Charles Dickens

Doctor Marigold Annotated Charles Dickens

Doctor Marigold is a novella by the famous Victorian novelist Charles Dickens that tells the story of a "Cheap-Jack" who sells inexpensive articles to the poor in popular fairs. After losing both his daughter and wife, he decides to adopt a deaf and mute girl and names her Sophy after his dead daughter. Throughout the two chapters of the book, Dickens portrays the activities of salesmen in the markets and gives samples of the captivating jingles and patters that they sing. Doctor Marigold, who seems to share with Dickens his linguistic passions, invents a system of sign language for his adopted daughter and teaches her to read and communicate. Dickens' novella also represents an examination of critical social issues which were much debated in Victorian England, namely adoption and the place of the disabled in the public eye.