"Charles Dickens's female characters have often been criticised as being too meek, compliant and dutiful, or depicted as figures of fun as the novelist reinforced patriarchal Victorian stereotypes. From the loyal Emma Micawber to the innocent Little Nell, Dickens drew on many extraordinary real women for his novels, but they never truly made it on to the page, appearing only in diluted form."
"which will bring together the women in the author's life and the literary characters they inspired. He represented and reinforced, to an extent, those sorts of Victorian stereotypes. And we want to shine the light back on to these real-life women, and highlight the differences between these extraordinary women that he did know and respect in his life and the idealised women he portrayed in his novels."
Charles Dickens's female characters were often portrayed as meek, compliant, dutiful, or comic figures that reinforced Victorian patriarchal stereotypes. He drew on many extraordinary real women, but those women appeared in diluted form on the page. A museum exhibition, Extra/Ordinary Women at the Charles Dickens Museum in London, will bring together the women in Dickens's life and the literary characters they inspired. Mrs Micawber in David Copperfield echoes Dickens's mother, Elizabeth, who endured debt, pawned possessions and moved her children to avoid debt collectors. Dickens remained bitter about being sent at age 12 to work in a blacking factory while his sister continued training at the Royal Academy of Music. Both Mrs Micawber and Elizabeth attempted money-making schemes, including unsuccessful schools for young ladies.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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