"I do not hesitate to say to you that I <em>will</em> carry my point." — thirty-sixth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"I do not hesitate to say to you that I will carry my point." by W. L. Sheppard. Thirty-sixth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter XLII, "Confidential and Accidental," p. 243. Page 243's Heading: "A Message to Mr. Dombey." 9.4 x 13.6 cm (3 ⅝ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: A Confidential Talk with Carker about the Second Mrs. Dombey

Blended with the look that Carker bent upon him, was a devilish look at the picture over his head, that struck upon it like a flash of lightning.

“Now, Carker,” said Mr. Dombey, “I do not hesitate to say to you that I will carry my point. I am not to be trifled with. Mrs. Dombey must understand that my will is law, and that I cannot allow of one exception to the whole rule of my life. You will have the goodness to undertake this charge, which, coming from me, is not unacceptable to you, I hope, whatever regret you may politely profess — for which I am obliged to you on behalf of Mrs. Dombey; and you will have the goodness, I am persuaded, to discharge it as exactly as any other commission.”

“You know,” said Mr. Carker, “that you have only to command me.” [Chapter XLII, "Confidential and Accidental," 243]

Commentary: Dombey commands Carker to act as his "Confidential Agent" with Edith

Having illustrated the Captain Cuttle plot and the Edith Dombey plot, Sheppard now offers a scene between Dombey and his trusted, ingratiating Manager, James Carker. The scene is the drawing-room in Carker's modest London residence some time after the death of Dombey's mother-in-law, Mrs. Skewton. Mr. Dombey has come for breakfast "by appointment" (241). Sheppard has not shown the picture that resembles Edith, a likeness that Dombey seems not to notice as he takes his seat at the breakfast table. Good as the figures of stiff Dombey and smiling Carker are, the composition would have been more effective had Sheppard made sure that the reader could see all of the picture of Alice Marwood on the wall behind Dombey. Rob the Grinder has been dancing attendance, but, by the time the conversation takes the following turn, Carker has sent "Robin" out of the room.

The distasteful subject that Dombey feels that he must broach, but about which he cannot bring himself to speak directly to the imperious Edith, concerns the second Mrs. Dombey's public affection for Florence: "You will please to tell [Mrs. Dombey] that her show of devotion for my daughter is disagreeable to me. It is likely to be noticed. It is likely to induce people to contrast Mrs. Dombey in her relation towards my daughter, with Mrs. Dombey in her relation towards myself" (244). Making Carker his "confidential agent" will lead to romantic complications that Dombey clearly has not foreseen, just as he has failed to apprehend the likeness to Edith in the painting.

Illustrations of Dombey and Carker from Other Sources (1847-1910)

Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s character study of the designing Manager: Mr. Carker (1867). Centre: Phiz's original serial illustration of Dombey's delivering his injunction: Mr. Dombey and his "confidential agent" (November 1847). Right: Clayton J. Clarke's Player's Cigarette Card No. 42 (watercolour): Mr. Dombey (1910).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1910)

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. IX.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

Created 19 February 2022