Sam Weller | |
---|---|
The Pickwick Papers character | |
Created by | Charles Dickens |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Shoeshiner |
Family | Tony Weller (father) |
Nationality | English |
Sam Weller is a fictional character in The Pickwick Papers (1836), the first novel by Charles Dickens, and the character that made Dickens famous. [1] [2] A humorous Cockney bootblack, [3] Sam Weller first appeared in the fourth serialised episode. [2] Previously the monthly parts of the book had been doing badly, selling only about 1,000 copies a month — but the humour of the character transformed the book into a publishing phenomenon, raising the sales by late autumn of 1837 to 40,000 a month. [4]
On the impact of the character, The Paris Review stated, "arguably the most historic bump in English publishing is the Sam Weller Bump." [1] Such was the popularity of the character that William Thomas Moncrieff named his 1837 burletta Samuel Weller, or, The Pickwickians after the main comic character in the novel, rather than on Samuel Pickwick himself. [5] [6] [7] Merchandise based on the character appeared, such as Sam Weller puzzles, Weller boot polish and Weller joke books. [1]
In chapter 10 of the novel, the eponymous hero of the novel, Mr. Pickwick, meets Sam Weller working at the White Hart Inn in The Borough and soon takes him on as a personal servant and companion on his travels. Initially, Sam Weller accepts the job as Pickwick offered a good salary and a new set of fine clothes. However, as the novel progresses, Sam becomes deeply attached to Mr. Pickwick, with the relationship between the idealistic and unworldly Pickwick and the astute cockney Weller being likened to that between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. [8] While the elderly Mr. Pickwick is mostly a passive and innocent figure having an almost childlike simplicity, Sam Weller is depicted as 'street-wise', being the more experienced of the two despite his youth, and probably the most intelligent character in the novel. While Pickwick is quick to lose his temper Sam maintains his composure. While Pickwick has no interest in romance or marrying, Sam courts and eventually marries Mary, his Valentine – "a well-shaped female servant". [9]
Weller's loyalty to Pickwick is such that when the latter is sent to the Fleet Prison for debt Weller gets himself arrested so that he can join Pickwick there and continue to serve and protect him. Weller refuses to marry his sweetheart as he believes his marriage will obstruct him from continuing to care for Mr. Pickwick. However, Pickwick makes arrangements that allow Weller to continue to work for him and still marry.
In the novel Sam is the son of Tony Weller, a coachman. The Wellers, father and son, speak a form of Cockney English prevalent in London's East End in 1836, pronouncing a "v" where there should be a "w", and "w” where there should be a "v" - "wery" instead of "very" and "avay" instead of "away" - in language that was outdated just 40 years after the novel's publication. [10] Having trouble composing his Valentine's Card to his sweetheart, Mary, Sam consults his father, Tony Weller:
`“Feel myself ashamed, and completely cir –” I forget what this here word is’, said Sam, scratching his head with the pen, in vain attempts to remember.
`Why don’t you look at it then?’, inquired Mr Weller.
`So I am a lookin at it’, replied Sam, `but there’s another blot. Here’s a “c”, and an “i”, and a “d”’.
`Circumwented, p’raps’, suggested Mr Weller.
`No, it ain’t that,’ said Sam, `circumscribed; that’s it’
`That ain’t as good a word as circumwented, Sammy,’ said Mr Weller, gravely.
Sam Weller's way of quoting people has led to the Wellerism, often a type of proverb. [4] [11] Examples in Pickwick Papers include: [12]
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was the first novel by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with Sketches by Boz published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to supply descriptions to explain a series of comic "cockney sporting plates" by illustrator Robert Seymour, and to connect them into a novel. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise. On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in The Atlantic writes, "'Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick. It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call "entertainment." Published in 19 issues over 20 months, the success of The Pickwick Papers popularised serialised fiction and cliffhanger endings.
Augustus Snodgrass is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836). He considers himself a Romantic poet, though there is no mention of any of his own poetry in the novel.
Wellerisms, named after sayings of Sam Weller in Charles Dickens's novel The Pickwick Papers, make fun of established clichés and proverbs by showing that they are wrong in certain situations, often when taken literally. In this sense, Wellerisms that include proverbs are a type of anti-proverb. Typically a Wellerism consists of three parts: a proverb or saying, a speaker, and an often humorously literal explanation.
Pickwick may refer to:
Samuel Pickwick is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Pickwick Papers (1836), the first novel by author Charles Dickens. One of the author's most famous and loved creations, Pickwick is a retired successful businessman and is the founder and chairman of the Pickwick Club, a club formed to explore places remote from London and investigate the quaint and curious phenomena of life found there.
Pickwick is a musical with a book by Wolf Mankowitz, music by Cyril Ornadel, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Based on the 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, it is set in and around London and Rochester in 1828.
Nathaniel Winkle is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836).
The Pickwick Papers is a 1952 British historical comedy drama film written and directed by Noel Langley and starring James Hayter, James Donald, Nigel Patrick and Joyce Grenfell. It is based on the Charles Dickens’s 1837 novel of the same name. It was made by Renown Pictures who had successfully released another Dickens adaptation Scrooge the previous year.
Robert Seymour was a British illustrator known for his illustrations for The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens and for his caricatures. He committed suicide after arguing with Dickens over the illustrations for Pickwick.
The Pickwick Papers is a twelve-part BBC adaptation of the 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, first broadcast in 1985. It starred Nigel Stock, Alan Parnaby, Clive Swift and Patrick Malahide, with narration by Ray Brooks.
Alfred Jingle is a fictional character who appears in the 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. He is a strolling actor and an engaging charlatan and trickster noted for his bizarre anecdotes and distinctive mangling of English syntax.
The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick is a 1921 British silent comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley based on the 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. As of August 2010, the film is missing from the BFI National Archive, and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films.
Pickwick is a British television musical made by the BBC in 1969 and based on the 1963 stage musical Pickwick, which in turn was based on the 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers written by Charles Dickens. It stars Harry Secombe as Samuel Pickwick and Roy Castle as Sam Weller.
Tony Weller is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836). The irresponsible and care-free Tony Weller is Sam Weller's father. A loquacious coachman, the character never became as popular as his famous son but readers have always enjoyed his quaint humour and his even quainter philosophy.
The Pickwick Papers is a 1913 three-reel silent film based on the 1837 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. The film was produced by Vitagraph Studios and features John Bunny in the title role of Samuel Pickwick.
Pickwick is an 1889 operetta in one act based on an episode in the 1836 novel The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. The score was by Edward Solomon to lyrics by F. C. Burnand. It was one of three works written by the duo in collaboration, the others being Domestic Economy and The Tiger, both in 1890.
Tracy Tupman is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836). Although fat and middle-aged he considers himself a young lover and has an unfortunate amorous entanglement with the spinster Rachael Wardle.
Samuel Weller, or, The Pickwickians is an 1837 comedy in three acts adapted from Dickens's novel The Pickwick Papers by William Thomas Moncrieff. It was first performed at the Royal Strand Theatre in London on 17 July 1837.
Mrs Martha Bardell is a fictional character in The Pickwick Papers (1836), the first novel by Charles Dickens. A widow and the landlady of Mr Pickwick, a romantic misunderstanding between the two results in one of the most famous fictional legal cases in English literature, Bardell v. Pickwick, leading to them both being incarcerated in the Fleet Prison for debt.