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Context of the Illustration

Glancing back into the kitchen, she cried fearfully, as a light figure stole into her view, "What's that!" . . .

"There is some one out there," pointing to the door, "whom I must see, and speak with, to-night. Michael Warden, for God's sake retire! Not now!"

Clemency started with surprise and trouble as, following the direction of the speaker's eyes, she saw a dark figure standing in the doorway.

"In another moment you may be discovered," said Marion. "Not now! Wait, if you can, in some concealment. I will come presently."

He waved his hand to her, and was gone. "Don't go to bed. Wait here for me!" said Marion, hurriedly. "I have been seeking to speak to you for an hour past. Oh, be true to me!"

Eagerly seizing her bewildered hand, and pressing it with both her own to her breast — an action more expressive, in its passion of entreaty, than the most eloquent appeal in words, — Marion withdrew; as the light of the returning lantern flashed into the room. . . .

When all was quiet, Marion returned.

"Open the door," she said; "and stand there close beside me, while I speak to him, outside." ["Part the Second," 1912 Pears Edition, 81-84]

Commentary

The short title on page 14 (Marion with Clemency) is augmented by a direct quotation beneath the actual illustration: "Open the door," she said; "and stand there close beside me, while I speak to him, outside." [83, and, in the text, directly over the page]. After the scene of Britain and Clemency in the Kitchen (76), in which the comic servants seem to be approaching an understanding about sharing a future, Dickens continues to develop the notion that a putative elopement between Michael Warden and Marion Jeddler is afoot; Marion's request to Clemency to open the door only serves to confirm the reader's (mis)impression that the young aristocrat is about to snatch Marion away in the middle of the night. The surprise is that, at this point, the pair do not elope.

One may readily appreciate Leech's mistake as ​Dickens made suggestions in "Part the Second" about a ​supposed ​elopement, beginning with Michael Warden's stating to his attorneys that his marrying an heiress such as Marion would resolve his financial difficulties and enable him to remain in England — and, quite by coincidence, of course — Warden leaves the village at approximately the same date that Marion vanishes. Although one may forgive Leech, Green has taken pains in his series to avoid any such misapprehension of the plot, with the result that Britain's sallying forth with a fireplace poker, having heard a footstep outside, is something of a red herring in the matter of Marion's mysterious disappearance at the very close of "Part the Second."

Whereas the original novella showed but one scene at the Jeddlers' door — Daniel Maclise's The Secret Interview (see below) — to demonstrate the intense emotional conflicts of Marion and Clemency, Green underscores this internal conflict in two such illustrations, this on page 83 and Michael Warden's Nocturnal Interview with Marion on page 86. Green's Clemency here is much more serious, and appears somewhat older than in her previous appearances. Mysterious darkness suggestive of an uncertain (and perhaps immoral) future fills the space behind the white-clad Marion, whose headpiece implies that she is a Vestal Virgin, dedicated to her father's service and her sister's future happiness with Alfred. The paving stones beneath the women's feet implies that the scene occurs at the external door between the kitchen and the garden, where the ardent lover awaits the overwrought maiden. The wastrel's absconding with the dutiful daughter of the house, not actually realised in this 1846 novella, is a plot gambit that Dickens utilised with James Steerforth's running off to the Continent with Little Em'ly in David Copperfield. Here, however, the young woman enlists the assistance of the faithful family servant, who therefore will subsequently feel complicit in the elopement.

The contrast between the two female figures, Clemency's appearing to block Marion's exit at door, and, above all, the Rembrandtesque chiaroscuro that engulfs the left third of the illustration and throws Clemency's figure into shadow render the moment highly effective as a visual adjunct to the somewhat melodramatic text, especially since one must read through the plate to advance one's understanding of the motivations and circumstances of the reluctant servant and the passionate young mistress, the fiancée ofanother.

Relevant Illustrations from the 1846​ and later Editions

Left: Daniel Maclise's The Secret Interview, which implies, of course that the young couple are about to elope (1846). Centre: John Leech's dual illustration of the Christmas party and the supposed elopement, The Night of the Return. Right: Harry Furniss's intimation that Michael Warden and Marion are eloping, For Alfred's Sake (1910).

Above: E. A. Abbey's 1876 wood-engraving of the scene outside Dr. Jeddler's home as Alfred discovers that Marion is missing, And sunk down in his former attitude, clasping one of Grace's cold hands in his own.

Above: Fred Barnard's 1878 wood-engraving of the scene in which Alfred, just arrived, learns that Marion has vanished into the night: "What is the matter?" he exclaimed. "I don't know. I — I am afraid to think. Go back. Hark!"

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846.

_____. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. (1846). Rpt. in Charles Dickens's Christmas Books, ed. Michael Slater. Hardmondsworth: Penguin, 1971, rpt. 1978.

_____. The Battle of Life. Illustrated by Charles Green, R. I. London: A & F Pears, 1912.

_____. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

_____. Christmas Books, illustrated by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1878.

_____. Christmas Books, illustrated by A. A. Dixon. London & Glasgow: Collins' Clear-Type Press, 1906.

_____. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910.

_____. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by E. A. Abbey. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876.

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Created 25 May 2015

Last modified 20 March 2020