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PLOT SUMMARY The novel's main character, Mr. Pickwick, is a kind old gentleman, the founder of the Pickwick Club. He is usually portrayed by illustrators as a round-faced, clean-shaved, portly gentleman wearing spectacles. Mr. Pickwick travels with his friends, Mr. Nathaniel Winkle, Mr. Augustus Snodgrass, and Mr. Tracy Tupman, and their adventures are the chief theme of the novel. Some memorable adventures are: Mr. Pickwick's legal case against his landlady, Mrs. Bradell, who is suing him for the breach of promise to marry her and Mr. Pickwick's incarceration at The Fleet for his stubborn refusal to pay the compensation to that lady (the unscrupulous Dodson and Fogg's law firm prosecuted poor Pickwick). Although ''The Pickwick Papers'' has a rather irregular structure, with many unconnected adventures and the absence of a thought-out plot, its main literary value and appeal is formed by its numerous unforgettable heroes. Each personage in ''The Pickwick Papers'' (just as in many other Dickens' novels) is drawn comically, often with exaggerated features of character. Apart from Mr. Pickwick himself, the most entertaining characters of the novel are Mr. Pickwick's valet (Sam Weller), his father Weller Senior (who does not really know if his name is written as Veller or Weller), Mr. Alfred Jingle, who is a charlatan and impostor,the merry habitants of Dingley Dell farm and Joe, the "fat boy", who consumes great quantities of food and constantly falls asleep in any situation at any time of day. CHARACTERS IN "THE PICKWICK PAPERS"
FILM, TV OR THEATRICAL ADAPTATIONS The novel has been filmed several times, including:
There have also been BBC Radio and Television adaptations. The first TV adaptation was by Constance Cox . PUBLICATION The novel was published in 19 issues over 20 months; the last was double-length and cost two shillings. In bereavement for his sister-in-law Mary Hogarth , Dickens missed a deadline and consequently there was no number issued in May 1837. Numbers were typically issued on the last day of its given month:
It is interesting to keep the number divisions and dates in mind while reading the novel, especially in the early parts. The Pickwick Papers, as Charles Dickens' first novel, is particularly chaotic: the first two numbers featured four illustrations by Robert Seymour and 24 pages of text. Seymour killed himself and was replaced by R.W. Buss for the third number; the format was changed to feature two illustrations and 32 pages of text per issue. Buss didn't work out as an illustrator and was replaced by H.K. "Phiz" Browne for the fourth issue; Phiz continued to work for Dickens for 23 years (he last illustrated '' A Tale Of Two Cities '' in 1859). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS Online editions
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