“The narrative of Dickens’s novels takes us on a tour through this city of contradictions, their intricate plots the engines driving us on this journey. His prose moves us rapidly between London scenes at once pastoral and intensely urban . . . In bringing these contradictions together, Dickens’s prose is magical in its realism . . . The city is chaotic; the city is ordered; personal vision is juxtaposed against the panoramic . . . And Dickens’s prose, like his city, like his own life, is always dynamic, always moving us through change.”
— Murray Baumgarten
The Victorian City
London Map of Our Mutual Friend
From the BBC Our Mutual Friend Viewer’s Guide
“The London of Our Mutual Friend: A Virtual Ramble”
By David Parker
“The Victorian Poorhouse”
By Sandra Spencer
“The Dual Work of ‘Wastes’ in Chadwick’s Sanitary Report”
By Priti Joshi
“Dickens, Wegg, and Wooden Legs”
By Adrienne E. Gavin
Dustheaps
“Dust; or Ugliness Redeemed”
An excerpt from Household Words that details the composite elements of the dust-heap.
“Of the Dustmen of London”
By Henry Mayhew
Schools and Education
“Educators and Education in Our Mutual Friend“
By Kate Carnell Watt
“Charles Dickens and Victorian Education”
By Leon Litvack