Charles Dicken's Use of Folklore: A Study of Elements in Bleak House

摘要

This study was precipitated by the immense amount of folklore found in Dickens's works. The presence of folklore was found to be of such magnitude that only one work would be covered, Bleak House. Folklore was an element of Dicken's craftsmanship that was used deliberately to destroy the barrier between reality and fantasy. The full appreciation of what he did is not readily apparent because so much of the folk knowledge that he used has been lost through the years. Dickens developed fantasy and folklore as an integral part of his imagination from his early childhood. During his childhood in a rural setting, he slowly mixed a folk heritage of traditions, superstitions and stories with the classics of english literature. The result was the formation of an underlying fire of fancy within him that was turned outward to light the dreary world of his fellow men when he became a writer.