Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Buckton, Oliver

Abstract

Considering the fervent Catholicism of convert G. K. Chesterton's societal views, his championship of Charles Dickens, a seemingly avid non-Catholic, may appear misplaced. Upon examination, however, the wisdom of Chesterton's rationale will manifest itself; in fact, rereading Dickens's Dombey and Son through the eyes of Chesterton's Orthodoxy will prove Dickens himself to be a champion, albeit an inadvertent one, of the very core of Catholicism. Presenting Florence Dombey as a heroine, as a paragon of religious strength, and as a path to salvation for her misguided father, I present her not only as Dickens's literary and moral contribution to readers of his age, but also as a symbolic Marian model to readers of any age. Through a Chestertonian reading of Dombey and Son, two things become overwhelmingly apparent: Dickens's own "orthodoxy" and his powerful optimism.

Extent

56 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2005.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT13274

Format

pdf

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