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The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
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Plot Summary of The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
"Young Martin Chuzzlewit becomes estranged from his wealthy self centered grandfather when he vows his love for the grandfather's ward, Mary, without asking for the grandfather's consent.
Since Martin has no money of his own, he is forced to go out in the world to seek a living. He decides to go to America to seek his fortune, accompanied by his friend and servant, Mark Tapley.

While he is gone, another relative, the evil Mr. Pecksniff seems to gain some influence over the grandfather. He also begins to make love to Mary and tries to persuade her to marry him. While in America, Martin buys some swampland and becomes very sick. As a result of his close call with death, he vows to become a better person. He and Mark return to England, where he hopes to reconcile with his grandfather.

At first he is unsuccessful, but when the grandfather has made certain that young Martin is a changed man, he reveals that he had not really been under Pecksniff's influence, that he had known Pecksniff's evil character from the start, and that he had only wished to test how far he would go. The grandfather and Martin are reconciled, and Martin's marriage to Mary is approved."

Jack Goodstein, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 19th century
Family, struggle with Yes
Struggle with: - Grandpa
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - British
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - natural phenomena
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - trader
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

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 ()
United States Yes
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Weird Victorian/Shakespearean English? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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The Touch by Colleen McCullough


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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  


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