Dickens and the Visual: Realism and Mimesis in Sketches by Boz
Sketches by Boz is marked by a tension between reality and mimesis which continues throughout Dickens’s career. This tension produces a series of dichotomies in Dickens’s work, a number of which have been noted by critics. This paper will examine the duality of Dickens’s artistic vision and will argue that the tension between objective reality and subjective interiority help Dickens achieve a unique view of Victorian England. Critics have often characterized Dickens’s writing as being realistic. This trend began with John Forster, who, in The Life of Charles Dickens wrote that “Things are painted literally as they are; and, whatever the picture, whether of every-day vulgar, shabby genteel, or downright low, with neither the condescending air which is affectation, nor the too familiar one which is slang” (Forster 92-93). While Dickens is often identified as a “realistic” author, there is no standard literary definition of what constitutes realism. Although a universally recognized definition of realistic writing does not exist, a number of characteristics are associated with realism. These characteristics include a depiction of external events which are presented as being true to life and are meant to be taken literally. In addition, the interior reality of the work is meant to be consistent with the reality observed in the external world. Finally, the reality of the work is not influenced by the opinions or preferences of the author; as a corollary to this, the author’s presence should not intrude into the narration of the work.
