De beschrijving van de Marshaisea Prison in Little Dorrit is in de plattegrond terug te
vinden:
It was an oblong pile of barrack building, partitioned into squalid houses standing
back to back, so that there were no back rooms; environed by a narrow paved yard,
hemmed in by high walls duly spiked at top. [Book I, ch.6]
In de plattegrond kan men ook zien, dat de 'tavern establishment' inderdaad lag 'at
the upper end of the prison' zoals hoofdstuk 1.8. van Little Dorrit aangeeft. Little Dorrit had
'a lodging at the turnkey's (in het eerste huis rechts), 'sky parlour", dus op de vierde. Als
Frederick Dorrit Arthur de gevangenis binnen leidt, neemt hij de rechterzijde van de
'yard', dus op de plattegrond de zijde van de 'vacant ground' en gaat het derde of
vierde huis in naar de tweede verdieping. De juiste kamer van William Dorrit is dus niet
aan te wijzen:
Arthus followed him [Frederick Dorrit] down a narrow entry, at the end of which a
key was turned, and a strong doorwas opened from within. It admitted them into a
lodge or lobby, across which they passed, and so through another door and a grating
into the prison. The old man always plodding on before, turned round, in his slow, stiff,
stooping manner, when they came to the turnkey on duty, as if to present his com
panion. The turnkey nodded; and the companion passed in without being asked
whom he wanted.
The night was dark; and the prison lamps in the yard, and the candles in the prison
windows faintly shining behind many sorts of wry old curtain and blind, had not the air
of making it lighter. A few people loitered about, but the greater part of the
population was wihin doors. The old man, taking the right-hand sight of the yard,
turned in at the third or fourth doorway, and began to ascend the stairs.ey are dark,
sir, but you wilf not find anything in the way.'
Arthur ging dus de zijde langs de 'Vacant Ground' op. Doordat zij het derde of vierd
huis naar de yweede etage ingaan, is de kamer van William Dorrit niet aan te wijzen.
Later vertelt Tip aan Arthur:
'The governor sleeps up in the room, and she has a lodging at the turnkey's. First
house there,' said Tip, pointing out the doorway into which she had retired. 'First
house, sky parlour. She pays twice as much for if as she would for one twice as good
outside. But she stands by the governor, poor dear girdl, day and night.'
This brought them to the tavern-establishment at the upper end of the prison,
where the collegians had just vacated their social evening club. The appartment on
the ground-floor in which it was held, was the Snuggery in question. [Book I ch.8].
Ik kan de door mij gevonden gegevens over de Marshaisea Prison, waaronder zelfs
een plattegrond niet in overeenstemming brengen met die opgetekend door W.Kent in
zijn artikel The Marshaisea Prison in The Dickension 23(1927) P.260-4.
