Pickwick Papers is one of the most popular novels of all time. Since its first publication in serial form in 1836 it has enjoyed immense success. It inspired Pickwick products, literary imitations and plagiarisms, and state adaptations. Most "smash hits" are quickly forgotten, but this novel is still read for enjoyment by general readers. Moreover, in England today there are men who retrace the imaginary travels of the Pickwickians as if to recreate the world of the novel. The reasons for its universal popularity are not hard to find. The novel is funny, easy to read, rich in characterization, humane and Christian in its values, lively and continuously entertaining -- in short, a thorough delight. Pickwick Papers is a publisher's dream: the perennial best-seller.
This is essentially a serious novel, but its serious aspects are presented in the guise of comedy. Not that Dickens makes the reader swallow a bitter pill with a sugar coating of humor. The important values are precisely those that blend well with comedy. Pickwick Papers exalts the joys of travel, the pleasures of eating and drinking well, fellowship between men, innocence, benevolence, youthfulness, and romance. Dickens achieves these values by presenting them against rather unpleasant realities. Comfortable travel is contrasted with the stagnant squalor of Fleet Prison. Good food and drink are played off against the grubby victuals and wine of prison. Male friendships are set off against predatory wives, widows, and spinsters as well as mean and unscrupulous men. Innocence and youthfulness are subjected to skepticism, knavery, and prison. And romance is contrasted with various schemes for mercenary marriages. As a result, we get a full picture of just how valuable these qualities and conditions are. Through contrasts, the reader comes to cherish goodness and simplicity as they are embodied in Mr. Pickwick. But, again, we experience them through the medium of comedy.
Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the novel is its masculine quality. It isn't simply that the great majority of the characters are male or that most of the women are treated unsympathetically. And certainly, the major characters are not particularly aggressive, violent, or domineering. The masculinity of the novel rests mainly in the finesse and accuracy of Dickens' portrayal of male relationships. Women are shown either as sweet young objects of romance or as threatening middle-aged predators. They are either sentimental or comic figures and lack the reality with which Dickens draws men. Dickens understands men and delights in their eccentricities, but women are an unknown quantity to him. If a woman wants some idea of the world most men live in she could do no better than to read this novel.
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