"Part the Second" from Dickens's "The Battle of Life" (1846)

Part the Second

Richard Doyle; engraver, Green

1846

Wood engraving

13.3 high by 8 cm wide (5 ⅛ by 3 ⅛ inches), vignetted

Full-page illustration for Dickens's The Battle of Life: "Part the Second," 55.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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SNITCHEY and Craggs had a snug little office on the old Battle Ground, where they drove a snug little business, and fought a great many small . . . . [55]

Passage Realised: The Climax of the Chapter — The "Elopement" Discovered

There was a sudden tumult in the house. She put her hands upon her ears. A wild scream, such as no hands could shut out, was heard; and Grace — distraction in her looks and manner — rushed out at the door.

‘Grace!’ He caught her in his arms. ‘What is it! Is she dead!’

She disengaged herself, as if to recognise his face, and fell down at his feet.

A crowd of figures came about them from the house. Among them was her father, with a paper in his hand.

‘What is it!’ cried Alfred, grasping his hair with his hands, and looking in an agony from face to face, as he bent upon his knee beside the insensible girl. ‘Will no one look at me? Will no one speak to me? Does no one know me? Is there no voice among you all, to tell me what it is!’

There was a murmur among them. ‘She is gone.’

‘Gone!’ he echoed.

‘Fled, my dear Alfred!’ said the Doctor, in a broken voice, and with his hands before his face. ‘Gone from her home and us. To-night! She writes that she has made her innocent and blameless choice — entreats that we will forgive her — prays that we will not forget her — and is gone.’

‘With whom? Where?’

He started up, as if to follow in pursuit; but, when they gave way to let him pass, looked wildly round upon them, staggered back, and sunk down in his former attitude, clasping one of Grace’s cold hands in his own.

There was a hurried running to and fro, confusion, noise, disorder, and no purpose. Some proceeded to disperse themselves about the roads, and some took horse, and some got lights, and some conversed together, urging that there was no trace or track to follow. Some approached him kindly, with the view of offering consolation; some admonished him that Grace must be removed into the house, and that he prevented it. He never heard them, and he never moved. ["Part the Second," pp. 117-119]

Commentary: Ambiguous Foreshadowing

Do these images forecast later events in the Part? Or are they simply examples of the kinds of battles the lawyers' firm has handled over the years. . . ? There is no record of what Dickens told Forster to tell Doyle about this plate, though he did say in one letter that he wanted each part to have a general illustration to it at the beginning, shadowing out its drift and bearing . . . . [Patten, 221]

Richard Doyle shows two events temporally separated but thematically associated: in the upper register, a stallion dashes forward towards the milepost, leaving his rider (Michael Warden, it turns out) unconscious on the road by the fence and the leafless oak. Below, Dr. Jeddler tries in vain to shed some light on the chaotic situation, reaching out as does Clemency towards Alfred, who is kneeling above the senseless body of Grace. "What is the connection between the two registers?" readers wonder. But of course readers will have to wait some sixty pages to clarify what is happening and who the figures are in the headpiece for "Part the Second." Readers could only be sure of the figure of the Doctor as he stares out into the night, his guests crowded into the opening of the doorway behind him.

Related Material

Scene from The Battle of Life, at the Lyceum Theatre: Clemency (Mrs. Keeley); Britain (Mr. Keeley). The Illustrated London News. Saturday, 26 December 1846, p. 413.
The Dedication, Illustrations, and Illustrators for The Battle of Life (1846)
Robert L. Patten's Dickens, Death and Christmas, Chapter 8: "Chirping" and Pantomime, and Chapter 9: Battling for His Life
Pears' Centenary Edition of The Battle of Life (1912)
The Christmas Books of Charles Dickens
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s single illustration for The Battle of Life (1867)
A. E. Abbey's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1876)
Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1878)
Harry Furniss's illustrations for Dickens's The Battle of Life (1910)

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. Engraved by J. Thompson, Dalziel, T. Williams, and Green. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846.

Morley, Malcolm. "The Battle of Life in the Theatre." Dickensian 48 (1 January 1952): 76.

Patten, Robert L. Chapter 9, "Battling for his Life." Dickens, Death, and Christmas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. 200-233. [Review]

Created 20 February 2001

Last updated 2 June 2024