Tag: Charles Dickens
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood … Afterthoughts
One subtle change, one added clue can change everything. When Charles Dickens died in June 1870, he left an enduring mystery in his unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Even after a careful reading, several questions are left unanswered. Is Edwin Drood alive or dead? Who killed (or assaulted) Drood? Who is the mysterious… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood XII
The saga of Edwin Drood comes to an unsatisfactory close for its intended outcome can only be a matter of mere speculation. Before its end, we have one last chapter coincidentally named “The Dawn Again,” recalling the first chapter’s moniker and bringing the novel full circle. The juxtaposition between Jasper and Crisparkle is immediate. “Although… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood XI
Rosa has fled from John Jasper who revealed his villainous designs on her in their private conversation in the garden of the Nuns’ House. Others’ concern about Rosa’s sudden flight brings the Reverend Crisparkle to London. ” ‘I have told Mr. Crisparkle,’ said Mr. Grewgious, ‘all that you told me last night, my dear. Of course… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood X
On a summer’s day, John Jasper has come to call on Rosa Bud much to her horror. “If he had chosen his time for finding her at a disadvantage, he could have done no better. Perhaps he has chosen it.” Rosa was utterly alone. Reluctantly, she resolves to meet him in the garden. There by… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood IX
Edwin Drood has vanished. And with the beginning of Chapter Seventeen, a “full half a year had come and gone.” The Rev. Crisparkle has gone up to London and converses with Mr. Honeythunder about “the sanctity of human life” and murder. It is clear they view Drood as having been “swept off the face of… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood VIII
What has happened to Edwin Drood? “He is not to be found.” Chapter Fifteen begins with a seemingly blissfully unaware Neville Landless–having set off on a journey–stopping at The Tilted Wagon tavern to refresh himself. Resuming his travels, he encounters four men. “Their manner was very curious.” They accost Neville. A reader’s first thought might… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood VII
“WHEN SHALL THESE THREE MEET AGAIN?” The title of Chapter Fourteen asks a curious question. To which three characters is it referring? Christmas Eve has come to Cloisterham. “Lavish profusion is in the shops” and elsewhere, as Dickens describes the Yuletide scene in Cloisterham before turning to the matter at hand. “Three are to meet… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood VI
Chapters Twelve and Thirteen bring us an evening with Durdles and a meeting with Rosa Bud. “When Mr. Sapsea has nothing better to do … He likes to pass the churchyard with a swelling air of proprietorship, and to encourage in his breast a sort of benignant-landlord feeling, in that he has been bountiful towards… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood V
“It has been often enough remarked that women have a curious power of divining the characters of men, which would seem to be innate and instinctive…” So begins the tenth chapter of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Mrs. Crisparkle having learned of Neville’s transgression in quarreling with Drood at Jasper’s residence believes Neville “may come… Read More ›
Chapter by Chapter: The Mystery of Edwin Drood IV
“Glaces cut like blade through bone, With daggers drawn I glare at you, There at you who dare presume To stare at whom I’d make my wife And share my life– I’d see you dead Before sweet Rosa wed.” – Neville and Drood, singing in unison, “No Good Can Come from Bad” from the musical… Read More ›
The Poisoned Martini 