I stumbled upon this article in the NY Times primarily because I saw the name “Dickens”, whose work “Great Expectations” I remember reading in 10th grade. I remember enjoying it very much. According to the article, the Morgan Library of New York is hosting an exhibit of Charles Dickens’s letters, photographs, illustrations, artifacts, and manuscripts in honor of his 200th birthday, which opens today.
The article says that Declan Kiely, the curator of the museum’s literary and historical manuscripts, is not simply displaying the highlights of Dickens’s serials (Dickens wrote his novels in magazines published every week as serials), manuscripts, letters, and illustrations, but also letters that show Dickens’s eccentric perspectives and look at him from “oblique angles”. Meaning, not only can we appreciate his literary genius from this exhibit, but we can also learn about his perspectives on the social justice of his time. A couple examples are his philanthropic work and his founding Urania Cottage, a shelter for wayward women.
Though I have not yet gone, it seems like a relatively interesting exhibit to check out, especially if you have an appreciation for Dickens as I do. The article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/arts/design/morgan-librarys-charles-dickens-at-200-review.html?ref=arts
The Morgan library always has some interesting exhibitions and a fabulous permanent collection (and the building itself is quite a place). I highly recommend a visit.
This post was oddly prescient. I don’t think you knew just how much we would discuss the crossroads of art and politics in this class when you wrote it.
I appreciate Dickens greatly (although he is certainly not my favorite author) and I think that his works are important ways of catching a glimpse into the world he lived in. He did always manage to sneak in some sort of political commentary on society in his books. I think it would be very interesting to see outright what his perspectives were on social justice, as you wrote in the article. If there is one thing that I admire Dickens for, it’s that he was unafraid to write about the forgotten people, and in that way, he almost became their greatest champion. His stories are heart-warming and clever, but also teeming with political undertones. He might have been one of the first to mix his chosen medium of art (the written word) with the vast and complicated sociopolitical arena.