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Chapter 44
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pickwick Papers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Male Friendship
Predatory Social Institutions
Social Class and Inequality
Marriage and Courtship
Generosity and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
In late July, a hackney cab races up Goswell Street carrying Mr. Raddle, Mrs. Raddle, and Mrs. Cluppins. As they argue over which house to stop at, Mrs. Raddle scolds her husband for giving the wrong directions, insisting the cab stop at a house with a yellow door. After some confusion, the cabman pulls up to the house with the correct red door, where young Master Bardell greets them. Mrs. Raddle continues berating her husband for embarrassing her in front of others, and Mrs. Cluppins supports her in these complaints.
Mrs. Raddle’s preoccupation with details like the door color indicates her concern with social appearances. Additionally, her relentless berating of Mr. Raddle isn’t about the mistake itself but about maintaining control over how others perceive them. Mr. Raddle’s passive endurance of her outbursts reflects his diminished role in the relationship, while Mrs. Cluppins functions as an enabler for Mrs. Raddle’s behavior.
Themes
Once inside Mrs. Bardell’s home, Mrs. Raddle becomes upset again, fainting dramatically as the women rush to her aid. Mr. Raddle is sent to wait outside while the others attend to his wife. After Mrs. Raddle recovers, the group discusses their upcoming trip to Hampstead, and the party sets out for tea at the Spaniards Inn. At the tea garden, Mr. Raddle’s simple mistake of ordering too much tea causes further distress, with the ladies chiding him for his carelessness.
Mrs. Raddle’s fainting is both a performance of distress and a way to command attention. By sending Mr. Raddle outside, the women exclude him from their circle, suggesting that his role is limited to bearing responsibility and blame. The tea garden scene further emphasizes Mr. Raddle’s status as a scapegoat, as the women criticize his harmless mistake.
Themes
Their tea outing is abruptly interrupted when Mr. Jackson from Dodson and Fogg arrives to inform Mrs. Bardell of urgent legal business. Mrs. Bardell, surprised, agrees to leave immediately, accompanied by Mrs. Cluppins, Mrs. Sanders, and Tommy. During the ride, Jackson casually mentions that Mrs. Bardell signed a cognovit, which allows the lawyers to collect costs from her. Mrs. Bardell dismisses this as a formality, unaware of what awaits her.
Mrs. Bardell’s dismissal of the cognovit implies that she does not grasp the seriousness of the legal situation she faces. Her reliance on Jackson and the other women suggests a passive relationship to authority, as she remains unaware of how deeply she has entangled herself with Dodson and Fogg’s legal maneuvers.
Themes
When they reach their destination, Mrs. Bardell realizes too late that Jackson has taken her to the Fleet Prison. Dodson and Fogg, under the terms of the cognovit, have had her arrested for the unpaid legal costs from her lawsuit against Pickwick. Mrs. Bardell encounters Pickwick and Sam during her entry into the prison. Overwhelmed, she faints. In response, Sam sends Trotter to find Perker, sensing a way to use this situation to their advantage.
The sudden twist of Mrs. Bardell’s arrest again spotlights the ruthlessness of Dodson and Fogg’s legal practices. Although she is not innocent in any of this, she is nonetheless someone who the lawyers took advantage for personal gain. Now, she and Pickwick find themselves in the same position, despite being on opposite sides of the court case.
Themes
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