'Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth': A review

Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth: A curious and enduring relationship by Christine Skelton (Manchester University Press, 2023)

Of all the unanswered questions and ongoing disputes about Charles Dickens's life, one of the most intriguing is this: When Charles and his wife, Catherine, separated, why did Catherine's sister Georgina, who had been living with them for years, stay with Charles? Christine Skelton of the University of Birmingham attempts to answer that question with her new book exploring the connection between the novelist and his mysterious sister-in-law. In some ways she's able to throw light on it, but in other ways, it feels as if the mystery's only deepened.

Skelton has diligently done her research and takes us through Georgina's life, starting out with her childhood in a close-knit but often struggling family, and then moving to her life in the home of her charismatic and increasingly successful brother-in-law. She also spends time exploring Catherine's relationships, including those with Georgina, Charles, and several of Catherine's female friends, to round out her picture of life in the Dickens household. If Dickens, among other family members, became increasingly dependent on Georgina in many ways, she was equally emotionally dependent on him. 

Skelton is scrupulous about sticking to the evidence when it comes to the question of whether Charles and Georgina were ever romantically involved. All her evidence suggests that they were not (though Georgina may have had a crush on him when she was young). In other areas, though, where evidence of the various players' thoughts, feelings, and actions is scarce, Skelton frequently allows herself to speculate on their motives and behavior. 

As we already know, Dickens's separation from Catherine and relationship with Ellen Ternan had devastating effects on everyone around him, and Georgina was no exception, despite her steadfast loyalty. In fact, she seems to have suffered a great deal from his efforts to mislead her and others about the relationship with Ellen. Skelton tells us that he tried to make things right with Georgina, and their friendship eventually recovered, but one has to question just how healthy it was at times.

This period was obviously far from Dickens's finest hour, and so the book can be very tough reading material for the dedicated fan. But it does have some interesting and valuable things to tell us about one of the people closest to him. Because of Skelton's need to speculate where knowledge was lacking, I never quite felt that I really got to know the real Georgina Hogarth. Still, I did learn a lot about her that was well worth knowing.

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Comments

[Cody]

It has always struck me as intriguing that Georgina Hogarth sided with her brother-in-law over her sister especially when the majority opinion is that he was the one in the wrong. My best guess was that Dickens could be as charismatic in person as on paper. So even though I'm not much interested in biographies, I think the subject is interesting enough that I might give the book a look sometime.

[John Kyriacou]

I don't think Skelton explained precisely why Georgina was so cruel to her sister Catherine by way of publicly endorsing and repeating Dickens' lies about Catherine when she clearly knew they were lies. Georgina's behaviour is inexplicable - perhaps no one can explain it.

I agree with Skelton that in considering Georgina's actions at the time her sister separated from Dickens, we must acknowledge the Victorian context - that in a patriarchal society, the power was with Dickens; that Georgina was a middle aged, middle class, unmarried woman, and financially dependant on Dickens. However, I completely disagree with Skelton that Georgina did not possess 'autonomy' to make a 'decision' or have a 'choice' at the time of Dickens' separation from his wife. That is denying Georgina any free will whatsoever as a human being to make decisions about her own life, which is absurd. In making such a statement, Skelton seems not to have properly considered what wider Society expected of Georgina at the time of the separation. If Georgina really had no 'choice', she would have done what Society and her family expected of her - i.e. leave the Dickens' household when her sister did. I think it took a very strong character to make a decision that flew in the face of convention in the Victorian era. From many of the examples in the book of Georgina's behaviour, she was far from lacking in autonomy and strength (an example is the practical jokes she played on others, male and female). I believe most women in the same position as Georgina, would not have made the decision to stay in the Dickens' household, precisely because they would have been acutely aware of the resulting scandal and social shaming, which, Skelton explains, inevitably did attach to Georgina. It's also clear that Georgina subsequently relished the decision that she made. As Skelton states, after Dickens' death, Georgina stated she would not have altered her life 'for the brightest and most prosperous existence any woman could have'.

What came across to me strongly was Georgina's bizarre, completely blind devotion to Dickens. This extended beyond his death when she censored anything untoward about him, and did her utmost to maintain a spotless public reputation for him that was, regrettably, false.