Light Imagery in Little Dorrit
Graduation Date
Summer 1971
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
Abstract
The imagery of sun and fire function with varied meanings according to the particular scene or situation, depending upon the characters' psychological or spiritual states of mind and their present states of awareness of reality and illusion, and separate chapters will be devoted to each image. In order that the reader understand more fully the purposes of the light imagery, I will introduce Chapter I with a short summary of some particular illusions in which many of the characters are engulfed, and then show how the sun image emphasizes in a parallel or antithetical fashion these illusions. Chapter II will handle fire imagery, particularly that of hearth fire, and its relationship to three of the main characters, Arthur, Amy, and William Dorrit. Images of fire that portray the phoenix motif will also be discussed. The Conclusion will summarize the purpose of the two major images and image patterns, and show the appropriateness of Little Dorrit becoming the personification of sun and fire for Arthur.