Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop: Film & Literature Guide

Pair your study of the classic Charles Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop with the PBS MASTERPIECE Classic film version of the story. This guide to both the book and film will extend students' understanding of the story and the era in which it was written.

Introduction
Before Viewing the Film
After Viewing the Film
Related Resources

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Introduction

Published as a serial from 1840-41 during the height of Dickens' popularity with the general public, The Old Curiosity Shop tells the story of Little Nell, an innocent, 13-year-old girl who takes care of her grandfather and his curiosity shop (a kind of antique or secondhand store). When the grandfather, a gambler, is forced to borrow money from the evil Daniel Quilp, they lose the shop. Little Nell and her grandfather flee to the countryside where Quilp pursues them. In the next-to-last installment of the novel, Little Nell, reduced to begging, becomes dangerously ill. So worried were Dickens' readers about what would happen next that they wrote to him by the thousands begging him not to let Nell die. Though few modern readers may be moved to the same extent by Little Nell herself, this story of a vulnerable and innocent girl threatened by evil is timeless.

Before Viewing the Film

Charles Dickens

1. Charles Dickens is viewed not only as an author, but as a social commentator. Read a short biography of Dickens. How might his early life and upbringing have affected his view of the world?

2. How might Dickens' works have been different had he had a more fortunate upbringing?

3. What aspects of society have changed since Dickens' time? Have any remained the same?

4. Ask students to think about other authors they have read with a similar social focus. How are they like Dickens? Different?

The Serial

1. The serial novel was a common form of literature in Dickens' era. Read more about the serial novel and have students consider the marketing aspect of the genre – the cliffhanger.
2. What genres in today's entertainment industry is the serial novel similar to? (Television series and movie trilogies are good examples.)
3. How does the format influence the audience's interest in the story?

Heroes & Villains

1. Which do you generally find more interesting, villains or heroes? Why? Which do you think Dickens found more interesting?

2. Dickens is a master at describing evil, repellent characters. What examples of memorable villains can you name?

3. Make note to focus on how the filmmaker brings Dickens' descriptions to life in the film. How, especially, are Quilp's odd oral fixations portrayed?

4. As an extension activity, students should think about heroes in their own lives: mothers, fathers, coaches, teachers, grandparents, community leaders, and others. Ask them to compare the heroes they know with the heroes in The Old Curiosity Shop. How are they alike? Different? Students can write a short essay about how their own heroes have been tested and overcome obstacles, or a short story in which their heroes play a starring role. What sort of trials could they face? How would they react?

After Viewing the Film

Dickens' Dichotomy

1. In a typical Dickens novel, darkness and pathos are relieved by flashes of the comic and absurd. What examples of this can you list from the film? How, for instance, does the scene in which Mrs. Quilp, Sampson Brass, and others discuss Mr. Quilp's possible death work to relieve the tension of the previous scenes?

2. How does it operate as foreshadowing (something that provides a hint as to future events)?

Reacting to Death

1. Though the death of Little Nell was devastating to the book's Victorian audience, modern readers have generally found it mawkish and sentimental. Yet at the time it was written, almost half the deaths recorded in London were of children under the age of 10. With a partner, or in a small group, investigate period statistics, rituals, values, and attitudes towards death, particularly the death of children.

The following resources may help you.

• Columbia Encyclopedia, online
• Victorain Literature
• Industrial Revolution

2. In what ways, if any, were the Victorian traditions and viewpoints different from ours? Why do you think the loss of Little Nell was so compelling for Dickens' audience?

3. Compare and contrast the death scene of Little Nell to a death scene in a contemporary book, film, or play. How do the two scenes illustrate the similarities or differences between the two eras?

4. Ask students to remember how they felt when the characters in both works died. Were they moved to write the author or filmmaker to protest the death? Why or why not?

Related Resources

More Charles Dickens

• Great Expectations Literature Guide
• A Tale of Two Cities Literature Guide

Other Works of Social Commentary

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• 1984 by George Orwell
• All-Bright Court and Imani All Mine Reader's Guide by Connie Rose Porter