#DARK NIGHT BOOK SUMMARY HOW TO#

It is the ensuing jealousy, suspicion and anger which result in the dark night’s work of the title. He wastes his money in socialising above his class and becomes dependent on alcohol, and his office clerk seems to show up Edward’s growing incompetence at every turn. Edward’s dissatisfaction with his parochial existence has far-reaching effects, especially as he is unable to find a social position to suit his ambitious nature. Most of her characters are, or become imprisoned in some way: if not in their home situation, in the darkness of their own mind. Thus Gaskell shows that imprisonment need not be in a castle dungeon.

This is a real, rather than a gothic, darkness.Įdward is the son of a parochial, though successful, attorney an accomplished, but pampered child, whose high aspirations are thwarted by his father’s insistence that he take over the family business. Below this slowly unfolding drama lies a darker history: the claustrophobia of parochial life and parental expectations, the destructive nature of thwarted ambition and the haunted existence of those ravaged by guilt. Although this death may seem disappointingly mundane it is literally pivotal to the story, as Gaskell examines the proceedings leading up to this incident and its aftermath. The whole episode, which includes the death and burial, undertaken secretly during the night, takes up barely six pages, causing one critic, Stephen Severn, to write: ‘Blink twice and you will miss them’. There is nothing supernatural here, the events are driven by human forces and powered by guilt.Ĭritics certainly appear disappointed by the central event, a murder which takes place a third of the way through a story and is narrated in a very matter-of-fact fashion. Gaskell’s story fits far more securely into Oliphant’s description of ‘a domestic history of the most gentle and unexciting kind’, rather than the Gothic narrative suggested by Dickens’ title. All these are present, but in an understated way. When Margaret Oliphant praised Wilkie Collins for his novel The Woman in White, the qualities she selected for praise are also found in Gaskell’s work:Įverything is legitimate, natural, and possible all exaggerations of excitement are carefully eschewed …as if it had been a domestic history of the most gentle and unexciting kind….Its power arises from no overstraining of nature – the artist shows no love of mystery for mystery’s sake…ĭickens attempted to create that mystery by adding ‘dark’ to the title: an adjective which suggests a secrecy, deceit, incarceration, murder, mystery and excitement. However, there are similarities between these writers. This was an astute and cleverly orchestrated marketing strategy, but needless to say it did not please Elizabeth Gaskell, who had never liked being dictated to by Dickens. To be continued from week to week, and completed within Two Months, entitled The advertisement read:Ī NEW TALE will appear in ALL THE YEAR ROUND, Furthermore he sandwiched the announcement of Gaskell’s story between announcements for contributions by Wilkie Collins and Charles Reade, two popular writers of Sensation fiction, another, of course, was Mary Braddon. Call the story ‘A Dark Night’s Work'” (164).ĭickens knew exactly what this strategy would add to reader’s expectations of the narrative content.

The addition of one word will make it a striking name.

Gaskell has put a name to her story-at the end, instead of the beginning-which is characteristic. After reading the manuscript, he wrote to his sub-editor, William Henry Wills: “I see that Mrs.

#DARK NIGHT BOOK SUMMARY HOW TO#

However, Charles Dickens had other ideas on how to market Gaskell’s work. These simple words, devoid of emotive adjectives, distance the narrative from any association with either Gothic or Sensation fiction. In 1862, when Gaskell’s story was first sent to Dickens for inclusion in his periodical, it was entitled ‘A Night’s Work’, a title which Gaskell had lifted from the text. Despite its title, it is predominantly a psychological exploration of class, parental expectations, love and duty, a domestic tale! Published in 1863, ‘A Dark Night’s Work’ was first serialised in Dickens’ periodical All The Year Round between January and March 1862.

Dark night book summary