The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-05-14
HALF HOUR PORTRAITS OF
DICKENS GREATEST CHARACTERS
Mrs. Dombey; Dickens Most Emotional Character
BY j. W. MULLER

IN se4econg Mrs. Dombey as the most
Gnouonai drawn BY
h writer has not over
NoAeu the many women who play
even stormier parts in hts novels.
11ot MRS. Dombey is q foremost
ana true depkc4iOn of a
woman whose life is ac1nate,i. d;-
reS4ed and INSTRUCTED almost SOLE
;Ay bv her emotions. She Is proud.
and a blow at hex pride is a stab
at G heart. She feels shame. and
at once sh6 bchoAds herself lower
IMAM any creature that walks the
Slunls. She hates; and as she hates
raves revenge
Of.t1nacy is q prominent ~characteris-
TIC in Mrs. Dombey as it is in Mr..
Dombey. Dickens draws two kinds
Of obstinacy in these natures that
DIDO each other. Obstinacy in
Mr.. DOmbey is a petty thing grown
colossal. 1t makes him fntoRerably
And i~ntole<Antfy pfOud. z and
stupid. Mrs. DOmhey's obstinacy is
n strong thing spsinginx from a
strong nature. 1t expends itself not
fin stnbtoOrnileSs. but as fuel for her
fire Of passion. Instead Of narrow
ing les, it freaks for her all con-
vent;onal hounds and makes her
reckless of every
When Edith Skewton was born her
mother was forty years old, and
beautiful still. In her earlier youth
Mrs. Skewton HAD been the toast Of
the day when mon were as free with
the names Of women as they were
with the bottle, and when a fashion
able buck had not the least objection
TO hearing his s~weetheart's name
shouted by q chorus of other bucks.
AL drunk
Having no possession, worldly or
spiritual except beauty, she devoted
herself TO il entirely. and especially
so after a fashionable painter painted
her as Cleopatra She lived up to
her picture quite consistently till her
husband took the liberty of dying
and leaving her with q most un-
'leop@tra-like income, Just enough TO
support genteel Semi-starvation.
MRS. SkeUton had lots of Blodd.
she was own aunt to Lord Feeni and
hin to innumeraDie other noble fam
lilies; but as. unhappiiy. all Of them
were impoverished, all that blood did
for her was to give her a social posi-
ton that Ia could not afford, and
to give her distinguished connections
who could not afford the connection.
She made honest and even desper-
hte e~ndeayors to remain Cleopatra.
bu bucks with money were shy
about marrying a Cleopatra who was
more than forty. and could not well
he expected TO grow younger. By the
time her daughter Rad passed in
fancy. Mrs. Shewton perceived that
her only hope lay in the girl.
Edith was growing into a beauty
that promised to be far greater than
C1eopatra's had been. Edith had
mind rs we'll as looks: but Cleopatra,
having no mind herself, could not be
expected to see Edith's. Edith had
heart, too. Cleopatra, whose W
heart was merely a vessel for pump
ing blood and thus doing valuable ser
vice for her complexion hardly could
suspect that her daughter had a more
elaborate one.
The girls nature was q strong, pas
siOnate one. 1t was left u~nreS1ralned
and grew steadily into something thai
set its mark on her beauty and deep.
encd her dark proud eyes It was
left unguided. and it beat itself blind
Pride grew in her to something re-
bellious. AS she became older ant
understood the calculating avaxlce
the h~un1iliating cxpes3ients, the fais'
. s~reiensions in which they lived, thA
bride struck its heaviest blows aEains
herself. 1t became a ptuou
pride and insoient, such as might 81
on ;n angry Queen.
Though her nature soon became ia
ons than her mothers. he
mother held her fast. Long hcfor
It mad grown. she had fettered he
with the bonds Of habit. From he
childhood she had heard only the on
thing: the necessity Of marrying vel
She ned learned only the one thing
TT way TO DO il.
Fur this she had e taught t
play the harp and move regall
; through a room. For this she Ia.
been taught 10 sketch and to WELD
fan. For this she had learned all sh
knew Of art and literature, and has
tory. Strong and willfni and prou
as she was. Blood and poverty tie
her fast.
ine only escape that she knew wa
the escape thai had been held befoT
bar sip1a tei yOrfN, Without Ghiel