which he proposed that all men and women
are actors in a great pantomime. It was a
view he also articulated in Oliver Twist, in
the course of this famous comparison of the
alternation of comic and tragic scenes in
melodrama to the "layers of red and white in
a side of streaky, well-cured bacon".
Such changes appear absurd; but they
are not so unnatural as they would seem
at first sight. The transitions in real life
from well-spread boards to death-beds,
and from mourning weeds to holiday
garments, are not a whit less startling;
only, there, we are busy actors, instead
of passive lookers on; which makes a
vast difference.26)
The wonderfully eccentric characters who
populate his novels, with extravagent gesture
and idiosyncratic speech; the surprising
coincidences of plot which foil the villain
and bring hero and heroine together at last;
the animate world in which vividly realized
objects take on lives of their own - these
are central characters of Dickens's art which
his detractors call "theatrical". Theatrical
they are, but in no derogatory sense: they
highlight the absurdities which abound in
everyday existence; they heighten realities
which would otherwise pass unnoticed; they
create new perspectives by juxtapostion,
inversion, and suprising connection; they
portray life with curiosity and wonder,
finding novelty, amusement, and insight in
everything.
Dickens believed that love of the theatre
was an innate human characteristic, and for
this reason he was confident that theatrical
art had potency as a great educative force.
By appealing directly to people, he felt, it
could stimulate imagination as no other
means, however pleasingly instructive, could
do.27) The theatrical quality of his fiction,
therefore, was central to the purposes of his
art. In a speech in honour of his fellow-
novelist Thackeray Dickens said that "Every
good actor plays direct to every good
author, and every writer of fiction, though
he may not adopt the dramatic form, writes
in effect for the stage".28) While the
applicability of the remark may not be as
all-inclusive as Dickens claims, its relevance
to his own artistry is patent. Theatricality is
an essential component of Dickens's genius,
and it behooves us as readers of his great
novels to understand that theatricality as
comprehensively and accurately as we
possibly can.
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