Dear Charlie,
I hope you don’t mind that I drew attention to your darker side, but I made a thing.
Melissa
Also someone posted this excerpt from your notes on Bleak House, which fits in nicely.
Affectionately,
Melissa
P.S. Someone kindly pointed out that I’d forgotten about Oliver’s mom and Oliver’s friend Dick in Oliver Twist, and THREE other characters I had missed in Bleak House. And then someone else reminded me of the baby in Our Mutual Friend I’d forgotten. You’re even more homicidal than I thought. I have now added all of these people, bringing the death toll to 58 people and two dogs. 🙂
P.P.S. It’s been brought to my attention that I forgot about poor Lion, the dog who was poisoned in Little Dorritt, and Jip from David Copperfield. Dog deaths are now up to four, you dog-hating bastard.
P.P.S.S. Here’s the badly formatted key:
| Pickwick Papers | Mrs. Weller | unknown |
| Oliver Twist | Agnes Fleming | childbirth |
| Nancy | beaten | |
| Fagin | hung | |
| Bill Sikes | fell off a roof and hung himself | |
| Bullseye | fell off a roof | |
| Nicholas Nickleby | Ralph Nickleby | suicide – hung himself |
| Smike | tuberculosis | |
| Old Curiosity Shop | Nell Trent | unknown |
| Daniel Quilp | drowned in marsh | |
| Barnaby Rudge | Hugh | hung |
| Dennis | hung | |
| John Chester | duel | |
| Martin Chuzzlewit | Jonas Chuzzlewit | suicide – poison |
| Montague Tigg | stabbed/staked | |
| Dombey & Son | Paul Dombey | unknown |
| James Carker | hit by a train | |
| Mrs. Skewton | complicatons from stroke | |
| Alice | “worn out” | |
| David Copperfield | Clara Copperfield | died of “firmness” |
| baby Murdstone | unknown | |
| Mr. Barkis | rheumatism? | |
| Francis Spenlow | fell out of a carriage | |
| Dora Spenlow | unknown | |
| Jip | old age / broken heart | |
| Ham Pegotty | drowned in storm | |
| James Steerforth | drowned in storm | |
| Nicholas Nickleby | Walter Bray | guilty conscience? |
| Frederick Verisopht | duel | |
| Bleak House | Nemo | opium overdose |
| Jenny’s baby | unknown | |
| Neckett | “illness” | |
| Grindley | law suit fatigue | |
| Krook | spontaneous combustion | |
| Jo | complications from smallpox | |
| Josiah Tulkinghorn | shot | |
| Honoria Dedlock | exposure | |
| Richard Carstone | law suit fatigue | |
| Hard Times | Stephen Blackpool | fell down a hole |
| Merrylegs | old age | |
| Jupe | unknown | |
| Little Dorrit | William Dorrit | unknown |
| Frederick Dorrit | unknown | |
| Merdle | suicide – cut his throat | |
| Lion | poisoned | |
| Rigaud/Lagnier | crushed by a house | |
| Tale of Two Cities | St. Evrémonde | stabbed in bed |
| Terese Dafarge | shot | |
| Sydney Carton | beheaded | |
| Great Expectations | Mrs. Gargery | complications from head injury |
| Compeyson | drowned? | |
| Abel Magwitch | complications from fight | |
| Miss Havisham | complications from burn | |
| Our Mutual Friend | George Radfoot | drowned |
| Gaffer Hexam | drowned | |
| Baby Johnny | just died | |
| Betty Higden | old age | |
| Roger Riderhood | drowned | |
| Bradley Headstone | drowned | |
| Edwin Drood | Edwin Drood | ??? |
This is awesome in too many ways to count.
Spectacular!
Over the past year, I’ve had regular updates on Mr. Dickens’ death rates but to see it all in a beautiful chart … truly amazing!
That’s all kinds of awesome!!! I especially love the graphic for Arthur’s mother dying via collapsing house in Little Dorrit. Reminds me of The Wizard of Oz.
And is there a key? I’m pretty good at guessing most of them but it’s been awhile since I read some of the books (I still have three to go: Pickwick, Drood, and OCS, plus some of the shorter works. My favorite by far is Bleak House.
Love your blog, now I’ll have to go back and read the entire thing!
Thanks! I do have a key, but it’s a very messy Excel spreadsheet at the moment. Maybe I’ll purdy it up and post it too. 🙂
Also, I don’t know if it’ll make you feel any better, but the house graphic was for Rigaud. Arthur’s mom actually made it to the end of the book unscathed. 😉
Great! I really like that! I am just reading “Barnaby Rudge” for the first time; now I know what I have to expect.
So far (in my reading) nobody has been killed yet.
I really liked Barnaby. The action (and death toll) really picks up in the second half. 🙂
Wow! I especially like the graphic of the character in Bleak House who died of spontaneous human combustion.
“One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without dissolving into tears… of laughter.” – Oscar Wilde
Oh Melissa. There are no words to describe how awesome this is.
My favorite is James Carker´s. I´ll wait for that key…
Unless I’m mistaken… Little Johnny dies in Mutual Friend.
Oh bugger, you’re right! I seem to always forget about the babies… :-/
Great! I’d love to order this as a poster.
Gride is murdered in his bed by thieves in Nicholas Nickleby.
There is a confirmed death in Edwin Drood, the only character who knew what actually happened to Drood died before he could finish telling the story.
But he probably didn’t die as a direct result of the narrative, the speaking tours and the London air probably were more at fault.
Thanks for posting this blog. W
Haha – true!! 🙂
Hate to be a pessimist but Dickens killed off a third dog. Henry Gowan’s dog, Lion who was poisoned by Rigaud in Little Dorrit.
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll revise the graphic once again! 🙂
Another dog! Jip in David Copperfield