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Doctor Marigold
- Gallaudet University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Docfor Mari90ld by Charles Dickens EDITORS' PREFACE Doctor Marigold, for whom this story is named, is a "cheap jack," what we in America would call an itinerant peddlar, or perhaps a "medicine man." Cheap jacks flourished in England in the last century and sold general store items from the back of a cart. This particular cheap jack adopts a deaf girl after his real daughter dies and later arranges for her to be educated. At the time of the story, deaf education had made only tentative starts in a few European countries and therefore this story of a deaf girl who is taught to read and write must have raised eyebrows even among the enlightened readers of Dickens' time. But Dickens had gotten to know some deaf people, and he was aware of the potential of education for deaf people. His appreciation of sign language is also evident from the story: "we all three settled down into talking without sound, as if there was a something soft and pleasant spread over the whole world for us." The story, then, was written with the genuine intention to understand deafness better. Let us quickly add, however, that even Dickens, like de Musset, as interested in the plight of the deaf as he was, was still capable of rather obviously mistaken ideas in connection with the deaf. In the end ofthe story, Sophy returns to Doctor Marigold after living with her deaf husband for years, but, unbelievably, she still uses the signs that her stepfather had taught her years before! Sign language, like any other language, is highly fluid when not tied to a written 57 • The Nineteenth Century • standard like a dictionary. In those years by themselves, Sophy and her husband (who had already known signs when he met Sophy) would certainly have evolved a language of their own-it is highly unlikely that Sophy would even remember the system she had used with her father, much less use it. But our most critical remarks about the story are not related to minor points such as these but to the character of Sophy herself. In her cloyingness, as depicted by Dickens , she is a typical depersonalized Victorian heroine. Like Camille, she is a "prop," not a person in her own right but a means of making others happy. Like Camille, who in a sense is a mere broodmare, the means of continuing the family of the hearing des Arcis, Sophy's apotheosis consists in giving birth to a hearing child. But, despite her onedimensionality , Sophy is a little more actively involved in life than Camille. Before her marriage, Sophy had at least given meaning to the life of her adopted father and made him feel less lonely. Thus we find that even one as sympathetic and enlightened as Dickens still could not conceive of deafness other than as a kind of curse, the only salvation from the curse being to have a hearing child. And, as long as deafness is viewed as a curse, those who are affiicted by it will view themselves as victims and, as such, more likely to accept the pity of hearing people, such pity, in the end, proving a more debilitating curse than the handicap itself. ("Doctor Marigold" has been edited and unnecessary portions deleted.) DOCTOR MARIGOLD • CHAPTER I: TO BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY • I am a Cheap Jack, and my own father's name was Willum Marigold. It was in his lifetime supposed by some that his name was William, but my own father always consistently said, No, it was Willum. On which point I content myself 58 [44.221.43.88] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 00:23 GMT) • Doctor Marigold • with looking at the argument this way: If a man is not allowed to know his own name in a free country, how much is he allowed to know in a land of slavery? ... I was born on the Queen's highway, but it was the King's at that time. A doctor was fetched to my own mother by my own father, when it took place on a common: and in consequence of his being a very kind gentleman, and accepting no fee but a tea-tray I was named Doctor, out of gratitude and compliment to him. There you have me. Doctor Marigold. I am at present a middle-aged man of a broadish build, in cords, leggings, and a sleeved waistcoat the strings of which is always gone behind. Repair them how...