Little Dorrit

“It was evident from the general tone of the whole party, that they had come to regard insolvency as the normal state of mankind, and the payment of debts as a disease that occasionally broke out.”

Clennam notices this attitude toward insolvency on his visits to the Marshalsea, specifically when he visits the wealthier side of the prison where the Dorrits live. This quote highlights how different classes have different attitudes toward debt, and it highlights the privilege of the upper class since they consider paying their debts off as optional. Additionally, as the prisoners in the Marshalsea are prohibited from working to repay their debts, this quote also emphasizes how they must resign themselves to insolvency, showing how unfair the prison system is.

“He fancied that although they had before them, every day, the means of comparison between her and one another and themselves, they regarded her as being in her necessary place; as holding a position towards them all which belonged to her, like her name or her age. He fancied that they viewed her, not as having risen away from the prison atmosphere, but as appertaining to it; as being vaguely what they had a right to expect, and nothing more.”

This quote shows that Clennam notices the Dorrits take Amy for granted and treat Amy like just another part of their life at the Marshalsea. Since she was born there, they believe that they are superior to her. They consider Amy’s constant assistance and selflessness something that they deserve rather than something they should be thankful for.

“It is true that How not to do it was the great study and object of all public departments and professional politicians […] but the Circumlocution Office went beyond it.”

This quote highlights how the Circumlocution Office stands in for the British government as a whole. Though the purpose of the Circumlocution Office is “how not to do it,” this sentiment is still a motto that that all government offices follow.

“‘It ain’t many that comes into a poor place, that deems it worth their while to move their hats,’ said Mrs Plornish. ‘But people think more of it than people think.’”

Mrs. Plornish says this to Clennam when he comes to visit her and raises his hat to her as a gesture of respect. This quote highlights that people of the lower classes are usually treated poorly by the upper class; though Clennam is upper class, he treats everyone respectfully.

“Little Dorrit was not ashamed of her poor shoes. He knew her story, and it was not that. Little Dorrit had a misgiving that he might blame her father, if he saw them; that he might think, ‘why did he dine to-day, and leave this little creature to the mercy of the cold stones!’ She had no belief that it would have been a just reflection; she simply knew, by experience, that such delusions did sometimes present themselves to people. It was a part of her father’s misfortunes that they did.”

This excerpt shows that Amy devotion to her father causes her to forgive all his faults. Though she feels no embarrassment about her poverty and doesn’t mind the discomfort of her “poor shoes,” she does not want other people to judge her father for his failure to provide for her—though he does, indeed, fail to do this.

“A slight shade of distress fell upon her, at his so often calling her a child. She was surprised that he should see it, or think of such a slight thing; but he said directly: ‘I wanted a tender word, and could think of no other. As you just now gave yourself the name they give you at my mother’s, and as that is the name by which I always think of you, let me call you Little Dorrit.’”

Clennam says this to Amy after frequently calling her “my child.” Though her love for Clennam is not made explicit until later chapters, this quote hints at how hurt she is by the fact that Clennam thinks of her as a daughter. This is also the moment when Clennam settles on the name he will always call her; throughout their lives, she asks him to call her Little Dorrit as this is the name she most associates with her true self.

“This was Little Dorrit’s party. The shame, desertion, wretchedness, and exposure of the great capital; the wet, the cold, the slow hours, and the swift clouds of the dismal night. This was the party from which Little Dorrit went home, jaded, in the first grey mist of a rainy morning.”

This quote comes just after Amy tells her father that she is going to a party so she can stay out of the Marshalsea for the night, in order to visit Fanny and Clennam. Instead, she is locked out of the prison and left unhoused, and the narrator juxtaposes the night she actually has with the night William imagines she is having by calling this moment “Little Dorrit’s party.” 

“The Father of the Marshalsea glanced at a passing Collegian with whom he was on friendly terms, as who should say, ‘An enfeebled old man, this; but he is my brother, sir, my brother, and the voice of Nature is potent!’ and steered his brother clear of the handle of the pump by the threadbare sleeve.”

William often emphasizes the misery of those he helps in order to appear benevolent to those around him, as seen in this quote. Though his brother is merely a little tired, William describes Frederick as “an enfeebled old man” to passersby to uphold his image as the father of the Marshalsea.

“All this time he had never once thought of her dress, her shoes, her need of anything. No other person upon earth, save herself, could have been so unmindful of her wants.”

This quote describes William’s attitude after Amy spends the night comforting him and assuring him that she will take care of him. In contrast with Amy’s loving concern for him, William’s treatment of his daughter seems doubly cruel and thoughtless.

“‘Don’t call it home, my child!’ he entreated. ‘It is always painful to me to hear you call it home.’ ‘But it is home! What else can I call home? Why should I ever forget it for a single moment?’ ‘You never do, dear Little Dorrit, in any good and true service.’”

This exchange occurs between Clennam and Amy when she refers to the Marshalsea as her home. Not only does this quote show how much Amy’s life is intertwined with the Marshalsea, but Clennam’s response that she never forgets her upbringing “in any good and true service” shows that her birth in prison influenced her good nature and dutifulness toward others.

“If Clennam had ever admitted the forbidden passion into his breast, this period might have been a period of real trial; under the actual circumstances, doubtless it was nothing—nothing.”

This is one of the many times the narrator describes Clennam’s hidden feelings for Pet Meagles. The sarcastic tone in this quote and the repetition of “nothing” emphasize how Clennam is tormented by his feelings yet cannot express them even to himself.

“‘Sometimes it has been rather hard to live,’ said Little Dorrit, in her soft voice, and timid uncomplaining way; ‘but I think not harder—as to that—than many people find it.’”

Amy says this to Mrs. Clennam the only time Mrs. Clennam asks about her life. This quote highlights her humble and generous nature and shows how Amy cares for herself and others.

“The principal pleasure of your life is to remind your family of their misfortunes. And the next great pleasure of your existence is to keep low company.”

Fanny says this to Amy when she sees her escorting Old Nandy to the prison to meet with their father. Fanny makes multiple remarks like this throughout the novel, emphasizing how different the two sisters are. The other Dorrits’ superiority toward Amy shows how hypocritical they are about their station in life.

“Now, Mrs Merdle, who really knew her friend Society pretty well, and who knew what Society’s mothers were, and what Society’s daughters were, and what Society’s matrimonial market was, and how prices ruled in it, and what scheming and counter-scheming took place for the high buyers, and what bargaining and huckstering went on, thought in the depths of her capacious bosom that this was a sufficiently good catch. Knowing, however, what was expected of her, and perceiving the exact nature of the fiction to be nursed, she took it delicately in her arms, and put her required contribution of gloss upon it.”

This quote comes during Mrs. Merdle’s and Mrs. Gowan’s discussion of Henry Gowan’s marriage to Pet Meagles. As someone who was not born to wealth, Mrs. Merdle has had to carefully consider which actions would affect her economic and social status. So, she understands more than what the well-bred Mrs. Gowan does about the Meagles and how associating with them might affect her position in society. Yet, the sarcastic tone of this quote also emphasizes the ridiculousness of these notions.

“When Arthur told her that she would soon ride in her own carriage through very different scenes, when all the familiar experiences would have vanished away, she looked frightened. But when he substituted her father for herself, and told her how he would ride in his carriage, and how great and grand he would be, her tears of joy and innocent pride fell fast.”

This quote again emphasizes Amy’s love for father and shows that she never thinks of her own happiness. While she does not care about their family’s newfound wealth or what will come of it, she knows her father will, so she is happy for him.

“‘It seems to me hard,’ said Little Dorrit, ‘that he should have lost so many years and suffered so much, and at last pay all the debts as well. It seems to me hard that he should pay in life and money both.’”

Amy says this upon William Dorrit’s release from prison, and this quote succinctly summarizes Dickens’s misgivings with the debtors’ prison system. During the 23 years he spent in prison, William could have repaid his debts multiple times over if he could have worked, but he was prevented from working. As a result, he has to repay his debt with time and money.

“All that she saw was new and wonderful, but it was not real; it seemed to her as if those visions of mountains and picturesque countries might melt away at any moment, and the carriage, turning some abrupt corner, bring up with a jolt at the old Marshalsea gate. To have no work to do was strange, but not half so strange as having glided into a corner where she had no one to think for, nothing to plan and contrive, no cares of others to load herself with. Strange as that was, it was far stranger yet to find a space between herself and her father, where others occupied themselves in taking care of him, and where she was never expected to be.”

This quote describes how Amy feels after leaving the only life she has ever known at the Marshalsea. She is not used to the grandiosity of high society and is especially unnerved by how it affects her family and their relationships. Though the other Dorrits want to forget their time in prison, Amy is unable to forget the Marshalsea and it follows her like a shadow through her new life.

“What I have to pray and entreat of you is, that you will never think of me as the daughter of a rich person; that you will never think of me as dressing any better, or living any better, than when you first knew me. That you will remember me only as the little shabby girl you protected with so much tenderness, from whose threadbare dress you have kept away the rain, and whose wet feet you have dried at your fire.”

Amy writes this in her first letter to Clennam. After their release from prison, the other Dorrits want to be viewed differently by their world since they have moved up in life. Amy separates herself from her family by asking Clennam to only think of her for who she is, not for her social status.

“May I take this opportunity of remarking, as an instance in point, that it is scarcely delicate to look at vagrants with the attention which I have seen bestowed upon them by a very dear young friend of mine? They should not be looked at. Nothing disagreeable should ever be looked at.”

Mrs. General says this to William and Amy regarding Amy’s friendships with people who are considered “beneath” her. Though Mrs. General means this with complete sincerity, Dickens highlights how ironic this idea is as Mrs. General and the Dorrits also had “disagreeable” pasts.

“‘To the winds with the family credit!’ cried the old man, with great scorn and indignation. ‘Brother, I protest against pride. I protest against ingratitude. I protest against any one of us here who have known what we have known, and have seen what we have seen, setting up any pretension that puts Amy at a moment’s disadvantage, or to the cost of a moment’s pain. We may know that it’s a base pretension by its having that effect. It ought to bring a judgment on us. Brother, I protest against it in the sight of God!’”

Frederick Dorrit says this when he sees how hypocritically his family is treating Amy despite their shared pasts. Though Frederick is usually silent about his family’s showy pride, this outburst shows his true feelings. It also shows that he is looking out for Amy as no one else in the family does.

“‘What can we do for ourself?’ ‘This is not the question with me, Mr Rugg,’ said Arthur. ‘You mistake it in the beginning. It is, what can I do for my partner, how can I best make reparation to him?’”

This exchange between Clennam and his attorney after Clennam has fallen into debt shows how he stands by his principles and does his duty toward others. Though he could place the blame elsewhere and avoid the debtors’ prison, Clennam thinks only of how he can do right by his partner as he knows it is his duty to do so.

“As he embraced her, she said to him, ‘They never told me you were ill,’ and drawing an arm softly round his neck, laid his head upon her bosom, put a hand upon his head, and resting her cheek upon that hand, nursed him as lovingly, and GOD knows as innocently, as she had nursed her father in that room when she had been but a baby, needing all the care from others that she took of them.”

Amy says this to Clennam when she finds him in the Marshalsea. The parallels drawn between Clennam and her father show just how devoted Amy is to the people she loves most. It also points to the significant age gap between Amy and Clennam.

“The Patriarchal state, always a state of calmness and composure, was so particularly serene that evening as to be provoking. Everybody else within the bills of mortality was hot; but the Patriarch was perfectly cool. Everybody was thirsty, and the Patriarch was drinking.”

The narrator says this of Mr. Casby once Mr. Pancks has finally had enough of him. Though this describes a specific situation, Casby is representative of the patriarchal state as a whole and the cruelty and inefficiency of those in power. Pancks’s reaction to this is in certain ways a call to action for Dickens’s readers to disrupt this inhumane system.