By Harry Mottram: Samuel Pickwick with his round belly, bald pate, pompous and unworldly manner is also likeable, warm hearted and defined by his friendship with his male friends. He enjoys the company of women but has a disjointed relationship with them ending in the Charles Dicken’s novel with a legal case in which his landlady Mrs Martha Bardell brings a legal case against him for breach of promise.
England is sometimes portrayed as a land of eccentrics of which Pickwick is just one. Consider William Blake the artist and poet unknown in his lifetime, Beau Brummel, he of social etiquette rules in Regency Bath or Hannah Snell who passed herself off as a male British soldier in the late 18th century, or Mary Baker better known as her invented alter ego the Princess Cariboo – a character that made her a society sensation until her true identity was revealed.
There’s currently a discussion on BBC radio’s Free Thinking programme on the subject at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002xpcs
Back to Mr Pickwick – and unlike those examples he was a work of fiction. The rotund hero manages to become involved in a duel through a misunderstanding when his friend borrows a jacket that doesn’t belong to him. Dickens’ story of a group of friends who form a club and set out on adventures from London in the early 19th century. The results are hilarious but also are a subtle satire of Victorian society – sending up the uneven legal system and the inequalities of society as well as the importance of forgiveness and camaraderie.
The novel is a rambling set of adventures defined by the way it was published in serial form as a collection of comic sketches published from March 1836 to November 1837. The illustrations by Robert Seymour to accompany the text helped to confirm the stories as favourites amongst the public which helped to establish Dickens’ as a bestselling author. Like his other works the story is populated by a series of larger-than-life characters from Mr Winkle, Sam Weller, Alfred Jingle and Mrs Martha Bardell.
The 1952 film based on the book written and directed by Noel Langley and starring James Hayter, James Donald, Nigel Patrick and Joyce Grenfell helped to engrave the story into the collective British imagination through the various characters. While a TV version in 1985 and a silent movie adaptation in 1913 also showed the story’s popularity.
The touring theatre company Rain or Shine are staging their version in outdoor locations throughout the summer outdoors including in Badgworth on June 25th, 2026.
Details for tickets at https://www.rainorshine.co.uk/
Harry is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc
Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
Website:www.harrymottram.co.uk
Mobile: 07789 864769
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