texts that provide a surprisingly free-market flavor. While Dickens did expose problematic aspects of English business and industry, he was just as strongly critical of government entities and personal behaviors that led to economic failures.
His work is still lifted up as a Romantic Era standard of Victorian society struggling against the enormous reach of the Industrial Revolution. But I encourage you to look more closely and avoid reductionist boxes and labels. The article above is a good place to start, but this video and this book are also helpful guides on the path to rediscovering Dickens for all he has to offer the literary world.
Hat tip: The Literary Order