Voorjaar 2009 no.66
The Dutch Dickensian Volume XXIX 20
untouched, and takes advantage of "his first
full knowledge of his influence upon her." her
"attitude besought him to be merciful and
not force her to disclose her heart." Od course,
'He was not merciful with her, and made her
do it." Her suffering makes "a deep impres
sion on him, for the passing time"; but that
impression is quickly replaced by his realisa
tion that he has "gained a wonderful power
over her." He tries to think honestly, but sub
sides into "a reminiscence of his first full
knowledge of his power," and his "reckless
conclusion" is to forget her request and his
resolution and "try her again" the next morn
ing even his thoughts tell him that such an act
would be "wickedness."
Eugene and his murder of the villainous
Rogue Riderhood. And Bradley has fully
intended to do what he has done; like John
Jasper in Edwin Drood, in his mind Bradley is
"always doing the deed and doing it bet-
ter"(4,9). If Abel and Cain are, as the chapter
title seems to suggest, Dickens's models for
Eugene and Bradley, Dickens seems to have
badly maligned Able.
But Eugene does change. After the attack he
can admit to Mortimer, concerning Lizzie, 'I
have wronged her enough in fact; I have
wronged her still more in intention' (4,10). He
thinks he is dying - "I shall not come through
it, Mortimer" - but he wants to marry Lizzie.
Mortimer assures him, "This is the right
course of a true man."
Would Eugene want to marry Lizzie if he were
not going to die? We don't know. We know
that Lizzie did love him, and that she saved
him from drowning. And Eugene tells Bella
that "his wife had changed him" (4,14).
Eugene is not the central character of Our
Mutual Friend, nor is his story the main focus
of the novel. His role is more like that of Dick
Swiveller or James Steerforth than Sydney
Carton or Pip, whose changes are central to
the themes of their novels. But by looking at
Eugene and Bradley together, we can see
Dickens at his very best in developing and
understanding character, and characters. And
if we want to think of Our Mutual Friend as a
story about romantic love, maybe our careful
examination of Eugene and Bradley will be of
serious value. Even though Eugene changes -
loves Lizzie, and proposes to "turn to in
earnest" at the end, which should be good -
perhaps we will find ourselves more sympa
thetic to Bradley, in the end, than we are to
Eugene.
And perhaps as we read the novel which fol
lows Our Mutual Friend, we will read more
insightfully the characters of Edwin Drood
and John Jasper - and Neville Landless, who
is studying to be a lawyer, like Mortimer
Lightwood. Not, of course, that they are in any
way simply alike
Amsterdam 2008.
Bron afbeeldingen:
http://dickens.ucsc.edu/OMF/illustrations.html
BUTT Ml TO L> E ABET. THAN CAIN.
But is it "Better to be Abel than Cain," as the
title of the next chapter following the attack
says. Though Eugene is not at all good, is self
ish and irresponsible, callous and thoughtless,
and dishonest both with himself and with oth
ers, he is not a murderer, or a would-be mur
derer. Bradley is a more honest man, but also
a more passionate man; and though he tries
not to be selfish, he is so, finally, in his venge
ful attack on the selfish, cruel, and uncaring
