Dombey and Son: Difference between revisions

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The story begins with Paul Dombey, a wealthy middle-aged businessman, exulting over the birth of his newborn son. Wrapped up in his ambitious plans for this future heir to the family business, he nearly fails to notice that the baby's mother is dying, with only their daughter Florence, to comfort her. By the time he does notice, it's too late, and Florence - seven years old and already a better human being than her father will ever be - begins to make him uncomfortable, since he misreads her shyness as fear and disgust with his emotionally stunted condition. As Paul Jr. grows into a frail, eccentric child who bonds more closely with his older sister and their lower-class nurse than with his father, {{spoiler|then dies as a child without ever having realized his potential as the heir to Dombey and Son}}, Mr. Dombey enters into a strange one-sided competition with Florence over Paul's love, and later, the attention of his new wife Edith. The more he "loses", at least in his own view, the more twisted he becomes. Only after losing everything he valued will he begin to understand that all he really needed has been right there all along.

 

* [[Affectionate Nickname]]: Captain Cuttle has a rich collection of them for Florence: "Heart's Delight", "Lady-lass", "Beauty", "Diamond" etc.

* [[Anguished Declaration of Love]]: {{spoiler|Mr. Toots and Walter}} both make one to Florence. The former gets a [[Better as Friends]] speech, the latter a joyful acceptance.

* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Mrs. Skewton and Edith have their heavily lampshaded counterparts in Mrs. Marwood (alias Good Mrs. Brown, in a shout-out to ''[[Fanny Hill]]'') and her daughter Alice.

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Captain Cuttle and Sol Gills ship Walter with Florence. Mr. Dombey's sister Louisa tries to match him with her friend Miss Tox, but brutally rejects the plan when Mr. Dombey introduces the more "suitable" Edith. Mrs. Skewton and Major Bagstock emphatically ship Dombey/Edith.

** Specifically, an abusive and inept charity school is blamed for turning Rob Toodle into a juvenile delinquent.

* [[Suicide as Comedy]]: A lovesick Mr. Toots' allusions to "making an end of himself" are treated as funny.

* [[The Unfavorite]]: Florence, so much.

* [[The Un-Smile]]: Mr. Carker is constantly described as "showing his teeth".

* [[Weddings for Everyone]]: {{spoiler|Florence and Walter, Harriet Carker and Mr. Morfin, Susan and Tooys, even Mrs. Mac Stinger and Captain Bunsby.}}

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: {{spoiler|Susan}} to Mr. Dombey.

 

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[[Category:Dombey and Son]]

[[Category:Literature]]