16) See, for instance, Letter to Miss Burdett-Coutts23 August 1858. Coutts Letters, p.361. 17) For the clinical accuracy of her case, see C.G. Strachan, 'The Medical Knowledge of Charles Dickens', British Medical Journal (1924), volII ,p.780ff 18) The Dickens Theatre, p.210. 19) Q.D. Leavis's commentary on the heredity-environment aspect is very interes ting: 'Dickens is always to be seen asking questions as to the why of human conduct. What is their motivation Why are people what they are (heredity or nurture) Why do people in similar circumstances and under the same pressures behave differently Is there such a thing as 'free-will, admitting the force of heredity, conditioning by the social and psychological forces of infancy and adoles-habits Dickens the Novelist, p. 280. 20) The Dickens Theatre, p. 211.12. 21) The Life of Charles Dickens (1935) and his autobiograohyThomas Wright of Olney (1936). 22) Martin Meisel, 'The Ending of Great Expectations', p.331. 23) The World of Charles Dickens, p. 271. - 62 -

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The Dutch Dickensian | 1978 | | pagina 63