The Pickwick Papers - chapters 15-17

Installment 6 of 20, in The Pickwick Papers 180th anniversary readalong, hosted by On Bookes, and commencing in August, just as Dickens’ sixth installment was published.

Chapter 15: A Mr. Leo Hunter calls on Pickwick and with pomposity almost equal to the Pickwickians, invites Pickwick and company to a fancy masquerade party to be hosted by his wife, Mrs. Leo Hunter. He professes his wife, knows anybody who is anybody, and is therefore desirous to make the acquaintance of Pickwick. Pickwick cannot resist this boost to his ego and accepts. Before Mr. Hunter leaves, he asserts that his wife, whom he always refers to as Mrs. Leo Hunter is a poet of some import and recites a sample. (I’m no poet…well wait…actually I am), but regardless it seems like rather silly doggerel to me. When planning for the party, Pickwick and Tupman have a disagreement about Tupman’s choice of costume, that of a bandit. For reasons that really don’t make sense to me, the disagreement is so strong that the two nearly part company, and just as mysteriously to me, they somehow make amends and all is well. I’ll surmise that Pickwick thought the costume was undignified and would do damage to the illustrious reputation of the Pickwickians. At any rate, I believe it was Dickens making fun of self-importance. When our party goes to the party, they encounter Mr. Jingles, the happy-go-lucky con man from several chapters back, only operating under an assumed name. Upon seeing the Pickwickians, Jingles makes a hasty retreat with Pickwick hot on his tail, intent upon bringing the rascal to justice or at least preventing his scheme against another victim.

Chapter 16: In short is Pickwick’s pursuit of Jingles. They find where he is staying, and Pickwick’s man-servant Sam, befriends Jingles man-servant and gathers bits of intelligence about the next scheme. All the while, the reader is fairly certain Sam is being played, as is indeed the case. Jingles once again slips away, and leaving Pickwick in a comical and compromised position.

A parenthetical not about this chapter. I am a fan of Dickens, though this is my first read of The Pickwick Papers. Thus far it is rather silly and comic, and hasn’t contained much of the wonderful, thoughtful prose Dickens writes with in some of his less comic novels. However, this chapter opens with a lovely piece:

There is no month in the whole year in which nature wears a more beautiful appearance than in the month of August. Spring has many beauties, and May is a fresh and blooming month, but the charms of this time of year are enhanced by their contrast with the winter season. August has no such advantage. It comes when we remember nothing but clear skies, green fields, and sweet-smelling flowers—when the recollection of snow, and ice, and bleak winds, has faded from our minds as completely as they have disappeared from the earth—and yet what a pleasant time it is! Orchards and cornfields ring with the hum of labour; trees bend beneath the thick clusters of rich fruit which bow their branches to the ground; and the corn, piled in graceful sheaves, or waving in every light breath that sweeps above it, as if it wooed the sickle, tinges the landscape with a golden hue. A mellow softness appears to hang over the whole earth; the influence of the season seems to extend itself to the very wagon, whose slow motion across the well-reaped field is perceptible only to the eye, but strikes with no harsh sound upon the ear.

Chapter 17: Last month, chapter 14 ended with a vignette, and similarly this month ends with a detour from the main story. Pickwick with a touch of rheumatism, keeps to his room and writes a short, comical love story.

So there are no loose ends, other than the recurring loose end of Mr. Albert Jingles still…ahem…on the loose. It seems rather likely we will encounter him again.

Pickwick Papers Introduction

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-14

Chapters 15-17

Chapters 18-20

Chapters 21-23

Chapters 24-26

Chapters 27-29

Chapters 30-32

Chapters 33-34

Chapters 35-37

Chapters 38-40

Chapters 41-43

Chapters 44-46
Chapters 47-49
Chapters 50-52
Chapters 53-55
Chapters 56-57
Wrap Up