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TERAUCHI Takashi (Mr.)F@An independent scholar or a 'plain Michael Faraday' in Japan, and the president of Ouzansha Publishing.
@Homepage 1: https://tera-u-chi.sakura.ne.jp/
@Homepage 2: https://tera-u-chi.sakura.ne.jp/index.htm
Address: 5-28-12, Nomura, Kusatsu City, Shiga, JAPAN.
@Email: click here@
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@@@@@@@@@@Uploaded Q July 2020
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@@@@@@@@@@@@Submitted to the online forum Victoria on 4 July 2020.
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The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Finished, not gUnfinishedh
@ @@@Takashi TERAUCHI
@ @@@
Introduction
Charles Dickens was a writer with the moral
vision of a Christian preacher, but he left the Christian pathway in 1858 when
he made Ellen Ternan his secret mistress, lying about the affair to the general
public, and almost forcing Catherine to separate from him despite her efforts
to stop his affair for the protection of his honour.1
@@@Naturally Dickens was heavily criticized by people,
and facing a barrage of blame, he must have recognized his sins as gadulteryh and gfalse
witnessh, and it seems likely that he recognized that
he had trodden into the realm of the kind of hypocrites, or ghumbugsh he had often criticized in his
works since Sketches by Boz.
@@@The criticism against him had softened at least
superficially by 1859; in March of that year an unexpected proposal for a tale
came to him for the princely sum of 1000 from
Robbert Bonner, proprietor of the New York Ledger.2 @Although Dickens had just begun to work on A Tale of Two
Cities, Bonnerfs proposal was too handsome to
refuse (Letters 9: 43-4). He hurriedly had to think of a
subject for the sudden proposal, and what he instinctively came up with was a
humbug by the name of Thomas Griffiths Wainwright, whom he saw in Newgate in
June 1837,3 and a humbug by the name of Rigaud modelled
after him whom he had created in Little Dorrit (1855-57).
@@@Dickens created a new humbug named Julius Slinkton
in Hunted Down,4 one who, though behaving
very kindly to his niece like a clergyman, ends up poisoning her for the
insurance, and is still consigning two more people to the same fate, when he
finally commits suicide as a result of his fraud being discovered.
@@@In 1860 Dickens experienced a private religious
conversion, though not in such a public way as Arthur Donithorne and Reverend
Arthur Dimmesdale. So it seems safe to assume that Dickens was
living with a sense of guilt or at least, a gthorn of
anxietyh within him.
@@@Intrinsically secrecy cannot be maintained
indefinitely; with the passage of time Ternanfs
presence would have become known among a certain number of people, by whom he
would be regarded as ga humbugh. He
wrote in a letter in February 1870 to G. H. Lewes, gThis
is merely to express my hope that Mrs. Lewes and you will not consider me a
humbug just yet.h (Letters 12:
482) Dickens was a naturally proud man, so he couldnft possibly have endured such an evaluation.
@@@About one year before the letter to Mr. Lewes, in
May 1869, Dickens went with members of the police to the Ratcliffe Highway
where he met a woman who later was to be the model for Princess Puffer, and he
wrote to John Forster on 6th August that he had ga very
curious and new idea for my new story of the murder of a nephew by his
uncleh (Letters 12: 389).5
@@@On 1st February 1870, when he was considerably weakened both physically and
mentally, he signed a contract with Chapman and Hall to publish The
Mystery of Edwin Drood (Letters 12: 720), inserting in the
agreement a clause stating what should happen gif the
said Charles Dickens shall die during the composition of the said workh (Letters 12: 721).6 The
serialization began on 1st April.
@@@John Jasper, the hero of the novel, is a kind of
Jekyll and Hyde--a humbug who is the respected choirmaster in Cloisterham
Cathedral and the affectionate guardian of his nephew Edwin Drood, but who
murders Drood secretly as a result of his passionate attraction to Droodfs fiancee, Bud.
@@@The novel was scheduled to gbe
completed in twelve monthly partsh (Letters 12:
720), but it was closed with the sixth part (published in September 1870)
following Dickensfs death. But although
Forster described this novel as gunfinishedh in The Life of Charles Dickens (Forster 365), the
evidence suggests that it is, in reality, gfinishedh. To indicate this is one of the aims of the present
paper. It also seeks to explore the relationship between Dickensfs personal life and the novel.
1 The Mystery of Edwin
Drood is finished, not gunfinishedh
@@ Jasper as a humbug
Jasper is the guardian of Edwin Drood, on
whom he dotes. He is also a choirmaster who is gso much respectedh among people of
Cloisterham (a model of Chatham) (Ch. II), but he has such a dark inner side as
if gtroubled with some stray sort of ambition,
aspiration, restlessness, dissatisfactionh (Ch. II);
the largest part of the darkness consists in his passionate love for Droodfs fiancee, Bud, which occupies most of his gagonyh. He also @suffers ga painh caused by gRheumatismh.
@@@Jasper goes to an opium den in the East End of
London to escape from the sufferings caused both by his gpainh and gagonyh.
@@@At midnight one day in December he appears there;
and after smoking some opium, he wakes up from the sleep or stupor it
brings. In the den there are two other customers who are snarling,
gasping, or protesting under the influence of opium. Jasper puts his
ear closer to them, but they are gunintelligibleh.
@@@The hostess of the den who assists the customers
with opium-smoking, is also grumbling and muttering in her sleep. He
listens to her, but she too is gunintelligibleh. Even so, the hostess does notice his actions.
@@@Jasper leaves the den early in the morning to return
back to Cloisterham, arriving in time for the Cathedral's evening service.
A @Drood
and Bud? --galways
quarrelingh
@@@In the Gatehouse of Cloisterham there
are three rooms: one is for dining, another is Jasperfs
room, and the third is his nephew, Droodfs.
@ Drood, a Londoner,
travels to Cloisterham to go on a date with Bud. But no matter how
often they meet, they are not like an engaged couple: they are galways quarrellingh (Ch. VII).
B@Grewgious finds gthe thorn of anxietyg in Drood
@@On the day Drood has returned to London,
Hiram Grewgious, a solicitor from London and the guardian of Rosa@Bud, goes to Cloisterham to meet her, confirming that her intention
to marry remains the same.
@@@A few days later, Grewgious, who receives a visit
from Drood, is very confused about his attitude because his intention to get
married is so weak despite the wedding being due to take place six months later
(Ch. XI).
@@@Besides, his ambivalence about the marriage is again
evident in the fact that he can say carelessly that Miss Helena Landless, who
has just entered Miss Twinkletonfs seminary Nunsf House, is ga strikingly handsome girl,sir
(Ch. XI).@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@After this, Grewgious has dinner with Drood, during
which his clerk, Bazzard, observes Droodfs attitude
carefully. Grewgious suddenly says, gI drink
to you, Bazzard; Mr. Edwin, success to Mr. Bazzard!h gSuccess
to Mr.Bazzard!h echoes Drood, wondering gwhat inh. Grewgious
continues:
@@ @@gAnd May! I am not at liberty to be definite--May!--my
conversational powers are so very limited
@@@@@that I know I shall not come well out of
this--May!--it ought to be put imaginatively, but I have
@@@@@no @imagination--May!--the
thorn of anxiety is as nearly the mark as I am likely to get
@@@@@--May it come ut at last!h (Ch. XI; underline added)
@@Grewgious evidently detects gthe
thorn of anxietyh in Drood. If it should gcome outh, then no anxiety would exist and
Drood could marry Bud.@
C@Grewgious and Bazzard!--a master-follower relationship
What should be noted in the scene described
above is that Grewgious and Bazzard are in a master-follower
relationship. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@gI follow you, sir, and I thank you.h / gI follow you, sir,h said Bazzard, gand I pledge you!h / gLet us follow you, sir,h said Bazzard . . .@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@Because of this relationship, Grewgious later sends
Bazzard to Cloisterham to uncover the identity of Jasper.
D @Jasper's
malicious scenario
@@At midnight on
18th December, Jasper explores Cloisteram Cathedral crypt with the mason
Stony Durdles (Ch. XII). The aim of Jasper is to take Drood out at
midnight on 24th December, make him sleep by plying him with
drink presumably containing opium in a wicker-cased bottle, and strangle him
with ga great black scarfh (Ch.
XIV), 7 put the body in a stone coffin which wonft be noticed by Durdles, and add quick-lime which will geath his gbonesh (Ch. XII). Jasper is assembling a complete crime
scenario.
@@On 23rd December, Drood visits Bud, and they talk
about their marriage; in consequence they agree to cancel their engagement and
kiss at the parting. Jasper sees the scene from the shade, wrongly
assuming that they have in fact taken a step closer to marriage (Ch.
XIII).
@@On the 24th, Drood, after stopping by a jewellerfs, happens to meet the hostess of the opium den near the Cathedralfs gatehouse. She has tracked Jasper down to Cloisterham
because he divulged something threatening in his opium-induced stupor, but she
has lost sight of him. She says she will tell him something if she
gets three-and-sixpence for opium-smoking. After getting the money,
she reveals that she knows his name is gEdwinh and his nickname is gEddyh, and says, gYou be thankful that your name
ainft Nedh, adding that it is ga threatened name. A dangerous name.h (Ch. XXIII) @"Ned" is
the name that only Jasper uses (Ch. XIV).
@@That night, Drood and Landless meet at Jasper's house
to reconcile their quarrel, dining with Jasper (Ch. VIII). After
settling the fight, Drood and Landless go out to the river to see the storm;
from this point on news of Droodfs whereabouts
disappears.
@@In the early morning of
25th December, Landless takes a fortnightfs walking
expedition with a heavy walking-stick to conquer himself (Ch. XIV).
@@However Landless is arrested on suspicion of having
been involved in the Droodfs disappearance.
@@Rev. Crisparkle, a ggood manh (Ch. II), is convinced of the innocence of Landless, who is both
his ward and his inmate with whom he reads.
@@On 26th and 27th December, a massive search for Drood has not produced any clues.
@@On the night of 27th, Jasper, exhausted by the search activity, drops into his
easy-chair, and finds Grewgious standing in front of him. In a
conversation with Grewgious, Jasper calls Neville Landless's sister Helena g[t]he suspected young manfsh sister, and says gPoor thing!h for her placing gunbounded faith in
her brotherh (Ch. XV).@ Jasper
has already worked out a criminal scenario which places the blame squarely upon
Neville.
E@ Grewgiousfs strong suspicion of Jasper
@@Grewgious tells Jasper about the ending of Drood and
Budfs engagement; then Jasper falls down with a
horrific cry; Grewgious, who knows of Budfs strong
refusal of Jasper, calmly overlooks the figure (Ch. X).
@@Jasper recovers from the swoon with the care of Mr.
and Mrs. Tope, and voraciously eats the meal prepared by Mrs. Tope (Ch.
XVI). Grewgious, who stares at him with a firm sense of protest, has
a strong suspicion about Jasper (Ch. XVI).
@@Then Rev. Crisparkle appears and explains that the
fight between Landless and Drood touched on above was triggered by the rude
manner in which Drood treated Bud gwith conceit or
indifferenceh or glike a dollh (Ch. X); Landless had gadmire[d]h and even glove[d]h
Bud (Ch. X). Such a story by Crisparkle unsettles
Jasper. Even so he does not become ostensibly
upset. However, adoring Bud as fervently as he does, he never
forgives Neville in his heart.
@@On the 28th, Crisparkle detects Droodfs gwatch and chainh
and gshirt-pinh in the water of
Cloisterham Weir (Ch. XIV).
@@Landless is released due to the testimony of the
jeweller who set the time of the watch before the incident, and to the fact
that Droodfs further search brings no disadvantages to
Landless.
@ Landless takes himself, with the help of
Crisparkle and Grewgious, to the attic rooms of the Staple Inn where Grewgious
has some chambers for his residence and office (Ch. XVII).
F@Strangers--in
London and Cloisterham
Half a year after the incident, Chrisparkle
visits Landless in one of the attic rooms of the Staple Inn, where Landless is
studying the gprofession of the lawh during the daytime (Ch. XVII), and where Crisparkle is thinking of
having his sister Helena live with him.
@ Afterwards Crisparkle makes a brief call
on Grewgious. According to Grewgious, Landless is being watched by
Jasper, so he wants to have him under his eye at night (Ch. XVII).
@ When Landless comes home after a walk with
Crisparkle, ga strangerh sits
on the window-sill. He is Tartar from next door, formerly gFirst Lieutenanth of the Royal Navy, now a
correspondent (Ch. XVII), and coincidentally, Crisparklefs junior at university (Ch. XXI). Tartar is helpful as a
guard for Landless, who is being watched not only by Jasper, but also by a spy
hired by Jasper. He will also be able to keep an eye on Bud, who is
coming to London to escape Jasperfs relentless
advances.
@@On the other hand, there appears also in Cloisterham ga strangerh named Datchery (Ch. XVIII), who
has gunusually largeh and gwhite headh, and gunusually
thick and ampleh shock of white hair. He is
thinking of taking lodgings for a month or two, and decides to rent the two
chambers of Topefs official dwelling which communicate
by an upper stair with Jasperfs.
@@Jasper, who has agreed to gspeak
forh Mrs. Tope, testifies to Datchery that the Tope
family are quite respectable (Ch. XVIII). Jasperfs friend, Mayor Sapsea, also gives Datchery the same testimony as
Jasper, and he asks Datchery with something of a military air whether he has
belonged to the Army or Navy. gNoh is Datcheryfs reply. Hence, it
may be safely assumed that his identity is not the same Tartar, who is an
ex-serviceman.
@ Datchery, after Jasper left, asks Sapsea
if he is the person who is gafflicted by the loss of a
nephew, and concentrating his life on avenging the lossh. He receives the answer: gThat
is the gentleman. John Jasper, sirh (Ch.
XVIII). It can be assumed that Datchery has already obtained information
on Jasper, and he shows great interest in him. This fact suggests
that his true identity is Bazzard, who has been gmisplacedh to Cloisterham by Grewgious.8
@@Helena Landless, Rosa Budfs
close friend, leaves the Nunsf House in Cloisterham to
live with her brother Neville (Ch. XIX).
@ Bud, a boarding student at the Nunsf House, is violently approached by Jasper, and escapes from him,
asking her guardian Grewgious for protection. Grewgious, who has an gimplacable dislike of Jasperh (Ch. XXIII),
agrees, saying, gDamn him!h
(Ch. XX)
G@The identity of Datchery is Bazzard
Grewgjous rushes to the
hotel in Furnivalfs Inn to reserve Budfs accommodation and order a meal. In response to Budfs inquisitiveness he tells her that his clerk Bazzard is goff duty here, altogether, just at presenth,
and he isgmisplacedh, but the gmisplacednessh is so great that Grewgious
feels gconstantly apologetic towards himh. Such being the case, Bazzard feels that Grewgious has greason to beh (Ch. XX).
@@Grewgious goes on to say that Bazzard, with literary ggeniush, has written ga tragedyh titled gThe
Thorn of Anxietyh. Both Grewgious and
Bazzard hope that git will come out at lasth (Ch. XX). Grewgious, who has a strong suspicion about
Jasper, has dispatched Bazzard to Cloisterham in order to discover Jasperfs identity.
H@Jasper makes the statement, gA relative died.h
Jasper dressed in
mourning clothes again appears at the opium den. The conversation
between him and the hostess is as follows: gWho died?h gA relative.h gDied of what?h gProbably, Death.h (Ch. XXIII) Jasper soon falls into an opium
stupor, and though believing that the mumblings and mutterings of someone under
the influence are gunintelligibleh, has in fact divulged his secret, replying to her question as
follows,
@@@@@@@@@gShould you do it in your fancy, when you were
lying here doing this?h
@@@@@@@@@She nods her head. gOver and over again.h
@@@@@@@@@gJust like me! I did it over and
over again. I have done it hundreds of thousands of times in this
room. . . .@
@@@@@@@@@It was a journey, a difficult and dangerous
journey.h (Ch. XXIII)
To her address of gThere
was a fellow-traveller, deary,h he cries:
@@@@@@@@@@gTo think,h he cries,
ghow often fellow-traveller, and yet not know
it! To think how many times he
@@@@@ went the journey, and never saw the road!h . . . . When it comes to be real at last, it is so short that it@
@@@@@ seems unreal for the first
time. Hark!h . . . . gHush! The journeyfs
made. Itfs over.h
(Ch. XXIII)
She asks, gSo soon?h He replies:
@@@@gSo soon. . . . It has been
too short and easy. I must have a better vision than this; this is
the poorest of all. No struggle, no consciousness of peril, no
entreaty--and yet I never saw that before . . . Look at
it! Look what a poor, mean, miserable thing it is! That must
be real. Itfs over.h@@@ (Ch. XXIII)
It seems clear that Jasper strangled Droodfs neck with ga great black scarfh.
I@Datchery grasps Jasperfs identity
Jasper leaves the den early in the
morning. The hostess chases him and loses sight of him near the
gatehouse.
There she encounters a gray-haired gentleman, Datchery, from whom
she gets the information on Jasper's residence, job, and so on.9
@@Then they take a walk in the Precincts of the
Cathedral. She reveals that she had once missed Jasper here, and at
that time happened to meet a young man, receiving gthree-and-sixpenceh from him as payment for her gmedicineh. gWhatfs the
medicine?h asks Datchery. gItfs opium.h Datchery
gives her a sudden look, turning pale. She continues, gIt was last Christmas Eve, just arter darkh. The
young man named himself gEdwinh. Datchery,
being much too surprised, has counted wrong and dropped some money, when
counting out gthree-and-sixpencehwhich she wanted for her gmedicineh. After giving her the money, he leaves.
@ Here again Datchery can safely be assumed
to be Bazzard, who is hunting down Jasper following Grewgiousfs plan.
@ At half-past ten Datchery walks out into
the Precincts again, and sees Deputy, the Imp of Travellersf Lodging House, as expected. Datchery is informed by him
that the woman is called gHopeum Pufferh or gfEr Royal Highness the Princess Pufferh, who lives among gJacks and Chayner menh in London, and who is going to the Cathedral tomorrow morning.
@@Returning to his lodging, Datchery throws open gthe door of a corner cupboard, and refers to a few uncouth chalked
strokes on its inner sideh.
@ The next morning Jasper leads the
procession of the congregation for the service; Datchery comes into a stall;
the Princess Puffer is behind a pillar.
@@The service progresses; Jasper chants and
sings. Now the Princess Puffer grins gwhen
he is most musically fervidh, and gMr. Datchery sees her do it!--shakes her fisth at the Choir-master. Instantly gher
fisth is substituted by gboth
fistsh. She perfectly identifies her
customer as Jasper, who murdered Drood. The service
ends. Datchery accosts her,
gWell, mistress. Good
morning. You have seen him?h
@@ gIfve seen him, deary; Ifve seen him!h
@@@gAnd you know him?h
@@@gKnow him! Better far than all the
Reverend Parsons put together know him.h (Ch. XXIII)
@ Datchery comes back to his
lodging, and gopens his corner-cupboard door; takes his
bit of chalk from its shelf, and adds one thick line to the score, extending
from the top of the cupboard door to the bottomh. The
gthick lineh itself means that gthe Thorn of Anxietyh has come out at last,
the very thorn about which Grewgious once said to Bud, gMr. Bazzard hopes--and I hope--that it
will come out at last.h (XX) The hope
expressed in the toast once made by Grewgious,--I drink to you, Bazzard; Mr.
Edwin, success to Mr. Bazzard!h--has been
realized. Datchery begins to eat breakfast gwith
an appetiteh. The novel is wholly finished,
as ghe [i.e., Dickens] said he must finish
his numberh to Georgina on
the morning of 8th June 1870 (see below).
2 Charles Dickensfs relation with the novel
@@Dickensfs gthornh --when
it comes out at last
Dickens, in making Ternan his secret
mistress, committed the sins of gadulteryh and gfalse witnessh. An
earnest Christian, he would surely have recognized that he was a sinner or a
humbug. Indeed, the Reverend Crisparkle specifically refers relevant
Tenth Commandment, gyou shall bear no false witnessh (Ch. XVII). Dickens was living with the thorn of anxiety
within him.
@@Catherine, who could not help leaving Tavistock
House, departed in May 1858. Dickens, finding it a reality, grew
agitated glike a madmanh
(Storey 94; Terauchi 10); this suggests that he had been downplaying things.
@@Dickens moved to Gadfs Hill
in June 1860, putting Tavistock House up for sale; Kate escaped from his gunhappy househ through her marriage in July
1860 (Storey 105; Terauchi 12).
@@As soon as Kate departed on her honeymoon, Dickens
went through a spiritual conversion (Terauchi 11-3, 58-60, 84, 145-49), and he
continued to improve Gadfs Hill Place from then on
until the time of his death (M. Dickens, CD 140-41), as if he
identified it with himself. So every time he improved it, he would
show it to Kate, saying, gNow, Katie, you behold your
parentfs latest and last achievement.h (Terauchi 13-21) The final improvement came on Sunday
5th June 1870 when he had achieved gPOSITIVELY the last
improvement at Gadshillh by having the vinery in the
conservatory partitioned gduring his absenceh at around the beginning of June,10 and he gsummonedh Kate gto
inspecth the gimprovementsh (M. Dickens My Father ... 136; Forster 213;
Terauchi 20-1, 116).11 Thus the improvements, it
seems, were one of the ways he had taken to soften his pain of the thorn in his
heart. But still the thorn remained. It was on Wednesday
8th June when the thorn finally came out at last as will be seen below.
@@Dickens had come to be seriously conscious of his
impending death; if we specify a period, it would be 18th November 1867 when he
announced ga farewell readings in town and country and
then No Moreh to gthe Chappellsh from Halifax, Nova Scotia.12 Indeed
his gexpensesh were gso enormoush (Letters 11: 366);13 if
he did not earn a large income with readings, he could no longer maintain his
life. It might be considered that he saw himself stepping ever
closer to death.
@@On 30th March 1869 he organized a ggreat burning of papersh and destroyed geverything not wantedh (Letters 12:
321; Terauchi 106).
@@On 12th May 1869 he drew up his glast Will and Testamenth; and he would have
shown to Ellen Ternan the clause concerning her in the Will: gI give the sum of 1000 free of legacy
duty to Miss Ellen Lawless Ternan, late of Houghton Place, Ampthill Square, in
the county of Middlesexh (Letters 12:
730). Still only 30 years old, Ellen was familiar with his physical
decline, and needed to be reassured.
@@It was on 1st February 1870 when he signed a contract
with Chapman and Hall relating to The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Letters 12:
720). In the agreement he inserted the clause gif the said Charles Dickens shall die during the composition of the
said workh (Letters 12:
721). Dickens was considering his impending death as a matter of
fact. In this frame of mind, he gave the 12 farewell readings from 11th January to 15th March at St. Jamesfs Hall, London; there he read gSikes and
Nancyh, which exhausted him, four times (Andrews
289-90). As to the readings, Mr. Beard, Dickensfs glifelong friend and medical attendanth (CD, Jr. 137), who was constantly in attendance, said to Dickensfs eldest son Charley, gYou must be there
every night, and if you see your father falter in the least, you must run up
and catch him and bring him off with me, or, by Heaven, hefll die before them all.h (CD, Jr.
137). In fact Dickens was so fatigued and weak that he
pronounced gPickwickh as gPickswick, and Picnic, and Peckwicksh (CD,
Jr. 137). He closed the farewell readings on 15th March 1870 with
the following valedictory comments:
gLadies and gentlemen, in but two short
weeks from this time I hope that you may enter, in your own homes, on a new
series of readings, at which my assistance will be indispensable; but from
these garish lights I vanish now for evermore, with a heartfelt, grateful,
respectful, and affectionate farewell.h (Fielding 413)
@@On 26th May 1870 the pain in his foot, which had
begun in 1865, was getting worse, and so he had remained gdead-lameh for three weeks (Letters 12:534), 14 for
which he had to take more laudanum to fall asleep (Tomalin The
Invisible c 387, 390).
@ George Dolby, Dickensfs reading manager, made one of his weekly visits to All the
Year Round office on Thursday 2nd June
1870. There he found Dickens gsuffering
greatly both in mind and bodyh (Dolby
464). There were even tears in his eyes (Ackroyd
1134). Dolby, when leaving the office, noticed not just gthe difficulty of his walkh from the table
to the door, but also gthe pained looks on his faceh (Dolby 465). That night Fitzgerald, too, noticed ga well-worn, all but haggard faceh
(Fitzgerald 82). Dickens replied the same night in response to his
son-in-law Charles Collinsfs enquiry, gI am tired. I want rest--rest.h (Ackroyd 1134)
@@On Sunday 5th June Dickens had a long
talk with Kate in the conservatory from around 11 p.m. until early the next
morning (Perugini 652; Ackroyd 1136). After dissuading her from
becoming a professional actress, he talked about geEdwin
Droodf, and how he hoped that it might prove a success--eif, please God, I live to finish it. I say if,
because you know, my dear child, I have not been strong latelyfh, 15 and also talked of gmany things that he had scarcely ever mentionedh to her before including Ellen Ternan, gas
though his life were over and there was nothing lefth
(Perugini 652) .16
@@Kate, on the morning of Monday 6th June, made a
moving farewell to her father in the Chalet: he pushed ghis chair from the writing-table, opened his arms, and took me
[i.e., her] into themh, unlike the gordinary occasions he would just have raised his cheek for my [i.e.,
her] kiss, saying a few wordsh.17
@@gOn the morning of Wednesday, the eighthh, Dickens talked to Georgina that he gmust finish his numberh today
(Hogarth Letters 748), and then, after breakfast, went over to
the Chalet to work on it.18 At noon he came over
for lunch, and smoked a cigar in the conservatory, and then returned unusually
for him to the Chalet (Forster 414-15; M. Dickens My Father c 140; Ackroyd 1137); it was gin the
afternoonh that he finished writing g[t]he last page of Edwin Droodh (Forster
367). Probably the first paragraph of gthe
last pageh would be the one beginning with the sentence
of gA brilliant morning shines on the old cityh; in the very paragraph he, who had been conscious of death,
included the phrase gthe Resurrection and the Lifeh.19 And the novel ends as follows:
@@@
@@@@ @ @Before sitting down to
it, he opens his corner-cupboard door; takes his bit of chalk from its shelf;
@@@@@adds one thick line to the score,
extending from the top of the cupboard door to the bottom; and
then@
@@@@ falls to with an appetite. (Ch. XXIII;
underline added)
The underlined sentence means that gthe thorn of anxietyh has come out at
last. The novel is certainly finished.
@@Dickens came back to the house from the Chalet an
hour before dinner, and, while waiting for his meal, went into the library to
write letters; one to Charles Kent, in which he wrote, gI hope I may be ready for you at 3 ofclock.@If I canft be--why, then I shanft be.h The other to a clergyman,
in which he wrote, gI have always striven in my
writings to express veneration for the life and lessons of Our Saviourh (Ackroyd 1138; Letters 12: 547-48).
@@He joined Georgina at around six p.m.; Georgina was
surprised to find his face changed markedly in both color and
expression with his eyes gfull of tearsh (Adrian 136). She asked him if he felt ill; he answered,
gYes, very ill for the last hour.h (Adrian 136; Storey 135-36) His reply to her question of
if she should call the doctor was gNoh (Adrian 136; Storey 135-36); and then he, complaining of a
toothache, required her to have the window shut. In reply to
Georginafs request that he should gCome and lie downh, he said gYes--on the groundh (Adrian 136; Storey 135;
M. Dickens CD 168), and fell heavily, never regaining
consciousness (Adrian 136).
@@This situation enables us to understand that in a
very real sense, he chose not life but death. At that moment the
thorn came out completely.
@ If we should venture to suggest a
hypothesis about the immediate cause of death, it would be that he may
have overdosed on laudanum, as Captain Hawdon or Nemo did in Bleak
House,
@@@@@@@@gHe has died,h says the surgeon, gof an over-dose of
opium, there is no doubt. The room is strongly@@@@@@@ flavoured with it. There is enough here now,h taking an old tea-pot from Mr. Krook, gto
kill a dozen people.h (Ch. XXI)
A@Jasper and Dickens
Jasper is a Jekyll and Hyde or a humbug; so
is Dickens. Jasper committed the secret murder of Drood for his
uncontrollable infatuation and love for Bud; Dickens almost forced Catherine to
separate from him as a result of his uncontrollable infatuation and love for
Ternan, telling lies to the public: they both had gan
agonyh as well as ga painh, so they both regularly used opium to escape from their sufferings;
they were both being hunted down for their own sins.
@@Jasper was alive when the novel was finished. As
for Dickens, he collapsed about one hour after finishing the novel.
@@He appears to have taken on himself the punishment
that Jasper should have undergone;20 if we follow
through the implications of this, it could be claimed that he died punishing
himself.
B@Where did Dickens collapse, Gadfs Hill Place or Windsor Lodge?
@@Dickens already included a 1000 bequest to Ternan in his Will in May 1869; and he made his last
visit to her probably between Saturday 28th and
Monday 30th May,21 during which he would have handed
the housekeeping money of around 15 to her (cf.
Tomalin The Invisible c 395-96);
if not, it would follow that he planned to take it nine days
later. But itfs difficult to imagine that he
would have been strong enough to do so at that time.
@@On the other hand, Georginafs
testimony that Dickens refused to call the doctor seems reliable, because the
testimony that Dickens chose not life but death is a dishonorable one for
Dickens, and Georgina, who is a wholehearted supporter of Dickens, would surely
never invent such a disgraceful testimony for him.
@@Mamie writes, gOn the
Wednesday morning he was in excellent spirits, talking to eAuntief about his book (eEdwin Droodf) [sic] . . . . he would work in
the chalet, and take no drive or walk until the evening.h (M. Dickens CD 167-68)
@@Hence it is more reasonable to assume that Dickens
collapsed at Gadfs Hill Place, rather than at Ternanfs house, Windsor Lodge.
Conclusion
@@Grewgious found gthe
thorn of anxietyh in Drood, but Drood
disappeared. So Grewgiousfs clerk Bazzard
wrote a tragedy of gThe Thorn of Anxietyh. Grewgious speculated that Jasper was involved in Droodfs disappearance. So he sent Bazzard, who had the
pseudonym of Datchery in disguise, to Cloisterham to discover Jasperfs identity.@But in fact, it was the hostess
of the opium den who ascertained that Jasper was Droodfs
killer.
Datchery was convinced that what she said to him was true and reliable; it was
at the very time that Grewgious and Bazzardfs gThorn of Anxietyh came out at
last. The novel was finished, not gunfinishedh.
@@Jasper was a Jekyll and Hyde or a humbug; so was
Dickens. Dickens wrote The Mystery of Edwin Drood,
conscious of his own fraud and his own death, and about one hour after
completing the novel, he collapsed, refusing to call a doctor. The
context invites us to think that he might have taken on the punishment that
Jasper should have taken. We might read the shadow of Dickens in
Jasper. It appears he died punishing himself. And
Georginafs explanation that he fell over in Gadfs Hill Place leaves no room for doubt.
Acknowledgements
@@The present paper is written based on a
paper read at the general meeting of the Japan Branch of Dickens Fellowship
held at Seisen Jogakuin College on 8th June 2019.
@@The present writer expresses deep gratitude to the
Branch for giving a chance to read his paper, and to Professor David W. Rycroft
formerly of Konan University for improving the style of this paper.
Notes
1. Regarding
ghe almost enforced
Catherineh, see Bowen
9, 13, 15 and Letters 8: 746. Dickens expressed great dissatisfaction with
Catherine before their separation, but no record of her objection to him
can be found. On the contrary she sent him two letters of
sympathy after the separation:one, after Staplehurstfs railway crash; the other, before
his American reading tour.
2. The
source of 1000 is found in Letters 9: x,
44 and note 1.
3. Dickens
visited Newgate Prison to see Wainwright with his friends on 27 June 1837
(Letters 1: 44 note 1, 275, 277 and note 3; Letters 2:
251-52 note 4; Letters 9: 44 note 1).
4. Hunted
Down was published in New York Ledger (20th and 27th August and 3rd September 1859), and
in All the Year Round (4th and 11th August 1860)(Letters 9:
44 note 1).
5. gWhat seems certain is that the initial idea for MED was
conceived before Nov 1861 and that in 1869-70 Dickens consulted the
notebookh (Kaplan Book of Memoranda 97).
6. The
same sentence as gif the said Charles Dickens . .
.h is found in gAgreement . . . for the
Publication of Our Mutual Friend, 21 November 1863h (Letters 10: 478-79).
7. gLuke Fildesfs
letter of 27 October 1905 (printed in the Times
Literary Supplement, 3 November) reveals that he had questioned
Dickens as to the importance of the long scarf, which Jasper wears in
Number IV (ch. xiv), as he had previously drawn Jasper wearing a little
black tie. After appearing momentarily disconcerted at having
revealed too muchat too early a stage, Dickens confided to his illustrator that
the scarf was necessary, efor Jasper strangles Edwin
Drood with itfh. (Cardwell xxviv and 239; Jacobson
131-32)
8. Jasper
came to kill Neville Landless around Staple Inn, so Bazzard, who may be
seen by Jasper, needs a disguise.
9. Dickens
makes two mistakes in Ch. XXIII. One is Datcheryfs hair; though it is gwhiteh as in ga white-haired
personageh (Ch. XVIII), it is ggrayh or ggreyh as in ga large-headed, gray-haired gentlemanh (see Paroissien
375 note 13). The other is Jasperfs opium
habit. Only Drood knows of it,
but there is no statement that either Grewgious or Bazzard heard it
from him (see Paroissien
375 note 14 and Jacobson 180). We may ascribe the mistakes to
Dickensfs fatigue.
10. gduring his absenceh (Source: Perugini 652).
11. There
are two versions about the day when Kate came down on Gadfs Hill Place.
@@@@@ Saturday 4th
June (Page 139; MacKenzie 389; Slater 612).
@@@@A Sunday 5th
June (Hogarth Letters 748; Adrian 135; Forster 213).
12. See
Terauchi pp. 95-117.
13. See Terauchi 91-92.
14. Dickens
wrote on 21st February 1865, gI am laid up with a wounded foot, and am not able for a time to
see any visitors.h (Letters 11: 19; and
see Terauchi 85-6, 89, etc.)
15. Dickens was really gfatiguedh on 5th June about which Perugini wrote down: gIn the evening we went for a stroll in the garden, but
soon returned to the house, as he was fatiguedh
(Perugini 652).
16. About gincluding Ellen Ternanh, see Ackroyd 1134, Slater 612, and Tomalin The Invisible c393.
17. Perugini
654; M. Dickens My Father c 137-38; M.
Dickens CD 167; Adrian 135.Cardwell says on p. xxviii: gfrom 30 May onwards Dickens was
at Gadfs Hill working on Number VIh, but she is not right, because there is no evidence that Dickens
was in Gadfs Hill on 30 May, and that he was surely
in the office of AYR on Thursday, 2 June. See below
note 21.Cardwell says on p. xxviii: gIn the last two
or three days of his life he was hard at work on the novel--on 8 June, ein excellent spirits about his bookf, he told
Georgina and Mamie that he must finish Number VI that day,5 the
following being the day of his weekly visit to the All the Year
Round office.h And she gives to the
note g5h gLetters of
Charles Dickens, edited by his sister-in-law and
his eldest daughter (1909; 1st edn., 1893), p. 748.h But
Mamie Dickens was absent there because she had left for London on 6 June
(Perugini 654) or on 7 June (Forster 414; MacKenzie 389). The
person he spoke to was Georgina.
18. See
Paroisssien 376 note 18, M. Dickens My Father c 139-140, Ackroyd 1137, and Slater 612.
19. Dickens,
who was conscious of his impending death, would have offered at least two
prayers to God immediately before death. One is gI am the resurrection and
the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.h (John 11. 25-26), which appears in the opening of gThe Burial of the
Deadh of The Book of Common Prayer. This
prayer was also given by the
seamstress and Sydney Carton when they climbed the scaffold (Two Cities,
Ch. XV).The other is gwhen the
wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and
doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.h (Ezek. 18.27; the opening of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer
of The Book of Common Prayer), which appears in Chapter I
of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
@@Dickens wrote gtwo skeleton journeymen out of the
Dance of Death might be grinning in the shadow of their sheltering
sentry-boxes, about to slash away at cutting out the gravestones of the
next two people destined to die in Cloisterham.h (Ch.
XII). The "two peopleh might
implicate Drood and Dickens.
20. The idea that Jasper as Dickensfs alter ego was suggested on
the present writerfs homepage on 11th June 2015.
21. According
to Tomalin, gHis last
visit to Nelly at Windsor Lodge, Peckham, was probably made between
Tuesday, 31 May, and Thursday, 2 Juneh.
(Tomalin The Invisible c 194). But
gEvery Thursdayh Dickens is recorded
as staying at All the Year Round office of Wellington Street
in London (Letters 12: 540), so on
gThursday, 2 Juneh he was most
probably at All the Year Round office. Dolby says
that he had luncheon with Dickens on the Thursday of Dolbyfs gweekly visitsh (Dolby
464). Dickens wrote one letter in Gadfs Hill Place on 27th
May. And he wrote two letters with the place of
writing unrecorded on 28th May, and two with neither address nor date
(supposedly on 29th May), and one with no address on 29th May, one with
neither address nor date (?Late May), and again neither on Monday
30th. He wrote two in Gadfs Hill on 31st May. So his last visit to Nelly
may have been made between Saturday 28th and Monday 30th
May.
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@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Copyright 20QO Takashi TERAUCHI. All Rights Reserved.