• "Muttered thunder":A Miltonism in Little Dorrit and The Mystery of Edwin Drood
• Giles Whiteley (bio)

According to Peter Ackroyd, Dickens conceived of his literary vocation in Miltonic terms, seeing "the novelist's role as something like that of the nineteenth-century scientist–to make clear, by general laws of force and energy, the ways of God to men" (466).¹ But while individual critics and editors have noted Dickens's allusions to Milton's poetry throughout his works, it is a matter of some surprise to note that the extent of Dickens's engagement with Milton has yet to be the subject of sustained critical attention. Of the useful studies of that tricky idea of "influence" (and which each problematize "influence" to greater or lesser degrees), there are books on Dickens and Shakespeare, on Dickens and the sentimental tradition, and Dickens and the romantics, but little work on Dickens's Milton, all the more surprising given the wealth of interest in Dickens and religion.²

Some of the stakes of such an oversight have been usefully investigated in an article in Dickens Quarterly on the naming of Great Expectations (1860–61), where Jerome Meckier notes the fact that the title was derived in part from Milton's Paradise Lost (1667).³ There, Adam comes to understand "Why our great expectation should be call'd / The seed of Woman" (12.378–79). [End Page 88] By recognizing that Dickens is "pluralising" Milton's "expectation," Meckier argues that he sought to "enlarge […] Pip's capacity for self-deception" (250). As Meckier notes, Miltonic echoes are also present throughout the text of Great Expectations, most notably at the end of the first book, concluding with the image, "the world lay spread before me," (158; bk. 1, ch. 19) echoing the final lines of Paradise Lost:

The World was all before them, where to chooseThir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,Through Eden took thir solitarie way.

(12.646–70)

There is an irony, of course, in Pip's allusion, and also in the recollection of this same passage in the final paragraph of Great Expectations, where Pip takes Estella by her hand and leaves the "old garden" of their past (480; bk. 1, ch. 20), stepping out into an uncertain future.⁴ Meckier shows how noting the Miltonic allusion helps to better unpack some of the key passages and themes of Dickens's novel. In a similar vein, the present note concerns another allusion to Paradise Lost in Dickens's corpus which has hitherto been missed by his critics.

That Dickens was fascinated by the image of "great expectations" thwarted or perverted, where the postlapsarian journey out of Eden and into the unknown becomes ironized, can be seen by the reuse of this same image drawn from Paradise Lost in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870). In chapter eight, "Daggers Drawn," Jasper reacts to his nephew's own great expectations:

"Look at him," cries Jasper, stretching out his hand admiringly and tenderly, though rallyingly too. "See where he lounges so easily, Mr. Neville! The world is all before him where to choose. A life of stirring work and interest, a life of change and excitement, a life of domestic ease and love! Look at him!"

(58; ch. 8)

As in Great Expectations, this passage mobilizes irony, since the reader may already have their suspicions that none of this lies before Edwin: indeed, he will shortly split from Rosa, thereafter going missing, presumed dead. Moreover, if we assume Jasper's role in the crime (with this passage coming in the course of a combustible meeting where Edwin and Neville almost come to blows, and which Jasper will later use as evidence that the latter has played some role in his nephew's disappearance), then the observant reader may also suspect that Jasper's comment here is knowingly ironic. It seems [End Page 89] likely that Jasper has already determined that this Miltonic promise is not one which Edwin will get to realize. Nor indeed, is this the only allusion to Milton that Dickens makes in the course of Edwin Drood. In chapter...

• “杂乱的雷声”：小多里特的弥尔顿主义和埃德温·德罗德的奥秘
• 吉尔斯·怀特利（Giles Whiteley）（生物）

根据彼得·阿克罗伊德（Peter Ackroyd）的说法，狄更斯以米尔顿主义的方式构想了他的文学生涯，他认为“小说家的角色就像19世纪科学家一样，通过一般的力量和能量定律，阐明了上帝对待人的方式” （466）。^1个但是，尽管个别评论家和编辑在整个作品中都注意到狄更斯对米尔顿诗歌的寓意，但令人惊讶的是，狄更斯与米尔顿的交往程度尚未受到持续的批判关注。在关于“影响力”这个棘手的想法（每个都会或多或少地使“影响力”成问题）的有用研究中，有关于狄更斯和莎士比亚，狄更斯和情感传统，狄更斯和浪漫主义者的书，但是很少考虑到狄更斯和宗教的浓厚兴趣，狄更斯的弥尔顿的作品更加令人惊讶。^2个

狄更斯季刊（Dickens Quarterly）一篇关于“伟大期望”（Great Expectations）（1860–61）的文章中，对这种监督的一些利害关系进行了有益的研究，其中杰罗姆·梅基尔（Jerome Meckier）指出，该头衔的一部分源于米尔顿的《失乐园》（1667） 。³亚当在那儿明白了“为什么要称呼我们伟大的期望/女人的种子”（12.378–79）。[完第88页]梅基尔承认狄更斯正在“弥合”弥尔顿的“期望”，因此认为他试图“扩大[…]皮普的自欺欺人能力”（250）。正如Meckier所指出的，《远大前程》中也出现了弥尔顿回声。，最值得注意的是在第一本书的末尾，加上图片“世界在我面前散布开”（158； bk。1，ch。19），与《失落的天堂》的最后几行呼应：

世界在他们面前，在那里选择第三的安息之地，以及普罗维登斯的指南：他们手拉手缓慢地步履蹒跚，穿越伊甸园采取了独身的方式。

（12.646–70）

当然，在皮普（Pip）的寓言中，以及在《大期望》（Great Expectations）的最后一段中对同一段落的回忆中，都有一个讽刺意味，皮普（Pip）牵着艾丝黛拉（Estella）离开了自己过去的“老花园”（480; bk （第1章，第20章），迈向不确定的未来。⁴梅基尔（Meckier）展示了米尔顿的典故如何帮助更好地揭示狄更斯小说的一些关键段落和主题。同样，本笔记还涉及狄更斯语料库中对“失乐园”的另一种指称，迄今为止，他的批评家都未提及该词。

狄更斯着迷于被挫败或变态的“巨大期望”的形象，在这里，罗布泊主义从伊甸园进入未知世界的旅程被讽刺了，这可以从重用《埃德温·德罗德之谜》中失落的天堂中得到的相同图像来看出。（1870年）。在第八章“绘制的匕首”中，贾斯珀对侄子自己的期望寄予厚望：

“看着他，”贾斯珀叫道，钦佩而温柔地伸出他的手，尽管也很团结。“内维尔先生，请看他在哪里休息得那么轻松！选择面前的世界无处不在。充满工作和兴趣的生活，充满变化和兴奋的生活，充满家庭轻松和爱的生活！看着他！”

（58;第8章）

就像在《大期望》中一样，这段话动了讽刺意味，因为读者可能已经怀疑这一切都不在埃德温面前：的确，他将很快与罗莎分手，然后失踪，估计已经死亡。此外，如果我们假设贾斯珀（Jasper）在犯罪中的角色（这段话是在一次可燃性会议的过程中发生的，埃德温和内维尔几乎要受到打击，贾斯珀稍后将以此为证据证明后者在他侄子的失踪中起了一定作用），那么细心的读者也可能会怀疑贾斯珀在这里的评论是具有讽刺意味的。似乎[结束第89页]贾斯珀（Jasper）可能已经确定这一米尔顿承诺不是埃德温（Edwin）会实现的承诺。的确，这也不是狄更斯在埃德温·德罗德（Edwin Drood）的过程中对米尔顿的唯一暗示。在本章中...