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Comedy in Dickens, Professor Robert Patten

Professor Robert Patten, Charles Dickens Museum’s current Scholar in Residence and English Professor at Rice University, Texas discusses comedy and location in Charles Dickens' work with Professor Jon Mee.

Charles Dickens writes about London locations that are within close proximity of one another. Whilst this raises questions as to how much of London Dickens knew, it is evident through his writing that the areas he was familiar with were known in intimate detail. His in-depth knowledge of the city makes London one of his greatest characters. The River Thames is another character that is prevalent through all of his novels.

Behind every great comedy is a sense of fear. The Dickens melodrama produces both fear and comedy. Sometimes you will burst out in laughter at the most grizzly anecdote.

Professor Robert Patten