Martin Chuzzlewit

Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels, which was written and serialized in 1843-1844. Like nearly all of Dickens' novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was released to the public in monthly installments. Sales of the monthly parts were disappointing, compared to other Dickens' previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to America. This allowed the author to portray America satirically as a near wilderness, whose pockets of civilization were filled with deceptive and self-promoting hucksters.

Related Topics:
Charles Dickens - Picaresque - 1843 - 1844 - America - Satirically

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The novel is also notable for one of Dickens' great villains, Seth Pecksniff, and the nurse Mrs. Gamp. Sairey Gamp (short for Sarah) also works as a midwife and layer-out of the dead. Even in a house of mourning Mrs. Gamp manages to enjoy all the hospitality a house can afford, with little regard for the person she is there to minister to and is often a little under the influence of drink. She habitually carries with her a battered black umbrella and so popular with the Victorian public was the character that Gamp became a slang word for umbrellas in general.

Related Topics:
Villains - Layer-out

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The work was dedicated to Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts a friend of Dickens.

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