Chapter 1: Introduction
Literary Context
A Methodology of Influence, Ecology and Things
Critical Context
Method, Design and Structure
Chapter 2: Childhood
Education Debates and Parental Aspirations
David Copperfield: Failing Families
Childhood to Adulthood Heroes and Villains Romantic Pedigree Tempestuous Images Great Expectations: a Novel without a Hero? Character and Environment
Chapter 3: Time Watches and Clocks Dombey and Son: Hides and Hearts 'A Watch That'll Do You Credit'
Commonplace Obituaries, Infant Philosophy
A Wandering Princess and a Good Monster
Our Mutual Friend: the Poorest of Mr. Dickens's Works
A Battle Within and Without
River and Rail
Chapter 4: Progress
Revolution and Science
Bleak House: Mudfog Revisited
Old School
Love One Another or Die
Hard Times outside London
Strangled in its cradle
Stale, flat, and unprofitable
Perfect Integrity
Chapter 5: Outsiders
Guilt and Isolation
Dickens and Master Humphrey
Unnatural Oppositions
Lonely Wanderers
Little Dorrit: Mind-forged Manacles
Pillars of Society
Familiar yet Misplaced
Nearly Everything of Importance
Chapter 6: Conclusion
About the Author: Peter Cook is Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK. His publications cover a wide range of interests, from the Romantics to Ted Hughes.
