Dombey and Son: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

 

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.

* [[Break the Cutie]]: Poor Florence.

* [[Break the Haughty]]: Mr. Dombey and Edith, mostly at each other's expense. {{spoiler|He humiliates her by passing his criticisms through his employee, James Carker; she humiliates him by eloping with said employee, who turns out to have been sabotaging the firm.}}

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: James Carker "the Manager". John Carker "the Junior", his brother, used to be one until he was caught; now he is [[The Atoner]].

* [[The Dandy]]: Mr. Toots praises his tailors, Burgess & Co, at every opportunity.

* [[Dysfunctional Family]]: The Dombeys.

* [[Gold Digger]]: Edith was trained by her mother to become one from an early age. She actually hates it, but doesn't know any other way of living, especially since they are poor gentlewomen unused to serious work. She makes it plain from the start that Mr. Dombey's house and money is all she is after, but unfortunately, that's not the way he sees it.

* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: Walter Gay.

* [[Henpecked Husband]]: Captain Cuttle is terrified of turning into this trope, although he's alredy henpecked enough as Mrs. Mac Stinger's lodger. {{spoiler|Captain Bunsby ends up marrying her instead.}}

* [[Heir Club for Men]]: Mr. Dombey has ignored Florence since her birth because she's not the male heir he wanted; what little time and affection he can spare goes exclusively to Paul.

* [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]]: Mrs. Mac Stinger's son. It's a [[Running Gag]] for her to spank him until he's blue in the face and carry him into the street to cool off his bottom on the pavement.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: "We should all be more natural!" exclaims Mrs. Skewton - slathered in makeup, dressed fifty years younger than she is, and languishing in a wheelchair when she's perfectly capable of walking.

* [[I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship]]: {{spoiler|Walter's reason for hesitating to tell Florence how he feels. He only admits because his uneasiness is making Florence worry that he no longer likes her.}}

** Later that daughter, Alice, a former prostitute and thief returning from exile in Australia, angrily refers to her own hair as being her downfall.

** Paul is confused by Cornelia Blimber's short hair and wonders why she is "like a boy".

* [[Karmic Death]]: {{spoiler|In backing away from a vengeful Mr. Dombey, James Carker trips onto the railway tracks and is crushed by an oncoming train.}}

* [[Kids Are Cruel]]: Rob Toodle is mercilessly bullied on the way home for his conspicuous Grinder's school uniform.

* [[Like Brother and Sister]]: Florence and Walter, at least according to her.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: As in all of Dickens' novels. We have Captain Cuttle (as in cuttlefish), Sol Gills, Walter Gay, Mrs. Skewton (who has a "skewed" perspective on everything), Susan Nipper and Mrs. Mac Stinger.

* [[Mona Lisa Smile]]: Edith's "twilight smile".

* [[Morality Pet]]: Florence is one to Edith, as she is determined to prevent the little girl from losing her innocence as Edith herself has.

** {{spoiler|Alice, who tipped off Mr. Dombey to Carker's whereabouts due to an old grudge, regrets her actions and asks Harriet Carker to warn her brother.}}

* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]: The mentally challenged Toots calls Captain Cuttle "Captain Gills" and Walter Gay "Lieutenant Walters". Mrs. Skewton confuses the names of her sons-in-law.

* [[Parental Neglect]]: Mr. Dombey of both his children - Florence especially, but even Paul sees somewhat less of his father than he would like.

* [[Parental Substitute]]: Polly Toodle, Paul's wet-nurse, for Paul and Florence; later Edith to Florence. Walter has his uncle Sol and Captain Cuttle.

* [[Pride]]: Mr. Dombey's and Edith's fatal flaw, and a major theme in the novel.

* [[Proper Lady]]: Florence again, mostly in an attempt to "earn" her father's love.

* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: Mr. Dombey and Mr. Carker send Walter to Barbados to get him away from Florence, as they consider his "common" background a bad influence on her.

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Alice.}}

* [[Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated]]: {{spoiler|Walter is presumed dead at sea, but comes back toward the end of the novel.}}

* [[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.

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

* [[Third Person Person]]: Major Joseph Bagstock constantly refers to himself as "Josh", "old Joe", "Joey B." etc.

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: It's {{spoiler|Edith}} who finally gives James Carker the verbal beatdown he deserves - at knifepoint, no less.

* [[Tsundere]]: Florence's hot-tempered but kind-hearted maid, Susan Nipper. Also Mrs. Mac Stinger, although her "dere" side only shows in one scene.

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

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

* [[Wicked Stepmother]]: Interestingly subverted with Edith Dombey, who is every bit as haughty as the trope suggests, but actually bonds with Florence at first sight. It is Edith's ''kindness'' to his daughter, combined with her cold indifference to him, which Mr. Dombey finds unbearable.

* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Paul, sometimes bordering on [[Creepy Child]] territory.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Literature]]