Article #588-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Master Humphrey's Clock, by Charles Dickens

Thirdly. In the execution of this weekly task, to have as much regard as
its exigencies would permit, to each story as a whole, and to the
possibility of its publication at some distant day, apart from the
machinery in which it had its origin.

The characters of Master Humphrey and his three friends, and the little
fancy of the clock, were the results of these considerations. When he
sought to interest his readers in those who talked, and read, and
listened, he revived Mr. Pickwick and his humble friends; not with any
intention of re-opening an exhausted and abandoned mine, but to connect
them in the thoughts of those whose favourites they had been, with the
tranquil enjoyments of Master Humphrey.

It was never the intention of the Author to make the Members of Master
Humphrey’s clock, active agents in the stories they are supposed to
relate. Having brought himself in the commencement of his undertaking to
feel an interest in these quiet creatures, and to imagine them in their
chamber of meeting, eager listeners to all he had to tell, the Author
hoped—as authors will—to succeed in awakening some of his own emotion in
the bosoms of his readers. Imagining Master Humphrey in his chimney
corner, resuming night after night the narrative,—say, of the Old
Curiosity Shop—picturing to himself the various sensations of his
hearers—thinking how Jack Redburn might incline to poor Kit, and perhaps
lean too favourably even towards the lighter vices of Mr. Richard
Swiveller—how the deaf gentleman would have his favourite and Mr. Miles
his—and how all these gentle spirits would trace some faint reflexion in
their past lives in the varying currents of the tale—he has insensibly
fallen into the belief that they are present to his readers as they are
to him, and has forgotten that, like one whose vision is disordered, he
may be conjuring up bright figures when there is nothing but empty space.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Master Humphrey’s Clock by Charles Dickens**

This passage is taken from the preface to Master Humphrey’s Clock (1840–41), a weekly periodical written and edited by Charles Dickens. The work served as a framing device for several of his novels, including The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, which were serialized within it. The excerpt reflects Dickens’s metafictional (self-aware, commentary-on-writing) approach, explaining his creative intentions, the role of his fictional narrator (Master Humphrey), and the relationship between his stories and their imagined audience.

1. Context of the Passage

Dickens wrote Master Humphrey’s Clock as a follow-up to the immense success of The Pickwick Papers (1836–37), which had made him a literary sensation. The periodical was structured as a framed narrative: Master Humphrey, a reclusive old man, gathers with three friends (Mr. Pickwick among them) in a cozy room where they listen to stories—some told by Humphrey himself, others by his companions. The "clock" of the title refers both to Humphrey’s timekeeping and the mechanical, serialized nature of the publication (each "tick" representing a new installment).

By 1841, however, the framing device had become cumbersome, and Dickens abandoned it mid-serialization, later admitting in this preface that the concept had not worked as intended. This passage is thus a retrospective justification—and, in some ways, an apology—for his narrative choices.

2. Breakdown of the Excerpt

A. The Author’s Structural Intentions

"Thirdly. In the execution of this weekly task, to have as much regard as its exigencies would permit, to each story as a whole, and to the possibility of its publication at some distant day, apart from the machinery in which it had its origin."

"Weekly task": Refers to the serialized format of Victorian publishing, where novels were released in installments (often in magazines or penny dreadfuls).
"Exigencies": The practical demands of serialization—cliffhangers, pacing, and reader engagement—sometimes clashed with Dickens’s desire for artistic cohesion.
"Possibility of its publication… apart from the machinery": Dickens was already thinking about how these stories (like The Old Curiosity Shop) might later be reprinted as standalone novels, free from the framing device of Master Humphrey’s club.
- This reveals his dual awareness of his work as both ephemeral entertainment (for weekly readers) and lasting literature (for future book editions).

B. The Creation of Master Humphrey and His Circle

"The characters of Master Humphrey and his three friends, and the little fancy of the clock, were the results of these considerations. When he sought to interest his readers in those who talked, and read, and listened, he revived Mr. Pickwick and his humble friends…"

"Little fancy of the clock": The clock is both a literal object (Humphrey’s timepiece) and a symbol for:
- The passage of time in storytelling.
- The mechanical nature of serialization (each "tick" = a new chapter).
- The cyclical, communal act of reading (like a clock’s hands bringing people together at set times).
"Revived Mr. Pickwick": Dickens brings back Samuel Pickwick (from The Pickwick Papers) to leverage nostalgia—readers already loved Pickwick, so his presence would make the new stories feel familiar.
- However, Dickens clarifies this is not a sequel ("not with any intention of re-opening an exhausted and abandoned mine") but a narrative bridge to ease readers into Humphrey’s world.

C. The Illusion of an Imagined Audience

"It was never the intention of the Author to make the Members of Master Humphrey’s clock, active agents in the stories they are supposed to relate…"

The framing device (Humphrey and his friends listening to stories) was not meant to interfere with the tales themselves. They were passive listeners, not characters who shaped the plots.
Dickens wanted readers to suspend disbelief—to imagine Humphrey’s club as a cozy, intimate space where stories unfold naturally, like oral tradition.

"Having brought himself in the commencement of his undertaking to feel an interest in these quiet creatures, and to imagine them in their chamber of meeting, eager listeners to all he had to tell, the Author hoped—as authors will—to succeed in awakening some of his own emotion in the bosoms of his readers."

"Quiet creatures": Humphrey’s friends are gentle, unobtrusive figures—more like literary devices than fully fleshed characters.
"Eager listeners": Dickens projects his own enthusiasm onto them, hoping readers will mirror his emotions.
- This is a romanticized view of storytelling—the idea that a tale told in a warm, shared space (like a fireside) creates emotional contagion.

D. The Author’s Self-Awareness and Fear of Failure

"Imagining Master Humphrey in his chimney corner, resuming night after night the narrative… picturing to himself the various sensations of his hearers… he has insensibly fallen into the belief that they are present to his readers as they are to him, and has forgotten that, like one whose vision is disordered, he may be conjuring up bright figures when there is nothing but empty space."

"Chimney corner": A symbol of domestic comfort—Dickens wants his stories to feel like oral folklore, passed down in an intimate setting.
"Various sensations of his hearers": He imagines how each friend might react differently:
- Jack Redburn (a young, impressionable man) might sympathize with Kit (the virtuous boy from The Old Curiosity Shop) but also excuse Swiveller’s vices (Dickens’s way of saying readers will project their own biases).
- The deaf gentleman and Mr. Miles would each have their favorite characters, showing how stories resonate differently with people.
"Trace some faint reflexion in their past lives": The friends see themselves in the stories, making the tales feel personal and universal.
"Like one whose vision is disordered": A metaphor for artistic delusion—Dickens fears he has overestimated how vividly readers see Humphrey’s world.
- "Bright figures… empty space": He worries his imagined audience (Humphrey’s club) is invisible to readers, like a mirage.

3. Key Themes

The Illusion of Storytelling
- Dickens reflects on how authors create worlds that may not fully translate to readers.
- The passage is metafictional—it breaks the fourth wall, acknowledging the artifice of his framing device.
Nostalgia and Reader Engagement
- By reviving Mr. Pickwick, Dickens taps into reader nostalgia, but also risks over-reliance on past success.
- The chimney-corner setting evokes oral tradition, making his serialized stories feel like shared, communal experiences.
The Tension Between Serialization and Artistic Unity
- Dickens struggles with the fragmented nature of weekly publishing vs. his desire for cohesive, lasting literature.
- The clock symbolizes this tension—time is both structured (mechanical) and fluid (narrative).
The Author-Reader Relationship
- Dickens projects his own emotions onto his characters and hopes readers will mirror them.
- He fears miscommunication—that his vivid mental images may not resonate with his audience.

4. Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Metaphor	"exhausted and abandoned mine" (Pickwick’s return)	Suggests that revisiting old characters is like reopening a depleted creative source.
Personification	"the little fancy of the clock"	The clock becomes a character-like concept, blending time and storytelling.
Imagery	"Master Humphrey in his chimney corner"	Creates a warm, intimate setting, reinforcing the oral tradition theme.
Irony	"forgotten that… he may be conjuring up bright figures when there is nothing but empty space"	Dickens knows his framing device might fail, yet he hopes it works—this is self-deprecating irony.
Apostrophe	Direct address to the reader ("as authors will")	Makes the preface feel like a conversation, pulling the reader into Dickens’s creative process.

5. Significance of the Passage

Dickens’s Self-Critique: This preface is rare in that Dickens admits a misstep—the framing device of Master Humphrey’s Clock didn’t work as intended. It shows his evolving approach to serialization.
Early Metafiction: Before postmodernism, Dickens was already playing with narrative layers, commenting on the act of writing within his own work.
Reader Psychology: He anticipates modern reader-response theory, acknowledging that audience interpretation shapes a story’s success.
Legacy of Serialization: The passage highlights the challenges of Victorian publishing—balancing weekly engagement with long-term artistic value.

6. Conclusion: Why This Matters

This excerpt is not just a preface—it’s a window into Dickens’s mind as he grapples with:

The mechanics of storytelling (how frames shape narratives).
The emotional contract between writer and reader.
The fragility of imagination—how a writer’s vivid world may not always translate.

Dickens’s honesty about his creative process makes this passage uniquely revealing. While Master Humphrey’s Clock is now mostly forgotten, this reflection on why it failed (and what he hoped it would achieve) remains a fascinating study in authorial intent and the limits of narrative illusion.

Would you like a deeper dive into any specific aspect, such as the historical context of serialization or comparisons to Dickens’s other framed narratives (like The Canterbury Tales-inspired Pickwick Papers)?

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of Master Humphrey and his friends as "eager listeners" primarily serves which of the following functions in Dickens’s narrative strategy?

A. To critique the passive consumption of serialized fiction by Victorian audiences.
B. To establish a direct parallel between the act of reading and the act of oral storytelling.
C. To introduce a layer of psychological realism by giving the narrator a tangible audience.
D. To create an illusion of intimacy that masks the mechanical nature of serialized publication.
E. To satirize the sentimentalism of contemporary domestic fiction.

Question 2

When Dickens states that he has "forgotten that, like one whose vision is disordered, he may be conjuring up bright figures when there is nothing but empty space," the most precise interpretation of this metaphor is that he:

A. acknowledges the inherent superiority of oral tradition over printed serials.
B. fears his imaginative constructs lack the substantive presence he assumes they possess.
C. laments the commercial pressures that force authors to abandon artistic integrity.
D. suggests that readers are incapable of fully engaging with complex framing devices.
E. implies that his characters are mere puppets, devoid of autonomous emotional depth.

Question 3

The "little fancy of the clock" is most accurately described as functioning on which of the following levels in the passage?

A. A literal timekeeping device that structures the pacing of the serialized installments.
B. A symbol of the cyclical nature of storytelling, divorced from the linear progression of the narratives.
C. An allegorical representation of the author’s creative exhaustion during the writing process.
D. A narrative contrivance intended to distract readers from the weaknesses in plot construction.
E. A multifaceted emblem that merges the mechanical, the temporal, and the communal aspects of serialization.

Question 4

The passage’s discussion of how "Jack Redburn might incline to poor Kit, and perhaps lean too favourably even towards the lighter vices of Mr. Richard Swiveller" primarily illustrates:

A. the moral ambiguity inherent in Dickens’s characterization.
B. the ways in which readers project their own biases onto fictional characters.
C. the author’s deliberate manipulation of audience sympathy through strategic narrative framing.
D. the failure of the framing device to maintain consistent tonal coherence.
E. the tension between an author’s intentions and the unpredictable interpretations of his imagined audience.

Question 5

Which of the following best captures the passage’s overarching concern with the relationship between the author and the reader?

A. The necessity of maintaining strict narrative objectivity to preserve artistic credibility.
B. The futility of attempting to control how a text is received once it enters the public sphere.
C. The ethical obligation of authors to prioritize moral instruction over entertainment.
D. The delicate balance between cultivating an illusion of shared experience and recognizing its inherent fragility.
E. The inevitability of commercial success undermining the purity of creative vision.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage emphasizes Dickens’s desire to counteract the impersonal, mechanical nature of serialized publication by fostering an illusion of intimacy. The "eager listeners" in Master Humphrey’s chimney corner are a narrative sleight-of-hand, designed to make the fragmented, commercially driven process of serialization feel like a cohesive, communal experience. This aligns with Dickens’s admission that he hoped to "awaken some of his own emotion in the bosoms of his readers"—a goal that relies on masking the artifice of the medium.