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Dombey and Son
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Plot Summary of Dombey and Son
"Mr. Dombey, a wealthy London merchant, puts all his hopes in his sickly son Paul to succeed him in running the firm, and ignores his good daughter Florence. The firm is nearly ruined by a trusted employee named Carker who also runs away with Dombey's second wife, the scheming Edith Granger. This was the first novel in which Dickens attempted to portray the upper classes as well as the lower, and it also features strong female characters of all types and moral persuasions, if not a lot of depth. Another primary theme played out by various characters is the way in which adults mold (and ruin) their children."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Dombey and Son
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story - 19th century
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Inside culture (main char) - British
Family, struggle with Yes
Struggle with: - Father (or standin)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society) - British
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes
Kind of business - small family business
Parents/lack of parents problem? - rebelling against parent's expectations

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - small businessman
Age: - 40's-50's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 3 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - France
Water? Yes
City? Yes
City: - London - dirty, grimy (like New York)
Misc setting - moving train

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Dombey and Son
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens


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Charles Dickens Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
David Loftus  

SCHOLARS:
Laura Southcombe  A. Antonow  Jack Goodstein  Alan Sykes  Matt Pfouts  Erinnae Baker  Helena Woolums  aishwarya singh  Megan E. Davis  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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